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Questions tagged [orthography]

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This tag is for questions about the written representation of the English language, especially spelling and word breaks.

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To highlight spelling differences, I'm asking which is correct, not what it suggests. This is not similar to these questions. Please do not close this question as a duplicate, because I'm asking why. ...
user793460's user avatar
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According to the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, the primary stresses are /ˈsleeping pill/ and /ˈpillbox/. According to Garner, its deep morphology would still be [sleeping [[pillbox]]. So how is ...
JMGN's user avatar
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I find it peculiar that so many English learners seem to think that "writing" is written with two T:s. Is this an influence from some other language (which one?) or somehow otherwise ...
tripleee's user avatar
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1 answer
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Is the F in the picture an acceptable capital letter? As the length of the lower horizontal line equals to the upper horizontal line. This is not a font question. That’s a very basic question or a ...
monique Yeung's user avatar
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I'm trying to write a short paragraph about an animal island and I'm a bit confused as to what would be the correct sentence to use for the title.
Frikar's user avatar
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Silly question, but which spelling is correct here? Like, say, "sword-fighting scenes" or "swordfighting scenes" or "sword fighting scenes".
user175943's user avatar
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American Spelling British Spelling defen(s)e defen(c)e ([A-Za-z]+)ize ([A-Za-z]+)ise [A-Za-z]+ is a regular expression meaning "one or more letters" We do not have to use regular expressions ...
Samuel Muldoon's user avatar
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Is this sentence grammatically correct and coherent? Based on the availability of my examining committee and committee chair, Tuesday, January 17th, 1 PM - 3PM works for everyone for my candidacy ...
Exploring's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
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I'm designing a computer program dealing with double quotation and grammar. The program has to correct the wrong input text. Example:- Input:- He said, “the case is far from over, and we will win.” ...
user452779's user avatar
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Error     Correction Discipline at public life ensures        (e.g.)       at                in peace and harmony, who in turn          (a)  ______   ______ offer the required impetous              ...
Particle king's user avatar
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Debt, rhetoric, style: all these words have a silent 'b','h', and 'e'. In my test paper, this is known as a result of deletion rule. But why doesn't the 'gh' in 'flight' count as deleted?
Agent Chuobao's user avatar
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In my native language, we use a colon and a hyphen after a price to show that there are no decimals involved, so, we write for instance €10:- to show that the price is ten euros exactly; not, say, ten ...
Helen's user avatar
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I’ve now seen three spellings for the same term: The Wikipedia article is called Breastfeeding. The Unicode standard calls the 🤱 emoji breast-feeding. Google adds “Did you mean: breastfeeding?” to ...
scy won't contribute anymore's user avatar
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I have a question about this sentence I have found during my daily study rutine of English learning: Anyone have anything they'd like to add to the agenda? I don't understand why is used 'they' ...
Carmoreno's user avatar
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I was reading a question in aviation.se and there were multiple planes. There were several planes with the designation of P-3 Orion, so it was worded Orions. There were several planes with the ...
CGCampbell's user avatar
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3 answers
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I am an English teacher who has never really learned the complex rules of teaching pronunciation. Many learners here in Spain have difficulties deciding whether an "i" in a word is long or ...
Patricia's user avatar
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I know that both the words are pronounced and used differently. I also found another question on this site: "Use of loose and lose [closed]", but that is about the usage of the word. My ...
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5 votes
2 answers
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I am realizing sometimes when talking, I always say: Oh that guy catched up with me! But then I realized there is a way to say: Oh that guy caught up with me! I may think the grammar of "...
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I am writing a story. A peer gave me the suggestion to change the "once great" to "once-great". Here is the sentence: He was tall and his body frame showed the signs of stoutness ...
user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
636 views

I'm currently writing an essay. I don't know whether or not it's 'dubious looking' or 'dubious-looking' when describing a noun. For example, 'dubious(-)looking' form. I know the hyphen is used when ...
Jan's user avatar
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My questions are: the words sun glasses mean the same as sunglasses? And both are grammatically correct? And both are still in use?
user125904's user avatar
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I am not a native English speaker and I am learning English. Sometimes I will get baffled by the pronunciations used in English. It is very difficult to pronounce something just by looking at it. ...
Infinity_hunter's user avatar
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I'm aware that you should add an hyphen in un-American and not add a hyphen in unstylish. How about when it's a foreign word and, therefore, you're creating a new usage? Talking to my parents is the ...
wyc's user avatar
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1 answer
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For example, is the correct phrase English-language journals or English language journals?
Laurie's user avatar
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Which of the spelling is correct? “fulfil” or “fulfill”? I can find both spellings on the web, although “fulfil” is more common.
Culver Kwan's user avatar
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How do I correctly describe somebody’s position within a ranked list for a competition when their position is not yet final because the competition hasn’t finished yet and so I am showing only the ...
English Lerneriene's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
3k views

