📚｜english-questions

[mortal citrus]

This is slightly nuanced

It doesn’t necessarily mean criticise, but more so “lash out”

More impactful

don’t say this tho, just say “lash out”

[swift briar]

I think it's more making sure than not trusting

[mortal citrus]

yeah dw

[swift briar]

Mistakes are bound to happen

And there's no shame in it

[mortal citrus]

tbh anyone could grab the role “native” and act like one

Totally understandable

[swift briar]

So have an extra reliable source wouldn't hurtm anyone

[late topaz]

self-report

[mortal citrus]

Absolutely

[mortal citrus]

Shots fired😂 lol

John is out to get me

[swift briar]

Not all natives are necessarily good at english imo

Or adequate in telling others information

[mortal citrus]

Most r good at saying “it doesn’t seem right to me” and then not explain why ndnshsh

[swift briar]

Being a native doesn't mean that you're knowledgeable

You just know a lot

[mortal citrus]

Truth

[swift briar]

I wouldn't dear to teach people my native language lol

[late topaz]

...

[swift briar]

Lile grammar

I would p***y out

[mortal citrus]

Is it that bad

[late topaz]

"doesn't mean that you're knowledgeable" and in the next sentence you say "You just know a lot"

uhm...

[swift briar]

I would consider it to be so hard

[swift briar]

I meant that you know a lot of words

But nnt necessarily good

Lol

[swift briar]

Me or the difficulty of grammar ?

[mortal citrus]

Grammar

[swift briar]

I would say that it is hard

I didn't pass my grammar

Lol

[mortal citrus]

Lol

[swift briar]

My grammar class

I was young but still

@mortal citrus question 4 u

Audacity - nerve

Do they mean the same thing

In the correct context

[sick talon]

Is it correct if i make a sentence: "It happens left and right!"

[swift briar]

You got a lot of nervous coming in.

The Audacity of this man coming in...

[mortal citrus]

“The audacity of him to do that”
“The nerve of him to do that”

In that sense yes

[swift briar]

Oh ok

[swift briar]

Hmmm...i would just say it's happening, they're coming left and right

They're attacking left and right,

They're stealing left and right

Etc

@mortal citrus opinion ?

[mortal citrus]

Agreed

[swift briar]

It is happening left and right

May perhaps be "better"

[mortal citrus]

Yes but not necessarily

[mortal citrus]

^

[sick talon]

What about: "He's getting items left and right"

[swift briar]

But just keep in mind that "left and right" basically means that there is something coming from both direction or all direction basically indicating that it's happening everywhere

[swift briar]

It means that he's getting a lot of items

Left and right can mean a lot / everywhere

It can also mean that you're losing something very fast and uncontrollably

She's spending money left and right

[mortal citrus]

Nice

[swift briar]

I think it's an idiom

Because it's not literal

[mortal citrus]

Yeah it can’t be taken literally

[swift briar]

Basically

[mortal citrus]

For the most part

[swift briar]

Last example would be:

This company is losing money left and right

Meaning it's happening fast

And from multiple directions

[late topaz]

There are trees left and right of the road.

[swift briar]

Yes

[mortal citrus]

There are trees on the left and right
There are trees to the left and right

I love prepositions

[late topaz]

I hate those

I don't understand how they work

[swift briar]

My favorite

[swift briar]

You're not alone trust me

[mortal citrus]

It is quite confusing, listening to texts and reading will help

[late topaz]

it actually makes it more confusing

[mortal citrus]

Oh-

Welp

[swift briar]

Put on, Put up, put in, put off

Did i miss any ?

[mortal citrus]

put over

put under

[late topaz]

put out

[mortal citrus]

put below

There’s quite a lot

[swift briar]

Using proposition

Tho

On in at by etc

[late topaz]

proposition is something else

[mortal citrus]

put by

Okay the word “put” is starting to look and sound wrird

weird

😭

[swift briar]

One of things that i still get confused by are the dates

Years, months, days, hours

[mortal citrus]

How so?

[swift briar]

On 1997

Why is it on 1997

And not in

[mortal citrus]

It’s in 1997, things happen within the year

not on

[swift briar]

Oh faceplam

Palm*

[late topaz]

yeah, but you could say "On january 15, 1997 so and so happened"

[mortal citrus]

Yeah for a specific day

[swift briar]

I was trying to make a point but i reversed it

Lol

I feel embarrassed

[mortal citrus]

In the month of january
in january
on monday
on sunday

[mortal citrus]

No.

[swift briar]

In 1997
On December

On monday

[mortal citrus]

Sorry my internet sucks atm omg

[mortal citrus]

In december

[late topaz]

I think that's the discord

[swift briar]

No, just the server shat itself

[mortal citrus]

Oh my

[mortal citrus]

😭

[swift briar]

I mean discord

[swift briar]

Wbiqdhoqskwjja

I need to re-learn my proposition

I feel exposed

I think im fairly ok in a context that is isn't date related

[mortal citrus]

Days —> On
Months —> In
Years —> In

[swift briar]

Why is it on monday and not in monday

[mortal citrus]

Dates —> On

[swift briar]

Years pluar
Months plural
Day - singular

[mortal citrus]

“On a day” is like referring to a specific time, however, u wouldn’t say “on a month” tho would u☺️

[swift briar]

Would that be a logical explanation ?

I haven't ate anything in days

It was ON this day that i ate

[mortal citrus]

thats why we say “on”

The discord flopped again sorry

Yes

[swift briar]

On specific in general

[mortal citrus]

However u can remember it, i wouldn’t say plural but in a sense it is singular so yes

[swift briar]

By pluar i meant a month has 29+ days in it

A year same story

A day is a day

[mortal citrus]

That’s fine

[swift briar]

A day has 24h in it as well hmm..

Lol

[mortal citrus]

#English

[swift briar]

I think time is the most specific it can get

On 8 o'clock

On 5 am etc

But wait, why do we say in 5 minutes instead of on 5 minutes ?

