« first day (570 days earlier)      last day (2669 days later) » 
01:00 - 12:0013:00 - 17:0017:00 - 22:00

Stack Exchange
Stack Exchange
1:36 AM
0
Q: Downvoting questions from new users

ColleenVSo I was disappointed to see a -3 score with no guidance at all in the comments for this question: Can I say "something is happened to my phone"? The author obviously was new to ELL and a beginning English learner and wrote a fairly detailed question even though it was a little difficult to und...

discussion voting new-users
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
2:22 AM
@user2684291 I think (thinking on the fly) that we would be more likely to use it as countable when we conceptualize it as a particular, perhaps recognized or explicitly formulated convention.
As uncountable when we may be declaring or equating it with convention as a general notion.
That's justice for you. That's life.
Native soeakers, and fluent ones, doubtfully make a choice like that consciously, either in expressing it or in interpreting it. So I'd say that the meaning is often the same.
That's life vs That's part of life.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
Hi, any native English speakers?
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Hi. Yes.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
I'm in China and it's morning now. What about you?
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Taiwan. Hi neighbor. :-)
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
:-)
Today I came across a word "engaging" in a stackoverflow chat room. And, I didn't know its meaning so I searched it on google and finally found its meaning to be "attractive and charming". So I asked if I can say "You look engaging today" and I got a reply that it's not common to use "engaging" to describe a person. Is it true?
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
2:48 AM
We won't normally use it that way with a person.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
Could you please tell me how you would use it?
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
An engaging person is usually someone who keeps our interest because of the way they behave.
If someone is very interesting or likeable, for example.
We don't normally think of those things as being expressed in appearance.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
Thanks for your opinion.
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
@ZhengquanBai She is an engaging teacher. The class really enjoys her lectures.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
3:04 AM
good example
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
3:31 AM
She has an engaging smile.
That is one way that someone can "look engaging", but it is not the same as to look attractive.
 
 
1 hour later…
V.V.
V.V.
4:52 AM
"I won't be able to have done it". Is this sentence correct? (I mean using the perfect infinitive ).Thank you.
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Yes.
Depending on context, but I suspect you know where to use it. Often used with by then, etc. Some people might try to rephrase as a matter of style in some contexts, but this can be perfectly grammatical.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
5:19 AM
I won't be able to have done it without your help.
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
5:31 AM
@ZhengquanBai Good try, but that sentence is not likely. You probably wanted to write I wouldn't have been able to have done it without your help. :)
Think about the time of speaking, compared to the time of doing.
Compare I won't be able to do it without your help with I wouldn't have been able to have done it without your help.
1 = I can only do it with your help. Time of speaking is now, time of doing is the future.
2 = Time of speaking is now, time that it was done is in the past.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
got it
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
@Zhe Sorry, I could have been more clear. OK. :)
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
You have been perfectly clear.
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
I can see that you were able to have figured it out despite my help. :D
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
5:50 AM
Your words really made me more aware of how it's used.
 
V.V.
V.V.
6:18 AM
@JimReynolds, hi, thanks.The Action that will have been completed by a certain point in time?
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
It refers to a point in the future, right?
I can't imagine using it without at least some implied future point in mind.
 
V.V.
V.V.
Just to explain where I am lost
The person asked if" I can't have done it " and "I won't be able to have done it" are interchangeable.
I told him "no"
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Must we theorize without context?
You will hurt my brain.
I can't have is unusual, and refers to the past. I won't be able to refers to the future.
 
V.V.
V.V.
Roughly speaking, the first is past, the second is present. Right? No context.
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Consider I will be able to
 
V.V.
V.V.
6:26 AM
Yes.
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
If we don't get too technical, it anticipates a future event.
 
V.V.
V.V.
Right. Then I was right
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Thumbs up
 
V.V.
V.V.
Yay!
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Strangely, we say give you a thumbs up though it normally be just one thumb.
 
