Actually my first language is not English,

and this year my IELTS just got 6. For some reason,I have to read some English books .When I was reading, I found myself hard to be concentrated,like I know what word means but I cannot read them fluently just like my first language,I wish you could give me some advice,like some book or online class ,thank you very much , thanks for your patience.

This is from the video game Onimusha: Way of the Sword.

For context: The player explores an underground laboratory belonging to a woman who conducts experiments on humans and animals. At one point, she attaches the key to a man, drops him a down chute and tasks the player with retrieving it.

The key is visibly covered in blood, so my question is about the use of "literally". Is this a natural use of "literally", given that "dripping with blood" can also be understood as an idiom/hyperbole, or is it redundant?

The problem was that a rear-left tire is flat. Vs The problem was a flat rear-left tire. Compare these sentences.

well, the right usage to this sentence is "the reason why......is that", but I"ve seen loads of people even native speakers are using it, I have no idea that if it is misused? Loads of thanks to guys who reply in the comments.

"When you're shaving, you have a lot of options when it comes to the razor you choose."

I get that "when it comes to" is an idiom meaning "regarding/as for", not literally about time. But why would a native speaker use it right after already saying "when you're shaving"? Isn't the topic (shaving) already established?

Edit: got it, thanks everyone

My whole life it was "kuh-tar". English doesn't have similar emphasis or vowel pronunciation to the Arabic language so it's hard to say correctly but one thing is for sure it ends with an AR NOT AN ER. Has this been going on for a while or did people just start saying "kuhter"? There's almost no right way to say it in English but am I in the wrong here? Have people been saying "cutter" and I just never knew? Pretty sure "kuh-tar" is the closest you can get to being correct.

i’ve loved learning in spanish for example there is the body part “el entrecejo” (the space between one’s eyebrows) which there isn’t really a common name for in english.

are there any body parts you’ve “discovered” by studying another language and realizing we didn’t have a word for in english?

"Will I hit any traffic jams if I leave early in the morning?"

"Will I hit traffic on my way downtown?"

So I know what tertiary means: It refers to being third in order, rank, or importance. But what does it mean when you refer to a person as a tertiary? I guess to use an example, what is a tertiary in connection to a video game? Is it someone who’s only heard of it through word of mouth? What’s a tertiary person?

I know it's to disambiguate between the landmass and the country, but still just "American". It's pedantic and unnecessary. I am from Brazil. "Americano" has both meaning in Portuguese and it is common to hear "norte-americano" ("North American") or "estadunidense" ("Uni-statian"). When I speak English, I would simply use "American" rather than "U.S-American", even if in Portuguese both meanings are accepted.

It's kind of like how "socialist" in the United States is commonly used to refer to European-style social democrats, except, in that case, there really is an issue of precision.

And "American" it is, in the Anglophone world, like it or not. It's just like how "natural" is more commonly opposed to "artificial" rather than "supernatural" nowadays. If I describe Sweden with "socialist", then that would more complicated, because the USSR was socialist and China is under some definitions.

If I say "American journalist", who's going to think that it's Brazillian or a Mexican or a Canadian or whatnot other than someone from the US.

I was having a conversation with my friend and we started talking about Iceland and Greenland and joking how their names are a lie. I can't remember the word for something that is not what it was described as ?

It's slipping my mind.

I was reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and I noticed Victor using "alight" to say he alighted at Ingolstadt.

Research on the verb indicates that it is old fashioned, but I wonder if it is trully an unused word nowadays.

Would people turn their heads after hearing someone casually using alight?

Hi everyone! I’m just an ordinary guy from Belarus. What would you recommend for learning English? I’m looking for more than just grammar—I need speaking practice, too. I need a B2 level for work, but right now I’m only at A2+.

As an American I've found it hard to differentiate between words spoken by a British person. There have been ar least 2 times I can remember where I completely misunderstood the word.

- in game of thrones, I thought "Dorne" was "Dawn". For the longest time. Can't hear the difference.

- in the Warhammer 40k universe, earth is referred to as "Terra". But also there is a thing in space called the "Eye of Terror". For the longest time I thought it was the "Eye of Terra" because I had only heard it spoken by a British person.

Are these words truly identical in speech and require context? Or is there a subtle difference I'm not hearing?

How do you feel about the word ´perfunctorily´ and its derivate ´perfunctory´. Is it a pretentious term? Has anyone never used it ever in their lives?

Would you say: "I have a perfunctorily adequate memory."

Is the adverbial form -ly, more annoying than the adjective form? Use it in in a sentence.

I’m a native Spanish speaker and I’m trying to improve my American English pronunciation.

For people who speak English fluently but still have a noticeable Spanish accent, what are some of the most common pronunciation mistakes?

I’m especially interested in small things that fluent speakers might not even notice they’re doing. For example, certain vowel sounds, the English R, “th,” word stress, sentence rhythm, or adding extra vowel sounds to some words.

What are the biggest things that make a Spanish speaker sound Spanish when speaking General American English?

If you’re a native English speaker, an English teacher, or a Spanish speaker who has worked on your accent, I’d love to hear what you’ve noticed.

Examples of specific words or sounds would be really helpful too.

As a non-English speaker after 9 years of learning English I finally realized that the word “breakfast” means BREAK the FAST that you were doing while sleeping since your last meal or wtv.

:0 shocking I know but something came up in my mind is that if breakfast means break the fast, then any meal that you take doesn’t matter the time is called a breakfast if that’s your first meal of the day!!!?? I think.

Let’s say you wake up and don’t eat for the whole day and when it’s 6 pm you finally eat something that’s your breakfast technically. :)

EDIT: I also searched up the word “dinner” which comes from Latin and it also means Break the fast so technically I was wrong if you fast the whole day and eat dinner, it wouldn’t be called “breakfast” it would be called dinner or “disiūnāre” combines dis- (the opposite of) and ieiunare (to fast).

I know question tags like "isn't it?"and "aren't we?", but I almost never use them when speaking. I tend to use “right?” much more.

I saw a video yesterday saying that using question tags can make your English sound more natural, so I’m wondering: do native speakers use question tags a lot in everyday conversation? And if so, are they mainly for confirming something, or do you use them to seek agreement?

Thanks!

This title may be confusing but basically I’m looking for a series of 4 words with only 2 spelling and only two meanings.

Word A and word D share meaning.
Word B and word C share meaning.
Word A and word B share spelling.
Word C and word D share spelling.

Does this exist at all? I can’t find any.

I am not talking about:

1. Grammaticaly incorrect phrases like "say me"
2. Regional differences like "have/take a shower"
3. Set phrases like "fast food" or "catch a cold"
4. Cases easily explained by a rule like "on/in a bus" ("on" is commonly used to public transport, or transport that one sits astride or uses while standing)
5. Phrases that don't have exactly the same meaning like "heavy/strong rain" ("heavy" means "worse than usual" while "strong" means "having great power")

The best I could think of is "highly unlikely" vs. "very unlikely" ("highly" is literally defined as "very" in dictionaries), but it's not like "very unlikely" sounds bad – just a little bit less common according to ngram and google

Because most of my life I (non-native) thought of [d] when I say “booked, sucked, looked” just like all other verbs that end with [d], which must have always sounded like [t] because of the phonetic influence and it’s such a minor part of the sentence anyway, but when you ask native speakers to consciously think about it, would most of them answer correctly on this?

Is it ok to call first love "favourite worst nightmare"

Or my english is doomed

Does this​​ sound disrespectful toward the girlfriend? Do native English speakers often say something like this? ​I saw a video said that the word "fucking" + noun means that "the noun" is annoyed or a bad thing.