Pain in the English

07/12/2018

I moved to the US from Japan when I was 16, and in the 30 years I’ve lived here, I’ve noticed the ease with which Europeans communicate with native English speakers even when they have heavy accents. In contrast, Asian immigrants seem to have a harder time being understood by the native…

05/08/2017

Tell us what YOUR definition of "width" is; because we are confused.

I had never thought I would ever wonder what “width” is until my 12-year old daughter came home one day and told me that her math teachers (not just one but two) told her that “width” in geometry is the vertical side of a rectangle. That to me was like saying up is down and down is up. How could...

02/05/2016

Is it alright to omit the word “I” in some cases. If I have already been writing about myself and I slip in a sentence that says for example, “Will be in town next week.” Is this acceptable or should I write “I” at the beginning of each sentence?

02/04/2016

I want to play a Star Wars video review as listening practice for an EFL student. However, it contains a strange construction that I can’t figure out how to explain: “Now, the question most likely on your mind, be you Jedi or be you Sith, is...” I know that it would be easy enough to say, “It...

02/03/2016

Just how screwed has our language become? Why do we hear phrases like: “If he gets in contact with you” when there are simpler and more meaningful phrases like: “If he gets in touch with you” or “If he contacts you”. Why do people have this predilection with “get” or “got”?

02/02/2016

Which ending punctuation sequence is correct for a question dialogue sentence containing a quotation within it? a. ”Does the menu say, ‘no substitutions?’” asked Jo. or b. ”Does the menu say, ‘no substitutions’?” asked Jo.

02/01/2016

Am I alone in despairing when I hear phrases like: “We played brilliant.” “He did it wrong.” (or more commonly “He done it wrong.”) “He behaved stupid.”

01/31/2016

My friend is sending an invitation, and she is using the date of: January, 16th 2016 Is this technically correct, or at a minimum not considered barbaric? Where should the comma be?

01/30/2016

In a sentence, there is the name of a company followed by an abbreviation, the initials of the company, in parentheses. The company name is a possessive in this sentence. Where does the apostrophe go? I want to know how this would work, as I am having trouble finding anything but advice to...

01/29/2016

I’ve noticed that “haitch” is becoming more common than “aitch” when it comes to pronouncing “H”. Why is this, and what is the thinking on which pronunciation is preferable (or even correct)? My mind goes back to my 4th year high school Latin teacher who was very fond of rendering what he...

12/15/2015

I have often noticed that in Scotland quite a few people tend to confuse words like: amount / number: e.g. Amount of people much / many: e.g. Too much eggs less / fewer: e.g. Less eggs There are possibly others in this category. Has anyone noticed this in other areas?