Language Overflow

Anonymous

00:21

@DamkerngT. There aren't any deleted comments on the Q&A you linked to.

Anonymous

Any 'rule' that claims those verbs cannot be used in the continuous aspect is simply wrong. You'll find hundreds of citations in such corpora as the British National Corpus, the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the Corpus of Global Web-Based English — tunny Nov 18 '14 at 9:00

Anonymous

I assume that's what the post is responding to.

Damkerng T.

00:52

@snailplane I see. I really missed that. thanks!

I was looking for a nice term that would describe "X or Y" or "X and Y" when both X and Y are clauses and they are used as if they were a conditional sentence (e.g., Adapt or die)

I found "asymmetric coordination" but that sounds a bit too technical for learners, IMO.

Anonymous

01:27

semanticsarchive.net/Archive/GIyZDNiM/russell.nals.dist.pdf

CowperKettle

2

A: using " to be living" with the verb"hope"

We had hoped to be living in our new house by now, but the builders are still working on it. (Why don't we use living or just to live there instead?) The verb to hope uses the particle to when it connects to another verb in the infinitive form: I hoped to play. (Not "I hoped play") ...

I've no time to reread it, but there is some dispute ongoing, and upvotes and downvotes

^_^

Good morn, @snailplane

Damkerng T.

02:15

@snailplane Thank you!

I'm not sure how I can apply it to this question (ell.stackexchange.com/q/108522/3281), though. (The sentence is I had rather listen to my parents or get in trouble.)

It's almost an imperative (like in an example in the paper: Everyone contribute or this crime will go unsolved), but I'd rather listen to my parents is not quite an imperative.

Maybe the term "conditional conjunction" suffices.

Hmm... this page, examples.yourdictionary.com/…, doesn't include and and or in their list of conditional conjunctions, though.

Man_From_India

02:36

0

A: Can "using" be also a preposition?

Using is not a preposition. FYI, it's not a verb either, really. It can be part of a progressive verb (a form of to be will precede it in that case and it's really a two-word verb), a gerund (functions as noun), or a participle (functions as modifier). He found a key, using which he slit op...

Not only that, I believe this sentence that the answer says works is not correct.

> He found a key, using that he slit open the package

This is very very strange sentence, if you read it as having a relative clause.

After reading first few lines I stopped reading it. I disagree it from the very beginning.

Though I can't explain why using that at the head of a relative clause is not correct.

V.V.

03:16

Because it's a reduced relative clause

Man_From_India

@V.V. how?

V.V.

Compare, he found the key which he used...

He found a key, using which...

A participle instead of a verb.

Morning.

Going to read about all functions of "which."

V.V.

03:49

The answer is strange.

Man_From_India

Good morning @V.V

Right now playing Assassin Creed Identity :-= see you later.

V.V.

Nice

V.V.

05:07

You can't use a participle clause with objects, ooo, only with subjects. Ooo.

Damkerng T.

Hmm... not sure if there's really such a rule.

Word of the Day: mondegreen

2

V.V.

06:34

Found something. It's called an -ing clause which is close to reduced participle clauses and can correspond to defining or non-defining relative clauses. Btw, "that", they say, can be used only in defining r. clauses, and if there is a comma, it is non-defining. Don't know if it's correct.

Snailplane, evening. Are pets OK?

And you?

Cardinal

06:50

@DamkerngT. Thanks. @Man_From_India Thanks

What does this "Decades into the 20th" exactly refer to?

beginning of the millennium or the end?

@Man_From_India I think it's more an adverbial participle than a relative clause (reduced or not reduced)

Man_From_India

07:33

@Cardinal I'm on mobile, so can't trace what msg you are replying to :-) which one is adverbial participle?

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal Sounds like they wanted it to mean 2010s, 2020s, 2030s, etc.

That is 2000 + some decades.

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. I was thinking alike.

@Man_From_India that using participle.

> [count] somewhat informal : something that many people want or think is very good

Damkerng T.

