affect

WOULD + adverb (wide range)

Let’s look at some examples of ‘would’ + a wide range of adverbs: They would eventually become the oppressive hand of the Russian government.  (Listen) What would normally take him maybe a day or something to solder by hand, he can do in a few minutes using this machine.  (Listen)   Point 234 in the category of MODALITY is defined: wide range of adverbs with ‘would’, including ‘undoubtedly’, ‘possibly’, ‘normally’, ‘personally’, ‘eventually’, ‘obviously’, ‘significantly’, […]

WOULD + adverb (wide range) Read More »

passive + TO infinitve (belief or opinion)

Point 73 GSE B2+ is defined: express impersonal belief and opinion using ‘thought/considered/believed/etc.’ +’ to’ + VP infSTUDENT STUDENT EXAMPLES: Moreover, English is considered to be an international language. PELIC Thai male level 5 writing class.   In addition, he is believed to be the first teacher, because the first education system in ancient China was established by Confucius. PELIC Chinese male level 5 grammar class. EXPERT EXAMPLE: After all, the first intentional human burial is thought to have occurred around 100,000 years ago.

passive + TO infinitve (belief or opinion) Read More »

shall not

C1 English Grammar point 60 in the category of FUTURE/simple is defined as: negative form ‘shall not’ On the uselessness of climbing Mt. Everest: We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, and not a gem, nor any coal or iron. We shall not find a single foot of earth that can be planted with crops to raise food. A search in iWeb for shall not _VVI 1 SHALL NOT APPLY 9981 2 SHALL NOT EXCEED 7825 3 SHALL

shall not Read More »

DON’T LET + pronoun (permission/order)

Here are two examples of ordering someone not to allow something: Don’t let him get away. listen Don’t let them go. listen C1 point 117 in CLAUSES/imperatives is defined as: an imperative clause with ‘let’ + ‘him/her/them’ + base form of a main verb, to disallow something or instruct someone to disallow something *I disagree that ‘him|her|them’ should

DON’T LET + pronoun (permission/order) Read More »

uncontracted NOT (emphasis)

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 20 in NEGATION is defined as: uncontracted ‘not’ for emphasis or in formal contexts. There are problems with this grammar point.  One is that you could argue that the ability to contract various forms marks a higher level of English skill.  Secondly, this point clearly cannot be automatically

uncontracted NOT (emphasis) Read More »

WOULD + love | prefer (politeness)

This blog post teaches how to express wishes and preferences using verbs like ‘like’ and ‘prefer’. It explains the difference between ‘I’d prefer’ and ‘I prefer’ and how to use ‘would’ to sound more polite and less confrontational. The post also explores examples of ‘would’ with verbs like ‘love’ and ‘hate’.

WOULD + love | prefer (politeness) Read More »

introduce a comparison

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 10 in DISCOURSE MARKERS in writing is defined as: a range of phrases as discourse markers to introduce a comparison. There are three examples of these in the English Grammar Profile. 1. Similarly For Hitler to fail at Stalingrad would be an enormous blow to the Nazi myth. It would be an enormous blow to the war itself. Similarly, Josef Stalin was unrelenting. He would not tolerate defeat. WWII from Space   Collocates of ‘Similarly‘ (word ranking: 2809)

introduce a comparison Read More »