"skilled in" vs "skilled at"
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rapsodia85
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It is just optional.
banderas
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There are no strict rules but tendency to use "skilled at doing something" and "skilled in something (in a field)".
He is skilled in diplomacy.
He is an experienced diplomat skilled at revealing little.
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I agree.:-D
2006
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Say 'What does "revealing little" mean?'
It means not giving out much information.
Thanks a lot, 2006. Actually I've heard people say "what does it mean X" for many times, and so I myself also use it very often (no teacher objects to it so far). Now I just want to ask this: Is the use of "what does X mean" more formal than "what does it mean X"?
Many thanks once again.
Newbie.
banderas
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tzfujimino
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"What does it mean by X?" is OK, I think.:-D
I'm not a native speaker of English, so please forgive me if I'm wrong.
I'm not a native speaker of English, so please forgive me if I'm wrong.
banderas
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Or What do you mean X?
tzfujimino
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Thank you!
Ah...yes....
I mean sth by (saying/stating) sth.
･･･What do you mean by (saying/stating) sth?:-D
Well...what I mean is....
"What does it mean by.....?" is not OK because....
"by...." is redundant. "it" and "...." are the same thing, therefore, there's no need to add "by...."
Am I correct?
Ah...yes....
I mean sth by (saying/stating) sth.
･･･What do you mean by (saying/stating) sth?:-D
Well...what I mean is....
"What does it mean by.....?" is not OK because....
"by...." is redundant. "it" and "...." are the same thing, therefore, there's no need to add "by...."
Am I correct?
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rapsodia85
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In every dictionary you will find it optional and your sentences don't change it in any way...
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2006
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2006
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"What does it mean by X?" is OK, I think.:-D
I'm not a native speaker of English, so please forgive me if I'm wrong.
Ex: What does it mean by X? :cross:
Ex: What do you mean by X? :tick:
Newbie's sentence What does it mean "revealing little"? if spoken is fine; however, if written it should have a comma,Ex: What do you mean by X? :tick:
Ex: What does it mean, revealing little? :tick:
The comma tells us that revealing little is an afterthought: the author is spelling out/stating the pronoun's referent; it = revealing little.
A more economical way to put it, as 2006 has shown, is
Ex: What does revealing little mean? :tick:
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Yes, if you're talking about Newbie's question *what does it mean revealing little? It's ungrammatical if we forget to separatethe added information revealing little from the clause. Note, however,
Max: I was typing away on the computer when a screen popped up saying, "Toggle?" What does it/the computer mean by that? :tick:
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