used when you are saying something that you think other people may not like This famous novel is a little, dare I say it, dull.   Is this a conditional inversion of auxiliary and subject, as in had I (not) known ?
78055
To my surprise, there's a missing question about this particularly interesting verb, dare. All I know about it is the fact it can be in two forms, as an auxiliary (without to: "I dare not mention their names") and main (with to: "Did anyone dare to admit it?") verb and the difference has something to do with agreeing with subject. Can somebody explain in a greater detail?
18341
There is something that I often I meet in English.  It is the use of "to not", and I'm not sure about its correctness since I'm not a native English  speaker. For example:      I brought it to you in order to not give it to her.        He came from this way in order to not see you.   Is it correct to speak like that in English?
117996
This morning, I used the phrase     I didn't sleep very well, I don't think.   when speaking to my Colombian friend and he asked me what on earth I was talking about.  I thought about it and realised that this is idiomatic usage and that despite saying "I don't think" you are actually expressing what you do think.  Generally the form is [expression of negative opinion using negative grammar] + "I don't think".  For example:     I didn't sleep very well, I don't think. => I think I slept poorly.      I won't get there very early, I don't think. => I think I will arrive late.   The first part is an opinion about what something is not, rather than what it is, i.e. my sleep was not good; my arrival will not be early. You wouldn't say:     I slept badly, I don't think.   It seems like "I don't think" is a way of intensifying the sentence, because it doesn't modify the meaning of the initial statement in any way. We seem to use it to express disappointment with a situation, but there might be more reasons.   Is there a name for this usage? Do you use it to express anything other than disappointment?
3037
Example:     Just because he does not say very much is no reason to sell him short. Actually, he's a profound thinker and a most talented writer. People tend to underestimate him and not give him the credit he deserves because they think he's shy.   How do you understand it grammatically? If it means the same thing as the most talented writer, then what's the difference?
73073
Modern English seems to require this verb in several circumstances, where most other European languages don't seem to need it. (See? I just used it.)    For example, in questions: "Do you have a dog?" Whereas, "Have you a dog?" would be normal in other languages or in the English of days gone by.    Another example: "I do not know him." Again, "I know him not," could be used, but sounds stilted nowadays.    So, where did this 'do' come from?
114233
Man: What do you think of the view?  Droid: I do not think of it.  Man: I don't think of it. I don't. Droids and apostrophes, I could write a book, except you are... barely a droid anymore.  (c) Deep Breath  I can't understand the difference between do not and don't in this case. I'd be grateful if somebody helps.
6927
It is possible to use do as an auxiliary verb to denote emphasis:     I do like ice cream   Is it also possible to use it when do is the main verb as well? E.g.:     I did do (it).      He does do (it).      I do do (it).   Are the sentences above acceptable? Do they sound unnatural?
52376
Sometimes, others just inform us about things without us asking them, other times they do not do that even if we ask them. I want a verb for when others do not give us information — whether because they do not like to or they just don't give it, but we cannot directly ask them to — but we actively extract the information from them sometimes without them being aware of it.   So the word I am looking for shouldn't be only for cases where we coerce or force others to give us information, and it shouldn't be only for cases where others do not like to give us information.  Example:     I needed that information. But I couldn't ask her for it, or most   probably she would not give to me even if I asked her. So, I ....   the information I wanted.   It could be a phrasal verb and so not just a single word, but I couldn't devise a  blank suitable for all possibilities!   Two verbs I've already had but I think are not suitable:  to give someone the third degree   To prize something from/out of somebody
63077
This is the subject that's been bugging me for quite some time now, even though I believe I've managed to grasp the entire reported speech pretty well.  If I want to repeat to someone what I previously said about my opinion on swimming, I could go either with #1:        I said I didn't like to swim.      if I didn't want to emphasize anything, or with #2,        I said I don't like to swim.      if I want to make it clear that my not liking to swim still holds true.     What I can't understand is why I have to switch tenses back if I'm talking about things like:        He didn't know California was on the West Coast.      It's obvious that California hasn't moved a single inch, so why can't I express it by saying:        He didn't know California is on the West Coast.        Similarly, is such shifting required in every utterance of such meaning? For example:        I told you it was impossible to fly.      It's obvious that no matter how hard I tried I still wouldn't be able to fly. So can't I say "is impossible" (#7) in this case?        I told you it is impossible to fly.
109853
I have a friend who insists that      "I didn't know you like her"   is more correct than      "I didn't know you liked her"   if the liking is still taking place. But to my ear, only the latter sounds correct.  Which of the above (if any) is correct and why?
116762
In past tense works (novels, etc.) is there a place for some present tense verbs, such as "think" or "know" or "was."  Example: I turned to leave, and he didn't try to stop me. I think I surprised him. I know I surprised myself.   This sounds much more natural to me than "I thought I surprised him." Is there a word for this? A rule? Would you rephrase it? If so, how? Thank you.
116565
I would like to know if there is an expression that describes a situation where someone, perhaps your friend, was capable of helping you but they didn't or they chose not to?  Eg: He was was free. He could have come over and consoled me. But he __________________ [didn't help despite the fact that he could].  An expression or a proverb applicable in this situation will do.
23186
"Thought you'd never ask" is "I thought you'd never ask" with "I" omitted. "Hope this helps" is "I hope this helps" with "I" omitted.   In English grammar, normally every sentence should have a subject, right?   My first thought is that these two examples are so often used that they are like set phrases. But these are not really set phrases. You can alter the words after "thought" and "hope".  Another possible explanation is the tendency to drop the subject if it is the first person pronoun. It seems that in many languages, such as Spanish, Italian and Japanese, the first person subject is usually omitted. Maybe English is going the same way? (Not exactly the same, since in Italian, verb forms change according to the person, so the subject is not necessary to understand who one's referring to.)  And, apparently, such omission is more common in spoken English than in written English.  Are there more examples of such first person subject omission? How frequent is it?
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)?
75066
Someone asked me     What if someone hides their instagram stories from you?   I replied      I'd hide them from my life.   Is my sentence right  Does hide mean to make disappear?  If not What else could I have used here?  Someone told me the object of preposition "from" is a person who is not supposed to see or find that which is hidden  So what about this sentence?      the magician hid(made her disappear) from the stage?   Is it wrong?
41493
An acquaintance recalled this specific example from an English textbook, but it is jarring to my native ear. Is this an example of prescriptive grammarians gone wild?
67176
It was ... salted the earth around your flower deck.    I wrote the second form "It was me". I have chosen the most "appropriate" answer to this question as somebody who is learning English.  This decision was made on a phonetic basis so it's for sure I made a mistake.   Surely you have a rational explanation to this exercise, maybe a grammar rule, or is it an English expression?