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Is it Either? Is it Or? Is it Neither? Use the Phrase-Choice tag to help you complete the perfect sentence, say what you really mean, and learn new words and phrases.

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I have the text in book Dogwood by Chris Fabry: I whirled in the seat and grabbed his right arm in a death grip. Carson overcompensated and jerked the wheel left, weaving into the next lane. A horn ...
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We can say: I wiped the dirt off my face ("off" here is a preposition) Instead of saying that, we can just say I wiped my face off ("off" here is an adverb) My question is that, We ...
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Source: Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC, September 29, 2015) Jimmy: That's funny. Has there ever been a situation where you didn't know your lines before? Viola: There's been a situation where I have not ...
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I wrote this example. The cooling system on my PC gave in/gave out yesterday. One of the hoses burst and leaked the coolant onto my new graphics card. Do both "give in" and "give out&...
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1- "lean" is intransitive. Normally, "the ladder is leaning against the wall" expresses a state is static. It already in its final position, touching the wall at an angle. But say, ...
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What would you call something that is a clearly defined, measurable result you intend to achieve by a specific date, expressed in concrete terms (numbers, facts, scales, or expert assessments - see ...
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The dictionary says: fall short fail to meet an expectation or standard. Say a company set a sale target of 1 million dollar in revenue per year. There are 2 situations: Situation 1: the company ...
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I have been watching a lot of American movies and recently I hear people (in the movies) say "I'll be in and out" a couple of times in action movies or movies about gangsters. The dictionary ...
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In an essay, I wrote: The figure jumped dramatically from 0 in 2000 to 9 billion dollars six years later/after six years. Here's his comment: "The change did not take place six years later =&...
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I am sure these sentences imply the race is finished: -he came first in the race -he finished first in the race -he won first place in the race I am also sure these sentences imply the race is not ...
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I remembered an English speaker (not sure if he is a native English speaker) rejected the phrase "I woke up my tablet". He said I should use "I unlocked my tablet". But I didn't ...
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The amount of water consumed in agriculture was 400 billion cubic meters in India in 2010. In 2010, water consumption for agricultural use in India amounted to 400 billion cubic meters. I think ...
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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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I have made up the sentences below. (1a) I say to Jack, "The man ten feet ahead of us dropped a bottle of water. I think he didn't notice that he dropped it." (2a) I say to Jack, "The ...
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The example is mine. The LC-500 is a pedal-assisted bike that can run under your power as well as its battery. When you get tired of pedaling, just switch over to the electric motor and enjoy the ...
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The example is mine. I haven't seen my old classmate since graduation. I really don't know how her fate turned out/how things turned out for her. Which one is more idiomatic if I'd like to say that ...
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The example is mine. A message to my fitness instructor. (I have some prepaid sessions in my account.) Hello. I'm afraid I need to skip our appointment due to unforeseen circumstances. I'm aware that ...
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What is the difference usage of "Oh My God!" and "Oh My Gosh!"? According to my research, some native English speakers on Quora say very few people use "Gosh" these days ...
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The Oxford Learner's Dictionary says "to crouch" and "to squat" are synonyms. But I guess there is difference. It seems when you squat, your bottom is on your heels but when you ...
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There have been a lot of difficult economic situations and market fluctuations in the recent 30 years, but none of those devalued high-end artworks significantly. There have been a lot of difficult ...
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A: What are you doing on Friday? B: I’m meeting up with my friends from work. A: Why do you always call them that? You never get any support or help. They don’t give you anything you need. B: That’s ...
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According to Merriam-Webster, it's "apply for college"—no question about that. However, what if I want to get into a university? What do I say? "Apply for university"?
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MSc. is title of Magister Scientiae, scriptum in Lingua Latina, and MSc. Robotics is a degree specifically in the interdisciplinary field of Robotics. For context, a master's degree is evident ...
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A: I’ve decided to become a vegan. B: Great news. From now on, your shopping is going to take three times as much time as it used to. A: Why? B: I think now you’ll have to read all the labels ...