V.V.
V.V.
6:31 AM
And we don't say anything, but show either one or two
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
7:17 AM
Or, in @CowperKettle's family, sometimes three, perhaps.
 
engfan
engfan
7:31 AM
Hello Everyone :)
"I have been walking for a quite long time now" - Is this sentence correct ?
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@engfan yes
 
engfan
engfan
@CowperKettle : Здравствуйте!
@CowperKettle: thanks!!
@CowperKettle :Спасибо ;-)
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
@engfan for quite a long time is more conventional
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
7:54 AM
I learned from a native English teacher on youtube in which she says native speakers are more inclined to say "one hour and a half" instead of "one and a half hours", though it's natural to say "two and a half hours".
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
True I think
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
I have a hard time breaking it to my parents that I'm gay.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
''one and a half hours'' is natural though.
@V.V. Couldn't be better! I'm having an ice cream right now
And it's dripping on the keyboard, as usual.
@ZhengquanBai Then don't. Everyone has their own secrets.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
@M.A.R. Are you a native English speaker?
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Nope.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
8:05 AM
Where are you from then?
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Iran
Jim is a native alien English speaker though.
And I'm not sure whether or not he's a hybrid of the two, or something in between, or something else
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
I don't what's it like in your country, but for Chinese, we are burdened with the mission to get married and give birth to a child.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Pinging @Jim so he appreciates my snark and snarks back
@ZhengquanBai We have more important problems than population growth
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
People tend to judge you and feel strange about you if you are not married when you are old enough.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Judges Zheng
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
8:14 AM
I have @M.A.R. on ignore, but I sense he is here by the bad smell
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
I don't give a shit what opinions others may have on me. But my parents do.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
There are three people here, and only one of them smells like an ugly alien, Jim.
@ZhengquanBai Isn't it always like that . . .
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Do you not want to get married, or you can't find someone, or ??
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
@M.A.R. Is it the same situation in your country?
I don't wanna marry a girl because they are not sexually attractive to me.
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Oh. The bad smell was my own disgustingness
 
Mick
Mick
8:17 AM
@ZhengquanBai I think that she may have meant "an hour and a half". That is very common in the UK.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@ZhengquanBai Nope; don't think anywhere else has the same situation.
Except maybe Japan.
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
You mean you aren't attracted to girls?
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@JimReynolds Don't be too hard on yourself
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
Yes. I'm attracted to handsome boys only.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
At least you've got the tentacles.
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
8:18 AM
Yes. We say an hour and a half but not one and a half hours.
Ah. Do you have gay friends who have the same pressure?
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
Haven't got one.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
That is indeed a bad situation
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Did you tell anybody?
It helps if we have friends who can understand
@M.A.R. is attracted only to bicycles, but we still accept him
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
Actually, we have apps to make friends.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
8:23 AM
And Jim looks like Boris the animal but we're cool with that
@JimReynolds Not sure if that's good for poets or bad
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Some additional info on an hour and a half and one and a half hours:
True that we often say "an hour and a half". But that works for other fractions too: "an hour and a quarter" for example. I don't think "one and a half hours" sounds strange at all; people say that all the time. I think both are equally acceptable. — Jay Jan 30 '15 at 14:16
Welcome to the room, @ZhengquanBai!
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Well, some people on those apps just want sex. Some want friends. I think it's important to make real friends. It's easier to do that if we are brave about saying what we want, and what we don't want.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
Good to know.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
I'm translating a specification for a product that was translated from English. So I basically look at the English website of the producer and copy chunks of sentences into my translation. (0: (or "I'm basically looking"?)
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@CowperKettle Bah! That sounds like an ideal gig!
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
8:29 AM
(0:
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@CowperKettle Both are okay, but I'd choose ''looking'' since I'm talking about the details and it's hard to look at the action as a whole.
''Fences'' seems like a nice movie to watch.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@M.A.R. Drop me your opinion whether you like it or not after watching it. :)
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Do you know of a movie that got rated low by the critics but whose sequel got critics' approval?
I can't remember any.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Hmm... that must be pretty rare. I can't think of one either.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
@DamkerngT. Could you refer me to some sources where the word "drop" is used in the same way as in "Drop me your opinion"?
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
8:33 AM
I wanted to watch ''Passengers'' but now after a 31 percent on rotten tomatoes I'm not so sure.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
An online dictionary or something is welcome.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Hmm... do I have to? Oh, well ...
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
Does Drop in to the zoo to visit @M.A.R. work?
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
9
Q: 'Drop us a line' - letter or phone call?

