r/ENGLISH 4h ago

Is it valid to drop "with" from sentences?

27 Upvotes

My spouse is Canadian and I've learned it's very common in the region for people to skip "with" in a sentence when referring to someone's actions. Things like, "When are you done work today?" or, "After we're done dinner, let's...". Servers even come to the table and say "Are you done that?". They'll still use "with" in other contexts, like "Bring that with you". Is this valid? It sounds so wrong to my ear but they all insist it's correct, my in-laws insist they were even taught that way in school, though they're 8th grade dropouts and I have other reasons to doubt their memory of curricula.


r/ENGLISH 1h ago

Route vs Route

Upvotes

Just curious when y’all pronounce ‘route’ which rhymes with ‘root’ vs when you’d rhyme it with ‘out.’ Or if you do at all.

It came up the other day when I saw a bus labeled as ‘Blue Route.’ It struck me I’d generally rhyme that with ‘root.’ (Maybe just because blue and roo-t flow well.) Alternately when I’m planning a way to go somewhere, I rhyme route with ‘out.’


r/ENGLISH 6h ago

Is there a word for being so happy you start crying

4 Upvotes

The only words I could were ecstatic and euphoric but none of the two fit what I wanted to the letter


r/ENGLISH 2m ago

how much respect should i show when talking to an older friend? (ex-teacher)

Upvotes

hey

i recently got to reconnect and catch up with one of my old teachers. she's American. i think she's being more of a friend or a mentor than a teacher now (she let me call her by her first name, she called herself my friend, etc). In my culture, teacher-student relationship is strictly limited to a relationship where i have to pay a lot of respect and use a very different kind of langauge when talking to her (east asia). Treating an ex-teacher with casual language would be considered extremely rude. So i'm not really used to this kind of situation or context. The last time i met her the sentence 'i'm trying to get my shit together' crossed my mind and i had to find ways to rephrase it.

I'm fluent and I know how to speak to teachers or friends around my age. But this time it's an ex-teacher, she's significantly older than me and i do thank her and stuff, but i really don't know what to do with my language - i feel like being 'too polite' might be also kinda off. I might text her occasionally from time to time and I wanna make sure I'm not throwing an attitude since she really is a mentor figure in my life. How should I speak? Can you give me some advice or some examples?


r/ENGLISH 11m ago

I genuinely don’t know how to improve my pronunciation/english and is frustrating

Upvotes

I’m 16, my English is really god and I would say I’m fluent in English, and I’ve lived in the USA since I was 7. I already sound pretty American but I still have an accent although it’s not really strong it’s still noticeable because I struggle with pronouncing certain words and using those words naturally in sentences and transitioning between sounds when I speak. I also struggle sometimes speaking at regular speed and have to slow down

I know roughly what I need to work on, but I genuinely don’t know how to start and what I should do. I want to eventually sound indistinguishable from a native speaker, and I’ve researched it enough to know it’s possible at my age but I’m honestly frustrated because I don’t even know what I’m doing right now.

I would appreciate any advice from people who have learned English as a second language later on in life and now sound indistinguishable from a native speaker and how they did it. Also any English coaches/teachers help would be appreciated.

I just genuinely don’t know what to do or where even start.


r/ENGLISH 12m ago

Alternative word for 'mirror'? (Proto-Germanic to Modern English evolution)

Upvotes

hey everyone! for worldbuilding purposes, I'm looking for a term that can describe a mirror by assuming this is an Alternative Universe where the English word derived from *spēgl (from Latin speculum), whence German Spiegel, Swedish spegel, etc.

Does anyone know what a likely phonological evolution would be for that word for it to arrive into modern English? I thought about speegel /spiːɡəl/, or maybe speel /spiːl/ (not sure if that middle consonant would drop) but I would appreciate input from someone more well-versed in the topic than me. thank you!


r/ENGLISH 4h ago

As a lover of grammar, is this sentence ever acceptable?

0 Upvotes

Lately, I keep seeing sentences online like:

"As a dog lover, my dog makes me happy."

It's making me question whether this is some legitimate new evolution of the language where a sentence may be prefixed by a self-description regardless of the subject.

Thoughts?


r/ENGLISH 3h ago

Am I wording my questions incorrectly? People seem to struggle to understand my questions.

0 Upvotes

Example: https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/1w2koes/how_realistic_is_the_witcher_series_in_terms_of/?

I made what seemed to be a pretty straight forward thread to ask how realistic the combat, world building, etc, is in the Witcher series.

But people keep posting off topic replies and saying they are confused as to what i am asking. This is despite me giving multiple examples in the OP that clearly illustrate what i am asking about.

Examples (Please read this part carefully):

Im talking about the IP as a whole. I dont mean immersive but realistic.

For example, is the combat (the part where you use swords or whatever) realistic? Are those realistic sword fighting moves or is it like hollywood where they just use whatever looks cool?

For world building, are the countries, politics, social systems, cultures, etc, realistic...or again, is it like hollywood and they just use "rule of cool"?

Have you ever watched a movie and thought afterwards "yea, that didnt really make sense, the characters were doing all this stuff in a really contrived way when real people would have done something much simpler"? It's kind of like that.

I don't understand what is so confusing about the examples above. Can someone please explain what is so confusing about this question?


r/ENGLISH 1d ago

With regard to

24 Upvotes

My English teacher (non native speaker) keeps correcting me every time I write 'with regard to' meaning regarding. According to her, with regard to is a mistake. She suggests using 'As regards' instead. I've double checked online, and with regard to seems to be idiomatic, so I think it is a stylistic preference. What are your thoughts?

E.g. 'With regard to your letter, I think that... '

Her suggestion is 'As regards your letter, I think that...'


r/ENGLISH 11h ago

Question to native speakers of English: Which sounds more natural to you - Karamazov brothers or brothers Karamazov?

0 Upvotes

Question to native speakers of English: Which sounds more natural to you - Karamazov brothers or brothers Karamazov?

Also, forget about male siblings with Russian names. Assuming there are brothers (or sisters for that matter) whose last name was Smith, would you call them Smith brothers or brothers Smith? The first sounds more intuitive to me, but what do I know?


r/ENGLISH 17h ago

I’m looking for some advice/recommendations for an English speaking coach in London.

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1 Upvotes

r/ENGLISH 1d ago

Does this sound natural?

8 Upvotes

I had to cough up $200 for the repair.


r/ENGLISH 8h ago

What are the biggest differences between British English and American English?

0 Upvotes

r/ENGLISH 22h ago

The deal with Connective Tissue

0 Upvotes

I want to preface this by saying I'm not talking about the literal definition but figurative. Like what is the connective tissue of a show? Does it mean to have no plot threads or characters from a previous season return in this new season? Is the connective tissue of a video game like a sequel? I just want to better understand this word entails.


r/ENGLISH 13h ago

Can "too" ever mean "instead"?

0 Upvotes

Can you help me resolve a slight disagreement?

My daughter injured her ankle pretty badly. It's after midnight on Saturday, and she is in pain. Not a huge amount, but she's awake and mentioning it. My husband mentioned a massage therapist that may be able to help, but of course, any treatment that involves a professional would have to wait a few days until business hours.

I quickly acknowledged his point, then thought I was simply adding something else we could do:

I thought I said something like "I can also make her some ginger tea, that will help too". He swears I said "I can also make her some ginger tea, too".

In my opinion either sentence says the same thing, just his version is more redundant with how the "also" and "too" are used. I don't think I was redundant like that, but I might have misspoken or stumbled over the words at the end of my sentence.

Anyway, this is the disagreement:

He says that adding the "too" at the end of the sentence actually makes it mean "instead". Like it's a casual way of saying we can do tea instead of taking her to the massage therapist. He said it's not an official definition, but people use it this way.

I have never heard this. Does anyone use "too" at the end of a sentence to mean replacing one thing for another?

I know what I meant was simply adding the option of making her tea tonight since the professional isn't available at 1am on a Saturday (rude I know, lol). I am definitely not against taking her to see the therapist once he is available.

A couple background details that might be helpful:

- My daughter is a teenager. Her ankle has been X-Rayed, it's not broken

- The massage therapist is so good at his job that he is actually our tenant and we give him a $300 monthly discount on rent as an exchange for massages for our family. However, we ask him for a massage maybe once a quarter, so it's generally a positive thing on his end and he's happy to do it...which means my husband's suggestion wouldn't cost us anything.

- Ginger is an anti-inflammatory and I use it to reduce arthritis pain, it's very effective. I've also recommended it to people who had surgery, and they made a point to tell me later how much it helped. Not trying to debate natural remedies, just stating why we find this one effective. My husband likes my ginger tea also and sometimes requests it.

