Do counterfactual conditionals with would have sound OK to you? - If I would have seen him, I would have said hi. - If we would have had more time, we would have stayed longer. They sound ugly, I notice even educated native speakers use counterfactual conditionals with would have. So, I wonder counterfactual conditionals with the past perfect tense are outdated?

Alternatives to these following words Hi, I'm trying to work on alternatives to bad or inappropriate words, and I thought I need a bit help with them. 1. "Don't screw with me" is less offensive than "Don't f... with me", but is "Don't screw with me" offensive? If it is, I can think of an alternative, "Don't mess with me". Is there any other substitute? Something that's stronger than "Don't mess with me". 2. What's the alternative to "It sucks to..."? Like, "It sucks to be hungover in the morning". 3. Which word could I say in place of sh*t as in "Sh*t happens"?

Question about the English definite article, "THE" I've been constantly told that if I don't know whether the listener knows what I'm referring to, I shouldn't use the definite article. That's the point of using the definite article and is probably correct, but I have this nagging feeling that there's something we all are missing. Here are some examples that disprove the point: 1. "I'm driving to pick up a friend at THE airport" Why do you say "THE" airport even though the listener apparently doesn't know which airport you're heading to? 2. An American teacher said "You could visit an art museum, read a book, or walk through THE park". Of course you could visit an art museum, read a book but why should you walk through "THE" park instead of "a" park? He was talking to his students so I don't think he was referring to a specific park. What do you think?

Question about "It's an acquired taste." An English-speaking guy said "It's an acquired taste." about kimch and after he had gone a Korean woman told me about how the expression was used and what it could make you sound like, depending on the situation. Since then I couldn't stop thinking about what she said, so I want to STOP thinking about it. What she said about the expression is: 1. If you say "It's an acquired taste" refusing to try some foreign food, you're undervaluing it. 2. If you say this expression eating the food, you're implying "I'm different from others, y'know?". What disturbs me is the first case(I'm familiar with the second) If you say "It's an acquired taste" about foreign food, are you undervaluing it? I'm wondering if it's a bit risky to say the expression about foreign food, especially when talking to people who take everything against themselves.

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre un libro cualquiera y cualquier libro? Ejemplos: - No leo cualquier libro de filosofía. - No leo un libro cualquiera de filosofía. ¡Gracias!

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre "¿Sabes quien es ella?" y "¿Conoces a ella?"? ¡Hola! Creo que entiendo la diferencia entre "saber" y "conocer" pero todavía estoy un poco confundido. ¿Alguien me podría explicar la diferencia entre "¿Sabes quien es ella?" y "¿Conoces a ella?"? Por ejemplo: A: Viene una muchacha. ¿Sabes quien es ella? / ¿Conoces a ella? B: Si, es mi compañera Elena. Hace un ano que la conozco. ¡Gracias!

Can you have an independence cutting the connection? A law professor said, "Can you have an independence cutting the connection? Can you have an independence while maintaining continuity? An independence through non-revolutionary means it is a gradual process." I'm not sure what's meant by "cutting the connection". Does anybody have a clue?

Verbs that have passive voice but have active meaning and the opposite ones I'm wondering if there's any word to describe verbs that have passive voice but have active meaning, and the opposite ones. For example, "This car sells like hotcakes", here you can see the 'sell' doesn't have active meaning. I'd really appreciate it if anyone can come up with terms best to describe those sorts of verbs.