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 in COCA for:
_a _rr _jj _n
1 A REALLY LONG TIME 540
2 A MUCH BETTER JOB 423
3 A REALLY GOOD JOB 422
4 A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE 334
5 A REALLY GOOD TIME 324
6 A RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER 322
7 A REALLY HARD TIME 295
8 A LIGHTLY FLOURED SURFACE 258
9 A MUCH BETTER CHANCE 245 (B1 modifying a comparative adjective is listed under another point)
We‘d have a much better chance of knowing if she stops taking her medication.
10 A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD 239
11 A REALLY GOOD IDEA 214
12 A NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE 185
13 A RELATIVELY SHORT TIME 180
14 A MUCH BETTER PLACE 177
15 A REALLY NICE GUY 177
16 A REALLY BIG DEAL 164
17 A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE 155
18 A REALLY GOOD THING 154
19 A MUCH HIGHER LEVEL 153
20 A REALLY GOOD POINT 149
21 A REALLY BAD IDEA 141
22 A MUCH HIGHER RATE 140
23 NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES 137
24 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON 136 (C1 grammar)
Give it a month and you‘ll feel like a completely different person.
25 A REALLY GOOD QUESTION 136
26 A MUCH BETTER POSITION 133
27 A MUCH LARGER SCALE 130
28 A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WAY 130
29 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAY 126
30 THE RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER 124
31 A REALLY GOOD GUY 123
32 A MUCH SMALLER SCALE 122
33 A MUCH BETTER IDEA 120
34 AN AWFULLY LONG TIME 117
35 A MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM 114
36 A MUCH BETTER WAY 108
37 A REALLY GOOD FRIEND 102
38 NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE 102
39 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY 101
40 A MUCH BETTER UNDERSTANDING 99
41 AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT ROLE 99
42 A REALLY BAD DAY 97
43 A RELATIVELY SMALL AMOUNT 97
44 AN ALMOST DAILY BASIS 97
45 A MUCH FASTER RATE 90
46 AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MATTER 89
47 A MUCH EASIER TIME 87
48 A MUCH HIGHER PERCENTAGE 87
49 A MUCH HARDER TIME 86
50 A FAIRLY REGULAR BASIS 85
51 A REALLY GOOD WAY 84
52 A REALLY GREAT TIME 84
53 AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT STORY 82
54 AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAY 82
55 A CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET 79
56 A MUCH LARGER NUMBER 79
57 A REALLY GOOD PLACE 78
58 A REALLY GREAT GUY 78
59 A MUCH GREATER DEGREE 77
60 A MUCH LONGER TIME 77
61 A TOTALLY DIFFERENT PERSON 77
62 A REALLY IMPORTANT POINT 76
63 A RELATIVELY NEW PHENOMENON 75
64 AN UNUSUALLY HIGH NUMBER 75
65 A MUCH WIDER RANGE 74
66 A REALLY GREAT JOB 73
67 A RELATIVELY SMALL GROUP 73
68 AN EVEN BIGGER PROBLEM 73
69 A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP 72
70 A MUCH YOUNGER MAN 70
71 A REALLY GOOD REASON 70
72 A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD 69
73 A REALLY GOOD CHANCE 69
You‘ve got a really good chance.
