grammar - Use of indefinite article with relative clause

I posted a question quite long time ago asking whether "that was a day that my dog died" is valid. The answers said "no!", telling that a dog cannot die twice.

I thought it was possible, for I thought I was introducing an item for the fist time, for which the indefinite article is necessary.

So I searched around and found this sentence: "this is a book I told you about yesterday."

The answerer was saying that "it might suggest that it was one of several books, or it might mean that you don't think I remember it", which is similar to introducing an item for the first time, because the listener does not have any information about it due to inability to remember it.

But some others said that "this is a book I told you about yesterday can only be sensibly used when the book is one of several that I told you about. Whether I think you remember or not is irrelevant."

So I came to this conclusion:

When a noun modified by a relative clause is used, the indefinite article is used only for the situations in which the noun is one of several.

I was naively happy with the satisfaction that I cleared up some confusion. Yet it occurred again, when I found that:

A woman who fell 10 meters from High Peak was lifted to safety by a helicopter.

is actually valid, even though there was only one woman who fell 10 meter from High Peak (it would be strange if there were more than one).

And more surprising was that the reason for its validity was because it was introduced for the first time, news they said. "This is news. We haven't heard about this woman before."

Here is the question: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/265002/using-the-in-adjective-relative-clause

So I just cannot see the difference between "this is a book I told you about yesterday" and "a woman who fell 10 meters from High Peak was lifted to safety by a helicopter."

Why can a definite article be used with "woman" for introducing for the first time and not with "book"?

Also, these two uses puzzled me even further.

“Everywhere there is growing interest in the Exposition,” he told Burnham in a June 20 letter from Biltmore.

It should be "the" according to the explanation people have given me, right? Unless there is more than one letter he sent to Burnham on June 20, which is unlikely.

While aboard the train, Burnham wrote a letter to Olmsted that contained a less-than-candid description of the meeting with the architects.

Likewise, it should be "the" unless Burnham wrote several letters that contained a description of the meeting.

I fail to notice how this "letter" is different from "day". There was only one letter as there was only one day that my dog died. So why indefinite article cannot be used with "day" as used above?

It became a rather long question.

However, my central question is, what controls the use of the definite and indefinite article when modifying a noun with relative clause?

Answer

I think it all comes down to what the writer/speaker thinks about the reader/listener

ie. If it is new to the reader use 'a', otherwise use 'the'

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So I just cannot see the difference between "this is a book I told you about yesterday" and "a woman who fell 10 meters from High Peak was lifted to safety by a helicopter."

Why can a definite article be used with "woman" for introducing for the first time and not with "book"?

If you told me about the book yesterday, then it wouldnt be new information so it would be: "this is the book i told you about yesterday", Using 'a' in this case almost implies that I forgot about it, and you are reminding me

For the second one, I have never heard of the[1] woman (in the article) before so you describe her as 'a' woman and not 'the' woman.

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the[1] last examples:

It should be "the" according to the explanation people have given me, right? Unless there is more than one letter he sent to Burnham on June 20, which is unlikely.

This does read to me as if there is more than one or that he wrote so many letters over the years that they can only specify which one they are talking about by date.

Likewise, it should be "the" unless Burnham wrote several letters that contained a description of the meeting.

it is 'a' because he wrote only one letter. "Burnham wrote one letter to Olmsted...", if you said 'the' in this case, it would imply that I knew about the letter before you said the sentence

[1] I use 'the' because you know what I'm refering to here

difference in verb collocation with exam

I have read three verb collocations with exam but cannot find the difference in meaning.

1. sit an exam/test,


2. do an exam/test, and


3. take an exam/test

I would like to know the difference in meaning for each phrase. Secondly, What verb we use for teachers who design a test because I have learned that "make a test" is wrong. Then if I am a teacher and design a test for my students what shall I say,for instance, I .... a chemistry test yesterday. thanks in advance.

Answer

Do a quiz is the least formal. "Buzzfeed™: What brand of beer is your boyfriend?" There are no consequences and the results are probably meaningless or just for fun. Young students may get an unannounced "pop quiz" as an incentive to read the assignments.

Take a test is what children do through middle school. They may take several tests each week to make sure they are keeping up with their homework and reading the assignments. A test typically will not take the entire class time to complete, and is announced ahead of time.

Sit for exams is the final for higher education like in college or university, or for a civil service promotion, or to earn a job license or career certification. The exam is strictly formal, including what type of pencil is used and how much time is allowed. It probably takes place in a location away from the daily classroom.

Test is interchangeable with both quiz and exam, but a quiz and an exam are opposite ends of the spectrum and not interchangeable. Take (a test) is universal, do is casual/informal, while sit is only used for certification or higher education.

As a teacher you will give the test to the class, but earlier you will write it.

the meaning of "set off" in the context

Jaspers even records a dream in which, during a tense conversation with some of Heidegger's critics, his friend suddenly approached and addressed him for the first time with the familiar du. The two then set off together, alone.

Source

What do you think "set off" means in the context of the above sentence. I considered the different meanings of the phrasal verb "set off" but none makes much sense for me.

Answer

According to English Thesaurus, the meanings of set off, can be, among the many meanings, compensation or departure. In this case set off means depart, leave... Does it sound crazy?

Together, means, (the main meaning is accompaniment, junction, union) but it can means in some cases: synchronism (according to English Thesaurus), when adverb. In this phrase together means in context at the same time. So the meaning of this phrase can be understood as:

The two then set off (leave) together (at the same time), alone.

In this definition, together can mean at the same time in some cases

present tense - Significance of inversion: 'Here comes Bob' vs 'Bob is coming here'

Here comes Bob.

Bob is coming here.

Would anyone please explain what is the difference between these?

Answer

The difference is based on the concept of deixis, which are words that require context of space, time, or person to fulfill their meaning. For example, "I went to the store" means something different if I say it vs. if you say it.

In particular, you have:

1. 
   

   Here comes Bob. This is deictic in terms of time, which is "now", and space, which is generally "here" relative to the speaker and "there where Bob is" as the speaker sees Bob.

   
   
   


2. 
   

   Bob is coming here. This is deictic in terms of space, which is "here" and time, which is the present continuous tense (aka present progressive tense). This may indicate that Bob is coming now or in some relatively near future. For example, one could say any of the following:

   
   
   
   
   • "Bob is coming here." (Ambiguity would be resolved by context or dialog.)
   
   
   • "Bob is coming here now."
   
   
   • "Bob is coming here soon."
   
   
   • "Bob is coming here tomorrow."
   
   
   • "Bob is coming here next year."
   
   
   
   
   


3. 
   

   "Bob comes here." This is deictic in terms of space only. In regards to time, it just means that it's his habit to come here.

   
   

Also see: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22here+comes+the+bus%22+deictic

past vs past perfect - He had left before you came

He had left before you came.

He left before you came.

Are the timelines same?

relative clauses - that which belongs to or is connected with her

that which belongs to or is connected with her (Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s)

'Though ‘which’ can be replaced by ‘that’ in relative constructions' they say, when it is placed after ‘that’ I wonder if aforesaid can be applied as well?

Answer

No, that which cannot be replaced with that that:

that which belongs to or is connected with her
that *that belongs to or is connected with her

See The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language p.1053:

(d) That which and all who: obligatory wh

[63] i. That [which we so carefully created] he has wantonly destroyed.
    ii. All [who heard her speak] were deeply impressed by her sincerity.

The very formal that which ("what") cannot be replaced by either that that or that, and when pronominal all applies to people who is required (cf. *all that heard her speak).

This conflicts with a rule sometimes given by prescriptive grammarians (although many which-hunters describe this case as an exception). Geoff Pullum has written about this on Language Log.

auxiliary verbs - difference: be going; will

It’s not easy to discern which to choose among ‘be going to’ and ‘will’ to express a near future plan or intention. I’m going to bring up two cases.

