When I describe my hobbies, should I write      I play piano   or      I play the piano   Are both forms acceptable? And how would you handle the phrase     I am an amateur musician, playing the saxophone, guitar and piano.   Should there be three "the" or only one? or none?
26401
What is the rule for omitting/including the definite article in the following sentences:     I used to play piano.   I used to play the piano.   I would pick the first sentence, but I've heard people say the second sentence even when they are not referring to a specific piano. Which one is correct?
68297
What article should be used in the following sentence?     He was English by [a/the/] blood.   I feel there should be a zero article here, but I was taught that the zero article is impossible in English.
98496
First of all, English is not my first language. I have a question, maybe a basic one, about this phrase:     The situation highlights the mismatch between some areas of training and available jobs to/for them.   Should it be "available jobs to them" or "available jobs for them"?  Sorry if the question is really basic.
7481
Is this the proper way to use two possessive nouns in a row?     I am going over to Lauren's parents' house this evening.   or     The store's manager's niece was quite attractive.   What about three?*     The United States Army's general's wife's dog is on the lamb, somebody stop it.   *Three seems both unrealistic, and in the specific example I used you could make a case for adding a fourth United State's Army's but I think that seems even more unrealistic.  Additionally, I would never write this in any sort of setting other than the purpose of knowing what the rules are.  Thanks in advance, I apologize in advance if this is duplicate
98871
I have seen the word 'only' placed both before and after a noun. Where should the word 'only' go in this sentence? Is it the writer's choice?   If you have attended every lesson, only the songs need to be rehearsed at home. If you have attended every lesson, the songs only need to be rehearsed at home.
48208
Which one is correct? Leaning towards first one but I am unsure because a more basic version would be "How good is it?"
12647
Which one of these adjectives is correct? I can see that both of them are being used, I'm just not sure which one is grammatically correct. Are there any general rules to follow as to the use of one against the use of the other?
87536
What is the difference between I play and I do play?  For example:  If someone were to ask to me, do you play soccer?
27879
I found  with the title:     Why We Listen to Music   This seem somewhat incomplete to me, because "why we do something" is usually used as the subject of dependent clause like "This is why we listen to music."  I found  titled as follows:     Why Do We Listen to Music?   The second one sounds fine for me. My questions are these:   Is "Why We Listen to Music" grammatically correct? What's the difference between "Why We Listen to Music" and "Why Do We Listen to Music"?   Thanks in advance.
84811
I am writing about a competition I won in which I got third place. I want to say that I am the first out of my school to get an award in this competition, with a third place award but that sounds a little bulky. What would be a short phrase or word to describe this. I am thinking maybe I can say "I placed in the competition" but I am not sure that will work.
11766
Is the following correct:     There's a sofa, two armchairs, a TV and a big cage for our parrots.   Or should we change it to:     There's a sofa, there are two armchairs, there's a TV and a big cage   for our parrots.
15578
Consider the brief passage:     "I love your work, but calling you 'the artist' {1} just doesn't seem to be   cutting it anymore. What shall I call you?"      "OK. Call me George." {2}   So my instincts tell me to put {1} in single quotes as opposed to no punctuation (or perhaps even italics) but to do the opposite for {2}. Is this right? Why?  Let me expand this one further iteration:     "Wow, that's a great name, especially with this crowd. Maybe for your next book    you should call yourself Ringo."{3}
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In my resume, I'm describing several projects I've worked on in the past. Most of them were done in teamwork. What is the best way to say this?  Examples:  Together with XY, I built ... OR  In collaboration with XY, I built ... OR  XY and I built ...  Are the first two examples grammatically correct? I'm unsure since first I state that something has been done in collaboration with a second person, but then I use "I built ...".
6167
Is only one of them correct? Are they used in different situations? Or are they interchangeable?
93997
I would just like to clarify if in this kind of sentence, where you state the name of a person, are commas always needed to offset Anne?     His sister, Anne, was not feeling well.   Or is it acceptable to remove the commas? If yes, when?  Thank you!
1490
We always change subject and verb positions in whenever we want to ask a question such as "What is your name?". But when it comes to statements like the following, which form is correct?        I don't understand what are you talking about.   I don't understand what you are talking about.      Another example        Do you know what time is it?   Do you know what time it is?      Another example        Do you care how do I feel about this?   Do you care how I feel about this?
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Does it sound unnatural to you (natives) when people skip 's' ending of the verb in 3rd person? Heard it many times (e.g. in 50 cent songs - she go, she have, etc.) and always wondered how much it sounds ok.