'99 Honda Civic LX Stalls

I don't really know how to explain this well as I don't have much knowledge about cars but the problem is I have a 99 Automatic Civic LX and one day I was driving and the car suddenly stops moving (pressing on the acceleration pad only drives up the RPM but not the car). I thought at first it might of been my transmission but then my friend, who has a great knowledge of cars, said it couldn't be my transmission because the car can sometimes still run pretty good. Only problem is, when you run the car, it will sometimes go in a dead mode (won't accelerate anymore) and I don't know what to do about it.

Problem:
1. When the car goes into dead mode (won't accelerate), stepping on the acceleration pad only raises the rpm.
2. The car can still run pretty good at times and still has alot of power but because it goes into dead mode so often, I avoid using it. (Note: The car can still accellerate fast when it works but when it stops working, no matter how much pressure you put on the acclleration pad, only the RPM goes up)
3.The only way to get it working if I get caught in dead mode is to shut off the engine and turn it back on. Even at that, sometimes it still doesnt' work. Sometimes it takes a good 1-7 turning off and on to get it going again.

Please, any help would be gladly appreciated. Thanks.

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