‘When’ is most often a subordinating conjunction in the iWeb corpus. WHEN (CS) 8290974 (A2 conjunction) collocates in the movie corpus: 1 CAME 7116 She came by the hotel when I was leaving and she gave me this for you. The Shunning 2 COMES 6367 3 SAW 3620 4 GETS 2919 5 STARTED 2636 The next most common use is as a question adverb. WHEN (RRQ) 2397700 collocates 1 REMEMBER […]
EVEN WHEN | NO MATTER WHEN Read More »
Although ‘so’ is hard to put a part of speech to, it is usually a general or degree adverb, but it can often also be a conjunction. Here is a ranked list in order of most frequent first with highlighted examples: general adverb – “So much for studying grammar everyday.” (RR) suborinating conjunction –
What part of speech is the word ‘SO’? Read More »
1 THAT (CST) 68828662 3 THAT (DD1) 25191738 5 THAT (CS22) 3093377 6 THAT (RG) 524810 7 THAT (REX21) 308941
A search in playphrase.me for “so much as” reveals the following 3 most common collocations/multi-word units containing negative meaning or being surrounded with negation: You let your wife throw you out of your own house without so much as a whimper. listen to the example The phrase “without so much as a” means “not even the slightest amount of“. In the example above, it emphasizes that the
so much as | in as much as Read More »
‘Until’ is usually conjunction, but sometimes it functions as a preposition. 1 UNTIL (CS) 2251777 4 UNTIL (II) 358880 6 UNTIL (II22) 73389
In this post, we are most interested to find the most advanced uses of the word ‘even‘. At C1, The phrase “even so” is used to introduce a surprising fact or conclusion that contrasts with what has been said before. It can be used to express a sense of defiance or determination or to simply
Words like ‘once’ and ‘twice’ can be predeterminers as multipliers. For example: “Once every two weeks” “Twice a day” A search in the iWeb corpus for: once _AT1 _NNT 1 ONCE A WEEK 75774 We are proposing to meet at least once a week and just to do as many collections as we can. listen 2 ONCE A MONTH 44242 3 ONCE A YEAR 43510 4 ONCE A DAY
1 ONLY (JJ) 15190271 2 ONLY (RR) 2915525 5 ONLY (CS) 5100 A search in iWeb corpus for: * only so many|much * 1 ‘S ONLY SO MUCH YOU 831 There’s only so much you can do with a BA in theater. Long Lost 2 IS ONLY SO MUCH YOU 712 3 ARE ONLY SO MANY HOURS 633 There are only so many hours in the day. Real Genius
In this post, we investigate 11 ways ‘for’ is tagged by the claws 7 tag set. 1 FOR (IF) 140146366 A1 simple preposition 1 . FOR MORE INFORMATION 77314 For more information, you‘ll have to speak with the doctor. Harry Brown 2 . FOR THOSE WHO 22531 3 THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL 19815 4 THE REASON FOR THIS IS
The second most common word in English is ‘AND’ which is usually a conjunction. It’s also used in complex adverbial phrases: and so on (A2 in the English Vocabulary Profile EVP) I need you to help me with my bags and so on. listen Also, note that ‘and so forth‘ is not listed in the EVP, but is listed in OXFORD at B1: I‘ve had ample opportunity to observe Browning and adopt his physical presence, study his mannerisms, and so
adverbial phrases with ‘AND’ Read More »
A subordinating conjunction connects a sentence’s main clause and a subordinate clause. The subordinate clause (also known as an adverb clause) provides additional information explaining the when, where, how, or why of the main clause. “If, when & while” are sometimes interchangeable. In the sentence “It’s hard to have a girlfriend when you don’t have a
if | when | while | so + SUBORDINATE CLAUSE Read More »
Here are some examples of this form:
Being nice to someone is a SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE WAY of making friends.
Some herbs like MOIST BUT WELL-DRAINED SOIL.
I am making SLOW BUT STEADY PROGRESS with my language learning.
