Language Overflow

CowperKettle

02:45

Good sunny morning

CowperKettle

02:56

> The syntactic priming effect was first demonstrated in the 1980s. It was shown, for example, that after reading a sentence with a certain syntactic structure, a person will perceive and process the next sentence with a similar structure much faster and will be more likely to repeat the syntactic frame of the sentence just heard.

CowperKettle

03:22

hmm

> During the measurement of concentration using a spectrophotometer the sample carriage fails to rotate. Engineer assistance was not sought. Repair request No. 0012

I wonder if this is a good sounding sentence

The meaning is "we did not ask any engineers present on site to help us repair the sample carriage"

Damkerng T.

04:17

@CowperKettle There was no engineer assistance probably flows better. No engineering assistance might also work, considering that Repair request No. 0012 comes next.

Engineer assistance was not sought is okay, too, IMO.

Brock

04:40

@DamkerngT. Good morning !

@DamkerngT. Taking a painkiller can cause liver infection.

Does 'a painkiller' mean 'any painkiller' or 'any one painkiller' ?

Damkerng T.

It most likely means "a certain kind of painkiller".

Meaning in context is important. Don't forget this.

FWIW, 'a painkiller', 'any painkiller', 'any one painkiller' all basically mean more or less the same, at least in this sentence.

Brock

05:25

@DamkerngT. Banks provide a financial service. Vs Banks provide financial services.

Any difference in meaning between the two ?

Damkerng T.

Men have a hand or men have hands?

Brock

'a hand' is used when we are not referring to a particular hand but we want to convey that we are talking about any one hand.

@DamkerngT. Did i get it right or does 'a hand' some other meaning too ?

or does 'a hand' have some other meaning too ?

Damkerng T.

@Brock It might, but that would depend on context.

But what do you think Men have a hand means?

Brock

Told you already

11:00
'a hand' is used when we are not referring to a particular hand but we want to convey that we are talking about any one hand.

@DamkerngT.

Damkerng T.

05:45

@Brock What if I told you that that sentence would sound strange if that was the intended meaning.

Le's say you've visualized "men" (more than one man). How would you visualize "one hand" upon that visualization?

I'm not sure if you got me yesterday. But I'll repeat myself once again: avoid learning a second language by substitution. -- You need to feel the language.

Brock

Banks provide a financial service. Here 'service' is singular. Singular means one. So this sentence is talking about 'one' unspecified service. Am i wrongly interpretating now ?

Damkerng T.

It's not wrong, but is it a good choice?

I think if I asked you where you get that sentence, you'd answer, you made the sentence yourself, right?

Brock

But then what should i do ? I am just confused

Right

I myself made that sentence

Damkerng T.

@Brock What should you do? Hmm... I recommend this, stop worrying and start learning.

@Brock See? Why do you think I knew that? :-)

Brock

@DamkerngT. That's what I'm doing. I'm learning. Plural Vs singular. Every book mentions singular means one plural means more than one.

Damkerng T.

05:56

By stop worrying and start learning, I mean, among other things, stop making your own sentences, and read and listen more. Way, way more!

@Brock Right. That's the basic idea.

Brock

Actually i did read this sentence "Banks provide financial services" under the topic what are the functions of banks

Damkerng T.

Banks provide financial services is a good sentence.

Your version is not as good.

Brock

So can i say since here plural is used then it means more than one service. Right ?

Damkerng T.

Yes, essentially yes.

Brock

Not just one service. Right ?

Damkerng T.

05:58

Yes

Brock

Studying at good institutes can really make a difference. Vs Studying at a good institute can really make a difference

I know instinctively both of them mean the same

Damkerng T.

See... you're making new sentences again. :-)

@Brock But what does the same mean?

Brock

Means both of them imply the same thing

Damkerng T.

Then they aren't the same.

By the way, defining the same as "[a phrase that] means both of them imply the same thing" is cyclical, isn't it? :-)

Brock

I'm going to read a book. Here 'a book' refers to one book or more than one book ?

Damkerng T.

06:12

One, but I wouldn't know which one because you didn't tell me that.

2233

Damkerng T.

06:38

Oh, I got stuck keys!

SmokeDetector

07:09

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Mostly non-Latin answer: Invaluable VS valuable (help) by Abine Seir on ell.SE

CowperKettle

07:38

> On the 3rd day of cultivation in 500 L bioreactors, the store of 5% solution of sodium bicarbonate used to maintain the pH level in bioreactors ran out.

I'm afraid that run out is positioned too far away from the store.

Nonconformity (quality)

In quality management, a nonconformity (also known as a defect) is a deviation from a specification, a standard, or an expectation. Nonconformities are classified as either critical, major, or minor. In software engineering, ISO/IEC 9126 distinguishes between a defect and a nonconformity; a defect is the nonfulfilment of intended usage requirements, whereas a nonconformity is the nonfulfilment of a requirement. A similar distinction is made between validation and verification. == Types == Minor nonconformity – Any nonconformity which does not adversely affect the performance, durability, ...

A fellow translator writes "In-process monitoring revealed the following nonconformance"

I just discovered that I wrote nonconformity thoughout my document

I wonder if there's any difference

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle Long noun phrases are quite common in technical writing, so I think you're fine. :-)

BTW, good afternoon!

@CowperKettle The difference is probably I'll be somewhat frowny reading nonconformance. :P

CowperKettle

08:29

@DamkerngT. Good afternoon (0:

Damkerng T.

08:45

4

Q: Help explaining "Where am I?" vs "...where I am"

I would like to explain to a non-native girlfriend that it's correct to say "Where am I?" on its own as a question, but if you want to say "Can you guess where I am?" or "Do you know where I am?" or "I don't know where I am" then the word order is flipped around. Although I am native I don't hav...

grammar

This could be a fun question to answer. :-)

I think there are two kinds of errors, even though it may look like one kind of error at first glance.

> a) *I want to know where are you.

> b) *Do you know where am I?

Some learners may make both a) and b) errors. A more advanced learner may make only type b), but never a).

M.A.R.

10:21

Song of the day

Inception (2010) One Simple Idea (Soundtrack OST)

►

user178049

10:48

@DamkerngT. Not so fun XD. I start to notice that basic questions usually get more upvotes on ELL.

M.A.R.

@user178049 Dumb content is popular.

user178049

I wouldn't use the past simple versions. Even though if it's fine ell.stackexchange.com/q/127058/35026

@M.A.R. hahaha

Damkerng T.

11:08

@user178049 @M.A.R. speaks the truth. :-)

Gerold Broser

Hi all

How are you?

user178049

@DamkerngT. What do you think about the question that I've linked

@DamkerngT. @M.A.R. Yeah, I agree with that too. :-)

Hi @GeroldBroser

I'm fine.

Damkerng T.

@GeroldBroser Hello! I'm good. How are you?

Gerold Broser

Great to hear. I'm fine, too

user178049

@GeroldBroser where are you from?

Gerold Broser

11:12

Are there English experts in this chat, too? Or just learners? According to the chat's title.

I'm from Vienna , Austria. And you?

userr2684291

@user178049 I think there's a difference.

Damkerng T.

@GeroldBroser Anyone is welcome here. We are a mixed bunch of people. :-)

user178049

@GeroldBroser I'm not expert :) I'm from Malaysia

@userr2684291what is the difference?

Gerold Broser

@DamkerngT. That's why I am here. :)

Damkerng T.

:D

user178049

11:14

@userr2684291 somehow, I think past simple+time peroid doesn't work.

user62015

(A) His / (B) wages / (C) is low. / (D) no error

Hi @DamkerngT. Could you help me please?

Gerold Broser

@user178049 Ah, Malaysia. I guess the weather is better there, now. It's snowing(!) here atm, midst of April(!).

Damkerng T.

@user62015 Unless we were in 1600s, you'd want to use are rather than is.

