My dog only likes people food.      My dog likes only people food.      My dog likes people food only.   In each of these sentences, how does "only" affect it (i.e. emphasis and meaning)? Are any of them incorrect?  My understanding is that the first sentence conveys my dog liking people food and nothing else (not limited to food). The second sentence is slightly different - my dog doesn't dislike everything, but when it comes to food the only food he likes is people food.  Is there a good rule for the placement of "only" in sentences? Which is the most grammatical and comprehendible/unambiguous?
3913
Which is grammatically correct?  I can only do so much in this time.  or  I can do only so much in this time.
41540
Every now and then I stumble about a construction like this:     It was but something....   and I understand it to be      It was nothing but....   or     It was only...   depending on the context.  I do know what this "but" means and I do know what else "but" can mean. My question is this?  Is the a difference between "but" and "nothing but" in this context, be it ever so small and hidden in tone or emphasis? Is there such a difference between "but" and "only"? And finally is "but" in this context something you can say or does that make you sound way out there? Thanks a lot
38264
Is there any difference between "To like for somebody/something to be something" vs. "to like somebody/something to be something"?   In the following case there seems to be a difference, because the former seems to suggest that one would like so for the sake of the other, and latter for ones own.          "I would like for you to be happy" vs. "I would like you to be happy"  Here, the above distinction makes no sense, since the weather is inanimate. Is the former a valid thing to say at all?     "I would like for the weather to be nice" vs. "I would like the weather to be nice"
39089
I was watching this video about Cyclopia on youtube and noticed this sentence: How does an animal that normally has two eyes develop just one in the center of its face.   I tried to google it but I couldn't find an answer, and it's really nagging me. So, shouldn't it be "develops" being the subject of the verb "an animal"? Btw, I also heard someone saying "It doesn't seem safe", instead of "It doesn't seems safe" in a movie. Can someone explain to me the proper usage, and if you can keep it simple, please... I'm not a native speaker, and most of my English I learned from watching movies and tv shows, I'm just now trying to learn about grammar and stuff.    Ps: Was this post to lengthy? That's my first time here on stackexchange and I'm not really sure how I should approach writing my questions.
21030
When speaking of a group of people and referring to a body part of which there is only one (e.g. head, nose, mouth, etc.), do we use the singular or plural form? Which of the following is correct, or are both possible?  Our stomach is full.  Our stomachs are full.
11868
Suppose John has 5 sweets. Is there any difference between the following two sentences?     Jack has 3 times as many sweets as John.      Jack has 3 times more sweets than John.   I prefer the first construction and would know unambiguously that Jack has 15 sweets in this case. However in the second construction I would be inclined to think that Jack has 20 sweets, since it seems to suggest 15 sweets in addition to the original 5.
2074
In the following example, is it appropriate to use a or an as the indefinite article, and why?     He ate __ green apple.   I know that in the case of just "apple", it would be "an apple," but I've heard conflicting answers for "green apple," where the noun is separated from the article by an adjective.  Also, which is more appropriate in this case:     He ate  __ enormous Pop-Tart.
75878
Could any one please explain the use of word " just " with present perfect ? I know that it's used to say that an action happened very recently, but I want to know what is the difference between placing and removing just from the sentence?  I think if want to remove it,  there must be a clear present relevance is that right ?  For example:     your friends have arrived.   or     you friends have just arrived.
1374
What is the differences between &quot;if only&quot; and &quot;only if&quot; ? What is the use of each  in the sentences? Are there any specific rules for their uses?  &quot;I could get more work done if only there weren't so much noise.&quot; &quot;We will manufacture these handbags only if we can obtain the right leather.&quot;
97159
I have a question about using the phrase "some kind of _".  Is it incorrect to say "some kind of + plural noun"?     For example, is it wrong to say "are these rock-like things some kind of chocolates?"   I didn't use "kinds" and that kind of adds to my question. Is "kind" always plural, like "some kinds of chocolates"? Because although I'm using "some", it feels like "kind" shouldn't be a countable noun.  Anyway, I don't think I've heard of "some kind of + plural", but I think it makes more sense then using singular, since I think chocolates are countable. Please help!
