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  • Commented
    There are two ways to say what (I think) you meant. You could say "I'll do whatever I like" or, another option is "I'll leave whenever I like." 

    "Do" usually takes some kind of object. "Let's do that," "I'll do this,' "I'll do whatever." 

    This isn't always 100% true, but typically you don't have "do" and a time word like "whenever" side by side. It's like saying "I eat 8 o'clock." You need that extra /something/ in there to help the sentence make sense.
    0 voted
    September 2, 2018
    0
  • Answered
    Short answer: No difference. In my head, "needn't have" sounds a little more British, or sophisticated. I live in Indiana and don't think I have ever heard anyone say "needn't have" in real life. "Didn't need to" is absolutely the more common phrase here. The reasoning, as far as I can guess, is that when you unbuckle the contraction you are left with "need not" and "did not." I can't imagine anyone outside of a Thomas Hardy novel saying "He need not have gone to the farm." (My grandparents are farmers and *definitely* would never say this, haha). You also get a little more accent on the "have" in "didn't have." Think of a whiny child. "But he didn't haaaaaaaave to go to the farm." If you rearrange the words a little, you have two practically synonymous sentences: "You didn't need to [pay for dinner]" and "You didn't have to [pay for dinner]." One of these options is what I would suggest. "Needn't have" is highly uncommon, at least in this part of the country. But like I said, at the end of the day, both make sense. One just sounds a little less colloquial.
    0 voted
    July 7, 2018
    1
  • Answered
    Okay, so let's start slow--you seem to have two different sentences, based on the / at the end. Let's flesh those out. Sentence one: "Doing housework helps kids to take a break from their stressful studies." This is pretty much fine, but the word "to" is unnecessary. It's a tiny change, but it sounds more natural to my ear. "Doing housework helps kids take a break from their stressful studies." You can even omit "their" if you want, as it is implied. "Doing housework help kids take a break from stressful studies." Short and sweet is usually the rule. Sentence two (and I am guessing at your intend here): "Doing housework helps kids take a break and study life." "To" was omitted, but "and" was added, so we're basically at the same spot here, lengthwise. And that's okay; it's all the words you need. If you want both sentences, which I believe is the point you are making, let's try this: "Doing housework helps kids take a break from stressful studies and study life." That's all right, but we've got "studies" and "study." Personally, I just don't care for the repetition. So, we go for an easy fix with a synonym. How about "schoolwork"? Here it is one, compound word, and is basically the same thing as "studies," right? "Doing housework helps kids take a break from stressful schoolwork and study life." And if you really want to get fancy, insert one extra word to show you are offering a similar, but slightly different option for studying. "Doing housework helps kids take a break from stressful schoolwork and instead study life." Now you just have to convince a kid that washing dishes is more fun than grammar, which may not be too hard. Haha.
    0 voted
    July 7, 2018
    2
  • Answered
    Both are fine, so that's good news. Your point is clear either way. The context and more subtle tone is what we are looking at here. "Excessive" sounds smarter, for lack of a better word. In a business meeting, you might stick with this word. However, if you have discussed this topic a number of times "too much quality" could work. It makes you sound more frustrated. It is a little counter-intuitive though, so I'd be careful with it. I only mention it here to note that both make complete sense; it's merely that "too much quality" sounds a little like the country song....."it's like a girl too pretty with too much class, being too lucky or a car too fast." One would typically think, the more quality, the better. Excessive has basically tells the hearer "this is too much."
    0 voted
    July 7, 2018
    0
  • Answered
    Haha, I like this one, because it really depends on how the person says it. Attitude is everything. If they are happy, like "Hey, I'm new here and hoping to find a tasty dinner. Are there any good restaurants in this town?" then yes, the person really wants to know where a good place to eat is. If they are more angry or annoyed (usually marked by word emphasis), like "Are there ANY good restaurants in this town?!" then odds are they have just eaten another meal they didn't like, and are frustrated with the quality of every restaurant they've been to. Grammatically, on the page, they are exactly the same.
    0 voted
    July 7, 2018
    2
  • Answered
    "Spare" is often used as an adjective (think SPARE tire, the extra one.) "Can you spare...." is almost exactly like saying "Do you have any extra_____________that I can use?" Free bonus: a/an: generally (not always, but enough that you can pretty much stick to it) if the following starts with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) use "an." This also goes with some other words starting with "h," but for general handiness just remember "an" for vowels, "a" for everything else. "A tree." "An enormous tree." "An old, enormous tree." "A tall, old, enormous tree."
    0 voted
    July 7, 2018
    1
  • Answered
    Hi, You're pretty close. "It's either this or that" is correct. Also, "Whether you like it or not" is also correct. The other two options, however, sound pretty odd. You would be understood, but it would mark you as a non-native. There is a toss-off phrase "Either-or" or "Either/or" that people use often when they have no opinion on something. "Do you want a Coke or a Pepsi?" "Either-or." Meaning: they are the same to me; I don't care. The point being, either is paired with two specific options, from which you have to pick, and this is what is being asked or commented on. This OR that, just like you said. "Either you want to watch basketball, or you want to watch racing." "Either you are hot, or you are cold." You are only presented with two choices. The "either-or" pairing may help you remember it, and it will definitely help you sound more native. Next, whether. "Whether" in "whether you like it or not," could easily be replaced with the phrase "I don't care if...." "Whether you like it or not, we are watching basketball." "I don't care if you are hot; I am getting a blanket." "Whether" basically tells the hearer that the decision has been made. "Regardless" is another word you could insert, and perhaps makes the point better. "Regardless of if you like it or not, we have to go buy milk." (This sentence is a bit clunky, but I'm leaving it that way to show the connection. Obviously this is long-winded, but examples help me quite a bit. The short version is, "Either this or that" presents the listener with an option. "Whether you like it or not" takes away the listeners choice. Granted, this isn't 100% across the board, but with these two phrases, that's the major difference. If you want to stick with "either" in phrase two, just specify the Or option. "Either you like it OR you don't like it."
    0 voted
    July 7, 2018
    1