It‘s my dream being on a TV show like this. This is my dream being on a TV show like this. Are they both correct? Answer Not quite. Rewrite this way: It’s my dream to be on a TV show like this. This is my dream: to be on a TV show like this. AttributionSource … Read more
Within us, the people of the United States, there is evident a serious and purposeful rekindling of confidence. This sentence is from “Jimmy Carter inaugural address: Jan. 20, 1977” shown here. What does the there-clause mean, and how common is this type of construction? Answer This type of construction is not common in normal colloquial … Read more
I have the following quote from The Theory of the Leisure Class, published in 1899: The close-cropped lawn is beautiful in the eyes of a people whose inherited bent it is to readily find pleasure in contemplating a well-preserved pasture or grazing land. Shouldn’t the it not be present in the expression above? My grammar … Read more
Could you please remind me what term linguists and the grammar people use to call it when it’s used as a subject pronoun, but the funky thing is that it doesn’t really refer back to anything in particular like he, she or we usually do which do refer back to a person or an animal … Read more
I often read sentences with masked expletives (is this term correct?) just to avoid offensive words being expressed with their full spellings. Though just one letter would convey the word. My question is, when we use these masked expletives, are they always with the same characters (**) or take different (@#$%). Also, is there any … Read more
The pain in Harry’s head was so bad he fell to his knees. It took a minute or two to pass. When he looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was standing over him, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body. “Are you all right?” … Read more
It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other two agreed with him. Anything to get rid of Norbert –– and Malfoy. There was a hitch. By the next morning, Ron’s bitten hand [by little dragon, Norbert] had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn’t know whether it … Read more
“Well, Ted,” said the weatherman, “I don’t know about that, but it’s not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they’ve had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people … Read more
It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn’t seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. Source: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Does ‘was’ mean ‘took place’ or is the boldfaced part all an idiom? Answer In this case, It … Read more
When I translate an Italian sentence, I often use the “dummy it” to keep the same structure of the Italian sentence. For example, translating è stato difficile trovare il colpevole, I would say “it has been difficult to find who is guilty” instead of “finding who is guilty has been difficult” or “to find who … Read more
