hhmm

This is something very important

anybody deny saying (something) I thought....

I can not deny I don't like the word "deny" because I must include "not"

that (something) is actually the reason of denying

:(

something like.... I refused (the glass of whiskey) saying my liver is bad.

but if I replace denied...the meaning is changed...right?

I think Person X said that since they arrived, he has been very happy, is wrong, I will change it to Person X said that since they arrived, he was very happy.

@MaulikV If you are in a state of denial, then that means you are refusing to believe something which is true.

yeah yeah

I see

You can deny it all you want, but the fact remains true.

I was trying to figure out the right tense for the main clause.

You told me that "had been" is wrong.

And I agreed that it's wrong once I reread it.

However, I think "has been" though could be right, sounds a little off.

It conflicts with "Person X said ..." in a typical scenario, in my opinion.

Not that I think it's impossible.

Hah!

I also think he was having been is possible too, but it might be a bit overkill here.

Doesn't has been imply "up to the point of reporting"?

decline: refuse @MaulikV

And because I think it's unlikely (that it's still true or at least known as true) at the time of reporting, has been sounds rather strange for me.

Hah!

Even when the speaker was aware that it's not true anymore?

@MaulikV

opposites

I see. What about since they arrived, he was very happy then?

Yes.

I'm looking at 522.1 and 522.2.

It's definitely not a backshifted version; isn't the backshifting what we wanted to avoid?

I think I see your point. Though he was is possible, it's not a faithful reporting.

This leaves me with the other option: something I originally thought unlikely.

To make it more likely, I think the reporting should be done rather recently, right after the event just happened.

Agree with that point.

Maulik left :-(

another failed attempt

@skullpatrol Oh, I wasn't very focused on Maulik, but I think you're in a conversation with him.

Probably.

without saying thanks?

The last thing he said was "I see", I think.

I'm gonna roll back my answer. it's the first time, getting excited...

I would like to merge the was to the has been version.

Only if I can merge it the way versioning systems allow me.

I deny declining that. I decline denying that :D

@skullpatrol You just gave me a headache. :D

lol sorry

Don't! I was just kidding.

icic

A-ha! I got an idea. I can open the same question in multiple tabs.

I'm going to do a "manual merge".

Oh, I definitely won't backshift "timeless" stuff.

Hmm... but suppose that if someone backshifted it, would they be wrong?

> Their teacher had told them that the earth moved around the sun.

I guess the mechanical way is rather safe, generally.

Yes.

Perhaps that's why they teach those rules to ESL.

I'm not sure about the must part.

And I think that's the problem. The same thing goes to those conditionals, I, II, and III.

Hah!

Suppose that in math classes, our teachers used only integers every time they mentioned "number". I think it's not very long that students would think that "number" means "integer".

It will definitely not come naturally. I think I can say that rather confidently.

Hi all :)

Or we will need to change the whole way we teach ESL.

Hello.

Would you please check this sentence. "first define a constant which makes child elements to adapt relative proportions to that because these child element's width is set by percentage not pixel."

It might be easier to understand in an appropriate context. Without context, I couldn't figure out what this constant does to those child elements.

Ah it was that bad :) It's about web design. I will try to say it in another way.

(Probably because of to adapt relative proportions to that--I have only a vague idea about proportions, and no idea about that that.)

'That' refres to the constant(a general/global value)

I think in this case, repeating the constant is better than saying that.

I am trying to rewrite it :)

How about "set in percentage, not [in] pixels"?

or maybe It's better to say "is based on percentage, not in pixels".

I think it's better to drop set, just "these child element's width is in percentage not pixels."

Yes I agree :)

Hmm... these child element's width

I think it should be widths are

Oh, that too.

Does option (b) sound that wrong?

I don't.

I also noted that the usage of the tenses is different, and (c) is more faithfully reported.

Sorry to interrupt you again, for conclusion, is this correct now : "First define a constant which makes child elements adapt relative proportions to the constant, because these child elements' widths are in percentage not pixels."

I thought that placing has been as option (c) could make it look like the preferred one.

@snailboat Ah sorry, thanks :)

Thank you both :)

@snailboat Yes this one sounds better.

+1

Gotta go. See y'all soon.

Special thanks to @snailplane, I learned something new today too.