@GeroldBroser Oh, snow!

<-- a snow lover ('cause there's no snow where he lives)

M.A.R.

@GeroldBroser hi

Gerold Broser

@DamkerngT. I like snow, too...and we had not much this year...in fact the last years...climate change, you know

Damkerng T.

11:17

nods -- It's not as hot as it's supposed to be over here too.

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. Hi M.A.R.

userr2684291

@user178049 Huh?

Damkerng T.

It's just hot, not damned hot at the moment.

M.A.R.

Welcome to our chat @Gerold

It's been raining a lot here

We've even had floods

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. Thank you very much, MAR

userr2684291

11:18

@user178049 I think it's a simple fact placed in the past.

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. Hah!

M.A.R.

Which are unusual here

Damkerng T.

FWIW, I didn't play since two days ago sounds a bit off to my ear.

userr2684291

Yeah, that's wrong.

Damkerng T.

I didn't play for two days would work, but it doesn't mean I haven't been playing for two days.

Gerold Broser

11:21

@M.A.R. LOL MAR, I just read your profile...I asked the question there, too...a bunch of times here...at different SE sites

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Although if someone asks you "Since when?", you can say "Since 2 days ago."

Damkerng T.

Treating both for and since the same way in the question makes it a bit complicated to untangle the confusion.

@userr2684291 Sure, it's not a single sentence anymore.

userr2684291

"I didn't see him for five years.", however, means that at some time in the past, they hadn't seen him for five years, doesn't it?

Damkerng T.

Let's simply say that the five years period ended some time before now. It's clearer this way, I think.

userr2684291

Huh.

Damkerng T.

11:24

Bah! Maybe I should've written 'five-year period', but what's done is done.

userr2684291

I'm trying to interpret that sentence.

user62015

Okay.

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 We're saying the same thing.

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Right, right. I misread what you said.

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. Great answer! meta.stackexchange.com/a/263858/273829 ... But ...

Damkerng T.

11:25

@GeroldBroser Whoa! +82!

M.A.R.

@GeroldBroser But?

userr2684291

Whereas "I haven't seen him for five years." means that you haven't seen him up to now.

Damkerng T.

nods -- Right

userr2684291

@user178049 That's the distinction.

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. But never ever try to be that wordy on physics.SE physics.stackexchange.com/questions/326877/… :)

user62015

11:27

Okay. @DamkerngT.

Gerold Broser

@DamkerngT. Who's +82?

Damkerng T.

@user62015 Okay (^_^)

@GeroldBroser The number of upvotes the answer you linked to has gotten.

M.A.R.

@GeroldBroser Science sites have a different culture, yeah

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. Otherwise there's the potential that it will be called "a bunch of gibberish" (this comment has been deleted there, after I flagged it accordingly)

M.A.R.

Usually, for questions, you need to get to the point fast

Imagine someone like me, who moderates quite a bunch of questions everyday

user178049

11:30

@GeroldBroser it keeps raining :)

@userr2684291 simple fact.. Hmmm..

M.A.R.

. . . And sees a fair bit of useless crap

"please halp me homewrk"

I'll probably end up in your question from review, or before taking a nap

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. I see this slightly different. I think everybody should have the right to express him or herself in the way he or she likes best. If I don't like it I don't have to read or answer it.

M.A.R.

So I'd need to get what you're asking fast enough

@GeroldBroser Sure, express all you wish, but that's for the readers that have more time.

Ask whatever you want in the first paragraphs, then go on to add some context later

user178049

@userr2684291 It's really weird for me. I seldom come across a sentence like that.

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. I have all the time of the world. I'm not at SE for a living.

M.A.R.

11:33

@GeroldBroser No one is

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. So are most of the others, I guess.

@M.A.R. Right.

M.A.R.

Yep

But the ones that are going to downvote are primarily not only after downvoting you

They just wanna help moderate the site

And there aren't many of those

So stuff becomes like a queue

I hear myself thinking "bad question, downvote, move on. Terrible question, close vote, downvote, move on. Good answer, upvote, read later"

userr2684291

Me too. "Bad question, downvote. Bad question, downvote. Bad question, downvote."