AHHHHHHHH MY BRAIN IS FARTING

[mortal citrus]

“In 5 minutes i will finish the project”

Future sense

[swift briar]

My brain is being fried

Trying to understand the logic behind it

[mortal citrus]

Hm

[swift briar]

Isn't that specific ?

Specific time and date

[mortal citrus]

“In 5 minutes, i want to leave”

[mortal citrus]

It is..

[swift briar]

How come we say on monday but in 5 minutes

Oh is it because there's a possibility that it may not happen in the time frame given ?

[mortal citrus]

It is a possibility but it also can be a fact

can also

[swift briar]

Do we say on if it's a favt

Fact*

[mortal citrus]

Nope

😭

[swift briar]

...

[mortal citrus]

But depends what u wanna say

On monday

Yes

[swift briar]

I need to read more into it

[mortal citrus]

If its a fact u still say “in 5 minutes”

cries

with u

[swift briar]

Which is the part that im trying to understand

Lol

I'll just read more about it, thanks fenti

[mortal citrus]

This is something i can’t explain

[swift briar]

You've done your part

Lol

[mortal citrus]

cries

first time i cant explain

[swift briar]

I don't blame u

[mortal citrus]

fails

[swift briar]

Trust me

It's not ur fault

Just one of those things that doesn't make sense

And i highly don't blame students failing to understand it

[mortal citrus]

I’ll do some research for myself too

[swift briar]

It's like you know that they're supposed to look/sound like that but cant basically understand why

[mortal citrus]

Its annoying

[swift briar]

Can be annoying

Yes

[mortal citrus]

I can imagine its also frustrating for u

[swift briar]

Yes, cuz i gotta relay on my iNtuition to determine the validity of it

Rather than logic

Lol

I will try to seek the answer for it

@mortal citrus also may i dm you something ? A youtube video that i want you to give me your honest opinion on it (nothing political)

[mortal citrus]

Sure.

[swift briar]

Couldn't, due to your setting

[mortal citrus]

Add me

[sick talon]

Nice, I get it, thanks

[swift briar]

Happy to help ya out.

[swift briar]

I watched this video and i recommended you guys to check it out, it's funny and true

https://youtube.com/shorts/od967iuNQr4?feature=share4

[bright pulsar]

"in" for nonspecific, "on" for specific. General rule with exceptions here and there. Prepositions ususlly aren't so simple.

[swift briar]

Yes those few exceptions are confusing

Must be memorized rather than understood

I guess

[bright pulsar]

Unfortunately, yes. There are many different circumstances when it comes to prepositions. "in" is generally used for general times or dates whilst "on" is reserved for specific dates, but not time.

[dense oasis]

i literally made myself notes with some of very confusing things like these, i have things like "thorough / plough / lough / heir / borough / cough / rough / hiccough" etc

"choir" is very weird too

i used to mess up "gorgeous" as well i think

[swift briar]

I chocked on my own tongue trying to pronounce some of these

They can be tricky

[dense oasis]

i think i can do this enough to make them recognisable, but i can also easily mess them up by an accident loll

oh and

"suite" and "sew" are also very weird

[mint seal]

I watched it without the audio and my brain kept clashing two pronunciations at once for every word

[swift briar]

Yeah....

[mint seal]

For “live” I always pronounce it as in “livestream” no matter what context you put it, my brain will mess it up

[swift briar]

You gotta live to start a livestream

Lol

[mint seal]

and I did it again LOL

[dense oasis]

i have good news tho, i have more of them lmfao

i guess i will collect more

[mint seal]

Exclude harder spelling and stuff like French, English just…doesn’t make sense

Spelling wise

I just hate it so much

And I respect a lot of people here that are learning English

[swift briar]

I respect myself respecting others respecting english tbh

[swift briar]

Yeah, if you're not blessed with acquiring it at a younger age

You're basically gonna feel cursed

[bright pulsar]

"live" is definitely an oddball. I don't have issues with it but, in hindsight, it is quite odd. Pronouncing a word spelt the exact same differently depending on meaning doesn't seem too popular.

[swift briar]

Comtext dependent words are tricky

Especially Live

[dense oasis]

at this point there is no escape anymore, english became a lingua franca same as latin in the past, we can't go back and choose something logical, like esperanto, to be the international language lol

[bright pulsar]

Logic doesn't last long in any language.

[swift briar]

That's why i was sooo confused earlier

When we were talking about dates

[bright pulsar]

Language will always evolve to convenience the speakers, and that unfortunately means many exceptions.

[dense oasis]

could be worse, english abandoned grammar cases and grammar genders for nouns, if it retained them, it would be waay worse lmao

[swift briar]

There's a fine line between understanding, memorizing

Not everyone is blessed with memorizing 6000-7000+ words

So understanding could come in handy

For some ppl

shrug

[bright pulsar]

I don't think that's even the trickiest part of "on" and "in". For example, you have:
"on/in time" both meaning different things,
"on the train/bus/plane," but...
"in the car",
"on TV" and "in the newspaper"

[dense oasis]

i once told one native "i was sitting in a train", they got confused, and i was confused even more cuz to me it made perfect sense lol

[swift briar]

You can be on a boat or in a boat

[bright pulsar]

That's odd, because it seems fine to me as well. "on" is intuitively a bit more literal, so the logic is that being "on a train" implies, well, simply standing in a train (or otherwise), so sitting in a train shouldn't be too foreign.

[dense oasis]

"on a train" for me would mean someone opened a window, grabbed the windowframe, left the interior of the train, and somehow managed to climb up to the roof, and later stand on the roof while the train was going forwards lol

but i know

[swift briar]

It should've been
Im in the train, on the surface of the train

Siting on the chair that's in the train

Lol

[bright pulsar]

The ambiguity is certainly still there for natives. Is Spiderman inside the train car or literally on top? Nobody will ever know so long as "Spiderman is on the train."

