Activity for gmcgath
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
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A: What grammatical category does "Weihnachten" fall into? After getting various inputs, I can offer a partial answer to my own question. I'm not a native speaker, so feel free to offer a better one. The explanation Duden offers covers most of the bases. Key points: "Weihnachten" is described as a frozen dative plural (ein erstarrter Dativ Plural) of "... (more) |
— | 4 months ago |
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What grammatical category does "Weihnachten" fall into? The German word "Weihnachten" (Christmas) is an odd one. It's a neuter noun (das Weihnachten) even though it's based on a feminine one (die Nacht, night). The traditional Christmas greetings, "Frohe Weihnachten" or "Fröhliche Weihnachten," don't follow the rules for singular neuter nouns, though they... (more) |
— | 5 months ago |
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What is the term for a word that is an instance of itself? Some words are examples of the concept they name. Examples: "Word" is a word. "Noun" is a noun. "Eggcorn" is an eggcorn (a mistaken word that sounds like and has some connection to another word) for "acorn." "Mondegreen" is a mondegreen; the word comes from mishearing the song line "laid hi... (more) |
— | 10 months ago |
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Why does German use the third person plural for the second person polite? 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 person plural, except that the pronouns are capitalized. It's different from the third person feminine s... (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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A: How did 'to wit' shift (from "to know") 🡺 to mean 'that is to say'? 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-French cestasavoir, used to render Latin videlicet (see viz.). (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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A: How can "in terms of" alone encompass — and substitute — multiple prepositions "at, by, as, or for"? 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." It goes on: > The nontechnical meaning of “in terms of” emerged in the early 19th century. It’s de... (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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A: Why "me too" and not "I too"? 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 there?" "It's me." Classical grammar says it should be "It is I," but that sounds positively Shakespearean.... (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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Why is "djinn" the plural of "djinni"? 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 pluralize is counterintuitive to people familiar mainly with European languages. Could someone explain how thi... (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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A: What's the difference between "in doing so" and "by doing so"? 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 one works. Here are a couple of cases where one is preferable to the other: - Japan bombed Pearl Har... (more) |
— | about 2 years ago |
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Why did the letter K survive in Latin, though it was rarely used? 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 general, classical Latin avoided superfluous letters. There was no distinction between I and J, or be... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How to deal with questions on English grammar and usage 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 main purpose. Would it be worthwhile to create a new community for "English Language"? We could talk about d... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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A: Which phrase is correct? (Is using plural form for singular object make sense?) (Does using plural form for singular object make sense?) 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 incorrect. Referring to the past, you'd ask "Did it make sense?" You could use a form of "be" with "... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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A: What is the difference between a guild and a lodge? 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 may be confusing because the Freemasons grew out of the guilds of stonemasons. Today they call their loc... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |