gmcgath‭

In classical Latin, the letter C is pronounced like K. Hardly any words use the latter K; even imports from Greek turned kappa into C. A handful of words, such as "kalendae," held onto their K. In...

1 answer  ·  posted 1y ago by gmcgath‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by Moshi‭

It depends on the context, but generally "in doing so" refers to something that happens along with or as part of the action, and "by doing so" refers to a result of the action. In many cases either...

posted 1y ago by gmcgath‭  ·  edited 1y ago by gmcgath‭

English tends to use accusative pronouns whenever they aren't clearly the subject of a sentence or clause, even when classical grammatical rules call for the nominative. Another example: "Who's the...

posted 12mo ago by gmcgath‭  ·  edited 12mo ago by gmcgath‭

Languages & Linguistics has been getting some questions about relatively basic issues in the English language. There's nothing wrong with these questions as such, but they don't really fit the ...

0 answers  ·  posted 1y ago by gmcgath‭

German has three sets of pronouns for the second person: the familiar singular (du), the familiar plural (ihr), and the polite singular or plural (Sie). The polite form is identical with the third ...

2 answers  ·  posted 11mo ago by gmcgath‭  ·  last activity 11mo ago by Keelan‭

The verb "do" is generally used for asking a question. Eliminating the extra words, the statement "It makes sense" turns into the question "Does it make sense?" "Is it make sense?" is grammatically...

posted 1y ago by gmcgath‭

Most reliable sources say that the Arabic-derived "djinni" is a singular word and its plural is "djinn." (Or "jinni" and "jinn," if you prefer.) The dropping of a final letter or syllable to plural...

1 answer  ·  posted 12mo ago by gmcgath‭  ·  last activity 12mo ago by Jirka Hanika‭

A guild is normally a craft or trade organization. "Lodge" has many meanings, but the relevant one is a local branch or meeting place of a fraternal organization. The situation with Freemasonry ma...

posted 2y ago by gmcgath‭

Etymology Online suggests: The phrase to wit, almost the only surviving use of the verb, is first recorded 1570s, from earlier that is to wit (mid-14c.), probably a loan-translation of Anglo-Fre...

posted 12mo ago by gmcgath‭

There's a discussion of how "in terms of" came to mean "regarding" on the Grammarphobia Blog. The article suggests: "Perhaps it strikes people as more scholarly or scientific than the alternatives....

posted 12mo ago by gmcgath‭