07:49

@Cardinal Hmm... but wait! Usually the 20th century means years 1900-1999!

Cardinal

I didn't know of existence of "somewhat informal" words!

Damkerng T.

So maybe it was meant to be 19xx.

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Yes. that means 1950 1960 , ...

(Perhaps)

> plum: [count] somewhat informal : something that many people want or think is very good

learnersdictionary.com/definition/plum

Damkerng T.

Personally, if I heard decades into the 20th (century), I would expect some time around 1930.

I've never heard plum used like this! :D

Man_From_India

@Cardinal i still think it's a relative clause. using which. It's not possible to use that there, unless we don't form a relative clause.

Cardinal

07:51

@DamkerngT. nods I often confuse such a latency-form-nomenclature !

@DamkerngT. We (Persian) use the fruit "peach" in that context!

Man_From_India

But of course using is not a preposition. It's a verb.

Cardinal

@Man_From_India I think it's an adverbial participle.

@DamkerngT. 20th century is between 1900 and 1999, hence a big latency!

Cardinal

08:06

> When you hang a door, you need to make sure that it is both level and plumb.

What is the difference between the state of being plumb and being level?

Aren't both same things?

Damkerng T.

x and y axes.

Cardinal

So level only applies to x axes?

Damkerng T.

Yes, as far as I know.

Cardinal

In Persian we use the equivalent of the "level" in both dimensions.

Damkerng T.

Ahh

Cardinal

08:09

@DamkerngT. Interesting

1

Q: Should I use "did" in the following question?

What (did) scared(scare) him more? If his date wanted to be serious or if she didn't? Do I need a did there? Why or why not?

Why do I expect having a pronoun after "the did"?

I cannot come up with a reason why my brain automatically jumps into a pronoun.

Damkerng T.

Maybe it's so in Persian?

1

Q: Actual meaning of 'After all'

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, after all means: despite earlier problems or doubts: The rain has stopped, so the game will go ahead after all. What's the problem here, raining? Am I correct to think that "after all" means 'ultimately" here because the rain has stopped? ...

meaning

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Hmm, I guess it's more related to the frequently asked questions like "what does it mean?"

Damkerng T.

Three spoons of anyway, two spoons of the bottom line, and a few drops of at last.

My unorthodox explanation for after all! :P

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. :-)

Man_From_India

08:23

@Cardinal the supplementary relative clause is using which he opened the door. Inside the relative clause using which is an adjunct.

V.V.

08:52

A clause should have a subject "which" and a verb(where is it?)

Man_From_India

09:45

> He found a key, using that he slit open the package.

@V.V. in the relative clause he is the subject, and the main verb is slit.

Sorry it would be which in place of that!!!

Relative clause - using which he slit open the package.

The part using which is a Gerund-participle clause, and functions inside the relative clause as an adjunct.

Why using which is a clause?

It has an understood subject - he, and a verb - using.

Because using which has an understood subject we can't call using a preposition.

It is similar to the following sentence -

> He found a key, with which he slit open the package.

Another reason why using is not a preposition is that we can't end that sentence with using, just like we can do with with.

Damkerng T.

10:59

I doubt if He found a key, using that/which he slit open the package really is a good sentence, with either which or that.

Similar (bad) pattern: I like dancing, doing that I'm happy.

Or maybe: I like Nancy, staying with whom I'm happy.

Anonymous

It's fine with which and ungrammatical with that.

Damkerng T.

Interesting!

Wait! Is I like dancing, doing which I'm happy fine, too?

Hmm... doing and dancing clash, I think.

Searching for using which being used this way in a corpus is very tricky.

Man_From_India

Probably grammatical, but not a good construction.

Cardinal

> If he was living the high life, his appearance and demeanour gave no hint of it.

What kind of "if" has been used in that sentence?

Damkerng T.

How many kinds of if do we have? -- scratching head

Cardinal

11:11

LoL

I mean, is it an unreal conditional? I don't think so

Damkerng T.

