|
- past tense - Present Perfect with the word ago? - English Language . . .
If you use a when-indication with "ago" you clearly refer to an event in the past and you use the past tense If you want to indicate that the opening of the new restaurant is an up-to-date fact you use the Perfect: "My parents have opened a new restaurant" without indicating a time in the past
- Once upon a time vs. a long time ago - English Language Usage . . .
On the other hand, a long time ago means a long time ago in the past Now, they could be used interchangeably in some cases, but once upon time could refer to something that happened a few days or a month ago, which is not long time ago, while the other couldn't
- Origins of the phrase “the best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago . . .
One outlier from 1995 (in a periodical called Strides), however, pegs the best time at five years ago, the second best as now, and the worst at "three years from now " Another source (McHenry's Quips, Quotes and Other Notes [1999]) argues for ten years ago Yet another (Urban Forestry [1991]) pushes the ideal planting time back to fifty years ago
- Why is it three score years and ten almost half the time and not . . .
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal I suspect that it is mostly Americans that use the " three score and ten years " form, subconsciously paralleling Lincoln's " four score and seven years ", while the
- What is the history of the expression “many moons ago”?
That's when we first met many, many moons ago and then we started having him on as a regular guest maybe once a month, maybe even twice a month When I Googled "origin of ‘many moons ago’" the only relevant page I found was Yahoo! Answers whose best answer was: “many moons ago means a long time ago” But a second commenter said:
- word choice - In the last 3 months vs in the past 3 months . . .
Today is Oct 13, 2010 It can be argued that in the last 3 months would be intuitively understood as the time frame from 8 13 2010 to 10 12 2010, while in the past three months would mean July, August, and September
- present perfect - Have lived vs. Have been living - English Language . . .
What is the difference between the followings? A I have been living here for 5 years B I have lived here for 5 years Am I correct that these two represent the same event, but A emphasizes the
- When does the word months get an apostrophe?
Closed 4 years ago Is it '12 month's remuneration', '12 months' remuneration' or '12 months remuneration'? New Oxford Style Manual says it does not get an apostrophe is not used in 'adjectival constructions' e g three months pregnant
|
|
|