This page is for asking questions about the usage of English, including the correct or most appropriate grammar, or the correct word to use (e.g. whose or who’s).
Simply ask questions in the comments form below.
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Armed forces declares or Armed forces declare?
Hi Mohamed,
The correct grammar is “Armed forces declare” (if present tense) or “Armed forces declared” (if past tense).
If the subject (actor) is plural, the verb does not require the -s suffix (in present tense).
e.g. They declare
If the subject (actor) is singular, the verb requires the -s suffix (in present tense).
e.g. He/she/it declares …
Kind Regards,
Graeme
Hi, can anybody explain what the difference is between :
´Will you marry me?´ and ´Will you be marrying me? ´
Thanks a lot,lego
Hi Lenka,
‘Will you marry me?’ is a direct request. It is the classic romantic proposal to marry.
‘Will you be marrying me?’ is asking you about your intent, probably after the initial proposal (above). I suspect the person asking it has doubts about the listener’s intention to marry. It would be a little clearer if they asked ‘Will you still be marrying me?’ or ‘Do you still intend to marry me?’
Kind Regards,
Graeme
Hi Graeme,
Is this correct: “If someone says ‘break a leg!’ THEY mean … ” In school I was taught that someone, being singular, has to be followed by a singular pronoun – she/he
Thanks,
Angge
Hi Angge,
Strictly speaking, ‘they’ is plural. The problem arises because English does not have a gender-neutral, or gender unspecified, singular pronoun. In common usage ‘they’ is used as in your example. Unfortunately there are no simple solutions to this glitch in English. Essentially it comes down to the style you wish to write in, and if it is technical or academic writing, what is acceptable to the institution you are writing for. I will outline some grammatically correct options below:
1. “If someone says ‘break a leg!’ he or she means … “ or “If someone says ‘break a leg!’ s/he means … “
This often looks untidy when written, and feels awkward when reading it.
2. “If someone says ‘break a leg!’ the person means … “
This feels awkward to me as a native English speaker.
Another solution is to write examples using a pronoun with a specific gender. Often it is considered acceptable by academic institutions to alternate between using he and she in examples, whereas in the past the default was always to the masculine form (he).
So you could write either:
a) “If a man says ‘break a leg!’ he means … “; or
b) “If a woman says ‘break a leg!’ she means … “.
What you choose will be determined by requirements of your writing. For a general audience, such as in an online forum, using the grammatically incorrect, but often used, ‘they’ as a singular pronoun is acceptable. For business or academic writing you will need to find out what style of writing is required and considered acceptable.
Unfortunately English has some defects in certain areas. The other similar one is the lack of a plural pronoun for you (‘yous‘ being grammatically incorrect, but used by many people in everyday conversational speech).
Hi Graeme,
Thanks a lot for your explanation. That was very enlightening. I’m an ESL learner so oftentimes I get confused when rules are not applied strictly. I’m beginning to realize that we are free to make our own rules – and if we do, there’s really nothing other people can do about it. To me now, the test of effective writing is not whether you are correct or not, but whether you are understood or not.
Again, thank you.
Angge
Please tell me the diffence between “She gave him his large cup of coffee” and “She gave him a large cup of coffee”
The difference is as follows:
The sentence using “his cup” means the cup, or the cup of coffee, belonging to a specific person, a man. His is a possessive pronoun, meaning “belonging to him”.
The sentence using “a cup” means that he is given a non-specific cup of coffee. The cup could belong to anyone. A is an indefinite article. It refers to a single item / one of something. However, it does not show possession (ownership) or specify a particular item. It could be one amongst many items (such as cups of coffee).
Guys, what’s the difference between elongated and stretched-out? Tnx!
A piece of rope can be stretched-out to it’s full length. We probably wouldn’t describe it as elongated.
Something is described as elongated when it’s length is greater than it’s width.
The two words can be used as synonyms, but remember that often synonyms do not mean exactly the same thing. Something can be stretched out/elongated to make it longer.
Im stuck understanding how to use the word ‘render’ when the meaning is : to cause to become
can you help explain this to me please?
Here are a couple of examples:
Past tense: The invention of the motor vehicle (car) eventually rendered the horse and carriage obsolete.
Future tense: If you drop your mobile phone in the bath, it will render it useless (i.e. damage it).
I hope this helps.
Can I say my mother rendered me to be a doctor?
No, it sounds very unusal in English. I understand what you mean, however, it just doesn’t sound right. If you replace “rendered” with “caused to be” it still wouldn’t sound right. You wouldn’t say, “My mother caused me to be a doctor.” You could use words like “encouraged” or “pushed”, but “rendered” has a different sense altogether.