noun phrase – article adverb adjective noun
Although the English Grammar Profile offers good evidence of what structures students can do at each level, it should be remembered that the examples that the students provide are not good examples to teach with. Indeed, they are sometimes very rare combinations. We can see that when we look at the same grammar patterns in the iWeb corpus. Compare for example “a very important meeting” which comes from a student and found only 149 times to “a very long time” which appears 45,254.
There is also a clash of levels between A1 and B1 when deciding on how to place “very” within this structure. The example for B1 could easily meet the criteria of A1. In the English Grammar Profile, point 54 in the category of Adjectives, under modifying at B1 is ADJECTIVE PHRASE + NOUN attributively which means before a noun.
- … my boss told me that at 10.15 am I have a very important meeting. (frequency in iWeb = 149)
- … she’s also a really good friend. (756)
However, point 8 in Determiners in A1, ‘a’ + ‘very’ + adjectives in basic noun phrases. ► adverbs ► noun phrases
- He’s a very good man. (frequency in iWeb 423 )
- It is a very beautiful place. (255)
- It’s a very nice town. (48)
A search for _a _r _jj _n
in the iWeb corpus:
Superlatives are to the right
1 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) THING (NN1) 69789
2 A VERY LONG TIME 45254
3 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) PART (NN1) 22968
4 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) THINGS (NN2) 20263
5 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) EFFECTIVE (JJ) WAY (NN1) 16378
6 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) TYPE (NN1) 13960
7 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) CAUSE (NN1) 13079
8 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) FACTOR (NN1) 10862

9 A (AT1) VERY (RG) YOUNG (JJ) AGE (NN1) 9693

10 A (AT1) VERY (RG) SHORT (JJ) TIME (NNT1) 9452
11 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) FORM (NN1) 9399
12 A (AT1) VERY (RG) GOOD (JJ) JOB (NN1) 9099
13 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) ASPECT (NN1) 8918
14 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) EFFICIENT (JJ) WAY (NN1) 8882
15 A (AT1) PRETTY (RG_JJ) GOOD (JJ) JOB (NN1) 8596
16 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) ASPECTS (NN2) 8305
17 A (AT1) VERY (RG) IMPORTANT (JJ) PART (NN1) 8189
18 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) EFFECTIVE (JJ) WAYS (NN2) 7705
19 A (AT1) VERY (RG) SMALL (JJ) AMOUNT (NN1) 7631

20 A (AT1) PRETTY (RG_JJ) GOOD (JJ) IDEA (NN1) 7444
21 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) CAUSES (NN2) 7391
22 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) TYPES (NN2) 6978
23 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) FACTORS (NN2) 6864
24 A (AT1) VERY (RG) GOOD (JJ) IDEA (NN1) 6519
25 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) WAY (NN1) 6310
26 A (AT1) REALLY (RR) LONG (JJ) TIME (NNT1) 6187

27 THE (AT) VERY (RG) NEAR (JJ@) FUTURE (NN1_JJ) 6182
28 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) QUESTIONS (NN2) 6145
29 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) RECENT (JJ) VERSION (NN1) 6117
30 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) REASON (NN1) 5953
31 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) PARTS (NN2) 5836
32 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) DIFFICULT (JJ) PART (NN1) 5822
33 A (AT1) VERY (RG) GOOD (JJ) CHANCE (NN1) 5547

34 A (AT1) REALLY (RR) GOOD (JJ) JOB (NN1) 5445
35 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) REASONS (NN2) 5340
36 YOUR (APPGE) PERSONALLY (RR) IDENTIFIABLE (JJ) INFORMATION (NN1) 5336

