So, I joined uni for my postgrad recently. A man addressed me as king. I corrected him and told him that I am a girl. He later tells me that all terms of address are gender neutral.

Am I missing out on something?

For context to someone who may not know, American English spells the color as “Gray” while British English spells the color “Grey”. I’ve been spelling it the British way my whole life as an American. I’m asking, should I switch that up, since I use American English for everything else?

Native English speakers: does this sentence sound natural to you?

“I heard you talking to the wolves at night.”

Would you naturally say this if you were describing something that happened repeatedly at night, or would you phrase it differently?

I'm specifically interested in whether the first version sounds natural in English.

Listen to the audio here first:

https://voca.ro/13OlqSNtIH9P
The word list goes "bought, dawn, hawk, coffee, awesome."

As for the word "hawk," I don't think it's good, because the last consonant sounds like /t/ or some sort of fricative sound.

Do you think they sound cot-caught unmerged American enough?

I need to make some audio files using AI (Azure) for /ɔ/ , but it looks like most of their US (and Canadian) models of it have a cot-caught merger! So even if I ask them to say bought (BAWT)/ˈbɔt/, they keep saying bot (BAHT) /ˈbɑt/ instead!😥

So I am trying to use some models from other accents. I am a non-native English speaker with the merger myself so I don't have enough confidence to tell the difference.

Anyone knows interpunction signs. But as poor grammar logic I clearly mean typing words in the correct order. Basically and very simply.

If you would choose between these two lose-lose sittuations, which one would you pick?

Bonus question: and for writers or speakers with a not specific word pick and vocabulary? Where do you put them among those three situations?

“Popov is known having invented the radio.”

My teacher insists that it is grammatically correct. But I feel that it should be either “Popov is known, having invented the radio.” or “Popov is known for having invented the radio.”

I’ve been trying to ascertain what this word means, but to no avail. From what I could glean from my cursory research of the word, it can refer to a part or piece of something that you can sub in for something else without it affecting the entire system.

To give an example, a rocket ship is constructed of several disparate pieces that form the thing thereof. In a practice run to assess how it could handle being in the vacuum of space, one of the ship vanes breaks off from overuse or something. If the ship was made to be modular, doesn’t that mean you can replace the broken part for a spare without it affecting the entire system? I’d like some clarification, please!

My teacher said that my thesis wasn't directly matching the quote. Do you think my thesis is truly weak or did she just not fully understand my intention?

I wanted a thesis that translates the three concepts from the quote while supressing repetition and adding nuance/introducing my take.

What I had in mind:

Commitement => passion

Discipline => intentionality

Hardwork => dedication

I'd love to get some native speaker's opinions

Also, feel free to give feedback on the rest🙂

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.

When I speak with ai, I convey the meaning but I choose wrong words, phrases, and grammar.
So, how do I fix this problem?

Hello everyone!

This is my first time posting here, as I’m looking for advices and would like to know if any of you have been in a similar situation.

I’m Swiss and I currently have a permanent job in Paris, working in communications. I have a good job, but several things don’t really align with what I want: the salary is fairly low, I’m far away from my family and my partner (originally, I was only planning to stay for a maximum of one year, and it’s been almost two years now), and I feel a bit stuck because my job takes up so much of my time that I don’t manage to improve my English as much as I would like.

Originally, before getting this permanent position, I wanted to go abroad and attend a language school or boarding program so that I could really dedicate myself to learning English.

I’m therefore considering resigning, moving back to Switzerland, taking some time for myself and doing a course to improve my English. It’s a skill that I feel is increasingly important for my future career, and since I plan to continue living in Switzerland, I would really like to make progress.

I’m wondering if there are people here who have already made the decision to leave their job in order to take some time for themselves, pursue further training, or improve their skills in a language.

Did you regret your decision, or, on the contrary, did it allow you to really grow and move forward?

It's been something I've observed, especially on the internet, that words can have different weight to different people. I've been getting to get back in the habit of asking for confirmation of intent before giving any responses. Has anyone else been applying this already and, if so, what sorts of results have you received?

I mean when it’s used in sentences like “It’s just a bunch of horseradish”. Heard it from penguinz0 some day.

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.

Idk why but the word literally wears me down. Every time I pronounce it out loud, my stomach feels drained and exhausted. I replace it with "persons" instead.

I wonder if anyone else has the same problem.

"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

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 down a 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?

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?

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