If I was there yesterday, I am not alive now or I would not be alive now. If I had been there yesterday, I am not alive now or I would not be alive now. Which one between 1 and 2 is more widely used among native English speakers? p.s.: The focus of the question … Read more
I have this confusion when I am trying to construct a sentence concerning the usage of the verb wish. I’ve tried to look up dictionaries, but I’m still perplexed because it has a lot of options. Anyway, which ones of these sentences are OK and natural? If none of these is correct, please, could you … Read more
Reading this article, I noticed a fun expression saying, "DO YOU, UH. YAHOO?" Checking it on the Internet, I found several sites quoting the wording. From the context in the article, what it means seems like "Do you still use Yahoo?" If this is correct, do you use the word "Yahoo" as a verb? Answer … Read more
According to dictionaries, "to derive" means "to get something from something else" and "to come from something". But I’m not sure if it can be used in the following context. By "derived from" l mean they used Sophocles’s work as their source. My search for similar sentences was of no avail. "Among the authors who … Read more
treat with the enemy for peace ‘treat’ is used like: treat people with respect I wonder if the phrase above is idiomatic or not. Answer This usage is becoming archaic, but you occasionally see it. It means "negotiate or make a deal with". The word "treaty" comes from this sense. So the meaning of the … Read more
Suppose, we’re (I and my wife) asked by people how long our marriage is since we got married. Which tense should I use? Past tense or perfect tense or else? We were married for 15 years. We’ve been married for 15 years. Since a marriage is a status and it occurs once (each marriage), but … Read more
This passage is from The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner someone laughed up high, there was a scuffling somewhere in the house, Dexter was up, he would see to it. Her muscles let go and she was away. Someone was whispering above her head, through the window, tap tap tap on glass, calling her name. … Read more
The committee split over government subsidies. How can I make clear the meaning of the sentence in case I want to differentiate ‘present form of split’ from ‘past form of split’? Answer There are lots of ways to do this: The committee is split… The current state of the committee is that it is split. … Read more
For whatever reason, I had in mind that the common verb used to describe a rainbow’s "state" is bent, as in "a rainbow bent over the landscape". However, I just Googled "rainbow bent over", and there are really a small amount of results. Googling "rainbow * over" didn’t help me understand what’s the common verb, … Read more
Which verb is better to use: He trained ECDL to them last year. or He taught ECDL to them last year. P.S: ECDL stands for European Computer Driving License Answer You can teach a student. You can teach a subject. You can teach a subject to a student. You can train a student. You can … Read more
