Consider the sentence "What is the probability of Bob winning?"  What is the function of "Bob winning"? It's certainly acting as the object of the preposition, but I don't recognize this type of construction from any of my English courses. Is it even correct usage?
10324
I have a problem analysing this sentence from the point of finite/nonfinite clauses, clause elements and their functions:     He does not want to destroy his parents' dream of him achieving a Cambridge degree.   I am especially interested in the: dream of him achieving a Cambridge degree.  I know that 'achieving a Cambridge degree' is a non-finite -ing participle clause. However what is its function? And what is the function of 'of him'? Is it a postmodification?
87330
I am always confused with the preposition. Can somebody point me to the material where prepositional phrase is explained?  Here is the problem I am facing currently.     This was discussed (stated/announced/said) at the last meeting when you were not present.    or     This was discussed (stated/announced/said) in the last meeting when you were not present.
89112
As always, while reading through I found a sentence whose structure confused me.  What I want to know is whether the first sentence is the inversion form of the second sentence.      1. If the reason was to avoid bad publicity should his error be discovered, then . . .      2. If the reason was his error be discovered to avoid bad publicity, then . . .   If not, how should I interpret the first sentence?  Thanks.
94395
I was teaching an ESL class and came across this sentence which confused me a lot:  &quot;The Queen Alice is the place that I go to the most&quot; &quot;Isn't that the place which kids under 12 can't enter?&quot;  Are these 2 sentences correct? Shouldn't &quot;where&quot; be used for both sentences when it's referring to the place and replacing the object?
29459
Is the following grammatically correct? My friend says the second sentence is grammatically incorrect, but couldn't explain why.     I have always been fascinated by statistics. The different ways in   which you could look at data and infer knowledge from it.
49874
In what cases does the gerund stemming from a transitive verb take the direct object of that verb and when is a prepositional complement used?  For example:    Brown's deft painting of his daughter is a delight to watch (it is a delight to watch while Brown deftly paints his daughter). Painting his daughter is an outlet for his energy. Securing safety for prisoners is the main problem for the penitentiary system. The widely discussed problem of the securing of prisoners' safety was given priority.
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
85248
Can anyone give a cogent, simply described explanation of why the verb BE in:  What is it?  ... doesn't seem to be able to be contracted with the subject:  What's it? *  Compare the sentences above with:  What's this? What's that?  These are perfectly fine. In fact, the contractions here should be expected in almost all examples of spoken English. Answers with references to authoritative vetted sources would be greatly appreciated.
54695
Occasionally I see constructs like this in English sentences:        Not only is this true in this case, but ...      What puzzles me is the "is this" part of it. The sentence is not a question, yet it seems to have a question-like order. Isn't this correct/preferred:        Not only this is true in this case, but ...      Are there other cases where non-question sentences contain question-like parts (so to speak)?
11104
That car is way better than any car any of us have/has ever driven.      None of us know/knows which direction Ron's house is (in).    I have two questions here.   In both the cases, are we to use the singular verb, or the plural? In the end of the second sentence, is using the preposition where it's been used, necessary? Would it be okay if it had no prepositions in it?
54933
What is the function of "the" in these kinds of phrases? It cannot be the definite article.   Can someone analyze this? It's common and definitely standard but seems to elude any grammatical explanation.
20099
When one wants to list various cases/classes/categories/types of objects in a string of conjunctions, is it preferable (or even mandatory) to keep on using (the same) preposition in front of each one them?  Moreover, does singular or plural form of the word "case", "class", "category" make any difference in the previous question?  Examples:   In the present article, we study the case of X, of Y and of Z objects. (in this example, as in most of the ones I have in mind, it is the preposition "of" which is relevant to my question). We study the cases/classes of X and of Y objects. vs. We study the cases/classes of X and Y objects.   Although it is rather clear that, in the singular case, the absence of "of" in later conjuncts may lead to a logical confusion (e.g., mistakenly taken as the one class/case of objects which are both X and Y), when it comes to plural of the words "case", "class", etc., this might not be an issue. Still, there might anyway be a rule in the plural setting as well.
43203
Relevant:  and   The answers in the linked question don't quite help me. Specifically, what happens with this case:  My three pens are green. Each of my three pens are green. Each of my three pens is green.  Part of the confusion seems to stem from the inclusion of &quot;three&quot;:  My pens are green. Each of my pens are green. Each pen is green.  There doesn't seem to be a way to rewrite the last example with &quot;three&quot;:  Each three pen is green.  The more common application would be:  All three pens are green.  But in the event that I want to say, &quot;Each of my three pens are green&quot; which is correct? And, in the event that the correct sentence is &quot;each of my three pens is green&quot; why does prepending &quot;each of&quot; to the beginning of &quot;my three pens are green&quot; change the verb?
51747
Given the sentence:     I gave Tom a cup.   I can say, that  I is the subject.   But what is object here:  "Tom" or "a cup"   ?
54706
I've encountered this strange and rather odd (to me) usage of the preposition 'against', which I quite can't grasp as of now. I've tried to look it up in several dictionaries to no avail.
121998
So, my boss comes in, railing that "English is a stupid language!" Since this is pretty much a thrice-weekly occurrence 'round these parts, I barely raised an eyebrow, and waited for him to continue.   "Mary just wrote to tell us that she's back from maternity leave, and I want to congratulate her and ask whether she had a girl or a boy, but I can't do it without calling the child an 'it'!" I blinked, then confirmed that yes, he believes the it in "Is it a boy or a girl" is the impersonal pronoun, the same word you'd apply to an apple or a house.  Is it the 'thing' pronoun, really? Or is it just a placeholder of some sort? I used to believe the latter: I gave the boss a mini-lecture about  and the . He wasn't convinced, however, and now he's got me doubting too. (Harumph. I really should know better than to listen to the boss.)  I'm not asking about politeness, here; the former title was to be taken somewhat facetiously. I'm wondering about the grammar: what role is that "it" playing in that sentence? Is it a personal pronoun (and thus the infant has grounds for feeling offended) or a dummy pronoun (and thus those who perceive a politeness issue are just misunderstanding the grammar)?
32145
I have a problem with the use of "the" after "and" where you would basically be connecting words. For example, which of the following is better:     The table and the chairs?   The table and chairs?   Or are both okay? What is the rule, and are there exceptions to it? Or is the rule just contextual and may vary between the sentences and meanings?