[dense oasis]

yeah, also "in the picture" vs "on the picture"

"in the picture i see a spider", so the spider is a painting, but "i see a spider on the picture", so the spider stands on top of the picture lol

[mint seal]

Yeah fr

Lowkey grateful I grew up in Australia

[swift briar]

I wouldn't personally say that's a blessing...but it's good enough to not be a curse

[mortal citrus]

How was your research?

[swift briar]

I procrastinated

[mortal citrus]

Perfect

[swift briar]

https://tenor.com/view/anime-ehehe-shy-gif-25842019

[dense oasis]

kinda

to some extent yeah

but at the same time am glad i dont speak english natively, because i also know my native, so, more possibilities than only english

plus i can travel europe with no serious effort with my eu passport

[swift briar]

Speaking 2 languages is really cool

And being fluent in both is an amazing achievement

[dense oasis]

like id kinda... feel sad about being an american, australian, or british, no offense to the locals but these countries seem so often very vague to me, my own country has a lot of unique things, while they are so mainstream

[swift briar]

Fair enough

[swift briar]

I feel like i need to learn more vocabulary

I'm feeling kinda... under preforming

@mortal citrus rehash

Does it mean reproducing ?

Re use it

[mortal citrus]

Re-using old ideas without a big change

[swift briar]

He created an idea and he's rehashing it again ?

Does that sentence make sense

[dense oasis]

do Anki

and note down stuff from books

[swift briar]

I don't deal books lol

I'm not trying to learn every word in the book

[dense oasis]

your loss

lol

[swift briar]

Just the ones i feel that are useful

Lol

[dense oasis]

since ive started reading books i discovered how many words i dont actually know, my collection with new words is already reaching almost 3000 (~600 new left), but it is expanding even more day by day

like there is never enough

[swift briar]

Tbh

You overburdened yourself

Doing that

What i mean by that is you're trying to put a lot of effort into something that may not come in handy

[dense oasis]

of course i did, it's like when you go to a gym, then you won't pick the easiest thing, you're gonna pick something on your level or a bit above, otherwise you dont improve right

[swift briar]

Like who would use "ubiquitous" in a conversation

[dense oasis]

i dont know, i dont know who would use "inconspicuous" or "vindictiveness", but

[swift briar]

But that analogy is incorrect

When we're talking about eng

Eng*

[dense oasis]

it is very correct

like there is nothing more correct

[swift briar]

Lol

[dense oasis]

linguists have been studying books since beginning of the civilization

[swift briar]

Do u want to be a linguist ? Or whatever you call those people who are interested in it

[dense oasis]

for me i noticed a tremendous progress from my first book, to my sixth one, the current one, ive learned so many new words and also improved my comprehension

[swift briar]

You mean you improved the way you understand English ?

[dense oasis]

yeah

and the way i speak too

[swift briar]

I mean your vocabulary is great

[dense oasis]

like i used to be lacking a word for soo many feelings or things, now i dont

[swift briar]

I bet it's even better than mine

But learning languages in general is to communicate for the most part, as long as you're capable of doing that

Then you're set

[dense oasis]

well i am

[dense oasis]

no reason to compare, you're great and maybe am too

[swift briar]

Im not an advocate of not learning btw, do that ofc, learning is good, just be mindful of the value per time ratio/contrast

[dense oasis]

okay fine, i get what you mean

[swift briar]

I'm just stating the fact, you're more flexible than i

Fixable in vocabulary.

[dense oasis]

just the feeling of reading books in english gives me a lot of proud and power, i recently bought 1984 by orwell and brave new world, am reading the second one rn, except for these two i have always been reading e-books, it is pretty mind-boggling when i see that at the moment i hold a book in some odd, foreign language, which has once been uncomprehensible to me and now i can read this

[swift briar]

Do what you love

Absolutely

[dense oasis]

and ummm

would you mind if i ask something a bit bizzare, like idk, might make you uncomfortable a tiny bit

[swift briar]

I love uncomfortable questions

[dense oasis]

okay but this one you're not gonna love

[swift briar]

Hit me

[dense oasis]

so umm, how old are you? like i know its weird to ask, but you sound really, well, not old, like your voice specifically, but old enough to be older than most english learners lol

[swift briar]

24

[dense oasis]

hm thats young, you dont sound 24

you sound like idk, 35

[swift briar]

I will take that as a compliment

Lol

[dense oasis]

yeah i meant nothing bad, i wish i had been 24 too lol, but thats gonna take six years

[swift briar]

Why the rush ?

If u want to swap age

Idm

[dense oasis]

when you're older more people respect you

i mean ok usually

not everyone does

[swift briar]

❌

Not necessarily

People nowadays respect minds not age

[dense oasis]

...sometimes i feel as if they weren't respecting anything but i guess you're right

[swift briar]

Do you feel disrespected here ?

[dense oasis]

here? no

in general in life kinda yeah, like ive got a lot of things to do in this life, pursue a career and so on, some of these issues and uncertain things cease to exist after some time, in case of some people at least, unless they do nothing and do drugs or drink all the time

but

i realized that this is #📚｜english-questions

well, i guess am gonna put an end to this then, lol, thanks for the conversation

[hollow ivy]

Hello

[swift briar]

Howdy

Compensate, explanation + examples

^-^

Can i say, u took a lot of money from us, you need to do something to compensate for that ?

Does compensate mean make up for it ?

You screwd up you need to do something to compensate for that

[dense oasis]

i think

[dense oasis]

yes

there is also "reimburse"

its similar but i only have seen it used when talking about finances

[blissful kestrel]

what screw up means here

[swift briar]

Wasn't specificed in that context

Could be anything

Nothing was explicitly said

[blissful kestrel]

Although and though could u help me to distinguish them?

[swift briar]

Though, despite the fact
Although, even though or in spite of that

Although he was tired, he still did his job = even though

Tho is a slang online word that means "on the contrary"

Or however

[blissful kestrel]

(even) though is also ok here?

[swift briar]

Although and even though

Mean the same thing

Basically

They can be interchangeable

Meaning you can use both

To mean the same thing

It's like yes and yeah

Although he was tired...
Even though he was tired...

Both mean the same thing

Despite of him being tired

[blissful kestrel]

I reviewed on Chinese website to find the answer but sometimes it is wrong. So I asked here and compare with what Chinese grammar said

thanks UR explaination is perfect

[swift briar]

Despite, even though, although, regardless

They all mean the same thing basically

[blissful kestrel]

understood

[swift briar]

He continued playing despite his injury

Even though he got injured he continued playing

Although he got injured he still won the match

He still won the match regardless of his injury

[blissful kestrel]

Are u a teacher here?

[swift briar]

No, but i help people with English

Mostly in beginner and intermediate

[serene plinth]

Though can replace although but although can't replace though in all contexts

[swift briar]

Yes i forgot to mention that

It depends on context

[dense oasis]

you are

tbh

[swift briar]

Shush, you Cambridge dictionary

You're a walking dictionary

(Complement)

[dense oasis]

the more i know the more i realize i gotta learn

lmfao

[swift briar]

☑️

[blissful kestrel]

R u really a walking dictionary?

how do u do it?

[supple holly]

I wanna know too

[blissful kestrel]

welcome black cat to tell me how to study English

[swift briar]

Depends what you want to learn

Speaking writing ? Reading vocabulary grammar etc

[blissful kestrel]

Think like native

[swift briar]

Then you need to learn everything

[blissful kestrel]

Listening is the most difficult for me

[swift briar]

You should learn grammar first

Then vocabulary

[blissful kestrel]

Speaking fluently is more important to me

[swift briar]

In order to speak fluently you need to merge your thoughts

In english

Basically you NEED to think in english

If you use ur native language to translate your thoughts then you're not truly thinking in English

[blissful kestrel]

R u a native speaker?

[swift briar]

No

[blissful kestrel]

wow

But u speak very very great

[swift briar]

Thanks

[blissful kestrel]

UR native language is?

[swift briar]

Arabic

[blissful kestrel]

The most difficult language of the world

[swift briar]

Yes

[solid copper]

Mam could you make me understand participle along with participle phrase ?

[dense oasis]

i am not

[dense oasis]

that's cantonese tho

[lost basin]

After finishing a sentence and concluding by the full stop, so, can we use these ex-, and, but, yet, nor.) to start another sentence?

And if this answer is known by anyone please let me know😍

[burnt kayak]

is real life english a good source for improving my listening skills or is it a waste of time?

[dense oasis]

if you mean the english spoken by native speakers on podcasts, youtube videos, etc, in general, then it is the best source

[dense oasis]

not every single one of them

for example

"Yesterday the police arrested a serial killer, who was responsible for deaths of 21 highschool girls. Yet, the bodies of the victims have not been found."

but

"The bodies of the victims have not been found yet." is probably better

although one could argue that they mean different things now, because when you put it at the end of the sentence then yet is just yet, but when you start a new sentence with this word then this kinda sounds as if it was supposed to mean "And despite all of this..."

[dense oasis]

for instance i would not start a sentence with ex-, nor

[lost basin]

@dense oasis Does this rule apply in written and formal settings too?

[dense oasis]

yes

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/starting-a-sentence-with-a-conjunction/#:~:text=There is nothing wrong with,structure your sentences this way.

[lost basin]

Thanks bro

[mortal mortar]

I would say yes

[cerulean tusk]

i echo what has already been said. from a native, it is the best.

[edgy fiber]

I also agree with you

[cunning loom]

I shall once again ask; Can anyone from the Greak Lakes region of the US confirm or deny that they pronounce words like "grab", "bath" and "as" with æ-raising?

[thorn owl]

yo) could some of u all explain me what is willingness? how do i use sucha phrases as 'to be willing to do smth'?

[thorny viper]

Willingness is the state of being prepared to do something. the ability and willingness of workers to migrate

[thorny viper]

Could you rephrase the other question?

[supple holly]

[swift briar]

[sick talon]

What does "canon event" mean?

[dense oasis]

"The perpetrator has been interrogated, and was not willing to plead guilty." = the person who committed a crime was interviewed by the police, and he had no plan of confessing what he did

or maybe

"The victims of that tragedy are willing to press charges against the serial killer." = the people whose families have been killed, or somehow harmed, want to confess their problems to the authorities, they have a plan like this

[lunar dagger]

Hey can someone help me to figure this out. I want to know the grammar behind this. I’m just confusing with these kind of sentences.

“I slipped out of my main door without my dog noticing me”

I’m confusing with this part.
without my dog noticing me

Is this same with this?

“I slipped out of my main door without noticing to my dog”

[dense oasis]

your second sentences confuses me a bit

but

[lunar dagger]

Is it wrong?

[dense oasis]

"I slipped out of my main door without my dog noticing me" = "I slipped out of my main door and my dog did not even notice that I was doing that"

[dense oasis]

am not sure, but anyway

[lunar dagger]

Yeah I can understand it. I can’t catch the grammar behind it. Could you explain?

[dense oasis]

i am not that good in deep grammar explanations, but the way i like to visualize this to myself is as if the -ing verb after the "without ..." part was an adjective, rather than a verb

so like

[swift briar]

Deep grammar ?

[dense oasis]

without a loving mother = without my mother loving me

i see both of these loving as the same adjectives

"without a noticing dog"/"without a dog capable of noticing" = "without my dog noticing me"

[lunar dagger]

Ohhh

[dense oasis]

in both cases i see these -ing words as just simply adjectives, i am not saying this is the correct view, am saying it works for me

[dense oasis]

ok a bit vague, i meant diving deeper into why certain words behave in certain ways

[lunar dagger]

So there isn’t any verb after without part. Right?

[dense oasis]

i have no idea how this is called and referred to in technical terms, like i believe it is not a verb anymore after the -ing, but this may be stemming from my native language which wouldnt call this a verb, so i dont wanna confuse you saying yes/no

[lunar dagger]

Mmmm

Thanks anyways

[swift briar]

Interesting way to describe it lol

[dense oasis]

i think it is a pretty terrible way to describe it

but thank you

[dense oasis]

but "if it works, don't fix it"

[swift briar]

There's a word that's closer to synonymous but i can't quite remember the spelling for it.