Although she is usually easy to get along with, she does have a RARE BUT SERIOUS SIDE to her personality too.
A SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT NUMBER of students didn’t pass the test.
adjective + BUT + adjective + noun (complex noun phrase) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 146 in MODALITY for OPINIONs is defined as: ‘may’ … ‘but’ to express an unexpected point of view. Here are some expert examples: You may not be able to leave every job where you‘re treated unfairly, but in a perfect world, one without racism and sexism and the frictions associated with finding a new job, it‘s your sense of fairness that would let you know when it was time to move on. listen You may have no tongue, but there is nothing wrong with your ears. listen A search on iWeb corpus for may * * * * but 1 MAY
may … but (unexpected) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 17 in CONJUNCTIONS/coordinating is defined as: ‘BOTH AND’ to combine phrases and clauses, often for emphasis. For example: You come up with this framework to guide the way through both the story and the data. Listen In the iWeb corpus we can run up to 4 wildcards with different combinations: ‘both * * and * *’ 1 BOTH MEN AND WOMEN
There are two overlapping points in the English Grammar Profile at B2 for ‘neither nor’. Point 104 in CLAUSES & coordinated is defined as: combine two main clauses of the same type using ‘neither’ in front or mid-position, followed by ‘nor’ to introduce the second clause, for emphasis. Point 15 in the Conjunctions & coordinating
neither nor coordinating Read More »
B2 example: Our volunteers know that the families who benefit from his generosity not only appreciate his action but take extra pleasure in knowing that it comes with the compliments of Mrs Brown, an iconic and internationally famous Dublin mother. C1 example: Not only did this virus continue in the places where they’d already become infected, but then it started to escalate and we saw the case numbers that you see here, something we’d never seen before on such a scale, an exponential increase of Ebola
A search on iWeb corpus for 3 part subordinating conjunctions reveals the following frequency: They point to another group of multiple overlapping points on the English Grammar Profile. B2 point 91 in CLAUSES & conditional is defined as: conditional subordinate clauses with a range of conjunctions ‘as long as’, ‘provided’ + present simple or present
conditional subordinate clauses & range of complex conjunctions Read More »
The phrases “as if” and “as though” are used to express that something is like something else, but it is not actually the same. They can be used to compare things that are similar, or to describe something that is imaginary or hypothetical.
In English grammar, there are two different points that describe how to use these phrases:
EGP B2 Point 90: “as if” or “as though” + finite clause to introduce a second clause as a comparison.
EGP B1 Point 70: verbs of the senses + “as if” or “as though” + finite clause.
The main difference between these two points is that the B2 point allows for a wider range of verbs, including non-sensory verbs. The B1 point is specifically for sensory verbs, such as see, hear, feel, smell, and taste.
Here are some examples of how to use “as if” and “as though” in accordance with these grammar points:
B2 example: It’s as if the cat can read my mind.
B1 example: I feel as if I’m being watched.
It’s important to note that the B1 example uses the subjunctive mood in the second clause. This is because the speaker is describing a hypothetical situation.
The text also mentions that the phrase “as if” is more common than “as though.” This is true, especially in informal writing and speech. However, both phrases are considered to be grammatically correct.
Overall, the text provides a good overview of the different ways to use the phrases “as if” and “as though.” It also highlights some of the more subtle nuances of these phrases, such as the difference between the B2 and B1 grammar points.
as if | as though (COMPARISON) Read More »
1 THAT 104319150 2 IF 44943385 3 AS 40335107 4 WHEN 23770025 5 THAN 17558900 6 BECAUSE 11714883 7 WHILE 10802203 8 SO 9458497 9 WHERE 6843020 10 SINCE 5476245 11 AFTER 4593163 12 THOUGH 4176607 13 UNTIL 4071103 14 WHETHER 3951156 15 BEFORE 3363516 16 ALTHOUGH 3070810 17 EVEN 2778946 18 ONCE 2007651 19
subordinating conjunctions on iWeb Read More »