EvansAccording to the Free Dictionary, dropping someone a line means sending them a short message. Is this correct? I always thought it meant phoning someone, the line referring to a telephone line.

phrases
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
8:35 AM
good to know, thx for your effort
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
I guess ''drop'' has been used so much it has gotten subtle meanings in different contexts
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Um... sure!
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
I'm actually sick of Star Wars movies always getting the critics approval.
But I'm an anti-myth person, so Rogue One would prolly work better for me than The Force Awakens.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@M.A.R. Another movie that I crossed my fingers when watching its trailer.
"Please, don't suck. Please, don't suck!"
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@DamkerngT. I can't wait for Dunkirk
@DamkerngT. I guess ''Gravity'''s success gave birth to a new series of space movies.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
8:39 AM
@M.A.R. Oh, that one was visually amazing!
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Fun fact: Nolan is promised 20 million and 20 percent of the profit for Dunkirk.
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
Is there any abbreviations for "native English speaker"? I find it nontrivial to type all the letters.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@ZhengquanBai NES? Not official.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Sometimes people write just NS, shortened from "native speaker".
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
There's a reason we keep typing that.
Sacrificing for brevity
 
Zhengquan Bai
Zhengquan Bai
8:43 AM
Maybe it's not so frequently used in daily life that an abbreviation is coined for it.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Abbreviations that an organization does not use officially remain unofficial.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I guess the only context that it's frequently used is language learning.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
So it's okay to use 'em in chats.
But don't expect people not to ask about them on meta when you use 'em
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
In all other contexts, native speakers is almost, um, irrelevant, I think. So is non-native speakers.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
So is
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
8:45 AM
Oh, right!
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
During my exile, I restarted reading CGEL.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I wish I could do the same.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
And studying biology that way was contagious, so I'm now studying CGEL and getting three sentences out of one.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Too many things to do after the New Year. -- sad
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
I actually think no matter how shitty 2017 be, it will not be as shitty as 2016.
2016 broke some record somewhere.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
8:47 AM
Hopefully!
Aww... we're now more self-aware of our typos than usual, I suppose!
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Are we?
Well, I've been too much away from my keyboard, still gonna get some getting used to
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I don't know. Sometimes I wish I could just feel all right typing anything I think in chat.
@M.A.R. And I still type as slow as usual. :D
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@DamkerngT. Never change
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
It feels good, right? Something never changes. :)
(My internet connection is acting up again. Or maybe it's just SE.)
Oh, BTW!
!!greet/M.A.R.
 
Ellbot
Ellbot
Welcome to ELL's chat room @M.A.R.! Happy chatting!
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
8:54 AM
Magnificent<some-italian-spanish-suffix>
@Ellbot You and chemobot are related?
 
Ellbot
Ellbot
@M.A.R. Papa made me out of chemobot. :)
So I can flip, too!
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
!!flip
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Papa is online? Nice
 
Ellbot
Ellbot
(/-o-)/ ⌒ ┤
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@M.A.R. Yep, I'm on the line. :P
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
8:57 AM
How you doin' Hipp, I kinda missed your inferior table flips
Woot
Hipp knows about this?
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Yep, he does. :D
He helped me out a bit in the beginning.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
You should remember that Hipp is the only other legend that nags about exams just like me.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Haha!
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Yuck. The star board is filled with @Jim.
What time is it there?
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Must be in the late afternoon/evening.
Oh, maybe I should reconsider to implement things like !!what time is it in taiwan.
Ah, right, it's 5:00pm.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
9:01 AM
@DamkerngT. I'm certain ellbot will make chemobot envious soon enough
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@M.A.R. Right now it has two things that chemobot can't do (though neither of them is about chemistry :P)
!!wiki/สวัสดี
 
