After a passive verb phrase (or a past participle as an adjective), the preposition “for” indicates purpose or reason. Here are the results of a search in the iWeb corpus for: _VB _VVN for 1 BE USED FOR 284604 Crush. It‘s funny how the same word for the feeling of attraction can be used for the feeling of disappointment. listen 2 IS KNOWN FOR 97688 And he is known for being a liar. listen The sentence “he is known […]
BE + past participle + FOR Read More »
The CLAWS tagger does not always tag the difference between adjectives and past participles perfectly, so we do a search in the iWeb corpus with the query: _VB *ed to_II 1 IS COMMITTED TO 117911 C2 adjective It‘s true, I could use someone who is committed to putting an end to Mr. White. Live by Night 2 BE ADDED TO 115128
BE + *ed + to PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE Read More »
MIGHT HAVE BEEN BEING RELEASED
modal verb + HAVE BEEN BEING + past participle Read More »
A detailed analysis of the structure “BE + past participle + BY”, which is commonly used to form passive voice sentences in English. This structure consists of a form of the verb “to be”, a past participle, and the preposition “by”. The webpage also includes examples from the iWeb corpus, showcasing how this structure is used in various contexts. Some of the most common phrases include “BE USED BY”, “IS CAUSED BY”, and “IS DETERMINED BY”. The examples illustrate how this structure allows us to focus on the action and its impact, rather than on who or what performed the action.
BE + past participle + BY phrase Read More »
While working on another piece of grammar, I noticed a complex piece of grammar that is not listed in the English Grammar Profile. There are many grammar points that are listed that are about adverbs in the middle position, but none about two which should be listed at C2. A search in iWeb corpus for
verb + adverb + verb + adverb + verb Read More »
Because there is no past perfect continuous passive in the English Grammar Profile, we can say it is C2. A search in NOW corpus shows that this grammar is extremely rare. 1 HAD BEEN BEING TREATED 10 The woman had left the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, where she had been being treated. belfastlive.co.uk 2 HAD BEEN BEING ABUSED 7 3 ‘D BEEN BEING ABUSED 7 4 HAD
past perfect continuous passive Read More »
The future perfect passive is formed with the structure: WILL HAVE BEEN + PASSIVE PARTICIPLE Here’s an EXPERT EXAMPLE of future perfect passive: If you live to 90, then 32 years will have been spent entirely asleep. TED The ending -t in (spent) is an irregular inflection for the passive participle, which regularly ends in -ed: PEARSON GSE 67 B2+ future perfect passive simple
WILL HAVE BEEN + PP (future perfect passive) Read More »
Here’s an example of the preposition ‘after’ complemented by a non-finite perfect form of the passive ‘having been p.p.’ Roughly a month and a half after having been laid, the surviving eggs hatch. Listen In the English Grammar Profile, there are two similar C2 points in the category of passives: Point 38: non-finite ‘-ing’ perfect forms of the passive as the complement of prepositions. Point
Having been + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »
Here are some examples of past perfect continuous questions:
He just did something very unusual. WHAT HAD HE BEEN THINKING?
She was really sick in the taxi. HAD SHE BEEN DRINKING?
past perfect continuous questions Read More »
Adverb expressions such as ‘not only’, ‘not just’, and ‘not simply’ emphasize that something is true, but it is not the whole truth. These co-ordinate clauses. In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 92 in the category of PAST is defined: present perfect continuous, invert the subject and affirmative auxiliary verb with ‘not only … but’
NOT ONLY + present perfect continuous (inversion) + BUT Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 31 in the category of PAST is defined: present perfect continuous: QUESTIONS with a limited range of verbs. Note that questions are generally low frequency in the CLC probably due to lack of spoken data. *Also note that there are no other entries for ‘range of verbs’ PELIC
present perfect continuous questions Read More »
We use present perfect simple negative questions to ask about actions that have not happened in the recent past.
Haven’t you finished your homework yet?
Hasn’t she seen the new movie?
Why haven’t they called us back?
present perfect negative question Read More »
Point 27 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous: an action or event which began before a point in the past and was still continuing up to that point, often with ‘for’ or ‘since’, to give background information. Point 32 in the PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous: background action
had been + VERBing Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 211 in MODALITY is defined as:
‘must not have been’ (especially with ‘easy’).
must not have been Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 78 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous in relative clauses to give background information. For example: I was scrolling on social media, and I saw a friend who had been sharing positive news stories. TED A search in iWeb corpus for: who|that|which had been _vvg gives us the most common continuous verbs found in past perfect continuous relative
past perfect continuous in a relative clause Read More »
B2 English Grammar Profile point 76 in the category of PAST is: past perfect continuous WITH ADVERBS in the normal mid position For example: I had just been doing some reading. listen An iWeb search for: had _rr been _vvg 1 HAD ALREADY BEEN WORKING 359 2 HAD ALREADY BEEN USING 210 3 HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN USING 122 4 HAD ALSO
past perfect continuous + adverb ‘had already been doing’ Read More »
The landscape can get muddy when it has been raining.
present perfect continuous Read More »
“I had been working on that project for months, so I was very disappointed when it was cancelled.” “She had been crying for hours, so her eyes were red and swollen.” “We had been waiting for the bus for so long that we were starting to get cold.” At B2, in the English Grammar Profile,
past perfect continuous + RESULT Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 67 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous after a time conjunction to give background information. For example: This was just a few months after Ebola had been terrifying the world. listen 1 AFTER IT HAD BEEN SITTING 46 WOAI She and her stepfather restored the bike themselves after it had
(time conjunction) + past perfect continuous Read More »
Here is an example of a past perfect simple question: What had I done to deserve it? TED Past perfect simple questions are formed by putting had before the subject and the past participle of the verb. They are used to ask about an action or event that happened before another past action or event, or before a specific time in the
past perfect simple question Read More »
