Questions tagged [phrase-usage]
This tag is for questions about how to use a particular phrase. If your question is a request for a phrase to use, you should use the "phrase-request" tag.
4,061 questions
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Do you have a name for an open space under a counter for keeping a microwave?
This picture was created by Chatgpt, no source used.
My kitchen counter has a space under to keep a microwave in.
Do you have a name for that space?
I remember I used to work in a warehouse in ...
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Make someone used to something
I know that we can use the collocation "get someone used to something" as in
I need to get myself used to her temper.
How about a situation where someone is forced to get used to something?...
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Does "I am squatting down on the floor" emphasize I am moving my body down to a squat position?
Oxford dictionary has this example "Children were squatting on the floor.". So I guess the children were in that squat position, not that they were moving their bodies lower to the squat ...
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What is the part of speech of "25 dollars" in "I earn 25 dollars more than I did"?
In the past I earned 20 dollars an hour and now I earn 25 dollars an hour.
Is it correct to say:
"25 is more than 20",
"I earn 5 dollars more than I did". It seems like "...
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Is it correct to say "Press the button (on the lid) open"?
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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Miss a spot vs Miss the spot
Is it correct to use "to miss the spot" interchangeably with "to miss a spot" when referring
to accidentally not covering an entire area and needing to go back to
cover that small ...
- 135
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Is it correct to say "you have been in or on my mind"?
According to Oxford Learners Dictionary,
mind (sense 1): the part of a person that makes them able to be aware of things, to think and to feel
There was no doubt in his mind that he'd get the job.
You'...
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Is it rude to say "hold your horses" to someone who is older or in a formal situation? [closed]
Say president Donald Trump imposed a series of tariffs on several countries at once.
Suppose British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had a talk with Donald Trump.
In the formal talk, Starmer said to Trump ...
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Does "market reach" work in my sentence?
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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Can we have a direct speech after "People believe"?
we say
He said "I love you"
but
He said to me that he loved me
Normally, when I see a verb in a dictionary that has a structure "verb + that + indirect speech", that verb also ...
- 26.8k
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1
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What is the difference between "I opened the window", "I had the window open" and "I had the window opened"?
-open is a verb
She opened all the windows wide to let some fresh air in.
-open is also an adjective
All the windows were wide open.
-we have this structure
have something done (used with a past ...
- 26.8k
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1
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What is the action of accepting just a small part of a big thing that someone gives you to appreciate your help called?
Say you spend the whole day helping your friend to paint his house. At the end of the day, your friend wants to give you 500 USD or a lot of food as a way of appreciating your help.
How do you act ...
- 26.8k
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2
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Do we have this structure "to glue something into something"?
A teacher glued a piece of paper to a page and the page was inside or of my book.
We can say "I had a piece of paper glued to a page of my book".
But "the page" is not too ...
- 26.8k
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With a comparative such as "Jack does X as often as Jill" should "does" be added at the end of the phrase?
Which is the better usage
Jack washes his hands as often as Jill
or
Jack washes his hands as often as Jill does?
Does the answer depend on the level of formality of the discourse?
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Is the word "blacklist" too strong for a student who broke a school rule, eg. "Mary was blacklisted for not tucking in her school shirt"?
In a public school in Vietnam, if a student was caught wearing his school shirt untucked, a Red Star team of the school would write his name on a book and reported it to his teacher and the teacher ...
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"All the other + noun": does "the" always emphasise the finite number of things in a group?
I came across the following sentence:
In my great-grandparent's time people didn't have the distractions of
television, the Internet or all the other technological marvels which
compete for our ...
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2
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Is it correct to say "an office workman" instead of "an office worker"?
cambridge.org:
a worker — someone who works in a particular job or in a particular way
Therefore, we can say "an office worker".
cambridge.org:
a workman — a man who uses physical skill ...
- 6,416
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Can we use "at stake" in a sentence that we mean we win something, for example "this money is at stake; we could win it all if we succeed"?
at stake that can be won or lost, depending on the success of a
particular action
So, as I understand this above definition, if something is at stake, it can be won or lost.
However, I often see ...
- 26.8k
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It’s going to cost an awful lot of money. (do we need 'of money' here?)
It’s going to cost an awful lot of money.
Can I say "It's going to cost an awful lot." instead of the example sentence?
I think 'cost a lot' makes sense.
- 5,157
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Why a native speaker would say "If I am ......" when he is talking hypotethically?
In 2023, Trump told CNN: "If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours." It's a claim he repeated several times. BBC
The sentence was said when he wasn't a president. ...
- 9,206
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Do we have this structure "to hold something + adjective", for example, "hold the fountain pen leaned"?
I think we have this structure "to eat something + adjective" for example "he ate the meat raw" and "raw" here is the adjective that modifies the noun "the meat"...
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Considerably drunk? [closed]
I found the phrase "incredibly tipsy" in a British English text.
As I understand the meaning of "tipsy" to be 'slightly drunk', the phrase struck me as paradoxical ('incredibly ...
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"goes a long way towards" + noun or gerund
(1) Having a good accent in a foreign language goes a long way towards becoming an effective spy.