Bye @DamkerngT. and thank you again :)

You are. (You always were/has been/are/will be to me. :-)

@GATA No problem. You're very welcome! See you.

You guys are a great team to watch :-)

@DamkerngT. @snailboat

What is the financial term for number of days till due date?

Hi!

Can you make a sentence to use it in?

If it's really financial jargon, I might not know...

It's for a website form, like "Due days: 10"

Day remaining?

No, it has to be total, not remaining

The total of what, exactly?

Number of days available for payment

Window?

window sounds right, but weird

@skullpatrol Thank you. :-)

healthleadersmedia.com/content/HOM-253253/…

You could use payment window.

@Mitja How about something like "Due in: ____ days"

Good afternoon, Thailand.

Good whatever there. :D

Good morning! I think.

That's right!

It's 11.41 here.

Oh, it's less than 20 minutes before Good morning will be invalid. :-)

You were just in time.

Lucky me.

Quite.

@DamkerngT. not bad

That's days remaining, like what I first suggested.

Oh, yes. I missed that suggestion.

No, I mean, I'm surprised now Mitja doesn't need a total any more. Your suggestion would sound fine to me...

> Yaya & I, krai suay kwa ka?

She's cute, trying to say that line in Thai. :-)

Sounds difficult!

@snailboat In the video above, they used 555 as the sound for laughing too! :D -- It's at 0:45.

555?

In Thai, 5 is pronounced "ha". :-)

So, 555 ~ Hahaha. Hehe.

Ah, funny.

555

:D

We can laugh in numbers. :D

Many laughs.

Yeah! :-)

@snailplane Oh, from that Thai in the US video, YouTube suggested to me this interesting video clip, an ad about a Thai in Japan. If it doesn't bother you much, I'd like to know what was written and said in that video. Must be something nice, I'm sure. (I can read only that one line in Thai: พรุ่งนี้มาพยายามด้วยกันนะ ~ "Tomorrow, let's try together".

Gotta go again. See ya @Cerberus!

Oh, hello and bye @MaulikV.

oh you going?

Okkai!

Yup, for a few hours, I think.

Fine

CU

I like your id Cerberus

@Cerberus

The names in Greek mythology are really mesmerizing

Thanks!

Yes, we are quite mesmerising.

haha..what's your name but?

And which country you belong to?

I'm from Holland.

You?

Ah, India.

Oh, I found myself being confused by detail vs. details.

I'm sure I didn't choose the right sense (countable vs. uncountable, piece-wise vs. lump-wise) at all time.

hi Damker,

Yes?

can you give an example of the uncountable use?

> I would like to discuss that proposal in detail.

I cannot think of any case other than in preposition phrases

Okay, let me try...

I will try to imagine two people talking to each other.

> Which detail would you like to discuss?

the essay contained too much detail (from the free dictionary)

That's possible, I think.

It's easy to distinguish the senses in reading.

In writing, it's much easier to produce sentences with wrong usages.

(or marginal ones, sort of correct but might be frowned upon)

both cases are used in an adverbial function

they complement a verb

Huh? I think detail is usually a noun, sometimes a verb.

it modifies the verb to indicate the action is carried out paying attention to all the detains (here i'm using details as countable)

What if I change details to detail in that sentence?

yes, you are right

let me think a bit more

"the essay contained too many details" vs "the essay contained too much detail"

to me, they both mean the same

Both are possible, I think.

You're a native speaker, right?

(I'm just curious about the way native speakers think of things and produce sentences in their speech and writings.)

ngram

they seem to have a similar use

no, i'm not

my native tongue is Spanish, but I live in the UK

I think, basically, the difference in usages is a result of the way the speaker or the writer views this "detail(s)".

It reminds me of "part" vs. "a part", though not exactly the same.

i think in the case of part the meaning is different

they resisted every effort on his part

> I do my part.

> I'm part of this stack.

the government must do its part

part = side

How about "part of" vs. "a part of"?

a part = something determined in relation to something that includes it

that use sounds to me as the article being ommited

As I understand, to say "a part", it means that that something or someone must be a rather important part of the whole.

> ?We are parts of our country.

Probably not a very good sentence.

good example

to my ear, I would always say "We are [a] part of our country"

i don't know how to explain it

but the uncountable use feels to me it is a slightly different concept

In Spanish language, there are things like countable/uncountable, singular/plural, I guess?

yes, it does

and we don't really like ommiting an article

In my first language (Thai), there is no such thing, so it adds another level of difficulty.

