➡️ ❂ ✿ ❋ ✪ ✥ ✵ READ this before you post: English Only Guidelines — forum rules.

[cuchuflete]

Index to the English Only Guidelines HERE.

The Quick Guide to English Only​

We answer specific questions about words or phrases in a complete sentence with context and background in a respectful, helpful and cordial manner.

-----------*----------
​

The Shorter Guide to English Only
​

Starting a thread ​

• Search the forum for an answer or an existing thread before starting a new thread. (Forum Rule 1)
• The title should contain the specific words or phrase you are asking about. (Forum Rule 3)
• Write out your question clearly in the post itself. DO NOT use an image. DO NOT rely on the thread title or on links in your post.
• Provide both context and a full sample sentence for every new thread.
• One topic per thread. If you have a second question, start a new thread.
• Name the source of any quoted material from websites or print sources (Forum Rule 4)
  
• DO NOT request a list. For lists of synonyms or equivalents consult the WR Thesaurus. DO NOT ask a research question.
• DO NOT ask for proofreading. If you have a text for correction, ask a specific question and give your own ideas.
• Do not bump your threads or flood the forum. Read Forum Rule 8 for a fuller explanation.
• See also:

Schoolwork/ Homework
Multiple-choice Questions – Which Option is Best?​

Responding to a post​

• DO NOT reply to any thread or post that has a problem such as: lack of context, multiple topics, non-English text, SPAM, etc. Click on Report in the lower left corner of the post to report it.
• DO NOT make wild guesses if the question is unclear. Ask for clarification. If there is no context, report the thread.
• Focus on the question being asked.
• DO NOT proofread and DO NOT rewrite someone’s work.
• Verify your answer before posting.

General guidance

• Be patient with non-native and native students of English.
• Use standard English including capitalization and punctuation, to the best of your ability.
• DO NOT use chatspeak or SMS abbreviations.
• Only one topic to a thread. NO chatting.
• No audio or video files, or links to them, may be inserted without prior moderator approval.
• DO NOT use any language other than English. This forum is for English ONLY.

Index to the English Only Guidelines HERE.
(Click blue underlined links for more information.)
Link to Forum Rules here.

 

[cuchuflete]

The Longer Guide to English Only
​

(Click blue underlined links for more information.)

What we do in the English Only forum

We answer specific questions about words or phrases in a complete sentence with context and background in a respectful, helpful and cordial manner.

This forum is for English Only – no other language.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before you ask, SEARCH for the answer
Look for the answer in the Search box at the top of the page. It will give you:

• definitions
• previous threads (if any) on the same subject - below the definitions, in blue links
• in context link you can click to see your word(s) in contemporary context - also useful if you can’t think of a sentence for context.
• Tip: You can put a single word in Search – locate – or multiple words – located in at – or phrases has nothing to do with.
• Click here for tips on searching the forum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ASKING A QUESTION


Subject Box [Title]

• Specific word or phrase you would like to discuss.
• Do not use Help me! or Grammar or Question.
• The first character should NOT be punctuation, e.g. "cordial" – it creates problems for searching.

Message Box

• One question per thread.
• Put your SENTENCE + CONTEXT + QUESTION in the post.
• You may quote up to 4 sentences of text – or 4 lines of poetry or song lyrics.
• Post your quotation as text (as opposed to an image).
• You may link to the complete article, poem or song lyrics.
• You should acknowledge your source.

Fine-Tuning

• Use standard English, including capital letters and punctuation.
• Avoid chatspeak – sb, sth, u, thanx – unless that is what you are asking about.
• Use only abbreviations on the approved list.
• Give your answer first for multiple-choice questions and homework.
• We don't check your work for mistakes: See proofreading.
• We can discuss a specific question about something you have written: See text correction.
• We can't help with lists or research.
• If you post a link, say what is on it[ – don't post a bare link.
• Get approval before posting audio or video files – or links to them. If you have approval, include the name of the moderator who approved the link in the post.
• Do not "bump" your thread for a quicker answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANSWERING A QUESTION

• Answer the question that is being asked.
• Don’t guess if you don’t know.
• If you need context, clarification or a sentence, ask nicely.
• Verify your answer before posting.
• If you quote a source or a related thread, review it to make sure it’s relevant.
• Stay on topic and avoid chatting.
• If you post a link, say what is on it – don't post a bare link.
• Do not respond to proofreading requests, e.g. Does this sound all right?
• Do not rewrite sentences.
• Do not reply to posts that have the problems below … Report them!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Report these posts by using the 'Report' link.

• No context.
• Request for proofreading, a list or research.
• Abusive language or flaming.
• Off-topic.
• Audio and video links that do not contain the name of a moderator who approved them.
• Spam.
• Foreign language post in English Only.
• You may report your own post to ask for a moderator's assistance if your original question has received no responses and the thread has gone off the first page of the forum.

Help/Permission/Moderators: Please send questions about the forum, moderation or rules to one of the moderators listed at the bottom of the forum page. These questions are off-topic in the forum and will be deleted.

Moderators: The moderators' linked names are listed at the bottom of the English Only forum page. Clicking on an individual name will lead to the profile page.

Complete Forum Rules are available in Rules in the blue bar at the top of this page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Resource thread

• English FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
• Very Useful External Links: Too many valuable things to list – have a look!
• International Phonetic Alphabet Links and Pronunciation Links

.

 

[cuchuflete]

The Shorter Guide to English Only
The Longer Guide to English Only

Rules and FAQ for all WordReference forums.


Index to the English Only Guidelines

​

How the rules work in the English Only forum

• Abbreviations that are accepted in the English Only forum.
• Audio or video links and files
• Chatspeak, SMS abbreviations and capital letters
• Context and Background
• Lists and research topics
• Multiple-choice Questions - Which Option is Best?
• Non-English languages in posts
• Posting links
• Proofreading/ Text for Correction
• Quoting text from other sources
• Schoolwork/ Homework
• Standard English

Help with searching

• Searching the Forum
• Finding Examples in Context

English Only resource thread

Contacting a moderator

If you have questions that are not answered by this information, please send a private message to an English Only moderator. You will see us listed at the top of this page​

If you see a problematic post (no context, not English, advertising, offensive) that you feel should be brought to the moderators' attention, the easiest way to do this is to click on Report in the lower left corner of the post.

 

[Kelly B]

Context and Background

All threads need context and background.
English words and phrases can have many different meanings. Understanding them depends on where, when and how they are used. When you post a question, please include as much background information and context as you can.
A question with no context may get an answer. If the question is straightforward, it may not be a wrong answer.
But the more context you provide, the better the answers will be

Background
Where did you see or hear the word or phrase? In a book? … a newspaper? … a broadcast? … a conversation?
What was the subject?
When was it written? Recently? A long time ago?
If you are quoting text, remember WordReference Rule #4 and make sure you acknowledge the source.

If you are asking about something you wrote yourself, please also tell us. It prevents confusion.

Context
Some context is essential.
It is difficult to say how much context is required because it depends on the question. But no one has ever posted a question with too much
The text coming immediately before and immediately after the word or phrase under discussion - the sentence containing the word or phrase - may be enough.
Ideally, please quote two sentences before, and one sentence after (the maximum quoted text allowed by Rule #4).

Here are two contrasting examples:

No background, no context
“…because the reader would miss the chickens.”
What does ‘miss the chickens’ mean? Is it about melancholy at their absence?

Good background and context
“…because the reader would miss the chickens.”
What does ‘miss the chickens’ mean? I read this in a book review of "Two Caravans", a novel by Marina Lewycka about “…the innocence and oddities of immigrants and immigrant life in Britain,” published in The Economist on 19 April 2007. (That’s background)
FULL QUOTE: "But to abandon Two Caravans for being too full of second-novel flaws would be a mistake. Not least because the reader would miss the chickens. About halfway through the book the hapless caravanistas are enticed into working in a factory chicken farm where the span of life, from “hatchin' to catchin'”, lasts just five weeks. And what horrible weeks they are—and not just for the chickens." (That’s context).

Threads without context may be summarily closed.
Please help promote useful questions and answers by reporting such threads (click on Report in the lower left corner of the post) instead of wasting time begging and pleading for background and context.

 

[GenJen54]

Schoolwork / Coursework

Principles​

WordReference forums wish to help members to learn, but are adamantly opposed to doing people's work for them or assisting them in any way to misrepresent their competence.

These forums do not provide free schoolwork. If you want help with a school assignment or coursework, we expect you to do your own work first. Then, and only then, you may post it with a request for help with specific doubts. This forum does not 'polish' homework for you.


See also:
Proofreading/Text for Correction

 

[GenJen54]

Multiple-choice Questions
and questions involving choices between two or more sentences:

1. If your question is based on a multiple-choice question (for example, from a test) you should provide the "correct" answer (if known), your preferred answer, and your reasons for preferring that answer.

2. If you are asking about differences between sentences and your question is of this type:

"which is best?"​

"which is preferred"​

"which is more natural?"​

you should explain what your uncertainty or difficulty is.

Unless you tell us what you think, and why, we cannot offer comments.

See also:
Proofreading/Text for Correction

 

[timpeac]

Proofreading / Text for Correction

You may ask a specific question about a word, phrase or grammar issue contained in a sentence you have written and provide up to three additional sentences of your own text (essay, paragraph, cover letter, CV, resumé, etc) as context. You should not ask members to examine and correct the entire text.

Those who respond are encouraged to make comments about grammar, syntax, style, punctuation, and other areas that need attention in the sentence in question. These should be side comments in posts that focus on the main question. Those who respond should not correct or re-write the entire text.

Please do not help a student or employment applicant misrepresent their level of competence in English.

 

[panjandrum]

Chatspeak, SMS abbreviations and capital letters

Chatspeak and SMS abbreviations are forbidden in the English Only forum, other than as topics of discussion.

Do not write "u" for "you", "thx" for "thank you", "btw" for "by the way", "gonna" for "going to", etc.

Members are required to make their best attempt to write in standard English in this forum. That includes using capital letters and punctuation.

 

[cuchuflete]

Quoting text from other sources

The WordReference rules on quoting text are summarized here for your convenience:

No web pages or copyrighted content may be inserted into WordReference posts except as indicated below. Minor fair use excerpts from dictionaries such as a definition/translation or two are permitted. Plagiarized content is forbidden.

Quotes and translations of texts up to 4 sentences are permitted. Always acknowledge the source.
Song lyrics and poetry/verse may be quoted and translated up to a maximum of 4 lines.
Always acknowledge the source.

All forms of inserted content that do not meet these conditions will be removed without exception.
​

Links to content elsewhere are acceptable and appropriate, provided such links meet the requirements stated elsewhere in these rules. Links to sites that require a subscription or membership are not permitted.

Additional information, including examples of source
​

Note to Posters: A link to an online source is not enough – you must write out your source (see examples below).

Note to Others: If the source is not named - report it by clicking on Report in the lower-left corner of the post.

Source is required for three reasons:

• Copyright Issues – Identifying the source helps prevent copyright problems for WordReference.
• Better Answers – Knowing the source helps members give more focused answers.
• Forum Rule – Rule 4.

Note that threads without a source may be deleted at any time.
Having to ask for a source adds unnecessary posts and wastes everyone’s time.

Thank you ...
Source: The English Only moderation team

Examples of Source -- Links are optional, but appreciated
​

Self-made sentence
If you have written the sentence yourself, please tell us.

Book
A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson.

Film
Five Easy Pieces – United States, 1970.

TV Show
The Wire – United States, crime drama.

Song
Singing in the Rain, Frank Sinatra (complete lyrics at lyrics007.com)

Article
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Plato, published March 2004 and revised August 2011. .

Webpage
FreeDictionary.com: wangle something from someone.
or
FreeDictionary.com: "wangle something from someone."
wangle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Style notes to be really correct
Titles of books, magazines, newspapers, plays, TV shows, radio programs, and songs are capitalized and italicized:
The count of monte cristo.
The Count of Monte Cristo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Covering Links

How to turn this ...
FreeDictionary.com: "wangle something from someone."
wangle

... into this:
FreeDictionary.com: wangle something from someone.

1. Copy your URL to your computer clipboard: wangle
2. Use your cursor to highlight the text you want to use as a link: wangle something from someone
3. In the menu bar above your post, click the Blue Globe with the Link icon.
4. A dialog box will appear -- paste in the URL from your clipboard.
5. Click OK.

.

.

 

[Kelly B]

Using languages other than English

All posts in this monolingual forum should be fully comprehensible not only to native speakers, but to learners as well.

Occasionally, an English translation or paraphrase or brief explanation of a non-English word or short phrase may be useful. Any foreign word must be incidental, not essential, to understanding the post. The restriction is interpreted very narrowly; in most cases posts containing languages other than English will be deleted.

