Questions tagged [writing]
For questions specifically related to written English.
336 questions
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How many vowels in each syllable?
I'm trying to improve my spelling, and I came across this article, which states that "Every syllable has one vowel'.
How can this be true while words like room, pain, eat, grow, etc. Have one ...
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Is "fights his way down" natural if I want to emphasize that it's a struggle?
Context:
Inside the burning building, David fights his way down the smokey stairwell.
In this sentence , Is "fights his way down" natural if I want to emphasize that it's a struggle?
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offers no sympathy
I wrote this:
The man does a couple of breathing exercises to calm himself before
take-off. The woman seated next to him gives him a look.
Man: Sorry. I'm just a little nervous about flying.
The ...
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1
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Rewriting short sentences to full sentences
Michael Swan in his book Practical English Usage (page 1) writes:
Some styles of writing and speech have their own grammatical rules, often because of the need to save space and time.
Informal notes, ...
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Writing : Would you quit killing after how many people you would kill? [closed]
A : Would you quit killing after how many people you would kill ?
B : I would quit killing after I would kill five more.
(or I would quit after I will make the number 10, which is the number of ...
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Expressing potayto-potahto, tomayto-tomahto correctly in writing
There's a saying expressing that the presented concepts are distinct without a difference. It's based on the pronunciation of potato and tomato. How would one go about writing that differnece in an ...
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"They told me to come tomorrow?"
I'd like you to help me with this simple question. I want to know if the question is correct, I do also would like to know what tense is used in it.
Thanks for helping me.
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Style of writing inside a manual
I would like to ask about the style of English that is used (or has to be used) for a technical manual.
In other languages it seems to be different, but I have read many technical books in English ...
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Spoken English and casual writing [closed]
1: "When someone tries to win a war before it starts innocent people die everytime"
2: "He takes Watson wicket, scoring 100, 3 sixes and 7 fours"
Be aware first one taken a movie called Avengers: ...
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How much repetition is too much?
These are the opening sentences of the first chapter of a book I'm writing on wattpad.
I’ve always been waiting.
I waited for many things - maybe even everything.
In queues to our canteen’...
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That contains VS containing
what is the difference between:
"How to create a file that contains a list of names"
and
"How to create a file containing a list of names"
And what is the type of the word "containing" here?
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How can I finish this sentence?
Help me finish this sentence:
when students have formed a habit of speaking comfortably and confidently, they will benefit when they step out into society and later chapters of their lives.
I feel ...
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1
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Use ‘for’ or not
Those who missed the 20 years of the show, this is a very rare footage.
‘For’ those who missed the 20 years of the show, this is a very rare footage.
Does the ‘for’ in the second sentence sound odd or ...
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Improve English writing by oneself without human feedback?
I was born in China and currently live and work in Hong Kong. English is my second language. My IELTS writing score (academic module) is in the 6 - 6.5 band range.
I have always wanted to write good ...
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Using "then" in this context
As a non-native learner, Our 10-line essay on daily routine is full of the word then.
I get up at 6 o clock in the morning. Then I make my bed and go to the bathroom.
Then I have breakfast with my ...
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6
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The correct capital G and J in cursive
I've come across two versions of writing a capital G and a capital J in cursive. I cannot understand which one is correct because Wikipedia shows that the capital G from my textbook is, in fact, the ...
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What does "the closest it was expected to be" mean in context
*Tapah = A typhoon.
*Busan = The country’s second-largest city.
Tapah was expected to pass about 130 kilometers southeast of Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, at around 6 p.m. Sunday and 170 km south ...
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How can I say that an idea goes into another, more global concept?
After listing some points in my essay I need to say that all they go into a definite concept. What words can I use here?
Here is my complete sentence:
Goals, challenges, self-discovery, ...
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What would you call someone who continues to be the "first one" to achieve something?
I want to write a sentence which tells someone is continuing to "be the first one to do/achieve whatever" and keeps breaking records.
For example, there's a singer in my country who became the first ...
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Give an example sentence: (Correct?)
Is this sentence correct?
Give an example sentence:
I'm not sure whether there is a phrase ' example sentence' or not.
I always use:
Give an example:
or
Give a sentence as an example:
or
...
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2
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How to tell apart a long "oh" and a long "oo"?
In this comic there's a long "ooooooh" at the end.
How can I tell if it's a long "oh" (/o/) or a long "oo" (/uː/)?
I thought it could be the 'h', but I don't think I've never seen "ooooooo" anywhere....
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Is this sentence rewritten correctly?
"What do you usually do on Fridays?" she asked.
I have to rewrite this sentence using did.
She wanted to know what I usually did on Fridays.
Is this sentence correct?
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Is "et al." one or two words?
I use et al. to refer to a paper with more than two authors. However, the word et got separated by a line (due to line end) and the word al. cam in the beginning of a new line.
... Authorname [end ...
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Usage of "although" in this sentence
"Many students complain about the pile of homeworks they have to do. Although, they fail to realize the importance homeworks in retention of information.."
is the usage of although acceptable / ...
user352465
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What makes a piece of writing good/attractive?
I am trying to improve my English writing skills. But I don't know what a good piece of written work means and hence cannot set my goal/target. Does using hard/rare words and metaphors makes one's ...