Anonymous is close too but not it

[dense oasis]

synonymical

[swift briar]

Nah

I think it's a synonym for the word notorious

[supple holly]

Homonymous?

[swift briar]

Alrighty

Found it

[sick talon]

What does "canon event" mean?

[swift briar]

an unavoidable life event that builds character

[supple holly]

In Spiderverse, it means something that must happen and cannot be changed (as it will affect the timeline)

But in other contexts, it usually means "an official event in a story". Like how a comic book can have 7 different versions of the same story, but only 1 of them is considered the most official (and will be the basis for sequels)

[sick talon]

Uhm.. Can you example that word in a sentence?

[mortal citrus]

No

[supple holly]

You know the official story of Batman? His parents died so he became Batman. So, for example, if a friend told you about a movie where his parents didn't die but he became Batman anyway:

Friend: Hey, did you see the new Batman movie? His parents are still alive.
You: That movie was good, but that's not a canon event. His parents are supposed to be dead in the official story.

I guess that's the best example I can come up with

[swift briar]

Kim being here is a canon event

I'm just a filler character

Trying to blend in with the canon story

[mortal citrus]

the canon event:

[swift briar]

That's a big canon

[dense oasis]

she is T H I C C

funny enough, "cannon" is considered female in my native, like the grammar gender

||i mean ik "she" makes no sense but, i had to||

[supple holly]

Canon or cannon

[dense oasis]

oh yeah

right

lmfao

[supple holly]

Strange that the long, tube shaped object is considered female

[dense oasis]

"make-up" is considered male

like a masculine noun

there's more of these lmao

[supple holly]

Probably like the bouba/kiki effect. Interesting read if you're curious about pronunciation in a language

[dense oasis]

i looked it up, right

same as when i see a noun, name, or anything ending with -a, then my mind tells me it is somehow feminine

because in polish the nouns or names ending with -a are usually feminine grammar gender

[supple holly]

I think it's the same in English. Cool how some rules apply across different languages

[dense oasis]

yeah but english doesnt have grammar genders for nouns, only for nouns that are names

[supple holly]

I meant how names ending in -a are usually female*

[dense oasis]

hm yeah right, also soft variations of "shi" and "chi" sounds, like in "shot" or "chill" but with a soft sh instead of the harsh one, i usually associate with something cute

because in my native there is a suffix with these sounds, which turns nouns into "cuter forms", i dont remember the linguistic term for this phenomenon

[swift briar]

Black and kim having a very intellectual conversation

[dense oasis]

thats why japanese, korean, many chinese words, and also other east asian/some southeast asian languages sound more appealing to me than european languages (and i mean to many other polish natives too, not all, but idk, some share this thought)

they use these two sounds more often

[swift briar]

I don't know why such a useless word got stuck in my head

Ubiquitous

I rather say common than Ubiquitous

[supple holly]

You can use this during an online argument to make yourself seem smarter

[swift briar]

Maybe

[oblique venture]

what puncatating mean ?

[mortal citrus]

Omni-present🥰

[swift briar]

Omni-man

[oblique venture]

hmm

[mortal citrus]

Do you mean “punctuating”?

[oblique venture]

yss

punctuating

[mortal citrus]

Lots of symbols

[oblique venture]

ohhh

[swift briar]

These are all punctuation

[oblique venture]

insert punctuation marks in (text). google defines this

[mortal citrus]

The act of “punctuating” is inserting symbols

[mortal citrus]

Yes

[swift briar]

I would say inputting rather than inserting

Hehehe

[oblique venture]

i was wondering what it's mean to insert punctuation

anyways ty

[mortal citrus]

Same meaning

[mortal citrus]

It works

☺️

[swift briar]

Insert, enter, put in

[mortal citrus]

Place

[swift briar]

Input

[mortal citrus]

Throw in

😂

[swift briar]

Not to be confused with put in

Put in and input mean different things

[mortal citrus]

Chuck in

[supple holly]

Grant the punctuation mark permission to position itself into the sentence

[mortal citrus]

Lmao

[swift briar]

That's more British

[mortal citrus]

Yes

[mortal citrus]

Position itself😭

[supple holly]

You two are very reliable English helpers. You should have my role

[mortal citrus]

One day🥺

[swift briar]

Two day

[mortal citrus]

Tbh i just like helping others

Teaching is fun

And rewarding

[swift briar]

Depends who you're teaching

[mortal citrus]

[oblique venture]

one more what it's mean to be vulnerable

??

[flat rune]

it means like your easily targetable, or someone could easily hurt you. or your not prepared for something.

[oblique venture]

thanks

[swift briar]

Unprotected

[oblique venture]

k

[swift briar]

Without your shield and sword you're vulnerable

[dense oasis]

not really, underscores, asperands, ampersands, at-signs, and signs, curly brackets, square brackets, asterix, caret, hashtag, tilde, backtick etc

these are all very important signs that i use everyday

[supple holly]

Even the "hashtag" symbol?

[dense oasis]

yes

in programming

` too, ~ as well

in human language i do not, lmao

i dont even have an idea how all of these symbols should be used in human languages, ok maybe except for : ; , , - ()

[supple holly]

I don't think they are used. Unless you're writing a report or something

[vast pewter]

Hi guys. Why some people use the word "though" at the end of a sentence? What is the meaning?

[mortal citrus]

“Though” is used to emphasise what was just said and draw attention to it. Its most common meanings are “however” and “nevertheless” if “though” is used at the end of a sentence.

“She passed the math exam, her grade is poor though”

“Though” highlights the fact that even though she passed, her grade was still bad. It has the meanings “nevertheless” and “however” as mentioned before.

[vast pewter]

Oh, thank you

[blazing smelt]

Which of these sentences is correct?

All I understood were the jokes.
OR
All I understood was the jokes.

