Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

1
They are people who live from paycheck to paycheck.
They are people who live on paychecks.

Do they mean the same thing?

2 Promis yourself to run for ten minutes, allowing yourself to trun around and come home if you *so* choose-as long as you stick it out for just 600 seconds.

Will it still mean the same thing without the *so*?

3
Many nations are suffering from a lack of rain.
or
Many nations are suffering from the lack of rain.

Which of above is correct?

4
Most people agree that militant groups are a threat to society.
or
Most people agree that militant groups are threats to society.

I get confused by that a lot.

5
The minimum wage is ...
or
The minimal wage is ...

Since both words can be adjectives, which one is right?

Thanks

[CP]

Good questions, as usual.

1. They do not mean the same thing. People who live from paycheck to paycheck, or from one paycheck to the next, make just enough money to pay what they must pay to live. They run out of money before the next paycheck comes. "People who live on paychecks" just means people who are paid for their work, without any connotation about whether they have enough to live on.

2. Probably no change in meaning without the "so," but when you see a "so" used this way, it usually stands for something previously said. You put in the "so" so that you don't have to repeat the previous part -- in this case, "turn around and come home."

3. Probably "a" is more likely, if you have just introduced the topic. If you have been talking about a particular drought, then you want to say what it has done, you would more likely say "the lack of rain."

4. "Militant groups are a threat to society" is more likely. You aren't saying that each separate group is a threat to society, but that the existence of militant groups acts as a threat to society.

5. "The minimum wage" is the term applied to the least hourly wage that the law allows an employer to pay an employee. It is a term of art with that specific meaning. If you call it "the minimal wage," you won't be using its correct name; rather, it sounds like you are talking about a wage that is at the low end of some scale, and that may be higher or lower than the minimum wage.
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