Ellbot
Ellbot
สวัสดี
สวัสดี เป็นคำทักทายของคนไทย โดยจะใช้เมื่อแรกพบกัน หรือ เมื่อต้องการบอกลา โดยพจนานุกรมฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถานให้ความหมายของคำว่า "สวัสดี (สวัสดิ์) " ว่าหมายถึง ความดี ความงาม ความเจริญรุ่งเรือง และความปลอดภัย == ความหมาย == "สวัสดี" หมายถึง ความดี ความงาม ความปลอดภัย ความเจริญรุ่งเรือง การอวยชัยให้พร คำทักทาย หรือพูดขึ้นเมื่อพบหรือจากกัน == ที่มา == ผู้ที่ริเริ่มใช้คำว่า "สวัสดี" คือ พระยาอุปกิตศิลปสาร (นิ่ม กาญจนาชีวะ) โดยพิจารณามาจากศัพท์ "โสตถิ" ในภาษาบาลี หรือ "สวัสติ" ในภาษาสันสกฤต โดยได้เริ่มใช้เป็นครั้งแรก ณ คณะอักษรศาสตร์ จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย ขณะที่พระยาอุปกิตศิลปสาร (นิ่ม กาญจนาชีวะ...
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
อ้ว่าดึกแล้วหนอพี่ขอลาล่วง อกพี่เป็นห่วงรักเจ้าดวงเดือนเอย
ขอลาแล้วเจ้าแก้วโกสุม(เอื้อน) พี่นี้รักเจ้าหนอขวัญตาเรียม
จะหาไหนมาเทียมโอ้เจ้าดวงเดือนเอย (ซ้ำ)
หอมกลิ่นเกสร
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
!!translate/नमस्ते
 
Ellbot
Ellbot
hi: नमस्ते
en: Hello
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
9:03 AM
!!translate/โอ้ว่าดึกแล้วหนอพี่ขอลาล่วง อกพี่เป็นห่วงรักเจ้าดวงเดือนเอย
 
Ellbot
Ellbot
th: โอ้ว่าดึกแล้วหนอพี่ขอลาล่วง
en: Oh, um, leave that late pass.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Well, chemobot did have a wiki option I think.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
LOL
Machine translation is always funny!
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@Ellbot What
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@M.A.R. Yes, but it doesn't support UTF-8.
Which means, you can't ask chemobot to wiki something non-English.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
9:04 AM
@DamkerngT. I realize it often contains a lot of ''um'' in Thai translations
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Haha!
Coming soon: !!ngram
(I planned to implement it during the last weekend, but it looks like I'll be busy on most of the weekends from now.)
Reality check: Can anyone access this page? bernd.wechner.info/Hitchhiking/Thumb
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@DamkerngT. Can you teach it to do laundry too?
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@M.A.R. Oohh! I wish I could do that very much! :P
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Gah dammit
Life is so hard.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Indeed. Very true indeed.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
9:10 AM
My bonds are being shattered
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Aww
Please hold yourself together!
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@DamkerngT. took too long to respond
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
But you got something, right?
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Nope
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I got nothing, no matter how long I waited.
Ah, I see. Thanks!
Gonna be AFK. Be back later! o/
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
9:11 AM
\o
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
I thought your glass 007 statuettes were being thrown against the wall
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
9:22 AM
@M.A.R. Ah, I forgot to tell you about Ellbot's chatroom:
 
engfan
engfan
"I indulge myself deeply into the book"- should this be "In the book" or "Into the book"
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.

 Ellbot's Shack

The place where we build our Ellbot
@engfan I suppose both work. I like the sound of into a little better.
AFK, again o/
 
engfan
engfan
@DamkerngT. : Hello my friend , How are you?
thanks
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@engfan Fine, thanks! How are you?
Note that in is probably more usual, BTW.
 
V.V.
V.V.
3
Q: Extra "the" in "In the evening, my mother and I cooked the dinner"

Mori My name's Elsie Jackson. I'm eighty-nine years old. I was at school eighty years ago! Every morning I helped my mother. We lived on a farm, and sometimes I milked the cows. I walked eight kilometers to school. School started at eight o'clock. I learned reading, writing and math. And th...

definite-article
See the answer. Oh.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
9:36 AM
@V.V. I guess this is quite normal on ELL now.
 
V.V.
V.V.
Dam, he answered one of my questions almost in the same way.
 
engfan
engfan
@DamkerngT. : good:-)
got it
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD
That's gonna be some dark movie.
But a Nolan movie is never not worth watching.
2
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I argued with a movie maker (over here) once, that it's not the faces (actors) but the brain (the director) that makes a movie great
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Oh, and the soundtrack
For me at least.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
9:42 AM
He told me plainly that it's the faces that people pay for. I guess he's right.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
I can't stand a movie with bad music.
@DamkerngT. The paying, yes. The enjoyment, no.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@M.A.R. Hehe! It's a big plus.
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
@DamkerngT. Somewhat similarly: It's M.A.R.'s face that pains people.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
All it takes to make a movie blockbuster is having a big company make it and advertise it hard.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@JimReynolds LOL
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
9:44 AM
@JimReynolds I don't have a problem with being the villain
Villian? William?
I'm mocking my own typing.
 
mike
mike
Good afternoon all
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Good afternoon!
 
mike
mike
how is everybody today? :)
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Feel like wishing it was Friday. :P
@V.V. The thing that caught my eye at first glance was 's in My name's Elsie Jackson, rather than the dinner.
How often do people contract this is?
Almost never, I think.
0
A: Use of subject again after "and" is more natural or not?

