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The verb access has become standard in reference to computers, as in This program makes it considerably easier to access files on another disk. In recent years, people have begun to extend access to nontechnical contexts, giving it the broader meaning “to obtain goods, especially by technological means.” But this sense has yet to gain [...]
The use of above as an adjective or noun in referring to a preceding text is most common in business and legal writing. In general writing, its use as an adjective (the above figures) was accepted by a majority of the Usage Panel in an earlier survey, but its use as a noun (read the [...]
When followed by an infinitive, about to means “presently going to, on the verge of,” as in I’m about to go downtown. The construction not about to may be simply the negative of this, especially in response to questions: I’m not about to go downtown. I’m about to go to the park. But in most [...]
The preposition about is traditionally used to refer to the relation between a narrative and its subject: a book about Cezanne, a movie about the Boston Massacre. Lately people have extended this use beyond narratives to refer to the relation between various kinds of nouns and the things they entail or make manifest: The party [...]
The construction able to takes an infinitive to show the subject’s ability to accomplish an action: We were able to finish the project thanks to a grant from a large corporation. The new submarine is able to dive twice as fast as the older model. Some people think able to should be avoided with passive [...]
In modern written English, we use a before a word beginning with a consonant sound, however it may be spelled (a frog, a university, a euphemism). We use an before a word beginning with a vowel sound (an orange, an hour). At one time, an was an acceptable alternative before words beginning with a consonant [...]
The pronouns are who, whom, whose, which. Commas are used as with non-defining clauses. Connective clauses do not describe their nouns but continue the story. They are usually placed after the object of the main verb: I told Peter, who said it wasn’t his business or after the preposition + noun: I threw the ball [...]
Non-defining relative clauses are placed after nouns which are definite already They do not therefore define the noun, but merely add something to it by giving some more information about it. Unlike defining relative clauses, they are not essential in the sentence and can be omitted without causing confusion. Also unlike defining relatives, they are [...]
These describe the preceding noun in such a way as to distinguish it from other nouns of the same class. A clause of this kind is essential to the clear understanding of the noun. In the sentence: The man who told me this refused to give me his name ‘who told me this’ is the [...]
A. These are: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves. Note the difference between the second person singular yourself, and the second person plural yourselves. The indefinite reflexive/emphasizing pronoun is oneself. В. myself, yourself etc. are used as objects of a verb when the action of the verb returns to the doer, i.e. when [...]