I've just learned this from this silly "joke" or humorous statement.

Does this depend on one's dialect?

For some reason, I could only find "throw out" meaning to injure (a part of your body) in Britannica, but not in Longman or OALD. Does this mean "throw out" in this sense is only used in North American English?

Do you say you're running some errands if you're just doing some grocery shopping or does it have to be multiple tasks?

Is it used in everyday language or is it something more formal?

First of all, i've been learning English for about 11month from almost scratch. It sounds weird i'm a korean, korean usually take the English class at least over 10years. But for me, I didn't take a enlgish class when I was student, because i was playing taekwondo. Anyway I had a lot of confidence to be fluent speaking enlgish when I first started to learn enlgish. But here is now i don't think my enlgish improve anymore.

Every time I try to speak and think how to say something in enlgish. Even listening as well as reading so on. But yesterday I had to talk with foreign vendor about machine problem at workplace. But I struggled to explain all the things happend. So I don't have any confidence to keep learning English.

Is it normal ...? From what I have heard from YouTube, anyone can speak like fluently within 6month.. but why don't apply to me.

Anyway thanks for reading til end.

When watching Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, I noticed that what is probably the movie's most famous quote wasn't said the way I expected it to be. When Darth Vader tells Luke the truth about his father, he says "No, *I* am your father", stressing the "I" in that sentence. This confuses me somewhat, as in my native language, emphasis would instead be placed on "am" due to the context of Luke's previous statement "He told me you killed him." So in my language, it would be "No, I *am* your father", emphasising the fact that Vader did not kill him, but that he was him. So in English, it is obviously different and the rule of stressing verbs that contradict a previous statement apparently does not exist...?

Therefore, my question is twofold: Is there a rule in English that explains why Darth Vader stresses "I" instead of "am" in this scene, and is there a definitive list of rules on which words to stress/emphasise in a sentence when speaking?

I started watching Regular Show with English audio and subtitles to get used to the language. The characters often use "moron" instead of "idiot"; what is the difference between these two words?

1. Should we move the meeting to next week or keep it for today?

2. Should we move the meeting to next week or keep it as (it) is?

3. Should we move the meeting to next week or keep it the way it is?

Conversation at the dinner table went like this this evening:

A: "How many days a week do you have PE [physical education]?"

B: "Tuesdays." 

One of us was confused by the answer, and the other (me) felt like this was a very natural way to respond.

My intuition tells me this is natural English, but I'm having a hard time figuring out why it works or makes sense to me. Any thoughts from other native-English speakers? Any name for this phenomenon? Or does this not actually feel very natural? haha

Edit: "were" -> "was", because y'all taking me to school on it.

I'm looking for a good vocabulary app.

I've used Anki for about six months. It does the job, but I find the design dated and the app clunky to use. I also don't trust the quality of most shared decks: they often seem like collections of unverified content that I'd have to check and fix myself.

I've also tried a few of the newer, more hyped apps, but the content was mostly just AI slop wrapped in a nicer interface, with a bunch of poorly implemented features.

Here's what I'd like:

• Something lightweight that I can open whenever I have a few spare minutes or while commuting. It should work offline and sync later.
• Premade or community decks with reliable content.
• The ability to add a word and get a useful flashcard automatically, with good default definitions and examples.
• If a definition or example contains another unfamiliar word, I'd like to tap it, look it up, and optionally add it to my collection without switching apps.
• Support for phrasal verbs and word combinations, not just individual words.
• Audio so I can hear how words are pronounced.

A few nice-to-haves:

• Easy editing of definitions, examples, and other card content. Editing in an external text editor would be fine too.
• An inbox where I can quickly save unfamiliar words while reading and sort them out later.
• Useful information about words, such as frequency rankings and labels like “slang” or “formal.”

Does anything cover most of this? What do you use, and where does it fall short?

Is it "whole chicken" or "a whole chicken"?

I'm going to roast (whole or a whole?) chicken.

Is cut up whole chicken uncountable?

They're out of whole (chicken or chickens?). We can only get thighs and breasts.

Note: An uncountable or a mass noun never takes an indefinite article and is never pluralised.

Example without periods:

"My friend likes swords, shield, bows, etc"

I learned that when you want to create a question ending on an abbrevation like "When should i use the abbrevation etc.?", You should put the question mark after the period sign.

However, what if i want to end a sentence with ...?

Should i write "My friend likes swords, shield, bows, etc...."? Or should i just end the sentence with 3 periods?

Is it correct to say that "distinct" means "unique" and "distinctive" means "distinguishable"?

Is there a difference between the fixed expressions "I'll be right there" and "I'll be right over"? Does "I'll be right over" imply the destination being someone's house?

Thanks in advance!

Hi, I am an English teacher for speakers of other languages and I was wondering what you found to be the hardest sound to learn to make when learning English?

So, to help me out, so that I can get in the minds of my students learning English, would you please comment your native language and then one (or more) sounds you have struggled with when speaking English? And I would love to know how you improved your pronunciation!

Example:

I am a speaker of (LANGUAGE HERE) and the sound /th/ like in 'thumb' is hard and I find myself using a /t/ like in 'tap'. So I used chewing gum stuck to the roof of my mouth to stop my tongue going for an /s/ sound.

Thank you!!! And keep going learning English! ❤️

Whether using a drying rack or a clothesline, I thought it was simply called "hang up" the clothes/laundry, but it's actually "hang out"? Is this correct? Does that mean it's only used for outdoors? What about just hanging your wet towel indoors?

I know many no longer do this and just use a dryer but do you know what it's called?

If not, would you simply say it's a sprout?

I've learned English for a year and a half without tutoring, and I've felt that my English skills started to fluctuate.

I wanted to register for English tutoring or programmes to improve and correct my terrible skills, if I can, but I can't afford to do that given how much time and budget I have. I'm a sophomore in the school of engineering, and that means that I can't put much into English.

Maybe having more conversations with natives on topics I'm into is the best way to sharpen my skills. However, the problem is... my fear is too immense.

I know that there are more kind ppl than belligerent(?) ppl, but I'm afraid of making mistakes and looking silly. Even some mistakes can look impolite or blatant, causing unnecessary controversies.

Misspellings, improper usage of words, grammatical errors, wrong prefixes and suffixes...My writing and speaking are so terrible. It has been happening more frequently than before. It pushes into the brink of madness, making me obsessed with dictionaries to see if I make mistakes every time I write posts, comments, and replies.

Actually, I don't even know how proficient I am in English objectively. (Maybe B1? Idk) Although I have an English certificate that benefits me in the employment market as an engineer, I'm still not confident in my skills. (The certificate is not TOEFL or IELTS, btw)

What should I do? To interact more with people is an effective and efficient way, but I don't have enough courage and fluency.

(I wrote this whole post on my own with Grammarly, btw)