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. I know. And I don't care about the rep points. It's this negative, demotivating, more-destroying-than-building-up attitude, sometimes maybe full of testosterone.

M.A.R.

@GeroldBroser It's more often than not not full of testosterone :)

The downvotes are annoying, yeah

And there's always the random downvote out of nowhere

But if you don't get any feedback as comment, you should just ignore it

If the feedback in the comment is useless, just ignore it

Gerold Broser

11:37

@M.A.R. > And there aren't many of those

I like to disagree...reagarding my last week here at SE.

M.A.R.

@GeroldBroser You mean there are a lot of people moderating around?

That's not statistically accurate.

Sure, maybe you had a shave with one of those so-called "moderators"

But they're not many

At any site

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. I recently got a downvote for a bug report on a meta site. I mean, how weird is that?

M.A.R.

@GeroldBroser Linky? Bugs might be downvoted when they're trivial, really common duplicates etc.

Meta downvotes can mean anything from "I disagree" to "I don't like your face"

userr2684291

@M.A.R. Shave?

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/346659/…

M.A.R.

11:45

@userr2684291 I meant to say ''close shave''

@GeroldBroser Seems like a random downvote. I won't read much into it

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. And that's just a tiny piece of the last two week's story the end of which was that I got banned for a day on SU.

userr2684291

@M.A.R. What do you think close shave means?

Gerold Broser

afk 10

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 a disaster-like thing

userr2684291

@M.A.R. Uh, it simply means something (usually bad) that almost happened but didn't.

It doesn't mean a disaster.

M.A.R.

11:50

Oh

Well, this one certainly did happen

userr2684291

It's synonymous with close call.

M.A.R.

@GeroldBroser I see . . . bad week. Usually a little break fixes things

user178049

@M.A.R. Why do we even have "typo" tag?

M.A.R.

@user178049 That's a meta tag

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. Right. Fresh air never hurts. But that fixes it solely for me, not for the next, maybe beginner that leaves in panic, disgusted by the attitude and never comes back...contributor lost.

M.A.R.

11:53

We ideally shouldn't have it

user178049

Ooohh

M.A.R.

@GeroldBroser Oh well, most of these rage-quits I've seen are only perceived hostility by newcomers because of language barrier and a thousand other reasons

@user178049 I'm still waiting for @Colleen to get meta ready for a big retag event

They're usually not more veteran users being jerks

Rarely, and mostly on SO, users with lotsa rep do act like jerks

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. I'M not a newcomer. Neither at SE nor in the IT business and a few other fields. My language barrier is not that high, I guess.

M.A.R.

That's very rare compared to responses to a ''please see how-to-ask'' like "go #$#@ yourself if you don't know the answer"

userr2684291

@GeroldBroser It's if you decide to do so, not if you decide doing so.

M.A.R.

11:56

@GeroldBroser You're a better speaker than me

So I guess the language barrier is non-existent

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. Please don't blame newcomers for other people's lack of...empathy. (to say it politely now)

M.A.R.

@GeroldBroser I'm not blaming anyone, because I don't have a specific event in mind

Gerold Broser

@userr2684291 Thx, but isn't that OK colloquially?

M.A.R.

But I know for a fact that it's usually the newcomers that lash out at high-rep users, not the vice versa

You'll get the same impression

userr2684291

@GeroldBroser I've never heard anyone say I decided doing so.

books.google.com/ngrams/…

Gerold Broser

12:03

@userr2684291 I see, thx for clarifying. What about „if you decide going to do so“?

userr2684291

@GeroldBroser The usual pattern is decide + infinitive.

Gerold Broser

@userr2684291 It seems that you're the English expert I initially came for here. ;)

userr2684291

@GeroldBroser If only that were true. I'm just a learner of English, like everyone here.

Gerold Broser

@userr2684291 Are you eager ~~<s>doing</s>~~ to do me a favour? ;)

M.A.R.

@GeroldBroser use --- in chat

---haha--- ~~haha~~

Gerold Broser

12:11

got it, thx...I mentioned it...I'm not a newcomer... :))

M.A.R.

HTML doesn't work in chat for some reason

@GeroldBroser Of course you're not

There are just a lot of little tricks I love to share

@userr2684291 infinitives are confusing

The only thing more confusing is gerund

Or 'are gerunds'

And generic noun phrases

And golden gooses

Gerold Broser

@M.A.R. OK, back to topic...M.A.R. your English is very good. May I ask you ---having--- ;) to have a look at my profile's _About Me_ and tell me whether that's OK – languagewise. But, a disclaimer: The kinf of humor there isn't everyone's taste.
http://stackoverflow.com/users/1744774/gerold-broser?tab=profile

Why does the --- not work above? And the italics _..._?

M.A.R.

Markdown doesn't work in multiline messages

Multiline being when you hit shift + enter

Gerold Broser

Really? that's bad

userr2684291

@GeroldBroser "If you decide doing so" is from your About Me.

M.A.R.

12:18

> . . . we, guys older than dirt now, invented it

It's not wrong, but a more natural way to say it would be "us guys older than dirt invented it"

Gerold Broser

@userr2684291 Ah, now I understand. I didin't remember that I wrote this there.

@M.A.R. thx...done

M.A.R.

> It leads to an increase in blood pressure

> . . . visual impairment

(instead of ''limited vision'')

Gerold Broser

@userr2684291 thx...corrected

@M.A.R. what about "it leads to [an] increased blood p."?

M.A.R.

Nah, my wording is most common

Userr2 can back it up by some COCA links

@GeroldBroser This isn't wrong, but in writing, it's a good guideline to use the most common combination

Gerold Broser

I didn't know the most common combination in conjunction with "blood pressure". Thankfully I'm pretty healthy. :)

afk 10

userr2684291

12:28

@M.A.R. I would say back it up with some links.

ColleenV

@M.A.R. Don't hold your breath, work is crazy right now. :) what exactly are you expecting from me?

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 Yeah, I changed my sentence in the middle of writing it

Unrelated note: Knowing is such a bad movie.

userr2684291

@GeroldBroser In English you use "" (“”) or '' (‘’), but never „“ – I know it's not that important, but it sticks out.

Gerold Broser

@userr2684291 I can't. I'm close to the 3000 character limit of the About Me. I had links there but I had to throw them out to be able to enter all the text.

M.A.R.

Nicholas Cage has sooo many bad movies

userr2684291

12:35

@GeroldBroser You can't what?

Gerold Broser

@userr2684291 I know. These are the quotation marks for direct speech or citations in my language: German. Sometimes I can't resist... ;)

@userr2684291 OOPS, sry, other recipient. I thought "back it up with some links" was intended for me

userr2684291

@M.A.R. What did it say before?

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 similar wording

I forgot what exactly

Stop picking holes in my picking holes

Gerold Broser

Anyway, thank you very much @M.A.R. and @userr2684291 for your hints. I implemented all of them on the fly.

M.A.R.

Sure, anytime

Here's for another future regular of our chat :)

0

Q: Are you not planning going to the pub this evening

Are you not planning going to the pub this evening? Don't you plan going to the pub this evening? Which sentence would a native speaker use? I am not sure whether the continuous form is possible.

present-continuous

No I'm not

Use–mention distinction makes the mind lazy. O.o

userr2684291

12:54

@M.A.R. How's that?

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 When they don't use quotes, it takes a bit of time to understand they don't mean what they said

While if you don't use it in chat, I'm quicker to realize you don't mean it

Unless you obfuscate it deliberately

userr2684291

@M.A.R. Right.

But I think, given the context of a language learning site, the title cannot be parsed in a different manner (the way you did it).

If the title contained elements that were about the language, then you'd need it.

By it, I mean use–mention distinction.

userr2684291

13:14

0

A: Are you not planning going to the pub this evening

Are you not planning going to the pub this evening? Don't you plan going to the pub this evening? Both of these questions are perfectly fine and idiomatic. I would tend to use the first. Because these are negative questions, they give us the idea that the speaker thinks we are going to...

Damkerng T.

Hmm... @Araucaria's answer is a bit surprising to me.

Is this another case of usage difference between AmE and BrE?

I want to upvote TRomano's answer, but that might be unfair to Araucaria's.

userr2684291

13:32

Right when I posted that, I had to go.

@DamkerngT. Yes, I think @AraucariaMan is wrong there.

Damkerng T.

I hope he'll review the answer or clarify it somehow.

userr2684291

@AraucariaMan Could you show me the statistics that shore up that claim? I can't find one single legit result on Google Books for "planning going to", for example.

Jude Niroshan

Greetings everyone!

M.A.R.

\o

in Tavern on the Meta on Meta Stack Exchange Chat, 1 min ago, by Telkitty

who did this - pretty funny

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Maybe I should ask them that under their answer. I don't know whether we should take it as an ipse dixit only by virtue of their being a native speaker of English.

Damkerng T.

13:36

Hi!

@userr2684291 nods -- Or maybe he just might overlook that part of the sentence.

user178049

Only native speakers are qualified! Please do not answer this question! ell.stackexchange.com/q/127102/35026

Jude Niroshan

I'm looking for a good example

currently what I have is a file called WalkingDead

it has 3 functions as walk, climb & creep

I think, these 3 functions and the name of the file is not an intuitive example

can you suggest an alternative?

Damkerng T.

In this genre, walkers is a common term.

user178049

Hmm.. I couldn't really understand that @JudeNiroshan 😅 Could you make it clearer :)

Damkerng T.

The three verbs are fine, at least to me.

M.A.R.

13:45

@user178049 There have been worse remarks than that

@Dam remember Nima?

o.o

Jude Niroshan

@user178049 I don't have a specific context to take this example. I was just a random thing popped out in my head while i was writing this

user178049

@M.A.R. Really?

Damkerng T.

Sadly, some learners think only native speakers know.

user178049

@JudeNiroshan OK :)

Damkerng T.

Which implies that they will never know, if they think about it.

M.A.R.

13:46

@user178049 Yeah, like an explicit 'only answer if you're a native speaker pls' and somesuch

Sometimes even without the pls.

user178049

@DamkerngT. Yeah, it hurts me so badly :(

@M.A.R. Hahaha

Damkerng T.

@user178049 Don't sweat on that. They just have the wrong idea. (^_^)

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. We're not as thick-skinned as you, Buddha

user178049

I think I want to edit that question.. But.. Umm.. Nevermind

Jude Niroshan

What if I take an example of foods?

Damkerng T.

13:48

@M.A.R. Heh!

user178049

@DamkerngT. Yeah :D

M.A.R.

You can edit it for fluff

@JudeNiroshan French fries. I like french fries

Haven't had any for a while

I am potato-deficient

Jude Niroshan

me neither :P

Araucaria Man

@DamkerngT. No, you're perfectly right. I hadn't read the examples carefully and had copied and pasted them into my answer. Have edited and will edit a bit more! No, this isn't a pondy thing!!!

Damkerng T.

Ahh :-)

Araucaria Man

13:49

@userr2684291 See my comment to @DamkerngT.

M.A.R.

@JudeNiroshan Tell us more about your file and your functions though

Are they about making people zombies?

userr2684291

(:

M.A.R.

Or helping produce a TV show that doesn't finish?

Jude Niroshan

@M.A.R. All what I want is to teach some symbols when writing those functions

name of the file and the functions has nothing to do with that

But in rich content presentation, I should include nice fancy names and some relevant to those

Araucaria Man

@DamkerngT. I read TR's answer before I read the question and was just focussing on the negative question bit! Shouldn't try and write answers in my coffee break :/

Damkerng T.

