I have seen the following sentence on a news web site, which was telling about a volcano eruption. A sentence including "a good" surprised me, as I have not seen it used like this. Here is the sentence:     "...You could hear and feel the eruption a good half a mile away, and the closer you got, the more you could feel it..."   What does "a good" mean here? Does it mean "they could hear it well" or does it mean "they could hear it from a distance which was as far as a mile long".
121399
Below is a paragraph in my English textbook:     Andrea - There are six of us in our family, my parents, me, the twins   and my older brother, Ted. Ted is a good ten years older than me   and the twins – they are girls – are two years younger than me. We had   a good childhood out in the countryside. My parents were always busy   with the farm and so we didn't get the help with school work and   things like that that children get today. But my parents were very   loving, especially my father. I regret not helping more around the   farm because now I realise that it must have been very hard for my   parents, especially as my grandparents lived so far away.      Source:    The  says the word 'good' in this case means     5.1 Used to emphasize that a number is at least as great as one claims.   ‘they're a good twenty years younger’   The  also gives the similar meaning:     a good three miles/ten years etc   at least three miles, ten years etc, and probably more   He’s a good ten years younger than her.   However, I feel it quite strange. Because if Ted is a person who Andrea hasn't known yet, then she can guess he is at least ten years older than her (by looking at his appearance or his photograph). In the passage above, Ted is her older brother, then Andrea must know exactly how old Ted is. He must be ten years older than her. It cannot be less than or more than 10 years (8, 9, 11 or 12 years). That's why I feel it quite strange when I understand the meaning of that sentence: '...Ted is at least and probably more ten years older than me...'  Could you kindly tell me whether I have understood that sentence correctly?
10569
My friend and I got into an argument about English grammar, so I was hoping maybe you could help us out. Okay so we want to know if the following part of the sentence is correct, "People who are satisfied and feel self-fulfilled like I" rather than "People who are satisfied and feel self-fulfilled like me". I have already provided many sources to my friend showing that the first way is a formal and a grammatically correct way, however he wants an answer with this specific part of the sentence.   Please help us out  Thank you
27751
We use "the news is good" instead of "the news are good."  What is the rationale behind this? Are there similar situations in English?
100394
I instinctively translate it "as best as you can", however this makes no sense.  What is the real structure behind this phrase?  I'll include an  to illustrate the historical presence of this phrase:    Whatever the structure is, I'm guessing that it has something to do with 19th century grammar.
120166
One asks “how does x taste,” implying that they’d like an adverb describing the way it tastes. But one answers with an adjective, “it tastes good” instead of “it tastes well,” which would imply that x is tasting something else. What’s the reason for this discrepancy?
74249
The sentences are:   Mary has worked as a teacher for over 25 years. It has rained heavily for 2 hours.   Does it mean "Mary" is still working as a teacher or she is no longer working now? Does it mean it is still raining or it stopped?  Since it cannot mean both, so how to suggest either one of the meanings?
79761
Could anybody please  explain in detail  the sentence     "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."   I have seen the  but am unable to get it properly.
40790
In "Seeing like a state" of James C.Scott there is a sentence at the beginning of a paragraph (Acknowledgements xi):     There are a good many scholars whose writings opened up new   perspectives for me or provided outstanding analyses of issues that I   could not have hoped to study so comprehensively on my own.   What worries me is a good many scholars. Is this some type of inversion or ancient English? Is this grammatically right? Why is a here? I thought that appropriate version would be There are many good scholars. Am I wrong?
9445
I couldn't afford that big a car. It was so warm a day that I could hardly work.   The sentences stated above have been taken from Practical English Usage by Michael Swan. If I write-   I couldn't afford that big car. It was so warm day that I could hardly work.   These make sense. But placement of article a makes these sentences awkward to me. Please say why and when articles are placed after adjectives. And what are the differences among 1, 2 and 3, 4.
57627
I am not sure if this is the right place, but I was wondering if "good for you" and "I am happy for you" have a negative or positive connotation.
29531
I came across these two sentences:  He was standing there proud.&quot; &quot;He is growing up rich.&quot;  I think I can understand what each sentence means, but grammatically they don't make sense to me. My understanding about adjectives are that they can only be before the noun or with &quot;be&quot;.  I see these kinds of sentences sometimes and have always wondered why. My first question is that in the first sentence, if I say, &quot;He was standing there, being proud.&quot; is the meaning the same?  And in the second one, can I say, &quot;He is growing up to be rich.&quot;? My second question is whether these ways of using adjectives are common or not.
109440
In using a contrasting simile, I think I have fallen into a trap. I want to say:     The academy is far from a placid house of learning.   In the sense of:     The academy is not at all a serene place for study.   Unfortunately, the literal meaning connotes physical distance, as in:     The academy is 500 miles from a quiet school that I know.    I have checked Ngram Viewer, and is far from a place does not come up with any hits, and the limit is five words per phrase. I could not pinpoint the problem in any of the usage dictionaries either. Might one say:     The academy is far from being a quiet place of study?   That doesn't sound right at all. Being should not be a verb.
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.
77048
Is  a ?  If not, what is it then?  If yes why, don't we teach kids this basic example?    UPDATE: I probably meant a regular commonplace fire of the usual temperature. That should simplify the answer.
13790
When someone is going to drive their car somewhere, I always used to say "drive safely" to them. Recently I was told I should say "drive safe."    (From: )   Which one is correct?  Similarly, is "do good" correct?
51473
I've confused about the word "them" in the middle of the sentence:     They know all about them   Westovers in Idaho.   Could you please tell me what the meaning of "them" here is?     Does it mean "they know about the oils which are made by Westovers in Idaho"?   The full text is here:      Dad had always said he wanted to build a room the size of a cruise ship   but I’d never thought he’d have the money. I looked to Mother for an   explanation but it was Dad who answered. The business was a roaring   success, he explained. Essential oils were popular, and Mother had the best   on the market. “Our oils are so good,” he said, “we’ve started eating into the   profits of the large corporate producers. They know all about them   Westovers in Idaho.”   Educated by Tara Westover
6828
I'm getting confused about these two sentences:        The government should provide education to its citizens.   She has received a great education since high school.      I think education is an uncountable noun.  Why does the second sentence use the article a before education?   It might be a stupid question, but I really want to understand this topic clearly. I looked on many websites but there was no related answer to this.