 

[GenJen54]

Lists and Research topics

Lists: Do not request a list.
For lists of synonyms or equivalents consult the WR Thesaurus. The use of individual terms in a specific context may be discussed in this forum.

Research: Do not ask questions such as:

• A question that is a survey of member opinions rather than a discussion of a specific linguistic issue.
• A question about creating a product or business name, or about a potential advertising slogan.
• A question about hypothetical words or constructions rather than actual English usage.

Research questions will be deleted. If you have a question that may be a research question, check with a moderator before you post it. We may be able to help structure the question so that it is acceptable, or suggest other ways in which the forum could be useful for what you have in mind.

Remember that there are many other resources on the Internet that can help you with lists and research.

 

[panjandrum]

Acceptable abbreviations

There are a small number of terms that are used so often in the English Only forum that their abbreviated forms are accepted.

Forum-related
WR - WordReference
WRF - WordReference Forum
EO - English Only forum.
OP - Original Poster (the person who started the thread) or Original Post (the first post in the thread).

Forms of English
AE - American English,
BE - British English.
Occasionally AmE, AmEn, BrE, BrEn have been used.

You may also come across other members of the xE family. These are usually obvious from the context or by looking at the location of the author. Examples that come to mind are:
AuE - Australian English
CaE - Canadian English
IE - Irish English
NAmE - North American English (used by the OUP - Oxford University Press)
NZE - New Zealand English​

Others (a very, very select list)
AHD - American Heritage Dictionary
CALD - Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
RHU - Random House Unabridged Dictionary
M-W - Merriam-Webster
OALD - Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
OED - Oxford English Dictionary
OUP - Oxford University Press

If you use other abbreviations, you must define them with the first use.

 

[Kelly B]

Audio / video files

Please note the recent addition to forum rules by the Administrator:

For audio and video:
These files are too difficult for the moderators to police, so:
- No audio or video files – or links to them – unless you get moderator approval ahead of time.
- All these threads need to say which moderator approved them.*

So, let's try this, and hopefully it will not be too much of a burden on the moderators. Please only request approval of audio/video content that definitely has value for language learners here at the site. Also, please understand that some moderators are unable to visit many of the video sites because they connect from work and their employers forbid them from visiting such sites.

All audio and video files and links that do not have prior approval will be deleted.
Permission will not be granted after the fact for deleted files or links. Please ask first.

* Note: The websites listed in the Pronunciation links section of the International Phonetic Alphabet links post in our Resources thread are considered 'pre-approved'.
You won't need specific moderator's approval to post a link to one of those, but be sure to explain that the website is listed in our Resources thread.

 

[cuchuflete]

Posting links to ask or answer a thread question


Please do not simply populate posts with Google, Wikipedia or other links and few or no words of your own. It leaves the questioner no better off.

If you have found something that you believe is helpful to the discussion, explain or paraphrase it in your reply and by all means also offer a link to a specific location.

In so far as possible, posts should be understandable from what appears in the post itself. The use of links should be to add further value, explanation or reference.

Note: Links to web sites that require a subscription or membership, such as Facebook and other social networking sites, are not permitted. Such links are not accessible to all forum users, and are apt to have content that changes or is removed in a short time. You are welcome to quote useful excerpts from such sites (up to normal forum limits of 4 lines for poetry/verse/lyrics and 4 sentences for other text). Always give attribution to your source.

 

[cuchuflete]

Index to the English Only Guidelines HERE.
​

​

The Quick Guide to English Only​

(Moderators see note at end.)*
​

• Be patient with non-native and native students of English.
• Use standard English including capitalization and punctuation, to the best of your ability.
• DO NOT use chatspeak or SMS abbreviations.
• Only one topic to a thread. NO chatting.
• Name the source of any quoted material from websites or print sources. (Read Rule 4.)
• DO NOT use any language other than English. This forum is for English ONLY.

Responding to a post

• DO NOT reply to any thread or post that has a problem such as: lack of context, multiple topics, non-English text, SPAM, etc. Report the problem by clicking on Report at the bottom left of the post.
• DO NOT make wild guesses if the question is unclear. Ask for clarification. If there is no context, report the thread.
• Focus on the question being asked.
• DO NOT proofread and DO NOT rewrite someone’s work.
• Verify your answer before posting.