37 A (AT1) VERY (RG) SHORT (JJ) PERIOD (NN1) 5147
38 A (AT1) MUCH (RR) BETTER (JJR) JOB (NN1) 4871
39 A (AT1) VERY (RG) GOOD (JJ) THING (NN1) 4854
40 A (AT1) VERY (RG) GOOD (JJ) REASON (NN1) 4775
41 A (AT1) VERY (RG) SMALL (JJ) NUMBER (NN1) 4620
42 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) SYMPTOMS (NN2) 4458
43 A (AT1) VERY (RG) IMPORTANT (JJ) ROLE (NN1) 4390
44 A (AT1) VERY (RG) HIGH (JJ) STANDARD (NN1_JJ) 4376
45 A (AT1) VERY (RG) REASONABLE (JJ) PRICE (NN1) 4325
46 A (AT1) VERY (RG) DIFFICULT (JJ) TIME (NNT1) 4287
47 A (AT1) VERY (RG) LARGE (JJ) NUMBER (NN1) 4259
48 A (AT1) MUCH (RR) BETTER (JJR) CHANCE (NN1) 4113
49 A (AT1) VERY (RG) HARD (JJ) TIME (NNT1) 4078
50 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) STEP (NN1) 4022
51 A (AT1) REALLY (RR) HARD (JJ) TIME (NNT1) 3724
52 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) UP-TO-DATE (JJ) INFORMATION (NN1) 3654
53 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) ELEMENT (NN1) 3610
54 A (AT1) VERY (RG) EARLY (JJ) AGE (NN1) 3538
55 A (AT1) VERY (RG) LONG (JJ) WAY (NN1) 3514
56 A (AT1) REALLY (RR) GOOD (JJ) IDEA (NN1) 3500
57 A (AT1) RELATIVELY (RR) SHORT (JJ) PERIOD (NN1) 3491
58 A (AT1) VERY (RG) SMALL (JJ) PERCENTAGE (NN1) 3486
59 A (AT1) VERY (RG) HIGH (JJ) QUALITY (NN1) 3454
60 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) SIDE (NN1) 3417
61 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) ELEMENTS (NN2) 3368
62 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) PROBLEMS (NN2) 3336
63 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) QUESTION (NN1) 3299
64 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) METHOD (NN1) 3267
65 A (AT1) VERY (RG) WIDE (JJ) RANGE (NN1) 3266
66 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) INFORMATION (NN1) 3210
67 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) INTERESTING (JJ) THING (NN1) 3126
68 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) FEATURES (NN2) 3083
69 A (AT1) MORE (RGR) ACTIVE (JJ) ROLE (NN1) 3041
70 A (AT1) RELATIVELY (RR) SMALL (JJ) NUMBER (NN1) 3014
71 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) WAYS (NN2) 2984
72 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) PIECE (NN1) 2963
73 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) MISTAKES (NN2) 2962
74 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) INTERESTING (JJ) PART (NN1) 2923
75 A (AT1) VERY (RG) HIGH (JJ) LEVEL (NN1) 2916
76 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) BEAUTIFUL (JJ) PLACES (NN2) 2900
77 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) ONES (NN2) 2893
78 A (AT1) VERY (RG) USEFUL (JJ) TOOL (NN1) 2831
79 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) LIKELY (JJ) CAUSE (NN1) 2829
80 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) CURRENT (JJ) VERSION (NN1) 2820
81 A (AT1) RELATIVELY (RR) SHORT (JJ) TIME (NNT1) 2819
82 A (AT1) VERY (RG) GOOD (JJ) WAY (NN1) 2790
83 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) RECENT (JJ) DATA (NN) 2758
84 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) DIFFICULT (JJ) THING (NN1) 2729
85 A (AT1) VERY (RG) SPECIAL (JJ) PLACE (NN1) 2723
86 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) WONDERFUL (JJ) TIME (NNT1) 2704
87 A (AT1) PRETTY (RG_JJ) GOOD (JJ) DEAL (NN1) 2663
88 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) MEAL (NN1) 2638
89 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) USE (NN1) 2623
90 A (AT1) VERY (RG) EFFECTIVE (JJ) WAY (NN1) 2602
91 A (AT1) MORE (RGR) EFFICIENT (JJ) WAY (NN1) 2585
92 A (AT1) MUCH (RR) BETTER (JJR) IDEA (NN1) 2565
93 A (AT1) VERY (RG) GOOD (JJ) POINT (NN1) 2549
94 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) FEATURE (NN1) 2548
95 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) AMAZING (JJ) THING (NN1) 2545
96 A (AT1) VERY (RG) HIGH (JJ) LEVEL (NN1_JJ) 2539
97 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) POINT (NN1) 2536
98 A (AT1) PRETTY (RG_JJ) GOOD (JJ) CHANCE (NN1) 2518
99 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) ONES (NN2) 2510
100 THE (AT) MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) PERSON (NN1) 2505
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