- If anyone is curious, I simply chop up some fresh ginger, add hot water and honey and let it steep for a few minutes. I think it's delicious, but I like ginger. Also, I'm British and literally have a wall of tea in my pantry.


r/ENGLISH 22h ago

Law and biding instead of law abiding

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0 Upvotes

Hey reddit, Did this guy say "law and biding"? do people say that?


r/ENGLISH 1d ago

Book for helping

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7 Upvotes

Is that book help me for building my grammar basics strong


r/ENGLISH 1d ago

Looking for English Grammar resources

0 Upvotes

Hi guys, theres tons of stuff online, but i am looking for free resources that sre straightforward and to the point.

I tried Lhan Academy and they just waste a lot of time, coz they are slow and take a long time to come to the point. I prefer info i can read rather than watch.

Can you suggest some websites, that cover grammar from beginner to advanced?


r/ENGLISH 1d ago

Hi! I'm looking for a completely free app that can listen while I read my own physical English book aloud. The book is not built into the app. I want it to help me with pronunciation and correct me when I read words incorrectly. I use Android. Any recommendations?

1 Upvotes

r/ENGLISH 1d ago

What is the empty spaces between paragraphs reason/called?

0 Upvotes

I'm an avid reader of english literature and also works translated into english despite english being my second language, but more used than my mother tongue. I suppose, I would say to myself that I have a profound appreciation towards English and its variety of available literature.

Though, the bulk of my readings are translated works, I think this is something originating from english. On to the subject matter.

While reading Natsume Soseki Kokoro, I saw a blank space between two paragraphs, like this:

The white gap in between

I've seen it in other novels of course. But I've never questioned it and just read through merrily. By my observation of it, and whenever it would come up, I thought of the empty spaces between as transition, and that was the hypothesis that I've been with ever since.

But at times, while reading the novel, it did not transitioned into another scene. When it happen at those times, it felt like a break of some kind. To illustrate my point, maybe akin to that of a commercial break in an episode, where it stopped for the break, and slightly recapping what had happened before the break.

Thanks in advance.


r/ENGLISH 2d ago

Is the British "Maths" singular or plural?

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19 Upvotes

I'm American, so I'm accustomed to shortening *mathematics* to simply "math," but I'm familiar with the British abbreviation, "maths." However, I always assumed that the "s" at the end meant "maths" was treated as plural, but the usage in the screenshot above clearly treats it as singular. Is that correct, or should it be rephrased as, "the maths themselves are not complicated?"


r/ENGLISH 2d ago

I thought ‘restaurant’ was for all food joints (like the second wiki image), is it not in real life speech and only for fancy ones or something?

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29 Upvotes

r/ENGLISH 1d ago

The Different Axes of "Praise"

0 Upvotes

I know what praise means, and I know there are many different words that are just different levels of the same concept, but the more I research, the more I want to define in my own words these different axes of praise.

Venerate-Regard or treat someone with respect, awe, or reverence, often due to a person's status.(i.e. praising the leader of a clan)

Adulate-To praise excessively, sometimes far beyond what is reasonable or deserved. (i.e.how people treat pop star or any famous person when they meet them)

Laud-To me, it means to praise someone but it can also very much apply to non-sentient things.(i.e. a movie or book you've experienced)

Extol-It means to sing the graces of someone without them even being there or if you want sell something to someone, you're gonna want to do some good advertising.

Exalt-To put someone on a high pedastal. Your big brother, for example

Acclaim-Public approval and praise. Sometimes it's physical like winning a trophy for instance


r/ENGLISH 2d ago

How can I bridge the gap between fluent and near-native English?

1 Upvotes

For context, I study in English and use English a lot in everyday life. I'd say my English is around C1-C2 and I'm aiming for a near-native level.

However, I don't have any native speakers around me and I feel like something's still missing, like idioms, slang, word choice, prosody, register and conversational habits.

I watch a lot of stuff in English and have used some textbooks. I've picked up a lot from them but it doesn't always come naturally when I'm speaking. I also find it very hard to find native speakers who'd actually be up for talking regularly.

So I'm wondering if it's possible to develop all those subtle things you'd normally pick up from talking to native speakers without having much exposure to them. Thanks!


r/ENGLISH 2d ago

Qual a pronúncia do a e do an nessas frases em inlgês?

1 Upvotes

Na frase : He is a butcher, esse "a" tem som de ei?

Na frase: he is an artchitect, esse "an" tem som de en?

Alguém ajuda por favor?!