Can somebody please help me with the grammar in these sentences?

Question

Hey Folks,Can somebody please help me with the following? I apologize for posting these questions for the second time! 1) "The guy that drives the school bus is an old/older guy".     I said old, and one of my buddies corrected me by saying "older". Can't I use old in the context?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2) I popped this question to a friend of mine " Where do you live now?", and he replied "I live at the same place". Btw, I knew where has been living ever since relocation, and he knows that I know it .Does he mean i) the place in which he has been living at the same place ever since he relocated to this state, or ii) does he mean he lives in the same place where I live as well?  Would same old place, or "I still live at the same place" make convey the first meaning?------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3) Mr. A: Do you have an appointment with Mr.Z now?    Mr. B: No, I was just talking to him.Sometimes, a few sentences are really confusing! Does Mr. B say he was only talking to him and not doing anything else, or does that mean B was talking to Mr.Z a few minutes ago (before running into Mr. A).----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4) What is the difference between "I knew him" and "I used to know him"?5) Are the following grammatical?  a) "The date of start (or maybe, the day of start) has been specified as the day on which I created       the system".   b) "The engineering system with modification A would work like how the engineering system         would have worked with modifications 2 and 3".        (In this the system's function has not been tested with modifications 2 and 3. The engineer is           just predicting the model.)Thanks a lot!

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Can somebody please help me with the following? I apologize for posting these questions for the second time!

1) "The guy that drives the school bus is an old/older guy".
I said old, and one of my buddies corrected me by saying "older". Can't I use old in the context? Yes.

--

2) I popped this question to a friend of mine " Where do you live now?", and he replied "I live at the same place". Btw, I knew where has been living ever since relocation, and he knows that I know it

If you know, why are you asking? What kind of answer do you expect?

Does he mean i) the place in which he has been living at the same place ever since he relocated to this state, or ii) does he mean he lives in the same place where I live as well? It depends on the context.

Would same old place, or "I still live at the same place" make convey the first meaning? It depends on the context.

--

3) Mr. A: Do you have an appointment with Mr.Z now?
Mr. B: No, I was just talking to him.

Sometimes, a few sentences are really confusing! Does Mr. B say he was only talking to him and not doing anything else, or does that mean B was talking to Mr.Z a few minutes ago (before running into Mr. A). It depends on the context.

----

4) What is the difference between "I knew him" and "I used to know him"?

'Used to' suggests a past state or situation and stresses that it no longer exists.

eg We've worked together for 20 years. He's changed a lot isince his wife died.I used to know him. But now I feel like I don't.

5) Are the following grammatical?

a) "The date of the start (or maybe, the day of start) has been specified as the day on which I created the system". Or we often say 'the start date'.

You created the system in just one day?

b) "The engineering system with modification A would work like how the engineering system would have worked with modifications 2 and 3".

(In this the system's function has not been tested with modifications 2 and 3. The engineer is just predicting the model.)

It's an awkward sentence, and 'like how' is not correct. Say

eg "The engineering system with modification A would work like it would have worked with modifications 2 and 3".

Clive

Coolguy01 · Answer

Hi Clive,

Thanks a lot for the answers!

A couple of quick questions:
I have some additional details for the second and third one and hope they have much more clarity.

Second one:
I knew where he was living (e.g. Texas). I did not know his current location as we were meeting after a long time, and I asked him for present location. He said "same place" (he meant Texas which appeared later in the conversation).
is "same place" correct? should it be "same old place" or "still the same place"?

Same place confused me, and I said "What? Do you live in NY as well? (the place where I live). he said "no, Texas"!

3) For the third one:
Mr. B had met Mr.X (@ 10 AM) before running into Mr.A (@ 10:15 AM) (B and X were talking for 10 minutes).

Mr.A: Hey, what brings you here?
Mr. B: I came here to meet Mr.X.

Mr.A: Do you have an appointment with him now?
Mr.B: I was just talking to him.

does the "just" indicate that Mr.B was speaking to him before running into A?

5

)

You caught a valid point! I should have said "The start date has been specified as the day on which I started working on the system creation"!

Once again, thanks a lot sir! I often post sentences that lack clarity/without explaining the situation.I sincerely apologize for that and will take care in future!

Regards,
Coolguy01

Clive · Answer

Hi again,

A couple of quick questions:

I have some additional details for the second and third one and hope they have much more clarity.

Second one:

I knew where he was living (e.g. Texas). I did not know his current location as we were meeting after a long time, and I asked him for present location. He said "same place" (he meant Texas which appeared later in the conversation).

is "same place" correct? Fine

should it be "same old place" Fine. The 'old' just makes the speaking a bit more casual.

or "still the same place"? Fine. The 'still' just emphasizes 'no change'

a little.

Same place confused me, and I said "What? Do you live in NY as well? A native speaker wouldn't make that mistake. The native remark would be 'Same place as you'. (the place where I live). he said "no, Texas"!

3) For the third one:

Mr. B had met Mr.X (@ 10 AM) before running into Mr.A (@ 10:15 AM) (B and X were talking for 10 minutes).

Mr.A: Hey, what brings you here?

Mr. B: I came here to meet Mr.X.

Mr.A: Do you have an appointment with him now?

Mr.B: I was just talking to him.

does the "just" indicate that Mr.B was speaking to him before running into A? Yes

5

)

You caught a valid point! I should have said "The start date has been specified as the day on which I started working on the system creation"!

Once again, thanks a lot sir! I often post sentences that lack clarity/without explaining the situation.I sincerely apologize for that and will take care in future! No problem, don't apologize.

Clive

Can somebody please help me with the grammar in these sentences?

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