[mortal citrus]

“All I understood were the jokes”

Was —> Singular Subject
Were —> Plural Subject

[blazing smelt]

Yeah, thanks. I was confused because I remembered sentences like "All of it was broken.", where All is the subject

[swift briar]

That was a good explanation i hope they were listening

[mortal citrus]

😍

[swift briar]

But wait

[swift briar]

Were you listening ?

Was you listening

Lol

How come we use were you

Instead of was you

If it was singular

[mortal citrus]

I probably should’ve specified more. For their example, I was stating when to use “was” vs “where” regarding subjects not pronouns.

Use “were” for the second person pronoun (you), the first person plural (we), and the third person plural (they).

I was
You were
He/She/It was
We were
They were

[swift briar]

Oh yeah

Makes more sense now

Lol

[mortal citrus]

Yay

[swift briar]

He was, she was, it was
We were, they were

[mortal citrus]

Nice

[serene plinth]

Heyyy

[swift briar]

Hey

[mortal citrus]

Ahoy captain

[serene plinth]

[swift briar]

@serene plinth how long have you been teaching ?

[scenic stirrup]

I'd like to know the meaning of capture the fantasies of millions in this sentence: Harry Styles, this summer’s pop prince, has earned his crown by capturing the fantasies of millions and taking what seems like a groundbreaking approach to the presentation of gender fluidity and sexual identity.

[supple holly]

it means "to know a million people's dream/imagination and bring it to life"

[swift briar]

Kim the translator

[supple holly]

I have dabbled in the subject

[swift briar]

Dabbled as in you dipped in it ?

I don't really like to translate cuz it requires a lot of brain processing and i don't think i have that in me

Trying to translate specific sayings or jokes

Is hell on earth for translators

[scenic stirrup]

Could you make some examples to make even clearer?

it*

[swift briar]

My old college professor used to be a translator in one of the biggest news channel and he was just struggling to translate some stuff

[dense oasis]

"The fresh, juicy meat of new victims is something that would captures the fantasies of every serial killer on the planet."

so they would like some

it is their dream

[scenic stirrup]

Impressive. That's good. Thank you.

[swift briar]

Black cat is a translator as well

[dense oasis]

well if someone paid me irl then i would be, but i dont have any certificates, and neither do I have any degrees...

i can be a homeless translator

[supple holly]

most schizo example a man could give

you remind me of myself in #955676721498185740

[dense oasis]

i like true crime

[scenic stirrup]

What's the meaning of an outrage of burning simplicity?
Horor— then the consolation of fierce clarity. That Sir Salman Rushdie should have been mutilated with a knife for the sin of writing a novel is an outrage of burning simplicity.

[dense oasis]

it means "a huge, annoying amount of very typical things"

like i am calling this an amount, but outrage is like anger

[scenic stirrup]

Could you elaborate more, please?

[dense oasis]

wait a minute am literally boiling spaghetti

[scenic stirrup]

What about burning simplicity? I just can't get its implication.

[supple holly]

"outrage" means "something that is forbidden, not allowed; or there is too much of it than allowed"

"burning" in this case is an adjective meaning "serious, intense"

"simplicity" means people/things that are simple, normal, not great; or the state of being normal and not great

paired all three of these together, you get "outrage of burning simplicity", which means the simple people (or their simple mindset) was so horrible that it led to this Sir Salman Rushdie's mutilation. This simpleness is the cause of his death, so the writer is writing it in a critical way

[dense oasis]

your undestanding of outrage is incorrect

[swift briar]

Out-rage

[swift briar]

Outrage can mean a lot of things

[supple holly]

\

[swift briar]

Outrage is also related to anger

[supple holly]

second definition

[dense oasis]

they are mostly the same to me tbh

[swift briar]

Lemme pull my 3rd definition out of my hat

[scenic stirrup]

I think the picture is so clear now. Hats off to you guys. You literally helped clear the fog in my brain. Thank you so much.

[gaunt arch]

Who listen The Weekend ?

[supple holly]

you have a beautiful way of expressing yourself

[scenic stirrup]

Thanks a lot.

[swift briar]

Flirty

[thick quiver]

Whats the difference between fluent and intermediate ?

[dense oasis]

fluent is an adjective to describe someone who is able to express themselves clearly, in a comprehensible way, pretty natural, so you can understand that person without any major incoveniences, they feel pretty comfortable with saying what they really want to say

[tired drum]

Is fluent higher than intermediate?

[dense oasis]

yes

[tired drum]

Aww

[thick quiver]

thanks!

[dense oasis]

intermediate means someone who would possibly score as B1-B2 in most of the official language certificates, it is tied up pretty closely to these levels, while "fluent" is mostly unrelated to the tests or anything measurable like this, it just, shows itself by itself

[tired drum]

What comes before fluent?

[dense oasis]

some people like to say "communicative"

so

they can express what they want to, but

[tired drum]

Aww

[dense oasis]

but they are not really too quick, or too efficient, they tend to struggle, stutter a lot, etc

[tired drum]

Maybe! this

bilingual

[tired drum]

bilingual

[dense oasis]

bilingual is better than fluent

[tired drum]

nice

[dense oasis]

i mentioned "communicative" above, but i meant it was like, worse than fluent

[tired drum]

Are u native n english?

[dense oasis]

no

unfortunately am not

[tired drum]

same

So your are learning here English

?

[dense oasis]

not really, i am usually learning on my own, reading books in english, etc, i just joined cuz i thought i may be useful to help some people, or maybe chat when i feel like it

[thick quiver]

you explained it well tbh

[tired drum]

What is your Native language?

Nice,

keep it up

[dense oasis]

polish

[tired drum]

nice

How do I know if I'm fluent?

[dense oasis]

thats a great question, i have no idea

lmao

[tired drum]

Aww

google

lol

[dense oasis]

like it depends from a person to person, i personally do not like to say "am fluent" because then it means someone has higher expectations of me, plus being humble & modest is usually worth it

[tired drum]

Yea, right

So

What are the 4 types of fluency?