(2) Having a good accent in a foreign language goes a long way towards conducting effective espionage.
...
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3
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150
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Is it correct to say "finish what you started" in this situation?
My daughter was in the middle of doing several tests. Then, she stopped to play outside. When she come back, is it natural for me to say "finish what you started" or "finish where you ...
- 26.8k
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1
answer
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Harry Potter: man with hardly any neck
At the beginning of Harry Potter it talks about Mr. Dursley, about a man with hardly any neck
I think I understand the meaning of this phrase: "he has a thin neck." But I can't stop thinking ...
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Are the adjective "low-key" and "low-profile" interchangeable?
According to Oxford dictionary
low-profile adjective: receiving or involving very little attention
a low-profile campaign
low-key adjective: not intended to attract a lot of attention
Their wedding ...
- 26.8k
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2
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66
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Are "Waste a fortune on it" and "Waste an arm and a leg on it" common and natural?
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 ...
- 26.8k
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The global wine drought that never was (title of news text that seems like truncated at first sight)
This is the title of a news text:
The global wine drought that never was
BBC - Wine shortage
The title caught my attention in that it sounded like truncated, but then I understood it was the past ...
- 9,206
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1
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What is the English expression saying a person is in a very good environment that helps him to make the most of his ability?
Say, Bob graduated from university with a degree in computer science. He found a job in a company. They put him in the software department and he couldn't do his job well because he was better at ...
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Is there a difference between 'sit at home' and 'stay at home'?
Is it possible to say:
I can go to the theatre instead of sitting at home.
If it is, is there a difference between sit at home and stay at home?
Alex the Great
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Can I say "the book is upside-down" when it lies flat on a table?
My 2-year-old son holds his book the wrong way as explained below.
I think "the book is upside-down" looks like this when it is held vertically.
(source)
However, say the book is lying flat ...
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What does “have of you” mean in the following sentence? [closed]
“There are things I would have of you. Draw closer. You will learn what they are.” What does “have of you” mean in that sentence? Is “have of” a phrase? Can you also explain the grammar of “have of ...
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Specifying program length with regards to intermission
If a theater program / brochure says "2 hours with intermission", does it mean the time for intermission is included in the 2 hours?
What should the program / brochure say if the ...
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"Come home to"—Usage
I "came home to" an unhappy state of affairs.
—From Cambridge dictionary
What's the phrase express in this context, after my research I only found the phrase refers to"fully understand ...
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I got down to it. | Does it mean "to hit the bottom" or "to start to do something"?
A famous person is telling a interviewer about how she fought with her illness, along with many other problems in her life (divorce, etc) during this process. At one point she said:
There was a part ...
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Is "as" used as pronoun in "Such....as" in sentences?
Here in below a sentence from 'Word power made easy Norman lewis' book.
The church proscribes, or announces a proscription (pro-SKRIP-shon) against, such activities as may harm its parishioners.
In ...
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is it correct to say to a man "such a drama king" or "such a drama queen"?
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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Do we have an idiom saying a person talks too loudly or often screams?
My 6-year-old daughter often screams or yells at ChatGPT when it doesn't understand her.
Vietnamese people sometimes will say "you're such a big mouth!" (literally translated from Vietnamese)...
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'What's it?' vs. 'What is it?' in terms of usage
What's the difference between 'What's it?' and 'What is it?' in usage?
When and where, how often, and so on.
There is, for instance, this passage:
Can we go to the beach and collect another one?
A ...
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Is the verb "adhere" transitive?
I checked several dictionary, and they all say "adhere" is intransitive. I didn't see one saying "adhere" is transitive.
For example, The stamp adhered to the envelope.
However, ...
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The Correctness of This Phrase
Does this phrase sound idiomatic:
Hoping the quotes will delight you as much as I was...
Or is there a better way of wording it?
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Is it correct to say "You buttoned your shirt unevenly"?
A child is putting on a shirt. He is buttoning his shirt wrong.
His 2nd button went through the 1st hole, his 3rd button went through the 2nd hole and his 4th button went through the 3rd hole (see the ...
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Does the phrase "a further few" sound natural to you? E.g.: "A further few volunteers were needed."
The textbook "The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language" (CGEL), page 353:
(1) A further few volunteers were needed.
Since the phrase "a further few" is one which doesn't occur ...
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Are "I couldn't iron the drapes" and "I couldn't iron out the drapes" similar in meaning?
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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Is it correct to say "I have paronychia in my finger" or "I have paronychia on my finger"?
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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How does the speaker imagine the location when choosing "take vs bring"?
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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Does "I juiced the orange" imply we are using a tool like a juicer or blender?
"Juice" is a noun but also a verb.
In the Oxford dictionary,
juice something to get the juice out of fruit or vegetables
Juice two oranges.
If I solely based on the definition of the ...
- 26.8k
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Is it correct for you (using a desk phone) to say "Please hold the line" when the person at the other end is using a smartphone?
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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Does "the man went to the left of the building" refer to "the man's left" or "the speaker's left" or "the building's left"?
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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Do you say "in the dotted line"? [closed]
"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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