I'd like to know the name of the process in English in which you swap the first letters of two words. I can't explain it well but see the examples below: Taylor Swift -> Saylor Twift London Town -> ...
user avatar
12 votes
6 answers
8k views

Hoping is the present participle of hope. hopping is the present participle of hop. Hoping has only one p while hopping has two. What difference does it make? Why is hoping not hopping? Edit: I ...
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2 votes
1 answer
1k views

It is correct to write four thirty for (4:30am/pm)? I do know that sometimes we will tell the time in that way but is it correct when it comes to writing? Or would it only be correct when we write "...
Jaen39nc's user avatar
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2 answers
377 views

My horse paints beautiful photos. {Here I understand why the "s" is used} These pigs usually cook[s] dinner. {Why the "s" isn't used here?} Your dog, cat and chicken get[s] along well. {Neither here}...
Ricardo Passos's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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The bird feels the breeze all around it when it's in mid-air. Is it "mid-air", "mid air" or "midair"? I have seen all three of them in various context, so I am not sure if all of them are valid.
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2 votes
2 answers
8k views

Which of the following sentences is correct? I'm unsure regarding the participant(s). Figures showing the distribution of the participants' ratings on the math tasks. Figures showing the ...
machinery's user avatar
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2 answers
5k views

I saw both over think and overthink are used. Are they correct? Is overthink preferable or I can use no matter which one?
maria's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
1k views

I used to write 'can not'. But a website like grammarly correct it to 'cannot'. I am confused which one to use?
None's user avatar
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2 answers
4k views

I would like others to explain this to me. Which is correct? goosebumps goose bumps Thank you!
user84077's user avatar
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12 votes
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I have heard/seen people say/write "She is 5 feet 10 inches tall" and "She is 5-foot-10." But in formal writing, is there a convention? I found both "8-foot-tall" and "nine-feet tall" in online ...
Eddie Kal's user avatar
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2 answers
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Can you recommend me a good source of hyphenation rules in English? Something that would begin with explaining how words are divided into syllables, which I am not entirely sure about. For example, ...
lebatsnok's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
4k views

You usually use "fiancé" with "é" and not "e" as "fiance". Why? I know "É" is a letter of the Latin alphabet, and the word "fiancé" refers to mid 19th century: from French, past participle of ...
Peace's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
125 views

For years between 30 to 39 AD you say: 30's For years between 20 to 29 AD you say: 20's For years between 10 to 19 AD you say: 10's But what about the years between 0 to 9 AD? Is it 0's? Note: There ...
Peace's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
411 views

Is there a difference between how we pronounce: The verb "use" and The noun 'use" In other words, the transcription for the verb use is /ju:z/; is the transcription of the noun &...
User384789's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
298 views

Sometimes in archaic books and in different scrolls, books and texts in old games I meet the letter "s" resembling a sail (Wikipedia article here calls it the cursive form). Is it still used in ...
SovereignSun's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
206 views

A friend who is a lawyer and reads a lot spells badly and it's affecting her practice. Spellcheckers are ok but they don't work in all cases, for instance when there are two words that sound the same ...
Norbert's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
5k views

How do I know when to spell a word with "r-" or "wr-"? For example, (wr)ap and (r)ap, (wr)ing and (r)ing. Both sets have the same R sound but different spellings. Is there a way of working out ...
user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
6k views

In te next sentence: We use "this" only in the first question. The answer and the other questions use "it" Is correct? If the above is correct, then the following example: - Is this a gull? - no, ...
ymk369's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
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This is a long error that has run with me, so it is better to have to an understanding of why, I always used I in small letters, whereas I am always corrected that it is a capital I e.g I am not ...
localhost's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
446 views

I am interested in pronunciation of the letter Y at the end of the words, such as city, story, belly, penny and so on. Wonder what sound it denotes. I understand it is some kind of [i] sound. But is ...
Alexander's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
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Do we say the 90's burgers, the 90s' burgers , or do we simply not add an apostrophe to it?
Sdilly's user avatar
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1 answer
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This book is the first volume and part of a ten-year period of.. This book is the first volume and part of a ten years period of.. This book is the first volume and part of the ten year period of.. ...
SkyRex1's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
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For example: Brandon's house instead Brandon house. How is that rule named, I'm trying to improve my English.
numero 1's user avatar
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33 votes
3 answers
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The noun (and verb) rollback on Stack Exchange means to undo or reverse an edit. I'm not sure if there is a difference between the two, but that's how I understand it. Recently, I posted the past ...
Mari-Lou A's user avatar
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