HARD SENTENCES, NEED HELP CHOOSING RIGHT WORD?

Question

Could you please help me choose the right word or help me reword it if needed.

- Wherever she is, he is too/he isn't far behind.
- The first couple of days when/that your nose runs is annoying.
- I need a mouth piece that molds to your teeth/to the shape of your teeth
- Can I see the doctor with the least wait/shortest wait? How many more people are (there) before me? There are another 2 people before you.
- Why are you stupid?/What are you stupid for?
- I can't see that far/far ahead without straining my eyes.
- When I do (do) it, I don't notice that I've done it.
- He bought another one just to/in order to have an extra one.
- When the grow older/up, they become ugly.
- I don't see/feel the need to do that.
- Which room have you been allocated (to)?
- Don't make it hard on yourself./Don't make thing difficult for yourself.
- Even when I play, I'm thinking about her/I think about her.
- I was wondering how life would be 5 years down the line/road. (is this natural?)
- It's hard for you to admit it just like/as it's hard for me. (is this natural?)
- She has beautiful/beautifully colored eyes.

Thank you

Markroe · Accepted Answer

Wherever she is, he is too/he isn't far behind.

Wherever she is, he isn't far behind.

- The first couple of days when/that your nose runs is annoying.

Not sure about this one. It's not really the "days" that are annoying; it's the "running nose." You may need to reword it.
- I need a mouth piece that molds to your teeth/to the shape of your teeth

I need mouthpiece that molds to the shape of my teeth.
- Can I see the doctor with the least wait/shortest wait? How many more people are (there) before me? There are another 2 people before you.

When is the earliest appointment to see the doctor? How many people are ahead of me? There are two people of you.
- Why are you stupid?/What are you stupid for?

Why are you stupid?
- I can't see that far/far ahead without straining my eyes.

Both are okay.

- When I do (do) it, I don't notice that I've done it.

When I do it, I don't notice that I've done it.
- He bought another one just to/in order to have an extra one.

He bought another one just so he would have an extra one.
- When the grow older/up, they become ugly.

When they grow older, they become ugly.
- I don't see/feel the need to do that.

Both are correct.
- Which room have you been allocated (to)?

Which room has been allocated to you?

Which room have you been assigned to?

- Don't make it hard on yourself./Don't make thing difficult for yourself.

Don't make it difficult it for yourself. Don't make it hard for yourself.
- Even when I play, I'm thinking about her/I think about her.

Either one is fine. Other choices: Even when I'm playing, I'm thinking about her. Even when I play, I think about her.
- I was wondering how life would be 5 years down the line/road. (is this natural?)

Either one. "Down the road" is probably more "natural."

- It's hard for you to admit it just like/as it's hard for me. (is this natural?)

It's hard for you to admit it, just like it is for me.

- She has beautiful/beautifully colored eyes.

Depends on what you mean: Are her eyes beautiful, or is the color of her eyes beautiful?

You could say: "Her eyes are a beautiful color,", or just simply, "Her eyes are beautiful."

Doctor D · Answer

Here are my comments (when I differ from MarkRoe).

- Wherever she is, he is too/he isn't far behind.

Or: Wherever she is, he is nearby.

- The first couple of days when/that your nose runs is annoying.

When your nose is running, the first couple of days are difficult.

- I need a mouth piece that molds to your teeth/to the shape of your teeth

If you are the patient, then "my teeth." If you are the dentist, then "your teeth." Which is it?

I need a mouthpiece that fits the shape of my/your teeth.

- Can I see the doctor with the least wait/shortest wait? How many more people are (there) before me? There are another 2 people before you.

First sentence is not clear. I would say either: How quickly can I see the doctor? Or: Can I get an appointment to see the doctor at once?

Yes, "ahead of me" rather than "before me."

- Why are you stupid?/What are you stupid for?

Why are you acting so stupid?

- I can't see that far/far ahead without straining my eyes.

- When I do (do) it, I don't notice that I've done it.

- He bought another one just to/in order to have an extra one.

Other ways to say this:

He bought an extra one just to have a spare.

He bought one more than he needed.

- When they grow older/up, they become ugly.

- I don't see/feel the need to do that.

See deals with understanding, feel deals with emotion. Either is grammatically correct.

- Which room have you been allocated (to)?

(Rooms are allocated, not people.)

- Don't make it hard on yourself./Don't make thing difficult for yourself.

- Even when I play, I'm thinking about her/I think about her.