[dense oasis]

usually the native speakers would probably tell whether someone is fluent or not, like no one can really assess this better than them

[dense oasis]

idk

[tired drum]

yea

[thick quiver]

in my opinion, fluent is like a able to speak without breaks or so. like dont have to pause you could say

probably

[dense oasis]

kinda but then it would mean am not even fluent in my native language, because i have to stop thinking in order to even conceive of an idea i want to convey

[thick quiver]

thats faur

[dense oasis]

well, stop speaking, not thinking

[thick quiver]

fair*

[tired drum]

I can search on Google
questions
But I want, someone to tell me

because I trust google a little bit

[dense oasis]

you seem like a person who'd be capable of doing this, noticing that you've sent like ten thousand messages on this server lol

[late topaz]

No matter how good you are at speaking, you still would have to take pauses just to think through what you are going to say

[tired drum]

aww

[gaunt arch]

Who listen The weekend

[drowsy nebula]

hi, is there any dictionary or sth else to check idioms' definitions?

I mean online dictionary or sth like that

hmm ok

thx

[tepid yew]

cambridge dictionary

i think will help you

[swift briar]

It does matter

To an extent

[dense oasis]

you sound so authentic

[swift briar]

@dense oasis have you realized something

[dense oasis]

and so english

[swift briar]

Im the only person who has both roles at the same time

(Beginner and fluent)

[dense oasis]

yeah ive seen that

[swift briar]

I was able to glitch the system

[dense oasis]

i have intermediate cuz

well

ive no idea why

[swift briar]

Yes

Change that

To fluent

[dense oasis]

to beginner

[swift briar]

Tyvm

[dense oasis]

lmao

[dense oasis]

am gonna be A2 english learner who reads books

people are not gonna notice

[swift briar]

Cuz ur a black cat ?

Very creative

[dense oasis]

yeah right am black, i will permeate into the dimness of the twilight

and cease to be visible

[late topaz]

The dictionary of dictionaries: https://onelook.com
and for sentences: sentencedict.com

[drowsy nebula]

thank you

[cerulean tusk]

if there is one thing that people will notice, its a cat reading a book...

[flat rune]

Hi. Please can anyone help me? What is it called for when there's an ' before a word? Like 'ere

Is it just called letter dropping?

[cerulean tusk]

the symbol? apostrophe...

[flat rune]

yeah

I think I'm ruining English cause I used it before "something" to make it "'mthing"

[cerulean tusk]

the word is called a contraction

haha, yea that doesn't work friend

[mortal citrus]

An apostrophe (') exclusively before a word indicates that it’s a shortened, slang version of the original word. For example, 'round is short for “around”.

[cerulean tusk]

you can say somethin

[mortal citrus]

^^ If that’s what you mean

[cerulean tusk]

sth is also an acceptable abbreviation for something

[flat rune]

Yes it helps thank you

[mortal citrus]

There’s quite a lot😅

[flat rune]

Ye but I wanted to use 'mthing

I know it sounds weird, like umthing

[cerulean tusk]

better to go with somethin

[flat rune]

It won't work

But you have helped me with what I wanna do

Contraction words

[cerulean tusk]

neither will 'mthing

[cerulean tusk]

.

[flat rune]

Ye but it has to start with '

and less than 2 syllables. Will try to work with 'round cause that is not beginning with h originally

[cerulean tusk]

it cant, but if its informal writing, it doesnt really matter.

[flat rune]

true

[cerulean tusk]

'mthing isnt less than 2

[flat rune]

true

[cerulean tusk]

you could use a version that says "sum-m"

im doin sum-m later today

writing it is the difficult part tho...

[flat rune]

wow

'round is actually doable itself

oh wait no it isn't

no it has to begin with ' and end with ing

sooo googling contraction words ending with ing 😂

[cerulean tusk]

a verb?

[flat rune]

Whatever "something" is

[cerulean tusk]

oh ok... idk where round came from then ha

[flat rune]

ugh why is English

yo guys should i use "still" or "is still" after a name. like "Elder scrolls online (is still) beautiful in 2023?

[cerulean tusk]

is still

[cerulean tusk]

yea, i know

[cerulean tusk]

i'd be surprised if this even exists

can you say more about what you are trying to do? whats the assignment?

[flat rune]

nah I actually will just have to work with 'round tbh

cause it can be substituted

No assignment, just jabber

[cerulean tusk]

something and around are quite different

[flat rune]

The sentence I used something can use around when edited

[cerulean tusk]

gotcha

[dense oasis]

meow

you gave me an idea to make my cat read something in english

but i can not, since the two only books that i have in english in physical versions, not digital ones, tend to close very quickly, like when i read i have to put something heavy on top of the page, so the book does not close

or just hold it

[sick talon]

What does "fair enough" mean

[supple holly]

It means "okay" or "I agree"

[sick talon]

The usage just same as "okay" or "I agree"?

[supple holly]

Yes

[sick talon]

Oh okie, thanks

[swift briar]

It means alright

used to admit that something is reasonable or acceptable

[dense oasis]

i think you're reasonable

but

are you fair? and is it enough?

[dense oasis]

c a t t e

[swift briar]

Oi, peeps

Any tips on reading unfamiliar words

Improving my reading skill

[supple holly]

Like you want to be able to guess their meaning?

[swift briar]

Im good at guessing meanings in context

Just not very good at reading words

That i haven't read before

[mortal citrus]

Read unfamiliar words in context, search it up, re-read it in the context and then use it in your own sentence. To improve overall, keep reading authentic texts and associate it with the correct pronunciation.

[mortal citrus]

Hm

[swift briar]

Like for example

Keqing

Qiqi

Diluk

And yes, these are genshin characters that i failed miserably trying to read'em

[supple holly]

Read enough English words, you start to see patterns in how they're pronounced. But you're not supposed to always be able to read a new word because pronunciation is inconsistent in the language

Besides, these are names. Chinese names

[mortal citrus]

Raiden

[swift briar]

Kinda like raider

[mortal citrus]

Yep

“reyeden” is the correct way of saying it

Not “ray”

[swift briar]

I used to pronounce it "rider" not "rayder

[mortal citrus]

Nice

[swift briar]

Tomb rayder

Instead of rider lol

[mortal citrus]

Lmao

[swift briar]

Pronunciation + accent can be a B@#$ sometimes

I feel bad for asians trying to learn English

They either get laughed at for their accent or their bad English

Or both

[dense oasis]

nah you're never gonna nail them, it does not help that mandarin has tones so even if someone makes the correct sounds, then its rhythm, tone, may not match and it may still be a mispronunciation

[swift briar]

@mortal citrus is it winter in your country ?