Starting a thread

• Search the forum for an answer or an existing thread before starting a new thread.
• The title should contain the specific words or phrase you are asking about.
• State your question clearly in the post itself. DO NOT rely on the thread title or on links in your post.
• Provide both context and a full sample sentence for every new thread.
• One topic per thread. If you have a second question, start a new thread.
• DO NOT request a list. DO NOT ask a research question.
• DO NOT ask for proofreading. If you have a text for correction, ask a specific question and give your own ideas.
• See also:
  • Schoolwork/ Homework
  • Multiple-choice Questions – Which Option is Best?

NOTE: If you have fewer than 100 posts, a check list appears above the box in which you post a new thread. Read it before you submit your question.
​

*Moderator Note: The Quick Guide from post #1 is duplicated here because there are posts in the forum with links to this post, #15 – the original home of the Quick Guide. Please do not remove this post.

 

[Nunty]

There are two ways to search the forums, and both can give good results. They are:

• The Dictionary and thread title search box at the top of each page
• The Search Function available through the search box in the right side of the light blue bar at the top of the page. The link marked More... at the bottom of the drop-down menu leads to the advanced search function.

Dictionary and thread title search
This is probably the easiest and most convenient way to search for a word, a pair of words, or a phrase.

If you enter a single word, it will first find that word in the WordReference Dictionary, which may have links to off-site dictionaries as well as definitions and sample sentences. The list of definitions is followed by links to forum threads that have the word in the thread title. (This is why we are so concerned that the thread titles be meaningful.)

Example: dinner​

Perhaps you want to compare the usage of two or more words.

Example: dinner supper​

The search will return only threads with both words somewhere in the title, in any order.​

Another possibility is to look for threads with a particular phrase in the title. In this case, use hyphens.

Example: your-dinner​

​

The search will return threads whose titles include these words in this order.​

​

To search for all forms of a regular verb:

The search normally returns the exact word entered the search box. For instance, if you search for 'need', the search will return thread titles that include 'need', but not titles with 'needs', 'needed', or 'needing'. However, if you put an asterisk [*] at the end of the stem [need*], in addition to tiles containing 'need', the search will return threads with titles containing 'needs', 'needed', or 'needing'.​

​

Experiment by trying different word combinations. It can take a little while to get a feel for the kinds of search terms that work, but once you do you will find this is an excellent tool.

Search function

The WordReference Advanced Search page is more flexible than the Dictionary and thread title search box, but the principles are the same. It allows you to search the content of the threads as well as the titles.

You can access it through the link above, or you can use the 'Search' link at the top right of this page and most forum pages. That link leads to a dropdown menu with a box for the term or terms you are interested in. Below this box are these options:

Search only containers - Choose this to search posts. Searching posts is useful when you don't know the thread title, but you recall a phrase or words that were used in the thread itself.​

​

Search titles - This searches the titles. It also searches tags.​

​

Search by user name - This function allows you to find all posts by a particular user, or all the threads that a user started.​

If you would like more options, select Advanced Search. It begins with the same options as above, and the following additional options: (Choose the relevant options. Ignore the rest.)

Newer than and Older than limit your search to a particular time period. You can use one or both.​

Search by tag See the Tag Usage Guide for an explanation of tags.​

​

(Ignore the 'Prefixes' option.)​

​

Search in forums will let you specify the forums to be searched. There are two listings for 'English Only'. IF you choose the higher of the two, it will search both English Only and Dictionary Additions. If you choose the 'English Only' below that one, it will search the English Only forum but not Dictionary Additions.​

​

Sort results by will display the results either by date or by relevance or by the number of replies.​

​

Display results as threads at the bottom is the final option. If you don't select this, the results will appear as individual posts which is the default setting.​

 

[Nunty]

How to find examples of sentences using a word or a phrase:

Enter the word or phrase in the Dictionary and thread title search box at the top of the page, set to English definition.

Do the search. This will take you to a dictionary page.
Below the search box on this page is an "in context" link.
Click on the "in context" link even if the box is empty. It will find sentences in newspaper articles that use the word that you can look over. If you have questions about any of these sentences, you may start a thread on that sentence. (See: Quoting text from other sources )

Example: If you search for the phrase "your dinner", you will see this:

your dinner:
in Spanish | in French | English synonyms | English Collocations | in context | images
Click on the 'in context' link to see examples of the "your dinner."​