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At 8:30 pm yesterday, my daughter went to her bed and got on it. She should have started to sleep in 10 or 20 minutes but she lay there talking with chatbot for a long time and wouldn't fall asleep ...
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This snippet is part of a student's piece of writing. It's a review about a movie and the impact some of its scenes has on viewers. Although the present perfect is used appropriately, I feel the ...
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Say you are going through a door that is pretty low. Can I say "watch your head", "watch the door", "mind your head" or "mind the door"? Do we say "watch + ...
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I just encountered a phrase, "in many a moon", while watching Peppa Pig: Visitors? I haven't had visitors in many a moon. I can guess the meaning using the context (just like "once in ...
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Say he started having a continuous pain in his head at 9 am and the pain has been in his head until now (10 am) and the pain might stop at 11 am. Now at 10 am, we say "he has a headache". ...
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Let's say 1902 people watched a show. Can I say these interchangeably: Nineteen hundred and two people watched the show. One thousand nine hundred and two people watched the show. I am sure we can ...
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I was taught that we use "hear" for something we don't concentrate on and "listen to" for things that we really focus on. That is a general concept, but when applying that to real ...
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Oxford dictionary has this structure: press something + adj. He pressed the lid firmly shut. (+ adv./prep.) Press here to open. I guess the adjective "shut" modifies the noun "the lid&...
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I want to say that celebrities can reach a lot of people. For example, if they post a post on Instagram, a lot of people would view it. In contrast, the average worker doesn't have the ability to ...
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Is "Can I leave you the control" a colloquial, familiar way of asking someone whether you can hand them a remote control for them to hand it over to the person in charge of the electrical ...
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The context is that there were four pears, one apple, five oranges, and one banana on the table. Someone who was there is now telling someone else about the fruit they saw. I know it's possible to use ...
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The answer key says for number 10 only 'made it out of there' is correct (Grammar and Vocabulary For CAE & CPE exams: Page 258). Why can I not say "I am glad we made it out from there: it ...
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I'm not sure if I'm using a transitive version of "look" or an intransitive one. I'm writing a short story about a village headman who is trying to find his successor. He gathers young men ...
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According to Ngram, out of "waste a fortune", "spend a fortune", "waste an arm and a leg", "spend an arm and a leg"; "spend a fortune" is the most ...
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I'm learning to describe the changes in a map and would like to know diverse ways to describe this. What should I write here? The village grew southwards. The village expanded southwards. The ...
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Most dictionaries have "drama queen" to mean a person who behaves as if a small problem or event is more important or serious than it really is. Oh, stop being such a drama queen! Although a ...
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I came across this example in thefreedictionary.com iron something out Lit. to use a flatiron to make cloth flat or smooth. I ironed out the drapes. the verb "iron" means to make ...
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I can distinguish the difference between "in" and "on", if it is very clear to do so. But there are things that people don't know if they use them with "in" or "on&...
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I read this question The correct usage of bring vs. take Andrew said Which verb you choose reflects what point-of-view from which you imagine the movement. If you picture yourself already at the ...
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There are some scenarios about Mary giving Jen a call. Situation 1: Both used desk phones or phones using lines. Mary and Jen can say "Please hold the line". Situation 2: Mary used a ...
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A speaker is looking at a man like the above picture. The man is facing the front of a building. The speaker said "the man went to the left of the building". Does the speaker refer to the ...
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"dotted line" often goes with "on". For example, these are from Oxford dictionary Write your name on the dotted line. Just sign on the dotted line and the car is yours. Also, ...
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An object and the the shape of an object are different. An object has several properties, such as shape, weight, texture, and function. Shape describes the outline or the form an object takes in space....
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Do all four phrases mean exactly the same when filled in the following example? Children in the ____ from 5 to 10 were quickly cured. To me there's no difference at all. What do you think?
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Looking at the information in more detail, we can see that people between the ages of 55 and 64 consumed the most fruit and vegetables per day, with 33% of males and 35% of females eating five or more ...
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(1) He explained it differently from the way you did. [my sentence] I assume that my sentence is correct and natural. Is it possible to replace differently from the way you did with differently from ...
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