[A] In a situation that when one says “Oh, I’m hot,” while two are in the room, what can the other one say?: [A-1] I’m going to open the window. [A-2] I’ll open the window.

For ‘be going’ is concerned with ‘present intention’(CGEL,p.211-2), [A-1] seems to be possible; yet it’s also concerned with ‘present arrangement,’ it doesn’t seem to. How could I have arranged the opening window before his saying 'hot'?
However, [A-2] seems to be quite wilful to say in the situation. When it’s not a big deal to open the window, do I have to use my will? It could be said that 'will' is used in a implication that 'if you want, I will open the window'- as a conditional consequence.

How about this?:
[B] In a situation that I’ve planned that I would learn to play the guitar after deeply impressed by a guitarist, what can I say?: [B-1] I’m going to learn to play the guitar. [B-2] I will learn to play the guitar.

Answer

[A-2] I’ll open the window.

At the point of saying this, you already made the decision to open the window, since in effect you are agreeing it is too hot and you are offering to (want to) do it.

[B-1] I’m going to learn to play the guitar.

Here you have the intention to learn to play the guitar, but it is a long process and it is uncertain whether you will be successful or not. So this is a "present intention".

usage - How is the expression "very much" used and is "I like very much to play volleyball on weekends" correct?

I know in general terms how to use "very much" but since my students started making specific questions and writing sentences like the one above I got very confused (I'm brazilian, and I just started working as an English Teacher).

I would say that the sentence would sound better if it was "I like to play volleyball on weekends very much", but I want to understand what positions it could be placed and how it would change the sentence's meaning.

writing - Chapter, sections, etc. in capital letters?

Should I write "headers" like chapter, section, etc. with capital letters?

I think I have seen both; therefore I am not sure.

As an example, if I write something and want to refer to a specific chapter/section (they are numbered):

"As we have seen in chapter/section [x]..."

Answer

This is a question for your editor, as there is no single convention. Whether and when to capitalize will be determined by the style guide in use, and for the sake of the reader, you should strive for consistency throughout the work.

APA, for example, says to use lowercase when referring to a chapter or section generically, but to capitalize when referring to a specific chapter or section, as you would a title:

Additional details are provided in Chapter 4.

Additional details are provided in the following chapter.

On the other hand, the Chicago Manual and the GPO (U.S. federal Government Printing Office) prefer that parts of a book be lowercase everywhere:

A complete list is provided in appendix III.

See section 7.

phrase request - Personal circumstances?

A friend of mine asked me once what he could say if he was asked about a colleague or a friend not being able to attend a meeting or a party because of, for example, confidential health or family problems, or any private matters. What he wants to say -without being specific or giving any reasons-is something like

He has some personal circumstances"

It's unlikely that the phrase "personal circumstances" sound natural. So what would native speakers "vaguely" say in a situation like this. I hope it is clear that the question is not about how to give any suitable answer but rather about giving an idiomatic one that is as close in meaning as possible to the matter at hand.

You could ask for more clarification in the comments if I was not clear enough.

Answer

'Personal circumstances' does sound natural. Native speakers do use this phrase. Due to 'personal circumstances' I cannot attend. 'Personal reasons' is also good.

In the USA saying 'health reasons', 'health issues', 'family reasons', 'family matters', is common, because just about everyone has these things and they can mean just about anything, thus people won't think twice when you say it, and your privacy is protected. These phrases are used as excuses so often that the person you are telling this to might realize you are using these phrases as a way of saying 'I am not willing to tell you the real reason, and it is none of your business. If you find that you are saying 'personal reasons', or 'personal circumstances' too often (more than once) you can always, at least in American culture, resort to 'health issues' or 'family issues' and still retain your privacy.

hyphens - a ten-year period of documenting....?

1. 
   

   This book is the first volume and part of a ten-year period of..

   
   


2. 
   

   This book is the first volume and part of a ten years period of..

   
   



3. 
   

   This book is the first volume and part of the ten year period of..

   
   

Which is correct?

british english - Various usages of needn't

Could anyone possibly simply tell me which of the following would be correct?

Tell her she needn't work tonight.

Tell her she doesn't need to work tonight.

Definite article before name of languages

Should I use the definite article before name of languages?

• (the?) Persian language


• (the?) German language



• (the?) Arabic language


• (the?) Russian language


• (the?) English language

Some language name may also refer to other things, so you need language word after their name.

Answer

The article goes with language, so the following work as noun phrases:

English

the English language

The following doesn't usually work as a noun phrase referring to the English language. It would more likely be interpreted as referring to the English people:

＊the English

Take a look at the following example sentences:

1a. I speak English.

1b. ？I speak the English language.

1c. ＊I speak the English.

2a. English is a beautiful thing.

2b. The English language is a beautiful thing.

2c. ＊The English is a beautiful thing.

Examples 1c is wrong. Example 2c is wrong in most situations. Example 1b sounds strange; we usually only say "the English language" when speaking about the language in the abstract or as a whole. Saying "English" always works, though it doesn't always sound as nice:

3a. By some estimates, there are over a million words in the English language.
3b. By some estimates, there are over a million words in English.

Both examples are acceptable, but example 3a sounds better.

Of course, there are other situations where you'd use an article with bare English, such as in the phrase the English of Shakespeare, but you can do that with any proper noun (see this answer). And if you're using English language as a modifier, it doesn't need an article because it's not functioning as a noun. In the following example, English language is inserted into the noun phrase a Q&A site as a modifier:

4. Stack Exchange is an English language Q&A site.

The article an belongs to site, not to English, language, or Q&A.

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＊ means I think this utterance is unacceptable.
？ means I think this utterance is questionable, but not as bad as those marked with ＊.

tense - I worked, I've worked, I have been working. I need some clarifications

Could you help me with these sentences:

1. I lied to her. (I'm just making a statment)


2. I've lied to her because the truth would have hurted her.

Second example:

1. I have been working at Google for 10years. (Meaning I am still working there)


2. I've worked at Google and it was nice.(I don't work anymore)


3. I worked at Google. (Not sure about the difference with the previous one)

I'm learning the different tenses and it isn't so easy for me. Any help would be welcome.

Regards,

meaning - Does "Vietnamese-born Australian" include child born in Australia by Vietnamese immigrants?

Ok, I often hear people in Australia say "Vietnamese-born Australian", but I am not sure that term refers to:

• 
  

  A child was born in Vietnam by Vietnamese parents then the child and his / her parents moved to Australia

  
  


• 
  

  A child was born in Australia by Vietnamese parents who moved to Australia from Vietnam

  
  

Also, are there any difference between "Vietnamese-born Australian" & "Vietnamese Australian"?

Answer

I don't agree entirely with the current answer, so I'll try my hand at answering.

• Vietnamese-born Australian refers to someone who was born in Vietnam, but has since become an Australian citizen.


• Vietnamese Australian would refer to an Australian citizen with Vietnamese ancestry, no matter where he was born, or where he lives, for that matter.

grammar - Called upon to +verb

Is the following sentence correct? The part after 'called upon' sounds a bit strange to me.

'SIRE (a company) calls upon to keep hands off our social workers, so this video must be aimed at individuals who use violence against the people that are always ready to help us.'

sentence construction - Was Married or Had Married?

I want to say. Couple did marriage on 1 April and after 5 years they taken divorce. How should is say?

A) They were married on 1 April 2014 and taken divorce after 5 years.

B) They had married on 1 April 2014 and taken divorce after 5 years.

C) or any other way to say?

Two questions:

Q1) Are the above sentence constructions correct? If so, What do they mean?

Q2) Is the word Married a verb or an adjective?

singular they - Is there a gender-neutral pronoun that can replace “his” or “her”?

This post has two parts: (a) a question and (b) a proposal.