Teacher KSHuangShort answer: Both are natural. Long answer: Repeating the subject usually means there is something you want to emphasize. For example, "I like reading and I love to swim," ...lets the listener feel like you are a person of many interests and hobbies, ...whereas "I like reading and I love...

Hmm... what does this "...lets the listener ..." signify?
Is it supposed to be Let the listener ... or what?
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
10:13 AM
0
Q: thinking about a robot for/to

azzAre these sentences correct: 1) I am thinking about a car for driving to work. 2) I am thinking about a car to drive to work in. 3) I am thinking about a robot for cleaning the house. 4) I am thinking about a robot to clean the house. 5) I am thinking about a car for us to go to work in. D...

meaning ambiguity
Note to self: the question reminds us how much "slight adjustments" can improve the naturalness of a learner's English.
 
yubraj
yubraj
10:32 AM
What about this pronounciation dictionary of Longman ldoceonline.com/dictionary/habitat ?
Is it good pronounciation dictionary?
Hi All !
 
Jim Reynolds
Jim Reynolds
@engfan People sometimes use indulge and deeply together, but it is relatively uncommon, probably because indulge often carries a meaning of either giving in to a whim, or of pursuing something avidly. Something like I buried myself deeply into/in a book is more conventional or expected.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@yubraj Most of the well-known dictionaries are quite reliable, I'd say.
Longman, Oxford, Macmillan, Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, etc.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
> Give man a fish, and you feed him for a day.
Google "fish" and you will see context ads of fishing tackle for the rest of your life.
@M.A.R. Any movie is worth not watching in order to get bigger grades on exams (0:
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@CowperKettle Ah, all work, no play might not be a good idea!
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@DamkerngT. It's better to spend an hour or two playing basketball then, or swimming, or whatever they do in Tabriz
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
10:47 AM
@CowperKettle True, that!
 
yubraj
yubraj
@DamkerngT Nods..... Did you go through the link ?
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
No, I did not.
 
yubraj
yubraj
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I think you can trust the dictionary anyway, though.
Do you think they pronounce it incorrectly or something?
 
yubraj
yubraj
Well..I think Its pronounciation is good. I don't know if others are more advanced or not. I chosed it because it has provided many related phrases to the word I look for.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
11:00 AM
I see! Yes, you can trust them, 99.99% of the time, I daresay.
 
yubraj
yubraj
Only I need to do is to come online to look up a word in it.
Could you tell me why people say "help me out" instead of saying "help me". People say "look it up" instead of "look it".
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Hmm... the difference is slight, but sometimes it matters. I'm not sure if I can explain it well enough.
Remember that I mentioned that we should "feel" the language, rather than "learn" it?
I think this is another aspect of the language that it's probably better to feel it.
 
yubraj
yubraj
Well....@Snai. Will help me out. (I'm using 'out' here: )
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
I hope so!
 
yubraj
yubraj
I have understood the fact that we need to feel the language. But sometimes i get confused in such matters. That's why I'm asking for clearity, if it means the same or different.
 
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
11:09 AM
nods -- I understand. There's nothing wrong in asking! :-)
Sorry if I made it sound that way. I didn't mean that. I just think that it's more effective if you can somehow "feel" the language.
 
yubraj
yubraj
Ok sir
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
11:29 AM
@yubraj what resources do you have for studying English?
Can you take/Have you taken any classes?
Or do you just only have books available?
Do you have someone you can speak English with, or even better, a native speaker around?
India's literally full of people, and especially people that are good at English, I think.
Do you have such people around?
 
01:00 - 12:0013:00 - 17:0017:00 - 22:00

« first day (570 days earlier)      last day (2669 days later) »