- I was wondering how life would be 5 years down the line/road. (is this natural?)

I would say: I was wondering what life would be like....

- It's hard for you to admit it just like/as it's hard for me. (is this natural?)

As suggested. Or you could say: It is hard for either of us to admit it.

- She has beautiful/beautifully colored eyes.

As suggested. I would say: She has beautiful eyes.

If you want to stress the color, I would say: The color of her eyes is quite beautiful.

Hope this helps.

Alc24 · Answer

Hello Doctor D,

How are you?

I had a few questions please?

- I need a mouth piece that molds to your teeth/to the shape of your teeth

If you are the patient, then "my teeth." If you are the dentist, then "your teeth." Which is it?

I need a mouthpiece that fits the shape of my/your teeth.

Can you not use "molds to the shape of your teeth" if not, how would you use "mold"

- When I do (do) it, I don't notice that I've done it.

Do you leave in the DO?

- Don't make it hard on yourself./Don't make thing difficult for yourself. (which would you say please?)

- Even when I play, I'm thinking about her/I think about her. (are both ok?)

This one is the one I'm most concerned about:

- Can I see the doctor with the shortest wait? (lets say there are three doctors, and each have 4 people to see before you except for one who has 3 and you ask the secretary: could I see the doctor with the shortest wait.

I had just 3 questions if you could possibly help me please:

- The prices was cheaper than the price displayed. It said it cost 10 dollars, and at the register, the product scanned for 7 dollars.

- This sandwich was as good as a sandwich worth 1 dollars is expected to be.

- I have nothing to do other than / apart from that today.

Thank you Doctor D

Doctor D · Answer

Yes, you can use "molds" if you mean it conforms to the shape of your teeth (it is flexible).

But you don't need "shape." I need a mouthpiece that molds to my teeth.

The second "do" is not needed. (Grammatically, it is only for emphasis.)

Don't make it hard on yourself./Don't make things difficult for yourself. (Either, but I prefer "things.")

But "Don't be hard on yourself" (if you are talking about self-criticism.).

- Even when I play, I'm thinking about her/I think about her. (are both ok?) (Yes, as Markroe said.)

- Can I see the doctor with the shortest wait? (lets say there are three doctors, and each have 4 people to see before you except for one who has 3 and you ask the secretary: could I see the doctor with the shortest wait.

Can I see the doctor who has the fewest patients?

Can I see the doctor who will be done the quickest?

Can I see whichever doctor has the fewest patients/will be done the quickest?

Added note on my correction for this sentence: Why are you stupid?/What are you stupid for?

Why are you acting so stupid? ("so stupid" is informally short for "like a stupid person.")

Why are you acting so stupidly? (Better grammar. "So stupidly" modifies "acting")

As for your new sentences, here are my suggestions:

- The prices was cheaper than the price displayed. It said it cost 10 dollars, and at the register, the product scanned for 7 dollars.

The actual price was cheaper/less than the price displayed. The tag said it cost $10, but, when it was scanned at the register, the product was priced at $7.

- This sandwich was as good as a sandwich worth 1 dollars is expected to be.

This sandwich was as good as you would expect a sandwich costing a dollar to be.

This dollar sandwich was not any better than you would expect it to be.

- I have nothing to do other than / apart from that today. (Either, but move "today.")

I have nothing to do today other than that/apart from that.

Alc24 · Answer

Thank you Doctor D,

Could I ask you to help me with a few sentences please?

- Just (by) looking at his shoes, you'd think he was a girl. (by optional?)

- I don't understand people whose eye brows are a different color from their hair./who have different colored eye brows from their hair. (this one sound totally wrong, there is something wrong with it in my opinion)

- The food in not cooked enough/not cooked well/not cooked well enough. (which would you say and which are natural?)

- Each bus takes/goes a different route. This bus isn't going to take us where we need to go.(how would you naturally say this?) (how would you say this and can you use both TAKE and GO?)

- The district changes from block to block. On one side of the street it's X district, on the other it's Y.(this needs rewording I think as it's a word to word translation from french)

Thank you Doctor D so much

Alc24 · Answer

Hello Doctor D,

Hope all is well,

I needed your expertise, It's 2 threads with sentences I translated for my book,

Could you please help me correct them, I've attempted to correct the sentences myself just to see if I'm on the right path.

Thank you

Regards,

Alex

HARD SENTENCES, NEED HELP CHOOSING RIGHT WORD?

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