Questions tagged [grammaticality-in-context]
For questions about whether something obeys the rules of English grammar in a certain context.
1,080 questions
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I'm sure the work that you have done so far "has been" VS "was" very good [closed]
Source: Series: Silicon Valley (Years: 2014–: 46 episodes) Country: USA Genre: Comedy
I'm sure the work that you have done so far has been very good.
The present perfect "have done + so ...
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2
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74
views
Years ago, I never thought I "would have turned out" VS "would turn out" to be the way I was today
Source: FIC: Playing dirty, Swinson, Kiki, 2009
I became the most sought-after criminal defense attorney in Florida.
Sometimes I didn't know if that was good or bad. But one thing was
sure, my life ...
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0
votes
2
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61
views
Yesterday I asked him this question many times, but he "would give" VS "gave" me the same short and vague answer
Source: my example
Yesterday I asked him this question many times, but he would give me
the same short and vague answer.
"Would" can be used to talk about repeated past actions/habits that ...
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votes
1
answer
42
views
"During" VS "Over" VS "For" VS "In" the first 40-45 minutes your body burns the glycogen stored in the muscles [closed]
Source: my sentences
In the first 40-45 minutes your body burns the glycogen stored in the muscles, and only after that the underskin fat.
For the first 40-45 minutes your body burns the glycogen ...
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0
votes
1
answer
62
views
Last week you told me that you want to build muscle; I thought you "would've used" VS "would use" free weights and machines
Source: my dialogue
A: Did you go to the gym yesterday?
B: Yes, but I did only a light
cardio session.
A: Last week you told me that you want to build
muscle; I thought you would've used free weights ...
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0
votes
2
answers
65
views
It's terrible. She "would've looked" VS "would look" better if she didn't have it
Source: my dialogue
A: You know, Jenny finally got that strange tattoo last week.
B:
And? What do you make of it?
A: It's terrible. She would've looked
better if she didn't have it.
I want "...
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1
vote
1
answer
63
views
"Would've + V3" to talk about the future: I didn’t think you guys would’ve p*ssied out on that one
Source: Buying My Wife a $500,000 Diamond Necklace!, here, 20:20
Producer Michael wants to buy a necklace for his wife. He’s got to the point where he has to negotiate the price with two sellers:
...
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0
votes
1
answer
44
views
I spent all the money in half a year: within half a year VS after half a year
Source: my sentences
When I was 22, I had a brilliant business idea. To bring it into being,
I took out a hefty loan at the bank and borrowed a few thousand from my
family and friends. I spent all ...
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1
vote
3
answers
98
views
So if I "was being" VS "'d been" smart I "would know" VS "would've known" in my third set I would not get eight reps
Source: Understanding Progressive Overload -> here
So, for example, if you're doing four sets of 10, which I was just
doing on the flat press. I like to be in like aim for 10 but be in a
20% ...
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0
votes
2
answers
95
views
I spent 10 years with Didier and "I never saw" vs "I'd never seen" him treat anybody with disrespect
Source: Robert Chalmers, Independent, "Béatrice Dalle: 'I am naturally quite bashful'"
"It was his character that attracted me," Dalle says. "I spent 10
years with Didier and ...
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0
votes
1
answer
73
views
I thought that my employees' attitude to him would be different than if he were a regular newbie
Source: my example
I really wanted my son to work for me at our family company. Eventually, I abandoned this idea because I thought that my employees' attitude toward him would be different than if ...
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2
votes
2
answers
209
views
"it's THE custom to do something" VS "it's A custom to do something"
a pattern from oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com:
It is the custom for somebody to do something.
an example from oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com:
(1a) It is the custom in that country for women to marry ...
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0
votes
1
answer
76
views
And a week later, all of his other carp "had disappeared" vs "disappeared" [duplicate]
Source: The Story of Jeremy and The Ghost Carp is here. 0:30
Many, many years ago, my dad had a fish pond, and I thought one
Christmas, brilliant present. So, I bought him these things called
ghost ...
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0
votes
1
answer
37
views
Present Perfect after "if" to indicate a future action: "if you have worked in this position for half a year..."
I wrote the following dialogue.
A: I'm starting to work as a project manager next Monday. I think this
position will be much more exciting than my previous one.
B:
Initially it might seem more ...
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0
votes
1
answer
99
views
Two reflexive pronouns together: "The image of themselves watching themselves."
Source: Harpers Magazine, The action figure for all seasons, Dennis Cass
There is a pause as the crowd takes a breath to read and reread the
message on the monitors above the stage, before the screen ...
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3
votes
3
answers
689
views
Countable and uncountable "flavour": chocolate-flavoured protein is protein with chocolate flavour or protein has chocolate flavour
I have a question about the use of countable and uncountable versions of the word "flavour," for example, chocolate-flavoured protein is protein with chocolate flavour or protein has ...
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1
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67
views
Placing an unreal past situation in a hypothetical present situation
The dialogue is mine.
Two people are discussing a hypothetical situation:
A: How would your life be different if your parents were rich?
B: I think it would be very different. I’d probably have a ...
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-2
votes
1
answer
101
views
One of them welds "has" vs "had" failed, and "it's" vs "had" blown out, so then flames instead of coming out the back of the car were going
Source: I restored a fire-damaged Lamborghini SVJ is here. 0:45
So, you see titanium exhaust here. It's fully split open. And this car
has a flame tune, so it shoots flames out. When the exhaust is ...
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0
votes
1
answer
122
views
Okay, "how was your day so far?" vs "how has your day been so far?" vs "how is your day going so far?"
Source: The West Wing, (Years: 1999–2006: 155 episodes), Country: USA
-Okay, how was your day so far?
-Very exciting.
What would be the difference between "how has your day been so far? or how'...
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1
vote
3
answers
120
views
What would be the difference between "we've made have turned out," "we made have turned out," and "we've made turned out"?
Washington Journal Dan Caldwall, CSPAN, June 27, 2021
A lot of the intelligence we had about Afghanistan or the estimates we've made have turned out to be incorrect.
Can I use "we made have ...
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0
votes
1
answer
78
views
With one quick motion, she "reached to" vs "reached" the stitching at the neck of her dress and undid her work
They are all from Corpus of Contemporary American English:
Ineffable Christmas, 37221
This door was open, and as he looked through he saw the demon huddled
in bed under a mound of blankets that ...
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0
votes
2
answers
155
views
I always make eggs for breakfast, you know, "for me and my son" vs "for my son and myself."
Source: Fox 5 News Edge at 11, "Salmonella Outbreak," is here, 0:35
I always make eggs for breakfast, you know, for me and my son.
I do understand that she's speaking off the cuff, but ...
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0
votes
0
answers
76
views
The past perfect in sentences with omitted clauses: "[It was obvious that] James had lost the challenge." [duplicate]
Source: Top Gear: Teenage Challenge (Part 3) is here 3:10
Hammond, Clarkson, and May are trying to park their cars by a house (according to the script, belonging to their parents) so quietly as not to ...
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5
votes
2
answers
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views
It was, and the next morning the producers "had entered" vs "entered" us for a race on it
Source: "Top Gear- £1500 Rear wheel drive challenge part 6" is here, 1:14.
Narrator: As night fell, we reached Val Thorens, still wondering what our final challenge might be.
Clarkson: Rear-...
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10
votes
2
answers
1k
views
I thought, Well, I'll take that for my mum because she "won't have eaten" vs "hasn't eaten"
The video "Jeremy Clarkson Why The Porsche 928?" is here 0:11.
In 1994 I was living in London, I got a call one evening from my mom
to say that my dad was desperately ill in a hospital in ...
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0
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views
representing taxpayers
I have the text in internet news:
When key Republican-backed provisions of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” were gutted in the Senate, the executioner was not one of the elected leaders charged with ...
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0
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160
views
I can’t even imagine how much time it "had taken" vs "will have taken"
The sentences are mine.
My friend sent me a really long message yesterday. I can’t even imagine how much time it had taken.
My friend sent me a really long message yesterday. I can’t even imagine how ...
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0
votes
2
answers
94
views
As "the teacher has to locate the child's journal" vs "a teacher has to locate a child's journal" [duplicate]
Source: ACAD: Reading Teacher, 2013, Title: How Do Wii Know: Anecdotal Records Go Digital, Author: Bates, C. C.
Additionally, note-taking applications have the capacity to embed
pictures within the ...
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-2
votes
1
answer
97
views
I couldn't have chosen a better thing "to have been doing" vs "to do" during a pandemic
Source: How a Bee Ruined Jeremy Clarkson's Day | Behind The Scenes Clarkson's Farm | The Grand Tour here. 2:10
Caleb: How did you have to adapt in the pandemic?
Jeremy: It made no
difference, as you ...
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0
votes
1
answer
69
views
"Throw me away from him" VS "Throw suspicion away from yourself"
Book: Lime Creek, 2011, Author: Henry, Joe
And every so often he'll snort and tense and prepare to throw me away
from him, with my left hand smoothing down his neck and my right arm
resting over his ...
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-1
votes
1
answer
96
views
He said, “I’m really sorry, but "we’d lost" vs "we've lost" the information about your request.”
The example is mine.
One sales manager is complaining about their co-worker to another:
The support managers at work don’t listen to me at all. The other day
I asked them not to call one of my ...
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-2
votes
2
answers
99
views
"The course is scheduled for the same time period and classroom" vs "I scheduled the course to be in the same time period and classroom"
Source: Journal of American Ethnic History (summer, 2002), Title: Teaching Irish-American History, Author: Kenny, Kevin
The second half of my Irish-American survey runs from the Great Famine
to the ...
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votes
1
answer
118
views
I really don’t know what I did wrong or what I was or wasn’t supposed "to have done" vs "to do" in that situation
The dialogue is mine.
A - Last week on Tuesday, I had a video call with Maria.
B – Cool! I haven’t seen her for ages. How is she?
