My dad turned around and stared at us, his fear confirming that something wasn’t right ― and maybe even very wrong. One student struggles to understand the sentence especially in a bold part. – and (something) "may be even very wrong" or "- and maybe even very wrong". I think he/she is unsatisfied with the … Read more
Is there a difference between these two: 1 Hadn’t you better marry him? 2 Had you better not marry him? It seems to me that 1 means "I recommend marrying him" and 2 means "I advise against marrying him". Do you see this difference or am I seeing it? Answer For most purposes, OP’s cited … Read more
I was reading The Great Gatsby and here’s the sentence. I should have rented a house in one of the strangest communities. He did rent a house in fact. so I don’t think he’s expressing regret or hope…I did ask around and they all said that it’s past simple, old-fashion, and "have" is infinitive, but … Read more
An ELL post (buttonholes — meaning?) says I don’t think I understand what kind of buttonholes they’re talking about. I found “I don’t understand” is commonly used to express the unawareness of something. Google Ngram may verify that So, what is the difference between “I don’t think I understand” and “I don’t understand”? Is the … Read more
“College Factual ranks Northwestern U as 46th out of a total 1,059 colleges and universities for sheer popularity with students from China. Chinese students could account for as much as 7.0% of the entire student body and as much as 41.1% of the international student body at Northwestern U.” From https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/northwestern-university/student-life/international/ This text seems to … Read more
The papers must be blue This sentence means: I have not seen the papers but I’m sure they are blue. If it’s an instruction, it means: You must use blue papers. Any other color will not work. Am I right about the double meaning? If yes, how to solve the confusion? Answer “The papers must … Read more
Let’s say you are hypothesizing. And you say: I must have great accuracy in English, and if I don’t, all the efforts I put in would/could/may just go to waste. In this sentence, I know would is possible, but so are could and may because it is more likely to happen. I know how to … Read more
Let’s say you are in a question and answer portion in a contest. And it goes like this: Question: What do you think is the disadvantages of being famous? You: I think your privacy. Paparazzi and the fans of a well-recognized person would be a hindrance to enjoyment of vacations, as they would always be … Read more
Recently I have come across the following two sentences in a test for Student’s Book Activate Level A2 published by Pearson/Longman in 2010 by Joanne Taylore-Knowles: Has Naomi had to go? and Have they had to repeat the work? I am not sure if it is grammatically correct, it just does not make sense or … Read more
I’m just practicing passage reconstruction. Here I’ve formed a phrase “Organic former usually use natural pesticides and fertilizers instead using chemical pesticide which may causes economic damage to agricultural productivity.” for respective phrase from a passage “Organic farmers use natural pesticides and fertilizers.“. I’ve used “which may causes” to form the phrase. Is this correct? … Read more
