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مرحباً. أنا جون وأدرس ألعربية... ببطء I'm Jon and I'm a native speaker of English, from Kent (also known as "the best bit of England"). I'm not teaching on here but I have a higher degree in theoretical syntax - i.e. grammar - which means my answers to your questions are liable to be far more involved than you need. Sorry. I've lived and worked in France and Belgium - the French-speaking side - and speak a lot of Afrikaans at home on account of my partner being from South Africa. When the world isn't full of weird viruses we go to northern Belgium a lot and I am gradually picking up Dutch, even though the Belgians have a confusing habit of talking back to me in German. I'm clearly not fluent enough. My Italian used to be pretty good but is now rather rusty, unfortunately. Who went and put Italy on the other side of the continent, I'd like to know? I'm on Italki learning Arabic and doing it with extreme slowness. But I'm getting there. Little and often... little and often...
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Arabic (Modern Standard)
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Afrikaans
French
Latin
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Greek (Ancient)
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  • Answered
    This content violates our Community Guidelines.
    0 voted
    May 20, 2025
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  • Answered
    I'm afraid you can't. The construction which immediately springs to my mind is with "now that": Now that he's done that, I don't know what to do. You could also use "since", which carries a connotation of "because" as well as "from the time that", but the tenses are a bit trickier: Since he did that, I haven't known what to do. ?Since he's done that, I don't know what to do. (sounds a bit weird to me) Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything else that works as well. As I say, I would prefer "now that", which is suitable for both speech and writing.
    0 voted
    May 19, 2025
    2
  • Answered
    Chiedi come dire "frutta" in inglese? Fruit.
    0 voted
    May 16, 2025
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  • Answered
    I'd say only the second is grammatical. I've never heard the first one. The closest correct alternative I can think of is "I'd prefer you not to ask questions".
    0 voted
    May 14, 2025
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  • Answered
    This content violates our Community Guidelines.
    0 voted
    May 12, 2025
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  • Answered
    This is a really unhelpful answer, but I'm going to give it anyway! My initial reaction was that "in" does sound more natural than "at". However, the more I think about it, the more "at" seems more natural. Perhaps the problem is that I wouldn't say it like this; personally, I would say something like "she's just started learning French" or "she's still at a beginner level in French". "Beginner at" and "novice at" are normally used for skilled pursuits, like archery, ice skating, using spreadsheet software, or something like that. My feeling is that using "at" in your sentences implies that she is learning French in that spirit. "In" is perhaps a little bit more neutral.
    0 voted
    May 12, 2025
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  • Answered
    Ha! You have put your finger on a source of no end of petty arguments. I would say for at least 90% of people, there's no difference. However, some people would draw a distinction, saying "three times as expensive" means "multiply the price by three", but "three times more expensive" means "multiply the price by three AND add it to the original price". So that would mean Three times AS expensive as £100: £300 Three times MORE expensive than £100: £400 My advice to you is probably to stick to "as" and use it in the sense above, as that's how the phrases are usually understood. But if someone else uses either version, check if you are in any doubt and it's important! I hope that makes sense - it's one of those areas where there genuinely doesn't seem to be a "right" answer, as far as I'm aware.
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    May 12, 2025
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  • Answered
    For me, in terms of meaning there is no difference at all. I would say "making" is probably more usual in speech and in writing.
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    May 12, 2025
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  • Answered
    This content violates our Community Guidelines.
    0 voted
    May 8, 2025
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  • Answered
    Personally I find "he was bought a smartphone" entirely grammatical. Sorry if that confuses things!
    0 voted
    May 7, 2025
    3