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Present Progressive for story telling
I know we can use present simple tense for story telling even in the sentences with the meaning of continous tense but I'm not sure that I can use present continous tense.
For example: I'm walking ...
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407
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Are three dots (...) used to indicate only ellipsis?
I googled it and found out that three dots (...) in English means "ellipsis",
But in my language, we use three dots quite commonly not only when we use ellipsis but also in the title of an article, ...
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I am writing slides. I want to explain how it works. and I should write how does it work or how it works as the title of one slide?
I am not sure which one I should use, please help me.
How it works?
How does it work?
Thanks.
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Is there a technique that’ll help me in writings
my question is vividly clear in above.
My current technique is, If I see that the word does sound right from my perspective or from my previous readings, I write it down.
And sometimes I pronounce ...
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What tense is this: "Why'd you make him live all those years alone?"
In the movie "Something big" with Dean Martin, Mr. Baker asks colonel's wife:
"Why'd you make him live all those years alone?"
What tense is that? Grammary suggest me:
Why'd you made him live all ...
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Letter to a colleague, Formal or Informal?
Recently I have got a question as below:
Write a letter to one of your former colleagues about your upcoming visit to the city where you both worked together. In this letter please include:
-Your ...
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How to give multiple, possible options for an appointment? [closed]
Simple suggestions for an appointment...
We could meet on Friday at 2 p.m.
Are you available on Monday at 10 a.m.?
...can become quite cumbersome when many possible dates have to be given due ...
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What is the correct conjugation of the verb fill in this sentence? Could you please explain grammar in this sentence?
A) Inflation is once again a major concern, violent crimes is on the rise, cases of corruption filling the press, healthcare in precarious state, insfrastructure projet not materialized and street ...
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I wonder if this sentence is a shortened version of a certain sentence [duplicate]
"Many vendors can be seen selling it now in the city."
I came across this sentence online which is quite strange to me in terms of sentence structure (grammar). why do 2 verbs "seen" "selling" stand ...
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Named coordinates: How to spell?
I'm uncertain which is the proper writing for x/y/z-coordinates :
With a space, like so : X Coordinate? Or with a hyphen (X-Coordinate)?
Capitalize X or leave it lower case? I tend to choose lower ...
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Is it okay to finish an informal letter with "that's it for now"?
That's it for now, give my love to your father.
Write back soon.
Yours,
X
Someone has said that it is a mistake and one should write 'That's all for now...' Is it okay to finish an ...
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3
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Parenthesis with apostrophe, how to order and how to space?
I have a very simple phrase:
I want to introduce Adam's kid
I want to insert a pair of parentheses for Adam, say, should be like this:
I want to introduce Adam (my friend)'s kid
But I'm not sure ...
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Putting a comma after 'taking everything into account'
Is a comma after 'Taking everything into account' required when introducing the conclusion of an essay?
For instance:
Taking everything into account(,) one should choose one's job paying attention ...
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What is a better way to write X increases as Y increases?
What is a better way to write X increases as Y increases?
Two increases seem repetitive.
Thanks.
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Hyphen between words
Does AP Style recommend a hyphen between the words philosophically-inclined?
I have searched several editing and grammar sites and still do not know the correct answer.
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The difference between "having seen"," having to see", and "having seeing", in the sentences down below?
The difference between "having seen"," having to see", and "having seeing", in the sentences down below ?
Following is an excerpt from ' A Study in Scarlet'.
1- "from a drop of water,"said the ...
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Strange sounding instruction - I found you X
Trying to create a notification message for a user on a website.
Right now, the flow is that following some search, results are presented to a user with text such as:
"I Found you these great ...
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Which are the differences between the verbs "to say" and "to tell"? [closed]
i don't know in which contexts I have to use One of these two verbs?
Can anyone help me?
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is a sentence used to introduce a step in a long essay considered fragment?
For example: an essay about steps to become a successful student
Firstly, memorizing every day. [then all the other supporting sentences]
Secondly, having a good amount of sleep every day. [then all ...
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How to make "can you tell me guys" with respect?
I am writing mail for my seniors. I want to ask something like, Can you tell me guys which port I have to use? How to make this word as polite?
mkHun
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A little question of comma
In my country,our teachers teach us that we should use comma "," in many situations. Such as,the situation we mention at least three words in the same part of speech in a sentence.
Like the sentence ...
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Is the following all right in formal English?
There are a few modern approaches that describe how to design a robust architecture for Android application. I am going to analyse them and develop a sample application that uses an apropriate ...
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2
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A word to use in articles to mean a chapter for additional content
I am creating an article. I have chapters such as Objective, Preamble, Assumptions, Instructions. I need to add a chapter for some things that are out of the article essence but related to and ...
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Is there a standard or recommended handwriting style for students?
I'm learning English as a foreign language and I'm trying to improve my handwriting style. My native language (Persian) is not written through Latin alphabets and I'm not familiar with shaping the ...
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Using Capital letter for a word in a sentence I want to put emphasis on?
I sometimes tend to use the Capital letter for some words in which I would want to give emphasis on.
For example
Please deliver the Task on Time.
I am trying to catch the users attention on how ...
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