(a) Often, particularly while writing technical papers or user's manuals, I have come across a situation where I need to say:

A user of this software may not need to use it from his personal computer. He can use it from a phone or even from his tablet.

I have seen many authors use female pronouns (i.e. “she” and “her”), but lately this trend seems to have ebbed somewhat.

I, and (I suspect) many other authors, do not want to use passive voice to avoid this.

Is there a gender-neutral way to describe the same situation?

(b) If there is none, I would like to propose using “ze” (for “he” or “she”) and “zir” (for “his” or “her”, rhyming with “fir”) as gender-neutral pronouns. I want to know how you feel about these words.

Answer

You have at least three options. I will list these in reverse order of personal preference:

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1. Pluralize

You’re talking about all your users, so you don’t need to single anyone out.

Users of this software do not have to use it from their personal computers. They can use it from (their) phones or even from (their) tablets.

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“They” has a long history of use referring to individuals. Relatively recently (in the grand scope of etymology) proscriptive people have railed against this usage, but this can be seen to fall along the same lines as Thou Shalt Not End Sentences With Prepositions which, as we all know, is nonsense, up with which we shall not put.

A user of this software does not have to use it from their personal computer. They can use it from their phone or even from their tablet.

---

3. Re-write

There are countless ways to communicate this information without passive voice or pronouns.

Users can access the software not only on personal computers, but on phones and tablets as well.

---

As for your proposal, it is not new. You are welcome to join the vanguard of radical gender-neutral writing, but for broad acceptance and minimized potential for confusion (such as I think you’ll want with a user manual) you are probably better off with one of the options above.

word choice - What are the grammatical rules determining whether to use "which" or "what"?

What are the grammatical rules determining whether to use which or what?

I usually go by intuition. It's "What car are you looking at?" and "What bicycle do you like most?" but "Which song did you sing?" Quite often, I don't know whether to use what or which.

How can I tell?

Answer

Which is used when there is a selection of choices, and you are picking one.

What is used for a description, or if you don't know what the choices are.

For your examples, it should be:

Which car are you looking at?

This is because you are probably next to your friend and have an idea of the selection of choices.

Which bicycle do you like most?

I'm assuming here that you are both in a store or looking at the same webpage, so that you know your choices.

What song did you just sing?

Here, you don't know the choices that were picked from, so you use what

grammaticality - Why is "Mary told the cake to be cut by John" ungrammatical?

Mary told the cake to be cut by John.

A textbook says that this example is ungrammatical, but it seems to make sense to me: where does the sentence have its fault?

Answer

This is a grammatical sentence, but it would be very unusual for anyone to say it because Mary is telling the cake, an inanimate object, to do something (have John cut it). It would make more sense to say:

Mary told John to cut the cake.

The main difference is to whom or what Mary is speaking. In the example in the question, she is speaking to the cake. In the example in this answer, she is speaking to John.

uncountable nouns - My favorite fruit is grape/grapes

Let's say you are asked by your teacher what is your favorite fruit, then you say:

"my favorite fruit is grape/grapes"

Which one is correct in terms of the general selection according to what I have just written here? Because I have just seen a website which he/she exemplified "my favorite fruits are grapes" this confuses me a bit now.

Answer

The easiest way to answer your teacher (and eliminate your quandary) is to simply say:

Grapes are my favorite fruit.

However, that's merely a way to dodge your question, not confront it head-on. What should we do when we start our answer with:

My favorite fruit...

First, let's pick a different fruit. One way to construct the sentence is to use an article:

My favorite fruit is the nectarine.
My favorite fruit is a plum.

Alternatively, we could use no article, but then we need to decide what to do with the verb. As a discussion on Quora says:

As “fruit” is both a countable and uncountable noun, it can be singular or plural. So while it is a choice between “My favorite fruit is apples,” or “My favorite fruit is apple,” the only correct choice is “My favorite fruit is apples” because you would need some kind of determiner such as a number or article to precede the singular object.

This is made even trickier by the fact that we seldom refer to a grape in the singular but usually talk about grapes in the plural.

So, if I had to start with, "My favorite...," I would probably say:

My favorite fruit is grapes.

It's not ungrammatical, although it might sound ungrammatical because grapes sounds like a plural noun, right next to the singular is.

Evidently, this construct has vexed others before. (See this or this conversation on Word Reference, or this poll on UE, for example.)

Perhaps comedian Demetri Martin said it best:

My favorite fruit is grapes. Because with grapes, you always get another chance.

vocabulary - Is there a friendly calling for uncle?

‘Auntie’ seems to be a friendly calling for ‘aunt.’ Then is there the word for ‘uncle’?

Answer

People sometimes say "Unk". As in, "Hey, unk, come over here!" But this is not as common as "auntie". In modern American usage, I don't think either is very common. We pretty much say "aunt" and "uncle".

difference - Should I add "and" before last number?

In Oxford word skills book "and" added before the last number

101 : one hundred and one

140: one hundred and forty

I know that can say without "and"

but I want to know standard and acceptable sentence in international exams

one hundred and one or one hundred one

Answer

In my experience (native AmE speaker from the mid-Atlantic region of the US), both ways are perfectly acceptable in spoken American English, with no real preference one way or the other in general. Both ELU.SE and Language Log seem to suggest that "and" may be more common outside of North America, in which case it would be the safer option, but either should be fully understood. There do appear to be some claims online that "and" is not correct in "proper" English when saying a number; in my experience, that is blatantly incorrect, and "one hundred and one" is entirely acceptable at any level of formality (this is backed up by both links.

subject verb agreement - What is the purpose of using "don't" instead of "doesn't" in this phrase: "But she don't know you like I know you Slim"

I was listening to Eminem's song Stan. I noticed in one verse he says:

But she don't know you like I know you Slim...

At first I didn't believe my ears, but when I read out the lyrics I got astonished. I further searched on Google and found on some other forums that this type of incorrect grammatical usage is either intentional (for some linguistic reasons) or the speaker is uneducated!

So my question is:

• What is the purpose of this type of intentional misuse of grammar?


• How does it appear to native English speakers?

Thank you.

Answer

A Superiority Attitude? (Note that the following is not in any way intended to judge any ill intent by the OP. It is only an observation that certain language forms can be received in an emotionally negative way by readers.) I might caution that your enthusiasm regarding "incorrect grammar" and "uneducated speaker" may appear to many readers to be similar to a narrow "Standard Educational English is right and a" condescending attitude. The editorializing statements and inflections may also appear to be similar to passive-aggressive troll-like language behavior rather than a sincere question about the motivations behind the grammar used in a song.

Astonishing? Not! It's far from astonishing to find non-standard, informal, or common vernacular in popular American songs. In fact, it's quite common. What might be astonishing is that you waited until "she don't know you" to be astonished. That's deep into the second verse, even after "but you still ain't calling", "you must not-a got 'em", and other gems of a certain recognizable dialect.

Confused Quesiton: To suggest a binary choice that "it's intentional or the speaker is uneducated" is a confusion of levels. The "intention" of creating a character that uses a particular dialect must be attributed to the writers of the song. The "speaker" is the fictional character "Stan" depicted within the song. To question whether a fictional character ("Stan") is "uneducated" might be totally moot in the respect that he is fictional. The next section deals with this further.

Educational Level of the Character Stan: Any "backstory" of a fictional character could be filled in with any sort of creative story desired. Perhaps he was a Rhode Scholar that became disenchanted and suffered schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive behavior, denounced his education and returned to his roots, re-adopting the language of his original culture. This possibility does have historical support. But it's just absurd conjecture about the history of a fictional fantasy. However, suppose we indulge ourselves with some plausible realistic perspective -- it still raises the question, "what kind of education and how much?" Some would support the notion that people are not "educated vs. not-educated". They are educated to various degrees along various dimensions. Stan certainly has a penchant for communicating his ideas clearly and succinctly. And that seems more educated than many high school (dare I say even college) graduates.