A - I don’t know. She wasn’t in a good mood and asked me to sit with ...
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0
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1
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107
views
Thanks to my accuracy with the fish food, Lisa "had landed" vs "landed" a good catch
The video (Jeremy and Lisa Go Fishing in Their Homemade Pond | Clarkson's Farm) is here. 1:35
J - Will you just put it (fish food) where the net is?
L - Okay, fine. There.
J - Thank you.
L - See, ...
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0
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2
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136
views
Since there are "the four other people" vs "four other people", the place is now crowded
The company A works at, offers free English lessons to all the employees. A and B are discussing A's transfer to another team and their new English group. (The dialogue is mine)
A: You know, last ...
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1
vote
1
answer
102
views
I had to get rid of a lot of stuff because my wife "is fed" vs "was fed" up with all the projects that "I’ve had" vs "I'd had."
Forged in Fire, Season 5, Episode 24.
There are four bladesmiths. Each introduces himself:
I’m John Stokes; I’m 25 years old. I consider myself a jack of all
trades. I know a little about a lot, but ...
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2
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160
views
"the river's outlet to the sea" — Why is the possessive case correct here?
britannica.com:
(1) the river's outlet to the sea
What rule allows the use of the possessive case in this specific example?
my variant:
(2) the river outlet to the sea
What's the difference between (1)...
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2
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102
views
I'm pretty sure that when my daughter grows up, "she'll tell" vs "she'll be telling" everybody that she was a very calm kid
The example is mine.
I'm pretty sure that when my daughter grows up, she'll tell everybody that she was a very calm kid.
I'm pretty sure that when my daughter grows up, she'll be telling everybody ...
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3
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156
views
Before James had stopped I fired up the 6.3 litre big. VS Before James stopped I had fired up the 6.3 litre big
The video is (Classic Car Challenge: Grosser Mercedes Vs Rolls-Royce Corniche | Top Gear) here, 6:30
Narrator (Clarkson): Mercifully the next test did involve our engines.
Which car could achieve the ...
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0
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2
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137
views
- So, what have you been doing today? - Chilling. - What exactly "have you been doing" vs "were you doing" vs "did you do"?
The example is mine.
Two people are having a phone conversation late in the evening. Person 1 asks:
So, what have you been doing today?
Person 2 replies:
Mostly chilling.
My question is about the ...
- 1,500
0
votes
3
answers
125
views
I got that off my chest; it "has been bugging" vs "had been bugging" me for a while
The example is mine.
I’ve just had a conversation with Nick. I told him I won’t be able to
come to his birthday party. I got that off my chest; it has been
bugging me for a while.
Should I use "...
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0
votes
2
answers
114
views
Formula One drivers lose up to 10 pounds "during" vs "over" vs "in" the race in Singapore
The sentences are mine.
Formula One drivers lose up to 10 pounds during the race in Singapore.
Formula One drivers lose up to 10 pounds over the race in Singapore.
Formula One drivers lose up to 10 ...
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2
votes
1
answer
195
views
The story about your friends snake that "escaped" vs "had escaped" from its tank
The example is mine.
I remember you told me the story about your friend's snake that escaped
from its tank.
Would you backshift in the last clause?
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0
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1
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78
views
On such cruises there are many people "of the same age" vs "the same age"
The sentences are mine.
On such cruises there are many people of the same age.
On such cruises there are many people the same age.
Should I use "of the same age" or "the same age"?
...
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-1
votes
1
answer
53
views
"I once bought a car" "I bought a car once"
"I once bought a car".I know if I put "I" straight after the "subject" it means formarly/at one point in time in past I bought a car. But could it also mean that "I ...
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0
votes
1
answer
78
views
This is a good time to get IT over to set you up with a printer, to give "the illusion of you having" vs "the illusiion that you have"
How to Deal with Your First Week in a New Job, By Joel Golby, Vice.
This is a good time to get IT over to set you up with a printer, to
give the illusion of you having work to do but not being able ...
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1
vote
1
answer
65
views
Placement of relative clauses: "Contextual factors are crucial to understanding wise reasoning, which were previously underestimated"
He emphasizes that contextual factors (external influences) are crucial to understanding wise reasoning, which were previously
underestimated.
This sentence is from my classmate’s essay. When I was ...
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1
vote
1
answer
57
views
Only on Sunday did I remember that I was supposed "to have sent" vs "to send" the report
The example is mine.
Sorry for not sending you the report on time. Last working week was so
hectic and unproductive that on Saturday I needed to catch up on my
backlog. Only on Sunday did I remember ...
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-5
votes
1
answer
89
views
"How long will it/you be to sleep" "How long will it/you take to sleep"
How long will it/you be to sleep
How long will it/you take to sleep
Could you please tell me If these questions are asking about the time required to complete the task or the time required to start a ...
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-2
votes
1
answer
82
views
"I do not have a car" " I do not have a motor bike too"
If other person asks you "Do you have a Car"? I reply back that "I do not have a Car" and if other person asks an additional question and asks "Do you have a Motor Bike"? ...
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