13
votes
Can I write this? Can I say this? Can I speak like this? and e.t.c
That's being awfully pedantic in the face of someone seeking help regarding the proper use of English. If someone says, "Can I write {x}?", you can safely assume they mean "Is it proper to…"
...
- 1,047
10
votes
Screenshots in questions -- What should we do to discourage such behavior?
Screenshots are unacceptable.
It causes problems for people who cannot see images (e.g. because they are blind or have bandwidth constraints). We could fix this by setting appropriate alt text on the ...
- 1,969
10
votes
Is it a bad luck when an English learner (when they are learning) does not feel supported by native speaker?
I have addressed this in my Details, please post. I can understand how a learner might feel frustrated by a question like that, but that frustration goes both ways. When we see a question for ...
J.R.Mod
- 109k
10
votes
Accepted
Rules about proofreading essays (IELTS etc.)
Yes and no.
You cannot paste a paragraph you have written, and ask the community to identify the mistakes. That is called "proofreading", and it is expressly off-topic.
So, you could not ask ...
J.R.Mod
- 109k
10
votes
Why are most of my questions marked as "off topic"?
Let's take a look at the following question:
What is the meaning of "will fulfill a prophecy by bringing balance to the Force"?
Here's the content of your question, formatted slightly to ...
- 5,961
9
votes
Is it ok ask for translation words?
We are not a translation service... There are thousands of translation dictionaries out there that will do word-for-word translations for you. We are not going to become another one. Any question like ...
- 25.4k
9
votes
Accepted
How to ask an English learner to clarify a question without knowing their current grasp of English?
A question of great complexity. My take, from experience of teaching, is simply this:
Firstly, phrase your comment in a manner that doesn't cause a loss of face.
In cultures where face is important, ...
- 8,128
8
votes
What should I do if I have another question about an asked question
If you are asking the person that wrote the text for clarification about what they said, it probably should be a comment.
If you are asking about the English of the text, or about a “rule” that ...
- 12k
7
votes
Rules about proofreading essays (IELTS etc.)
The help center topic "What topics can I ask about here?" explains that
Proofreading (for example, "Are there any mistakes?" or "Is this correct?"), unless a source of concern is clearly specified
...
- 12k
7
votes
Is it a bad luck when an English learner (when they are learning) does not feel supported by native speaker?
I know that learning a new language can be very frustrating. ELL is meant to be a resource for you as you continue to learn English and encounter things that you can't find the answer to. That is the ...
- 4,403
6
votes
Accepted
To move my question to English Language & Usage
Done
You can find it here:
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/538314/is-it-ok-to-use-otherwise-after-where
Thanks for the request! Also as a general reminder this is the right way to do it if ...
- 18.8k
6
votes
Why can't I post questions?
You actually asked 10 questions; 2 of them were deleted (you can find them here - that link only works for you and for ♦ moderators). At some point in the past, you have received a warning when asking ...
GlorfindelMod
- 14.7k
6
votes
How can I write a better title for my ELL question?
Avoid putting something critical to your question in the title of the question unless you add it to the body of the question as well.
In other words, make sure that someone can read your whole ...
J.R.Mod
- 109k
6
votes
"You can’t post new questions right now"
You have 5 deleted questions, some of which have a negative score. Those get deleted automatically if they aren't answered. You get the reputation back you lost from them, but they still count towards ...
GlorfindelMod
- 14.7k
5
votes
Accepted
there is a "bad question" on ELL I'm wondering why It's bad
If you look at the tooltip for the up-vote button, the guidance says things like "useful and clear" and "shows research effort" and everyone has a little different idea of what that means. Some folks ...
- 12k
5
votes
Accepted
What should be done if a question is better written, and gets better answers, than a mostly duplicate question?
Quoting former Community Manager @Shog9:
If the new question is a better quality question or has better answers, then vote to close the old one as a duplicate of the new one.
(source)
GlorfindelMod
- 14.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Could somebody explain how to get the Curious, Inquisitive and Socratic badges?
To earn the Curious badge you must:
Ask a well-received question on 5 separate days, and maintain a positive question record
You would need to ask at least 5 questions to earn this badge, each on ...
- 12k
5
votes
Which is it? People don't really take the time to understand the questions or I worded them so badly that they are unintelligible?
Hello desmo and welcome to ELL Meta. Thanks for being curious too. I understand your frustration with not getting the responses you want and I hope I can shine some light on why it's happening. I don'...
gotubeMod
- 48.8k
4
votes
Accepted
The consequences of removing an unanswered thread
Possible deletion consequences
The system already prevents lots of harmful deletions by disallowing deletions from authors of accepted answers and questions that have upvoted answers[1].
If you delete ...
- 7,351
4
votes
Is it a bad luck when an English learner (when they are learning) does not feel supported by native speaker?
I'm a non native speaker and I felt exactly same months back. But then, there's a point I learned.
As a learner, we make all efforts in learning the language. Native speakers simply make us 'remind' ...
- 65.8k
4
votes
Accepted
Is it ok to ask for word suggestions by a native english speaker?
I like answering those sorts of questions, because I enjoy finding a word that precisely expresses my meaning. Just be sure to give a detailed description of what you're trying to say, including ...
- 12k
3
votes
Why are questions about learning English ill-supported here?
Usually it's because the questions – as they are typically asked – are either too vague and opinion-based, or else polling for a myriad or resources and/or ideas.
For example, if someone asks:
I'...
J.R.Mod
- 109k
3
votes
Accepted
Should I flag ‘X or Y’ questions?
If the question is only the format given without any explanation, nor demonstration of research or significant thought put into it, then it's off-topic for proof-reading. I mostly just close them, ...
gotubeMod
- 48.8k
3
votes
Accepted
Cross posting between ELL and EL&U
Cross-posting is generally frowned upon, though some new users obviously don't know it and ask a question in two places, hoping to get an answer quicker. But I fail to see any benefit in re-posting a ...
GlorfindelMod
- 14.7k
2
votes
Rules about proofreading essays (IELTS etc.)
proofreading from stackexchange -help - on-topic
"Please don’t ask any questions about the following topics. They are
out of scope for this site:
Proofreading (for example, "Are there any ...
- 41.1k
2
votes
Accepted
What is StackExchange?
Loosely speaking, StackExchange is a collection of Q&A communities focusing on specific fields. You can find all the sites here: StackExchange Sites.
There are many different sites. If you are ...
Em.Mod
- 45.3k
2
votes
The consequences of removing an unanswered thread
It would be better in my opinion to write an answer for it so that someone else with the same question can benefit. There is more discussion about answering your own question on the meta site for all ...
- 12k
2
votes
Accepted
Why are these questions highlighted?
That's because you're watching the pronunciation tag. This highlights all questions with those tags on the question list pages.
GlorfindelMod
- 14.7k
2
votes
Should I flag ‘X or Y’ questions?
I strongly disagree with some explicit assumptions in the question:
In some cases, I’ve been flagging these questions for ‘proofreading’ when one is wrong grammatically and the other one is correct; ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible