Discussion Groups / English Usage / June 2008

I wonder whether it's right to answer "Thank you very much" with "with
pleasure" or "It's a pleasure".
Thank you.

Should past tense be used for the last verb?
I think Albert would go if he were allowed to do as he _pleased_.

I need a word that means "is more important than anything else".  As in
"my family <is more important than everything else>".  The word
supersede comes to mind, but that's not quite right.
Thanks!

The one most likely to drive me to do something I definitely will regret is
'going forward'.

I have heard that said more than once. I absolutely hate it when
people say that. They aren't speaking correctly, are they?
It's not that they want me to go and borrow some money and then give
it to them. Nope, they are asking if I will lend them money.

In English we say "My parents gave me a car.", but "Who gave you that
car?" - "My parents gave it TO me.".
Why is the "to" necessary in the last sentence but not in the first?
Whatever rule is being followed here, can it be illustrated with verbs other

I want to know how to analyze the part that comes after the dash. Is
"being" omitted after "each"?
You'll be shown two essay topics-- each a sentence or paragraph that
expresses an opinion on an issue of general interest.

The day will come when we *will all have robots.
The day will come when we all have robots.
She won't forgive anyone who *will steal flowers in her garden.
She won't forgive anyone who steals flowers in her garden.

I improved my English by enrolling at The bridge language institute.
Their one of the best language schools in the world....
http://bridgelanguagecenter.com

My Earthlink Internet service has become so slow as to be
almost completely unusable.  I don't know if it's because of
something wrong with me or my system (my computer is still
vintage 1998, 450 MHz CPU), or if maybe it has to do with

In a gramma book, the author wrote that the following sentence is
correct:
"There are more babies born by women over 30 years old than under it."
I get confused with it. I think it should be something like

I always thought "paper" referred to a scholarly work, while "article"
referred to
non-scholarly non-fiction, such as magazine articles. Do Brits use
"article"

A day or two ago, I heard one of the Fox commentators (or was it a
reporter?) mention a "passing bystander."
I loved it.

Is there anything wrong with this sentence?
Thanks

Should a comma precede "with" in the following sentence:
Auto sales were down by 32% month on month with most brands
experiencing a drop in sales.
Auto sales were down by 32% month on month, with most brands