The Cousin Explainer

A useful tea towel:

source

Majority

Professor Paul Brians, Introduction to Common Errors in English Usage: majority are / majority is

“Majority” is one of those words that can be either singular or plural. Common sense works pretty well in deciding which. If you mean the word to describe a collection of individuals, then the word should be treated as plural: “The majority of e-mail users are upset about the increase in spam.” If the word is used to describe a collective group, then consider it singular: “A 90% majority is opposed to scheduling the next meeting at 6:00 A.M.” If you are uncertain which you mean, then choose whatever form sounds best to you; it’s not likely to bother many people. “Majority” should be used only with countable nouns: “he ate the majority of the cookies,” but not “he ate the majority of the pie.” Instead say, “he ate most of the pie.”

Exploitive vs Exploitative - What's the difference?

Exploitive is considered to be a synonym of exploitative.
As adjectives the difference between exploitive and exploitative is that "exploitive" means "to take advantage"/ "taking advantage of someone",
while "exploitative" is in the nature of exploitation; acting to exploit someone or something.

For examples, see here.

Grammarist however takes a different approach. 

The preferred form of the adjective meaning tending to make use of selfishly or unethically is exploitative, not exploitive. This preference is shown across all main varieties of English. A few dictionaries accept exploitive as an alternative spelling of exploitative, but most correctly acknowledge that the latter is the far more common form.

In edited publications there is generally a preference for exploitative rather than exploitive. If one examines the use of "exploitive" and "exploitative" in a large number of English-language works published in the 20th century, it seems that the longer form is now preferred by a huge margin.  In current news sources, for instance, the ratio is about 20 to one.

Quotations, Inverted commas

A short reminder:

American style uses double quotes (“) for initial quotations, then single quotes (‘) for quotations within the initial quotation.
American style:

“Economic systems,” according to Professor White, “are an inevitable byproduct of civilization, and are, as John Doe said, ‘with us whether we want them or not.’”

British style uses single quotes (‘) for initial quotations, then double quotes (“) for quotations within the initial quotation.
British style:

‘Economic systems’, according to Professor White, ‘are an inevitable byproduct of civilization, and are, as John Doe said, “with us whether we want them or not”’.

The above examples also show that the American style places commas and periods inside the quotation marks, even if they are not in the original material. British style (more sensibly) places unquoted periods and commas outside the quotation marks. For all other punctuation, the British and American styles are in agreement: unless the punctuation is part of the quoted material, it goes outside the quotation marks.

From https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/british-versus-american-style.html
© 2020 thepunctuationguide.com

How to Start a Presentation

Conor Neill, 'How to Start a Speech' Posted on You Tube 12th Mar 2012

Present perfect

The present perfect tense has two main elements. It is formed from (a) the present tense of the verb have and (b) the past participle (III form) of the main verb. [this often ends in -ed: searched, asked, but many important verbs are irregular: lost, found, dug]

We use the present perfect to talk about something in the past that in some way connects with the present. Like:

• for something that started in the past and continues in the present:

They've been digging that hole for nearly four hours.
He has studied archaeology all of his life.

• to write or talk about our experience up to the present:

I've seen that You Tube video before.
I've used that brand of metal detector ever since I was a teenager.
He has written three books and he is working on another one.

We often use the adverb ever to talk about experience up to the present:

My last visit to the museum was the worst day I have ever had.

[if you see/use words like just, ever, already etc., you will need to use the present perfect]

For the negative form we use never:

Have you ever met Prince Philip?
Yes, but I've never met his wife.

Pronouncing the Past Tense '-ed' Ending

There are three different ways to pronounce the –ed ending at the end of regular past tense verbs in English.

The pronunciation of the –ed ending depends on the final sound in the verb.

If the verb ends in a –d or a –t, the –ed ending is pronounced as a new syllable, /id/.

If the verb ends in a vowel sound
or
a voiced consonant (l, n, r, b, g, m, z, s, v),
then the –ed ending sounds like a /d/ and does not create a new syllable.

If the verb ends in an unvoiced consonant (p, k, f, gh, sh, ch, ss, c, x),
then the –ed ending sounds like a /t/ and does not create a new syllable.

(If you are unsure if a consonant is voiced or voiceless, put your fingers on the side of your neck and feel for the vibration that occurs when you say voiced consonants: l, n, r, b, g, m, z, s, v).

This is explained in this webpage (Woodward) with a You Tube video

There are other internet resources explaining this:
EnglishClub: Pronunciation : -ed (with a sound file - with American accent)
Tanya Trusler, 'Pronunciation of Past Tense Endings' April 12, 2018