66189
1a. &quot;Can you please tell me what is the food choice for a vegetarian?&quot;  Why is there no inversion in the example above? I mean, why did the native English speaker who wrote the example not do it like this:  1b. Can you please tell me what the food choice for a vegetarian is? or 1c Can you please tell me what the food choice is for a vegetarian?  I have been taught that, whenever we ask an indirect question, we have to switch the inverted word order in the direct question to normal sentence order as follows:    Where is the nearest hospital?(direct question)   2a. Can you please tell me where the nearest hospital is? (indirect question)   So could you please explain to me why this change in the order of words doesn't happen in the original example (written by a native speaker)?
93549
The  book has a line which reads as follows:     ... If you had but touched me, my friend, you ...   I've seen the word 'but' used this way a couple of times, but I'm not sure I understand the meaning of this phrase correctly. What is the general rule for using 'but' this way?
62891
A scientist, he always thinks about what is best for the people.    Is this "a scientist" part a nominative absolute phrase? It seems like nominative absolute phrase has to have a verb or adjective after the noun like this:     The dragon slain, the knight could rest.    It is what makes me confused. I don't think the scientist sentence uses nominative absolute phrase since it only has a noun to describe "he". There is nothing more than a noun. So is it a nominative absolute phrase or not? If not, what's the name of that usage?
5226
"For someone used to the tiny creatures we get in England it was something of a shock."  I think, in this sentence, relative pronouns before some words have been omitted. I know rules of omitting relative pronouns, but in this case I have failed to understand before which words relative pronouns can be placed to understand the sentence perfectly, which has been stated above. Please, explain the rules of omitting relative pronouns with the help of the sentence stated above, so that I can be able to understand this type of sentences easily. You can also use other sentences to explain this fact clearly.  Thanks to everyone.
94258
What's the subject, grammatically speaking, of these sentences?   There is my biscuit! My biscuit is there! There is one biscuit left.   I don't really know how to analyze these. The following observations seem to be relevant, though:   The verb to be doesn't take an object. In the first two sentences, there is a demonstrative pronoun. It is therefore potentially a subject, I think. I don't know what part of speech is taken by there in the third sentence. In favour of reading my biscuit and one biscuit as the subjects is that if there were more than one biscuit then, in each case, the verb would become plural (There are my biscuits! etc.) In favour of reading one biscuit as the subject of the third sentence is that if we recast it as (the slightly unidiomatic) There remains one biscuit, it seems that one biscuit would have to be the subject.   All of this leads me tentatively towards thinking that my biscuit and one biscuit are the subjects here, but I'm not totally confident about this.  One other possibility: since to be doesn't take an object, does that mean it can have two subjects? In I am he, presumably both I and he are subjects, if neither is an object?
71625
If I understand it correctly, nouns for fruits (and certain types of foodstuffs, such as pizza) are used as mass nouns if thought of as "food substance", rather than "portions". So is it correct that I say "I like apple" instead of "I like apples"? Is such reasoning as "I like apple as food, especially in cut pieces", just like "I like soup, pork, etc." (instead of "I like apples as items served as food, especially as whole fruits") valid, or at the very least, applicable in any ways?  I know there's , but the given answer is not satisfying to me. It flat out denies such a phrase as "I like apple" as grammatically incorrect. But is it though? If it is, when exactly do we use the mass nouns instead of the count nouns? Does the same principle go with "chicken" (the meat) and "chickens" the animal?  Edit: "Dog" is NOT a mass noun and the other question is completely irrelevant. This is absurd. My question concerns the use of mass nouns and count nouns for foods.
113442
can i use it for animals in the following sentece?  1- I have a dog named Don. It is a very good dog.  I know most people would use "he" instead of "it" in the following context and my grammar book says when we want to personified an animal we can use "he" or "they". But my question is, if I used "it" in the above, would that be grammatical?