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grammar - Why do we put the verb to be at the end of these questions?

Changing subject and verb positions in statements and questions Look at the following questions - can anyone give a simple grammatical explanation as to why we put the verb to be at the end of these questions: Can you tell me where the hospital is ? Do you know where the children are ? Do you know what the answer is ? This is confusing to learners as they are used to seeing the verb to be in questions at the beginning such as: Is the hospital near here? Are the children in school?

grammar - Relative Clause Extraction from Subordinate Clause - Compare and Contrast These Sentences

Please emend the title; I'm tentative whether it summarises this question precisely. I went into the store, which if I had seen from the road, I should have known to be a company. I went into the store, which, if I had seen it from the road, I should have known to be a company. I went into the store, which if I had seen from the road, I should have known it to be a company. I went into the store, if I had seen which from the road, I should have known it to be a company. 1 seems the most natural to me. Would someone please compare and contrast the other 4? Are they grammatically correct? If so, how are they?

punctuation - Where does the period go in an MLA in-text citation?

I've always been confused when citing like: "The windows misted over from the heat and the smoke inside.” (Hemingway 1) Does the period go inside the quotes (as above)? Or after the citation (as below)? "The windows misted over from the heat and the smoke inside” (Hemingway 1). Answer The second is correct, the period goes after the citation.

etymology - 19th century English texts occasionally use Germanic-style number words, such as "four-and-twenty". When did this fall out of use?

19th century English texts occasionally use Germanic-style number words, such as "four-and-twenty", but the same text would also have the modern "twenty-four" in places (see e.g. Conan-Doyle for several examples). How did the usage of germanic-style numbers change historically? When did the Germanic forms fall out of use? (I have asked this question previously on Sprachlog (German) and got a short answer by A.Stefanowitsch , but would appreciate any additional input.)

pronunciation - Hwat, hwere, and hwy?

In which English accents do they put an h before every word that starts with wh ? Example from Youtube . Notice his pronunciation of whisky . Answer > In which English accents do they put an h before every word that starts with wh ? That isn’t what’s going on — you only think you hear an h , because your phoneme set doesn’t include this sound, but its use is pretty common in various accents. Which accents? Lots. Scottish. Irish. Several counties in the north of England. Many parts of North America, especially but not only the south of the United States. Others. On the Sound Comparisons site out of the UK, you can see how some of the various anglophonic regions pronounce what and white . The pronunciations with IPA /ʍ/ there are what you are mis-hearing as an h . It’s actually more of an unvoiced w , if you would, or more technically, a voiceless labiovelar approximant . I’ll give you just one guess where the whisky reviewer is from — hint, it isn’t spelled whiskey there. Also...

pronunciation - How to pronounce a superscript ə?

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And why there's a superscript ə? just found this on the dictionary.cambridge.org ...

grammar - How is 'get' being used in these sentences?

What grammar structure is this? Bob got/had me drunk. She's got me spending. Get moving! Get going! That music gets/has me dancing! He had/got me stumped. She had/got me stoned. Is it possible to say: She has/had me spending? Answer Got can be used as an auxiliary verb meaning reach or cause to reach a specified state or condition [with object and complement]: I need to get my hair cut [as auxiliary verb] used with past participle to form the passive mood: the cat got drowned [with object and past participle] cause to be treated in a specified way: get the form signed by a doctor [got met drunk; [ has ] got me stumped; got me stoned] [with object and infinitive] induce or prevail upon (someone) to do something: they got her to sign the consent form [no object, with infinitive] have the opportunity to do: he got to try out a few of these nice new cars [no object, with present participle or infinitive] begin to be or do something, especially gradually or by chance: we got talking ...