English grammar and vocabulary: quick questions thread

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Reply 60

GAguy

Hey, I need a noun for someone (or many) who is/are very cruious.

Reply 61

GAguy

And I am looking for a verb for precise. eg.:

'The figures are very rough, we will try to xxx them over time'

Reply 62

bon

GAguy

And I am looking for a verb for precise. eg.:

'The figures are very rough, we will try to xxx them over time'

Refine

GAguy

Hey, I need a noun for someone (or many) who is/are very cruious.

Hmm not sure. Perhaps an asker or inquisitor...

Reply 63

shmfdssakh

haye to everyone,

i would to know when must use "would" or "will"
and what is diffirence between them.
thanks

Reply 64

bon

shmfdssakh

haye to everyone,

i would to know when must use "would" or "will"
and what is diffirence between them.
thanks

'Will' is the future tense, indicating an intention or assertion about the future. Eg. I will go to town tomorrow.

'Would' is the conditional, indicating the consequence of an imagined/theoretical situation. Eg. If I had more money I would go to down.

there are, of course, also other differences ...

Reply 65

shmfdssakh

Thanks very much bon :smile:

Reply 66

LawBore

I would suggest that that depends upon the viewpoint. If the viewpoint of an individual expressed at a time when the chap was alive, then I would use the past tense. If a philosophy or ongoing school of thought expressed by numerous people, then perhaps 'is' would be appropriate. If it sounds correct, though, it is probably suitable at this juncture.

Reply 67

bon

python38

If someone died, do you write that he said a particular viewpoint was something, or that a particular viewpoint is something?

A viewpoint would probably go in the past unless it was recorded (in which case, present).

Eg. he was committed to human rights

But - as he notes in his diaries, 'I love rights'.

Reply 68

GAguy

Hey, when do I use this line: - in a phrase? It seems like it has the same use as a comma.

Reply 69

GAguy

And another question: when I say: "what does he want?" I was thinking.
are the apostrophes correct or do I use these: ' ?

Reply 70

bon

GAguy

Hey, when do I use this line: - in a phrase? It seems like it has the same use as a comma.

The hyphen is used to join words which have combined meaning (eg. long-term, three-hundred)

GAguy

And another question: when I say: "what does he want?" I was thinking.
are the apostrophes correct or do I use these: ' ?

" and ' are both accepted as quotation marks.

Reply 71

tahreem jawahery

hey guys, tahreem jawahery here...... actually am can speak english but still worried about my speaking i have no english friend and i want fluency in my english speaking any here plz give me some tips and my mother tongue is sindhi and i can speak my national language which is urdu..... hope you people reply me thanks

Reply 72

GAguy

tahreem jawahery

English speaking friends is what helps the most, get some! Otherwise take out of class lectures on english, buy english learning CD`s (not books, so you hear the pronounciation)

Reply 73

GAguy

In a sentence like this:

David Smith said: "You can won't believe it, Jimmy sent me this text: 'I will break up with my girlfriend man.'"

assuming within the text he was sent itself there Jimmy put a full stop at the end of his text, where do I put the dot? and only one?

so which way is correct? The one shown above, or:

David Smith said: "You can won't believe it, Jimmy sent me this text: 'I will break up with my girlfriend man.'."

or something else?

Reply 74

rurounikenji

hey guys does anyone know how to use the lingusitic terminology when annotating a text and could someone give me an example please?

Reply 75

*Hannah

Hey, I've been getting a bit confused with apostrophes lately so could someone please clear something up for me?

I always thought that if a word (which is singular) ends in 's' then you simply put the apostrophe on the end - e.g. James'. However, lately I keep seeing 'James's' written in books. Which is right? James' or James's (assuming there is only one of James)?

I am now totally confused by all of this so any help would be much appreciated :smile:

Reply 76

bon

*Hannah

Both are absolutely valid. The 's' after the apostrophe in a word ending with s is optional.

Reply 77

*Hannah

bon

Both are absolutely valid. The 's' after the apostrophe in a word ending with s is optional.

Thank you

Reply 78

Salome2

Perhaps not the right forum, but it's the only place I could think to post it: Is the word 'Oxford' plural or singular? I'm convinced it is the latter (University of Oxford is, so why shouldn't the shortened version be?), but I see a good amount of people on this forum writing that 'Oxford don't...' and 'Do Oxford...' which would indicate that it is plural. Even one of the stickys in this section is 'Do Oxford see module grades?'. I'm disinclined to think that they all have such a poor handle of English grammar. Am I missing something?

S2

Reply 79

michael.aleksander

Singular.. it is one university.
edit: Having said that, it can represent many smaller entities?