13:55

LOL

It happens to the best of us!

M.A.R.

Yeah, at least it wasn't that wrong to get downvotes

That happened to poor Peter

Araucaria Man

@M.A.R. IT should have done! But @dams helpful comment here saved the day (and @userr's too)

@M.A.R. Oh dear. Where was that?

M.A.R.

The echo questions thingy

A couple of weeks ago

It was -5 before he came back to remove it

Damkerng T.

BTW, for people who love games, StarCraft is now free: starcraft.com/en-us/articles/20674424

Araucaria Man

@M.A.R. Ouch!

userr2684291

14:03

@user178049 "Only native speakers are qualified! Please do not answer this question!" I'm a native speaker, so I'm qualified to answer that question. (:

EngFan

14:14

Hello!

M.A.R.

Jello

EngFan

Is it grammatical to use if in case * together in a sentence for example : Keep some extra batteries and bottled water on hand *if in case there is an earthquake.

M.A.R.

No

in case = if

So you're saying something like "in case in case"

user178049

@userr2684291 Are you? :P

userr2684291

@EngFan I wouldn't know, but it's definitely unidiomatic. Nix the if.

M.A.R.

14:19

@user178049 He is

Everyone is

He's hinting that the OP didn't specify a native speaker OF ENGLISH

user178049

@M.A.R. Yeah, I speak a language too!!

M.A.R.

@user178049 Wow, you do?

EngFan

@M.A.R. so do you mean if and in case can't be used to together and they don't mean they same ?

user178049

@M.A.R. Yeah, dhahdhPhdbROBABdjsLY

"Any help explaining it" Does it sound natural? ell.stackexchange.com/q/127060/35026

M.A.R.

@user178049 please don't add the [grammar] tag to posts

Instead, use either [syntax] or [morphology]

Or, well, don't touch anything

In this case, [sentence-construction] would suffice

user178049

14:30

@M.A.R. Huh? Which post?

O..o

M.A.R.

ell.stackexchange.com/questions/127091/… -- This one

I noticed the tag was added back

At first I thought it was a stubborn/determined OP.

CowperKettle

> bacterial endotoxins content is higher than 0.03 EU/mL, while the limit is less than 0.03 EU/mL. (I've been using this phrase the whole day and it seems to be bad.. hmm. "while the acceptable range is below 0.03"?)

good evening

M.A.R.

If you mean ''acceptable range'', say ''acceptable range''

@CowperKettle \o

CowperKettle

@M.A.R. It's that the chief translator uses the word "limit" to designate this stuff (Limits: 1400 to 1800) and I was trying to keep close to her usage

yubraj

Hi...All !!!

CowperKettle

14:41

@yubraj Evening!

user178049

@M.A.R. Heh, I know the grammar tag is discouraged in this site. Maybe I just accidently add the tag. I don't even remember editing tag in that post.

M.A.R.

@CowperKettle For some reason . . . Hi @yubraj . . . For some reason, as an item in the list, I like ''limit'' better

user178049

Hi @yubraj

M.A.R.

But in the middle of a sentence, maybe being verbose is better

CowperKettle

> Greeting precedes chatting

M.A.R.

17:39

@user178049 Oh OK. Just wanted to make sure. It's possible that you clicked 'edit' after I did, and submit after I did as well, but forgot to remove the tag.

CowperKettle

17:52

@DamkerngT. - they write that 13 explosions took place in Thailand today

> The new constitution is the Southeast Asian country’s 20th since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932 and critics say it will still give the generals a powerful say over Thai politics for years, if not decades.

Ah. I can see why

M.A.R.

@CowperKettle :o

Brock

Suppose i go to a restaurant and i want to order one chilli burger so what's the correct way to say "Get me 'a' chilli burger" or 'Get me one chilli burger'. If i say the former will the waiter understand it all by himself that i meant 'one chilli burger' or do i need to say the latter?

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