or two
one or two things |
a day or two
CONJUNCTIONS
- Conjunctions connect clauses or sentences or coordinate words in the same clause.
or other
The phrase “or other” is a type of ellipsis, which is a grammatical omission of words that are understood from the context. In this case, the omitted words are the specific details about something that are not important or have been forgotten. The phrase “or other” serves as a placeholder for those details, allowing the speaker or writer to communicate the general idea without having to be specific.
lexical verb + UNTIL|TILL
In the English Vocabulary Profile, wait until= NOT DO SOMETHING C1 to not do something until something else happens For example: Wait till you see what we‘ve done with the Internet. listen We want to know which other verbs carry a similar meaning of not doing something. He will be held until Vargas agrees to free the sympathizers he has jailed. listen The Persians will not stop until the only shelter we will find is rubble and chaos. listen I submit that we engage and delay until reinforcements arrive. listen You stay until the job‘s done. listen A search in iWeb corpus for:
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still (despite that)
In the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP), ‘Still‘ is listed at B1 with the meaning ‘despite that‘, where ‘that’ refers back to the previous thing talked about. This is slightly different to: ‘despite‘ as a preposition, which is also listed at B1 with the meaning: without taking any notice of or being influenced by; not prevented
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conjunctive adverbs
We have an A2 and B1 grammar post about linking adverbs and subordinating conjunctions. However, sometimes in grammar, there are many terms such as ‘conjunctive adverb’ etc. According to Wikipedia: A conjunctive adverb, adverbial conjunction, or subordinating adverb is an adverb that connects two clauses by converting the clause it introduces into an adverbial modifier
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and | but | or | because
A1 points 1-7 in the English Grammar Profile are listed as:
single word conjunctions (‘and, but, or’):
to connect single nouns and adjectives.
to combine phrases, clauses, and sentences.
‘and’ and ‘or’ before the final item in a list.
‘but’ to add unexpected contrast.
‘because’ as a subordinating conjunction to introduce a subordinate clause.
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phrase ellipsis
Here’s a student example of verb phrase ellipsis: You need to study hard to pass the test unless you don’t want to. PELIC Arabic female level 4 grammar class Although there are a number of grammar points in the English Grammar Profile to do with Ellipsis, there are none that cover the ellipsis of phrases before or after the ‘TO’ infinitive. Therefore, we turn to Pearson’s GSE
In order not to INFINITIVE
The phrase “in order not to” is used to express the purpose or intention of avoiding something. It is followed by an infinitive verb. For example:
I left early in order not to miss the train.
She studied hard in order not to fail the exam.
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BUT FOR (third conditional)
C1: formal past conditionals | noun phrase, ‘would have’ clause
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adjective BUT adjective
In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 21 in the category of ADJECTIVES/combining is defined as: join a limited range of common adjectives, after ‘be’. All the examples use ‘but’ to join the adjectives.
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plus
The use of the conjunction ‘plus’ is covered by two different B1 grammar points in the English Grammar Profile. Point 14 in CONJUNCTIONS/coordinating is defined as: ‘PLUS’ WITH NOUNS often in relation to numbers. The home offers four bedrooms plus a study which could be a potential fifth bedroom. bendigoadvertiser.com.au Point 12 is: ‘plus’ to connect clauses and sentences, often to point out a positive addition or
comparative adjective + THAN + verb-ING
CHEAPER THAN BUYING | BETTER THAN GETTING | EASIER THAN TRYING
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if CLAUSE + will CLAUSE (FUTURE CONDITIONAL)
Listed at A2, the “future” or “first” conditional in English is a grammatical structure used to discuss possible future events. This structure often expresses a cause and effect relationship, with the effect (main clause) being conditional on the cause (if-clause). The typical structure is: “If” + present simple tense, “will” + verb (base form). The page provides examples of this structure from various sources, including student writings, expert examples, and lines from 1934 movies. It also discusses how different English Grammar Profile points highlight this grammar point.
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COMBINING CLAUSES OF THE SAME TYPE
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 50 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as: combine clauses of the same type, main or subordinate, finite or non-finite, with conjunctions. *This is difficult to interpret exactly because at A1, students can omit the subject after ‘and’ or ‘or’. We can start by looking at the structure of
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Not only did + but also
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 83 in PAST is defined as: ‘NOT ONLY … BUT ALSO’ the inverted form of the past simple with auxiliary ‘do’ *Note that any type of inversion with ‘not only but also’ is C1. Our example: Sportskeeda Not only did this affect his reputation with the fans, but also
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Can we omit the subject after the conjunction ‘SO’?
There are 300 examples in the iWeb corpus of ‘, so needs‘. Below we list 100 examples: *sorry about the formatting! 1 soundonsound.com partly because a musical has to create momentum over a much longer duration , so needs a wider expressive range to work with. But I’m guessing that the audience 2 diyaudio.com critical
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Can I use a comma before although?
If you look at the iWeb corpus, you will see that there are almost a million examples in it of a comma before ‘although’ However, ‘but’ has a comma before it 25 times more. 1 , BUT 25,284702 2 , ALTHOUGH 911424
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by the time + CLAUSE
C1 The present simple with ‘by the time’ to refer to the future.
English Grammar Profile
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either * or
As a conjunction, ‘either’ is used before the first of two or more alternatives, and then the other alternative is introduced by ‘or’. Here’s an example of using the ‘either or’ structure. And so, to be anti-racist, again, is to recognize that there are only two causes of racial inequity: either there’s something wrong with people, or there’s something wrong with power and policy. listen There are two almost identical points in the English Grammar Profile for the following grammar. C1
whatever | wherever | whenever | however
In the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘Whatever’ is listed as a pronoun at B1 meaning ‘anything’ or ‘everything’, one example they give is: Whatever I say I always seem to get it wrong. This EVP example could be rewritten as: I always seem to get whatever I say wrong. As a pronoun or a determiner at B2 meaning ‘no difference’: Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy a wonderful summer. It could be rewritten as I hope you enjoy a wonderful summer
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