At C2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: work out = to understand something or to find the answer to something by thinking about it A search in NOW corpus for which ‘question words’ follow phrasal verbs: work out _*Q 1 WORK OUT HOW 12286 Just give us five minutes, Mr Poirot, and I‘m sure we‘ll be able to work out how you did it. listen 2 WORK OUT WHAT: I […]
phrasal verb + clause ‘work out how you did it’ Read More »
What can be going through a man‘s mind at this moment? The Right Stuff The verb phrase “can be going” in the sentence above expresses possibility or uncertainty. The speaker is not sure what is going through the man’s mind, but they are asking for possible explanations. The word “going” is a present participle, which is a verb form that is used here to
The phrase “be going to” is used in English to discuss future plans or intentions. It’s formed with the verb “be”, followed by “going to”, and the base form of the main verb. Here’s a summary:
Affirmative form: “It is going to take time.” – Expresses a future prediction or plan.
Question form: “Are you going to do anything about it?” – Asks about someone else’s future plans or intentions.
Affirmative form: “This is a group of people who want to tell you your work is going to live.” – Expresses a future prediction.
Informal affirmative form: “I need a video clip, and you’re gonna give it to me.” – Expresses a future intention or expectation.
In the English Grammar Profile, ‘be going to’ is used at different levels:
A2: Used to talk about plans and intentions.
B1: Used with an increasing range of verbs to make predictions.
An iWeb search for “_VB going to VVI” shows common usage patterns, such as “ARE GOING TO GET”, “’RE GOING TO GET”, “IS GOING TO HAPPEN”, and so on. These examples illustrate the versatility and frequency of this structure in English.
am|is|are + going + to-INFINITIVE (future) Read More »
The phrase “to have to” is a common construction in English that expresses obligation, necessity, or requirement. Let’s break down 3 examples: I‘m going to have to get a job. listen In this sentence, “going to” indicates a future action. “Have to” means that the speaker is obliged or required to do something. It implies that getting a job is necessary
TO HAVE TO (infinitive form) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 58 in the category of future with be going to is defined as: increasing range of adverbs (particularly adverbs of certainty) in the normal mid position. This point overlaps adverbs of certainty at C1. A search in iWeb for the adverbs we find in the EGP examples: _VB (probably|undoubtedly|surely)
BE + ADVERB + going to + VERB Read More »
This is another grammar post that is better dealt with as vocabulary. In the English Grammar Profile (EGP), A2 point 25 in VERBs/patterns is defined: increasing range of verbs followed by a ‘to’-infinitive. The EGP A2 examples include: hope to go remember to bring (this clashes with the B2 point for a change of meaning verb
Verb + TO-infinitive (range) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 50 in the category of VERBS is defined as: ‘there’ with other verbs with modal meaning + ‘be’ + complement. The EGP modality examples contain: ‘need, have, is going + to’ However, in the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘there needs to be’ is listed at C2 with the following example:
THERE + modality + TO BE Read More »
Here’s an example of an infinitive passive structure. He said it was the summation of the parts working together in such a way that nothing needed to be added, taken away, or altered. listen The English Grammar Profile B1 point 4 in the category of passives is defined as: an infinitive after a limited number of forms including ‘going to’, ‘have to’, ‘need to’, ‘want to’. *Note that Pearson lists this as: GSE 59 B2
going | have | need | want + TO BE + past participle Read More »
Let’s look at two examples to explain this grammar. The first is from a student writing example using past continuous with an adverb that shows he didn’t control the situation with his friend and the second one is from an expert speaker using passives: For example, he was always playing soccer when I played baseball. PELIC Korean male level 4 grammar class. They were
(always | constantly) + past continuous Read More »
A range of adverbs with this future construction is examined.
“You’re going to absolutely love it” (‘going to’ ADVERB INFINITIVE) Read More »
Here is a comprehensive analysis of the most common “BE + NOT” forms in English, essential for expressing negation. The forms are listed in order of their frequency in the iWeb corpus. The top three forms are “is not”, “are not”, and “isn’t”, used in various contexts to deny or contradict assertions, form negative statements, and express doubt or uncertainty. Other forms like “’s not”, “was not”, “wasn’t”, “I’m not”, “aren’t”, and “were not” are also discussed with examples illustrating their usage.