I probably say "We are part of our country."

i'm familiar with some slavic languages, they don't use articles, so I understand well the difficulty, especially when i try to explain what is the right article to use

I was reading this sentence before I began this discussion:

> While the book does not go into all the descriptive or theoretical detail of a fully developed syntax, ...

And I thought to myself, if I were the one who wrote that, I probably wrote it as descriptive or theoretical details.

both options sound good to me

but somehow in my mind the uncountable detail and countable details feel different

I believe that you must think of them differently in the first place, to use different word choices.

i think if i had specific details in mind I would use details, otherwise i would use detail

Ah, that is good advice!

it's funny how one uses the language without noticing these patterns!

I think native speakers and many advanced non-native speakers use these patterns instinctively.

gotta go now

Oh, okay. Thank you very much.

nice to talk to you

See you soon.

Nice to talk to you too!

@DamkerngT. Hi

Hi parth kohli

Hi, Ice Girl!

@ParthKohli I see you for the first time here

@IceGirl But I see you for the second.

Nice 2 meet you

The same here.

@ParthKohli really? When?

OK

Hmm, a couple of days back.

But we didn't talk to each other

Yup.

oh, you are 14 years old

I see your profile now

Yes.

Where are you from?

Is it important for you?

Oh... I just mean to ask if English is your first language.

I'm from Iran. Where are you from?

Hi all

@Jolenealaska Hi

I'm from India.

@ParthKohli Are you a Muslim?

Iran, India and Alaska. Cool

@IceGirl No - I prefer no religion over others.

:)

OK

How 'bout you, Ice girl?

What?

@Jolenealaska Do you have enough people in Alaska for precious company?

Would you like to tell us if you belong to a particular religion?

Maybe not

@ParthKohli I don't know. What is a "precious company"?

hi

@user4550 Hi

@Jolenealaska I mean do you have people over there in Alaska for neighbours etc.?

hi

Population of Alaska is about 700,000. Anchorage is just a typical American city, rural areas are very rural

@Utkarsh Hi

where's the astronaut?

Wow

wow?

Many people here now

It's nice

Knock knock

Who's there?

ELL

ELL who?

Can I ask you questions?

ELL who?

Ell-o there!

I like ELL room very much

:)

@Utkarsh You find me everywhere, don't you?

@user4550 Yes

@ParthKohli not in AU

hehehe

:)

@Utkarsh What is AU?

@IceGirl The same here. Way more accepting than ELU is.

@ParthKohli I agree with you

@Utkarsh Oh - I've been there.

I hope that the ELL room will always be a safe and welcoming place for people from all over the world.

Yes

There is no room here for any kind of bigotry or judgement. We are all people. The common goal here is to foster an understasting of a language. For whatever reason, English is the language most univesal.If we can all speak it well, we can communicate. Borders don't matter.

I am bent over like a coat hanger.

What does it mean?

@user4550 I need context. In some contexts that could be very sexual, in other contexts it might mean "confused"

Or it might mean that you back hurts from cleaning the oven

I ricocheted from garden to garden until I was bent over like a coat hanger.

Your back hurts and you can't quite stand upright because you've spent so much time today hunched over, gardening.

@user4550 "ricoched" is actually an iteresting term in that quote. Do you get that?

yeah

I think it means move from one place to another like a ball caroming off walls?

Then you've got the quote. "I'm bent like a coat hanger" Crap, can I ever relate to that...

Why do I feel that way?

too much gardening

you do gardening?

Where do you live,..?

it must be freezing.

Not any more, it makes my back hurt :)

People have funny ideas about how cold it is here.

where?

Thank you for your answer.

In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends imprisoned by an enchanter in paper and leathern boxes,

What do you think it means?

Now I live in Anchorage. That's just a pretty typical city. It gets cold, but rarely extreme. Winter is long and dark, but that's the price we pay for glorous summer (shrug) Rural Alaska (I've done that too) is an entirely different story.

@user4550 Books are the friends in that metaphor.

but why imprisoned?

They are in dire situations?

Did they do bad things?

They're trapped in the pages, between the covers of the book. We close the cover, put the book on the shelf and the "friend" is back in prison

Our friend is poweless now, until we open the book again