[mortal citrus]

Yes

[swift briar]

Australia has a very strange sense of humor

When it comes to seasons

[mortal citrus]

Oh

[swift briar]

Mind swapping ?

[dense oasis]

do you ride kangaroos?

[swift briar]

Bruh

[mortal citrus]

The kangaroos are on holidays but school starts soon so they will be utilised for transport

[swift briar]

You don't...ride them...they ride u

[dense oasis]

i gotta take one and hop around across the streets in poland

[mortal citrus]

Very efficient, non-polluting, eco-friendly

Sustainable

Viable

[swift briar]

What about humans

[mortal citrus]

Nope

[dense oasis]

they eat plants, don't they? so technically they dont even eat meat, so the air pollution is lower cuz all these cow farms are not needed to feed them, unlike to feed the humans, plus they dont drink gasoline (i guess?) so better than cars

[mortal citrus]

Yes

Herbivores

[dense oasis]

i suck at biological terms but i guessed this one from the context lol

[mortal citrus]

See context is good

Herbivores —> plant-eating
Carnivores —> meat-eating
omnivores —> both

piscivore —> only fish

Lol

[dense oasis]

in my native we have these words waaay more rationalized, like herbivores is literally "plant-eating" in the official term, there is no other word for this

[mortal citrus]

well that’s nice

[dense oasis]

i think i know another one

like

coprophagous

or something like this

[dense oasis]

as an adjective for animals who eat their own sh##, like capybaras

[mortal citrus]

Omg

LMAO

[dense oasis]

i looked up if cats are omnivores or carnivores, tbh quite shocking results knowing that some people try to make their cats vegan

[mortal citrus]

That’s not good

Poor kitties

[swift briar]

I knew non of these

[mortal citrus]

Now you know

[swift briar]

Yes...for now

[dense oasis]

i tend to forget vocabulary like "a bead" or "arteries"

[mortal citrus]

Bio terms tricky

[faint bluff]

LGBT & Vegan

[swift briar]

Yes

Can be tricky to remember

If you're not into biology

[dense oasis]

also i used to confuse "arteries" and "antlers"

lmfao

[mortal citrus]

Hahdbshs

[mortal citrus]

The basics are good to know tho

No native will expect u to be a doctor😭

[swift briar]

I guess my father is native then

[dense oasis]

are you a doctor

[mortal citrus]

Oh nice

[swift briar]

Nah lol

Not smart enough

Just an engineer

[dense oasis]

of what

[mortal citrus]

Authentic Engineer

[swift briar]

Instrumentations and control

[dense oasis]

woah

[mortal citrus]

control

[swift briar]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumentation_and_control_engineering

[mortal citrus]

Omg

[swift briar]

It's not a very common filed lol

[mortal citrus]

field* 😁

[mortal citrus]

I can see

[swift briar]

Nsuaisbdiai

Fair enough

[dense oasis]

*filed charges against the english natives

or filled a glass with water

english words tricky

[mortal citrus]

Tricky

[swift briar]

OMG, stop bullying me...i made a small mistake

qwq

[dense oasis]

sorry

meow

[swift briar]

Lmaoooo

You're fine You're fineee

I'm just kidding

[mortal citrus]

[swift briar]

Wait

Has gotten or has gone ?

In the context of

Your tail has gotten bigger

[mortal citrus]

Has gotten

[swift briar]

Nice

[dense oasis]

it hasnt, am fluffy, not fat

[mortal citrus]

why does it look like a german word the longer i stare at it

[swift briar]

Which one

[mortal citrus]

You could also say “Your tail has grown bigger”

[mortal citrus]

gotten

[dense oasis]

they kinda look like this... especially partizip II forms of verbs

also prateritum forms

[mortal citrus]

Right

[swift briar]

Gotten cotton

[mortal citrus]

[dense oasis]

guys wish me luck, am downloading the entire english wikipedia

[swift briar]

Bottom gotten cotton

[swift briar]

93GBs

[dense oasis]

yes, including photos

[mortal citrus]

You’ll become wikipedia in no time

[swift briar]

Black cat wants to surpass natives

[mortal citrus]

Uh oh

[dense oasis]

i wanna have it cuz i might have my connection cut off for some time, not now, but maybe in the future, idk...

[mortal citrus]

Nice

Better to be safe then sorry

[swift briar]

Just make sure your cat isn't close to your modem

[dense oasis]

naaah... it's like this when you live in the countryside, you never know if a branch just falls down and pulls down all of the wires

[swift briar]

https://tenor.com/view/cat-bite-cat-stupid-stupid-cat-bite-gif-25168895

[dense oasis]

lines

[dense oasis]

he is

frantic with it

[flat rune]

frantic is not the word

😎

[flat rune]

nah

frantic is almost always negative

[dense oasis]

well

the cat biting the plug is also negative

"distraught with fear, anxiety, or other emotion.
"she was frantic with worry""

[flat rune]

i havent seen frantic used without a destitute situation

[flat rune]

no

its so obviously a meme

aka laughter

[dense oasis]

ik

[swift briar]

I have this small note that im working on

[flat rune]

its more delirious than frantic

[flat rune]

tangent is like a line

fussy is messy

but used mostly with food

[swift briar]

Yeah ik mate

[dense oasis]

no

being fussy is like being picky

[flat rune]

oh bruh the channel is english questions

[flat rune]

ye sorry

thats true

[dense oasis]

got my revenge

[flat rune]

lmfao

[dense oasis]

hehe