74 A REALLY NICE TIME 69
75 A REALLY TOUGH TIME 69
76 A RELATIVELY SMALL PERCENTAGE 69
77 AN ENTIRELY NEW WAY 69
78 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SET 68
79 A REALLY GOOD TEAM 68
80 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WORLD 66
81 A MUCH GREATER EXTENT 66
82 A MUCH HIGHER PRICE 66
83 A REALLY BAD TIME 64
84 A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE 63
85 A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT APPROACH 63
86 A MUCH LOWER COST 62
87 A MUCH SHORTER TIME 61
88 A REALLY GOOD FEELING 61
89 A RELATIVELY LARGE NUMBER 61
90 AN EVEN HIGHER LEVEL 61
91 AN UNUSUALLY LARGE NUMBER 61
92 A REALLY GOOD DEAL 60
93 YOUR LAWFULLY WEDDED WIFE 60
94 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIRECTION 59
95 A MUCH BIGGER ISSUE 59
96 A MUCH LARGER GROUP 59
97 A MUCH LONGER PERIOD 59
98 A MUCH OLDER MAN 58
99 A RELATIVELY RECENT PHENOMENON 58
100 A MUCH BIGGER DEAL 57
B1 vocabulary:
amount, approach, chance, completely, direction, disease, fairly, issue, lightly, period, position, range, recent, regular, relationship, role , secret, totally
A search for _a _r _jj _n in the iWeb corpus:
Superlatives are to the right
1 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING 69789
2 A VERY LONG TIME 45254
3 THE MOST IMPORTANT PART 22968
4 THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS 20263
5 THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY 16378
6 THE MOST COMMON TYPE 13960
7 THE MOST COMMON CAUSE 13079
8 THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR 10862
9 A VERY YOUNG AGE 9693
10 A VERY SHORT TIME 9452
11 THE MOST COMMON FORM 9399
12 A VERY GOOD JOB 9099
13 THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT 8918
14 THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY 8882
15 A PRETTY GOOD JOB 8596
16 THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS 8305
17 A VERY IMPORTANT PART 8189
18 THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS 7705
19 A VERY SMALL AMOUNT 7631
20 A PRETTY GOOD IDEA 7444
21 THE MOST COMMON CAUSES 7391
22 THE MOST COMMON TYPES 6978
23 THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS 6864
24 A VERY GOOD IDEA 6519
25 THE MOST COMMON WAY 6310
26 A REALLY LONG TIME 6187
27 THE VERY NEAR FUTURE 6182
28 THE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS 6145
29 THE MOST RECENT VERSION 6117
30 THE MOST COMMON REASON 5953
31 THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS 5836
32 THE MOST DIFFICULT PART 5822
33 A VERY GOOD CHANCE 5547
34 A REALLY GOOD JOB 5445
35 THE MOST COMMON REASONS 5340
36 YOUR PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION 5336
37 A VERY SHORT PERIOD 5147
38 A MUCH BETTER JOB 4871
39 A VERY GOOD THING 4854
40 A VERY GOOD REASON 4775
41 A VERY SMALL NUMBER 4620
42 THE MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS 4458
43 A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE 4390
44 A VERY HIGH STANDARD 4376
45 A VERY REASONABLE PRICE 4325
46 A VERY DIFFICULT TIME 4287
47 A VERY LARGE NUMBER 4259
48 A MUCH BETTER CHANCE 4113
49 A VERY HARD TIME 4078
50 THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP 4022
51 A REALLY HARD TIME 3724
52 THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION 3654
53 THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT 3610
54 A VERY EARLY AGE 3538
55 A VERY LONG WAY 3514
56 A REALLY GOOD IDEA 3500
57 A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD 3491
58 A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE 3486
59 A VERY HIGH QUALITY 3454
60 THE MOST COMMON SIDE 3417
61 THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS 3368
62 THE MOST COMMON PROBLEMS 3336
63 THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION 3299
64 THE MOST COMMON METHOD 3267
65 A VERY WIDE RANGE 3266
66 THE MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION 3210
67 THE MOST INTERESTING THING 3126
68 THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES 3083
69 A MORE ACTIVE ROLE 3041
70 A RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER 3014
71 THE MOST COMMON WAYS 2984
72 THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE 2963
73 THE MOST COMMON MISTAKES 2962
74 THE MOST INTERESTING PART 2923
75 A VERY HIGH LEVEL 2916
76 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES 2900
77 THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES 2893
78 A VERY USEFUL TOOL 2831
79 THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE 2829
80 THE MOST CURRENT VERSION 2820
81 A RELATIVELY SHORT TIME 2819
82 A VERY GOOD WAY 2790
83 THE MOST RECENT DATA 2758
84 THE MOST DIFFICULT THING 2729
85 A VERY SPECIAL PLACE 2723
86 THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME 2704
87 A PRETTY GOOD DEAL 2663
88 THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL 2638
89 THE MOST COMMON USE 2623
90 A VERY EFFECTIVE WAY 2602
91 A MORE EFFICIENT WAY 2585
92 A MUCH BETTER IDEA 2565
93 A VERY GOOD POINT 2549
94 THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE 2548
95 THE MOST AMAZING THING
96 A VERY HIGH LEVEL
97 THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT
98 A PRETTY GOOD CHANCE
99 THE MOST COMMON ONES
100 THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON