Questions tagged [faq]

These questions are the most frequently asked and answered questions on Meta.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
25 votes
16 answers
2k views

Contributor's Guide to English Language Learners

I thought it would be nice if we had a community maintained guide to ELL written in easy-to-understand language and arranged to make the most important things to know easy to find. The help center has ...
10 votes
2 answers
357 views

What's the policy on using profanity in answers (where appropriate)?

A recent question asked what were some other terms for "to waste time doing ..." I provided the various G-rated options and suggested there were many other R-rated options. Is it OK to list those ...
  • 87.4k
54 votes
2 answers
3k views

Not so fast! (When should I accept an answer?)

So, someone has answered your question, and you haven't even waited a full hour yet. That's great! As you might already know, the Stack Exchange model encourages you to accept an answer from those ...
  • 109k
37 votes
1 answer
1k views

So, you found a sentence or phrase... (Why you should cite your source)

So, you found a sentence or phrase that confuses you, and now you want to know what it means. If your confusion stems from the fact that you are an English novice, then ELL is a good place to ask. ...
  • 109k
18 votes
1 answer
281 views

Minor recurring formatting errors (and how to avoid them)

Many of my edits fall into a few general areas; this seems to be true for edits made by other people as well. If people who ask questions on ELL would simply heed a few simple guidelines, the site ...
  • 109k
105 votes
7 answers
11k views

Please, everyone ... details. Please!

I've seen a lot of questions crop up recently, where individuals are giving a very brief snippet of English, and asking questions like these: Is this correct? What does this mean? What is the ...
  • 109k
84 votes
21 answers
5k views

Resources for learning English

This is a specifically created Community Wiki which gathers resources for learning English and it has been approved by the Community itself. It should be clear that the resources are not written by ...
12 votes
4 answers
839 views

List of common symbols and abbreviations

Symbols which are not defined anywhere mean absolutely nothing. Therefore, I think we should maintain a list of conventional symbols used on ELL.
51 votes
3 answers
3k views

Alternative websites for proofreading

What websites are available where people can practice writing English, and have their written work corrected by native speakers? (It'll be useful to point people to this question if they've asked a "...
  • 5,767
57 votes
6 answers
874 views

How do I determine whether a question fits on English Language & Usage or on English Language Learners?

It's been less than ten minutes since I've been on this page and already I have a dire need: A checklist on: how do I determine whether a question fits on English Language & Usage or on English ...
  • 4,677