Educational Level of Writers: It's notable that Stan by Eminem is a highly successful, acclaimed, and popular hit single. The credits indicate the song was written by Dido Armstrong, Paul Herman, and Marshall Mathers. The success of this song is certainly based on a large team of highly talented and educated artists and professionals.

Correct English? There is no single official standard for correct English grammar. Songs often use common vernacular dialects of English. A common vernacular dialect is only "incorrect" as someone's judgement relative to some other dialect, typically certain standardized dialects such as self-appointed style guides and educational materials. Standard English is itself a dialect, and there are many "Standard English" dialects.

what is the purpose of this non-standard language: To say it's an "intentional misuse of language" is missing the point. It's better characterized as an "intentional use of a popular dialect" that would prove to resonate with those who understand that dialect and directly or indirectly relate (positively or negatively) to the character Stan.

How it appears to the native English speakers? The non-standard English use in the lyrics sounds perfectly in-line with what people understand to be some standard regional or socio-economic dialects. In fact, it's not too far linguistically from your own language; In your following sentence, I've highlighted elements in bold that are similar to some common vernacular English dialects rather than formal Standard English.: "First I didn't believe my ears, but when I read out the lyrics I got astonished."

word usage - What does "do" mean in "What do I do"?

What does "do" mean in "What do I do?" I think it means "What do I usually do?", but I don't know why anyone would ask what they usually do. Does it mean something else?

Answer

Do can occur both as an auxiliary verb and as a lexical verb. In your example, it is an auxiliary verb in the first instance and a lexical verb in the second instance. The lexical verb, I assume, presents no difficulty. It means things like perform, execute, achieve, carry out, effect, bring to pass.

As an auxiliary verb, do is used to form questions and negatives. When a question begins with a word like what, and that word is not the subject, auxiliary do (or does in the third person singular) is placed before the subject of the clause. This applies when the lexical verb is do, just as much as it does with any other lexical verb.

In a clause such as this, do, as ctype.h has suggested, can mean should, but it does not necessarily do so. The question could, for example, be a response, seeking clarification, to the question ‘What is your job?’

pronunciation - What do I call the ′ in mathematical formulae?

As in x′ = x + t

"Ex (?) equals ex plus tee".

In Russian it is called "штрих" (shtrikch).

Answer

The single tick following a variable is often (but not always) used to represent a derivative and (in the United States) is always pronounced "prime." In your example, "Ex prime = ex plus tee."

f(x) = x² <--- "Eff of ex equals ex squared."

f′(x) = 2 x <---- "Eff prime of ex equals two ex."

f′′(x) = 2 <---- "Eff double prime of ex equals two."

In non-mathematical contexts it is called a single quote (or a "tick"). This wikipedia entry differentiates between the prime symbol and the single quote. As they also note, using a single quote (') as a stand-in for prime (′) is not uncommon. Thanks Vi for the link.

I have learned from other respondents that in the UK, Canada and Australia, it is pronounced prime unless it signals a derivative, in which case it can be pronounced dash.

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In case you run into these two:

x̅ is pronounced "ex bar"

x̂ is pronounced "ex hat"

grammar - "Ways to prevent (a) Cold/Colds" Correct?

Which of these are more proper and why?

Ways to prevent a cold

or

Ways to prevent colds

I learned in high school that "cold" is singular and plural and at the time.

Answer

Cold as in the disease is a normal singular noun and requires s at the end if you are talking about more than one.

Ways to prevent a cold or Ways to prevent colds

Cold also means "low temperature." Nouns that refer to abstract attributes do not take articles. If you see cold without an article, this meaning is likely intended.

Ways to prevent cold

However, nouns that refer to types instead of concrete instances also do not take articles. So it is possible to omit the article for cold if the word is being used to refer to a type of disease.

Various diseases such as cold, flu, food poisoning are contagious.