It sounds hypothetical, I think.

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Something like mathematics descriptions? :))

Damkerng T.

Um, probably. :-)

I think hypothetical and unreal and irrealis are mostly interchangeable, though

Cardinal

**irrealis **, haven't seen these animals yet.

Where is J.Reynold?

Damkerng T.

Somewhere out there ...

(Try to read it like a song, BTW.)

Cardinal

11:16

Haven't seen him for a long. He Vanished!

:-)

Damkerng T.

Somewhere Out There - Film Version - An American Tail

►

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. ^_^

Damkerng T.

( ＾◡＾)

Cardinal

>Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight
Someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight

Somewhere out there someone's saying a prayer
That we'll find one another in that big somewhere out there

And even though I know how very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star

And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky

Somewhere out there if love can see us through
Then we'll be together somewhere out there

Cardinal

11:32

> I wouldn't cross him if I were you, not if you value your life.

Would tell me please how should I read the not if part?

Damkerng T.

An afterthought is probably the simplest explanation.

Or clarification.

Something along the lines.

Cardinal

So, it implies the person who crossed the other guy does not value their life?

Damkerng T.

Hmm... not really.

It's like the clarification/afterthought is put plainly in the simple present, like a zero/first conditional.

Cardinal

Let me ask my question in other words? Does not refer back to the crossing?

Damkerng T.

Yep!

Cardinal

11:37

I think I get the idea. Thanks.

Damkerng T.

No problem. :D

> A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles: Volume 4. Syntax by Otto Jespersen

Seeing that in Jespersen's book is very exciting!

(related: ell.stackexchange.com/questions/46712/…)

Man_From_India

12:55

1

Q: When do I use 'of' after 'little', 'some', and 'lots' and when can I omit it?

I think most of these sentences are correct: A little bit of bread. A little of bread. (Is this correct?) A little of that. A little time gone. Some of that bread. Some people. Lots of work. A lot of work. Lots more. If so, when do I use of after those words? (little, some, lots)

prepositions usage

> a little of bread

Hmmm, seems wrong.

The two constructions are interchangeable in terms of sense, but there are very few contexts in which You don't appear to be knowing sth/sbd is idiomatic. — P. E. Dant Oct 8 at 0:00

Stack Exchange

4

Q: Help needed, re: removing accidentally created tag

As I was editing a post, I accidentally clicked "Save edits" while typing (tags). Can someone with the ability to delete tags kindly remove the one I accidentally created ("syn")? Thank you so much. I don't know if this is an appropriate post here on Meta, but I don't know where to seek help abo...

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Jude

14:27

Good evening!

CowperKettle

17:02

I took 260 photos on the trip to Mount Sugomak

Сугомак (гора)

Сугома́к — гора, расположенная вблизи города Кыштым Челябинской области в 90 км от Челябинска, в 150 км от Екатеринбурга. == География и история == Сугомак — вторая по высоте гора массива на западной стороне Кыштыма (591 м над уровнем моря) находится по соседству с самой высокой горой этой горной цепи — горой Егоза (607 м над уровнем моря). Гора Сугомак — это одна из трёх составляющих территориально-природного комплекса Сугомак — трёх памятников природы: горы Сугомак, озера Сугомак и пещеры Сугомак. Гора Сугомак скалистая на вершине, до вершины покрыта смешанными лесами и многими редко встречающимися…

300 m above ground level

591 above sea level

It. was. great.

CowperKettle

17:39

Cardinal

19:07

Those are beautiful.

word of the night: sangfroid

(Or pronunciation of the night!)

V.V.

19:26

That's French.

Anonymous

23:33

Hello! :-)

ColleenV

@CowperKettle That looks breathtaking. Also, cold :)

@Man_From_India A little of bread isn't correct - you could say "a little bread" or "a little of the bread". On the other hand, if you're talking about the band Bread you could say "A little of Bread goes a long way".

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