Generate the answer for a given question. The question requires common knowledge of English. Make sure that the answer is in detail, long, consistent with the context, and requires general knowledge of English. To be less repetitive, please vary your language for each question. Give a proper explanation to answer, and if necessary, provide the definition of various terms. And conclude your answer if it's long. If you have used other resources (e.g., Merriam Webster's.) to answer the question, include citations in your answer. You don't need to paraphrase the context of your resources, but make sure that your answer is consistent and complete.

Input: Consider Input: Is penultimate commonly used in English, or are its variations (such as second to last) more common? I need to use it in conjunction with the expressions First Payment Date and Last Payment Date to name variables while programming. In my mother language (Portuguese) Penultimate Payment Date would be fine, but it feels strange in English. (I know feels strange is not very helpful, but I'd like to know how to convey the meaning in the most natural way.).

Output: Someone I know who is a native speaker of Spanish and a professor at a university in the United States has complained that when he used the word 'penultimate' in class, the students don't know what he's talking about. The word is perfectly, unimpeachably, 100% correct. It is a bit of an upscale, literary word though. It certainly is a 'term of art' in fields like linguistics, where it is used commonly to refer to syllables. I searched for the word in the Corpus of Contemporary American English, and divided the results by section: spoken, fiction, magazine, newspaper, and academic, and got these results: spoken: 10 fiction: 53 magazine: 55 newspaper: 36 academic: 93 total: 247 So, it is certainly used in all areas of English, with a moderate skew towards higher registers like academic writing. Depending on the intended audience, a writer contemplating using the word 'penultimate' should consider that there is a relatively high likelihood that word will not be understood. Instead of 'penultimate', the phrasing in common usage is either 'next to last' or 'second to last'. Both of those should be universally understood. Interestingly, Google Ngrams shows that the word 'penultimate' rose in usage (in published books) steadily from 1800 to about 1990, and since 1990 it has shown a steep dropoff, taking us back to usage levels from the late 1960s. The better-understood terms 'second to last' and 'next to last' are less common (again, though, in published booksGoogle Ngrams tells us nothing about spoken usage), with 'next to last' having more historical usage but a slow tapering off of usage since 1960 and 'second to last' increasing in usage from 1970 on, with both enjoying approximately the same usage today.


Input: Consider Input: Possible Duplicate: Do you use 'a' or 'an' before acronyms? Does one use 'a' or 'an' before the word 'X-Ray'? Quite simply, should a sentence read 'a XML report' or 'an XML report'?.

Output: It's 'an XML report', because which form of the indefinite article to use is decided by how the next word is pronounced. In this case, it's pronounced: An ex-emm-ell report 'XML' begins with a vowel sound, 'e', so an is used rather than a.


Input: Consider Input: When to use a or an before a noun when there are adjectives before that noun? like the following example: An operator pressed the button. should that make: A professional operator pressed the button. An professional operator pressed the button. same for: A Hypertext markup language. An Hypertext markup language. Sometimes it seems a bit confusing, especially when there are more adjectives like: An omen was revealed to the priest. A terrible omen was revealed to the priest. An overwhelming terrible omen was revealed to the priest. What is the rule?.


Output: The article changes based on the word immediately following, not necessarily on the noun. There is no difference in meaning between 'a' and 'an' - the distinction is used to preserve an alternation between vowels and consonants when the sentence is spoken aloud. Be aware that speakers of American and British English observe different rules (mainly because we can't agree on whether to pronounce the letter H or not!) In your example: A Hypertext Markup language. An Hypertext markup language. an American speaker (and, to be honest, most British speakers) would find the first one correct, while an exaggerated aitch-dropper would use the second. In these examples: An omen was revealed to the priest. A terrible omen was revealed to the priest. An overwhelming terrible omen was revealed to the priest. all three are correct as written, whether the speaker is American or British.