Okay, so I am having trouble understanding how to properly use commas. I think my main issue is not understanding the difference between an introductory phrase, which needs a comma to follow it, and a dependent clause, which does not. Here is an example: "After finishing my homework, I watched a movie." From my understanding this is supposed to have a comma(,) because it is an introductory phrase. When I read this(,) I want to use a comma. However, from my understanding, the following example is not supposed to use a comma. "If it rains we will stay indoors." This is because it is a dependent ..read more

As I understood, ‘forwards’ (and others, like ‘upwards’ and ‘backwards’) is an adverb, but the Oxford Dictionary shows that it’s applied to the first two meanings only, so I’m confused now. submitted by /u/RealNotBritish [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I have heard of the term "upspeak", or the use of interrogative tone outside of an interrogative sentence, but I haven't been able to find a similar word for what people are doing to written English. I see it every day on Reddit. Someone will make a statement about something, and a respondent who disagrees will say something like, "it doesn't?", or "no it won't?" I can hear the way they would say it if they were speaking, so I get the point I suppose. submitted by /u/ExileOnMainStreet [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

Like the sentence “What it was, was football” or “where it is, is…” submitted by /u/bcole386 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

At work we clip the to bo verb quite often. For example Treatment reasonable and appropriate. Vs Treatment is reasonable and appropriate. Any thoughts on this? Would you say it's understood. Is it correct? submitted by /u/ngbrown6211 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

In the sentence 'I will be taught next week', the word 'taught' is the past participle of teach. I only just today learned what a participle is and am trying to make sense of a few things, so please bear with me. Everything I've been finding via web search says the past participle of a verb is usually used as an adjective, but since apparently that is not always true, when is that not true? And is this an example of when it's not true? Because I don't think 'taught' functions as an adjective in the above sentence. I can't imagine it often being situationally correct to say that I am presently ..read more

E.g. "The reality is is that..." "The thing is is that..." Some people habitually add an extra "is" and it comes out naturally. They don't notice or feel any "hiccup" in the fluency of whatever they are saying. I notice it every time and it sounds so off to my ear. I am fascinated by it and genuinely perplexed by how pervasive it is. This has never occurred to me before but is it possibly regional?? Now that I ponder it I don't think I'd heard it, at least not routinely, until I lived in the Midwest. submitted by /u/54321hope [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I will first share the original poem, entitled "Good Timber", by Douglas Malloch. I will then share the same poem, but with some changes I have made. The words that have the line through them are words I changed. Words that are Bold are words I want to change but not sure what word to use. I will be using "Center Alignment" for this tattoo, and the punctuation at the end of each line messes with the alignment. So, I removed the punctuation from the end of each line, and I wanted to know if that is appropriate? Your help would be greatly appreciated. The tree that never had to fight For sun an ..read more

Went to a bakery, asked for a "menu". Lady promptly tells me bakeries don't have menus, only restaurants do. I was under the impression the word "menu" has long since evolved to be used in a more broad fashion. Got well akshuallied by an elderly Chinese lady running a bakery. Posted this on /linguistics first but apparently semantics isn't part of linguistics anymore and was told to post elsewhere. Nothing makes sense in USA 2023. Thoughts? submitted by /u/Live-Database7285 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

What word is being modified by the particle phrase, “Flying into the storm,” in the following sentence? “Flying into the storm, Superman risked life and limb.” The book suggests the phrase is acting adverbially in modifying the verb “risked,” indicating where such risk occurred; however, I thought this would be modifying Superman and by it functioning as an adjective. What is a method of discerning which word a participle phrase modified? submitted by /u/LetTreant [visit reddit] [comments ..read more