Here are advanced examples of verbs + ‘WITH phrases‘: You hope for the best, then make do with what you get. listen A man threatens you with a gun, you break his neck, we can’t call the police, but it‘s nothing to do with me. listen DO WITH 796814 To find out which lexical verbs are most often followed by a ‘with PHRASE‘, we do a search in the iWeb corpus for: _VV with 1 WORK WITH 976989 A1 verb […]
C2 example: Our country owes its creation to a man they declared insane. listen C1 example: And he will do his damndest to put your mind at rest. listen An iWeb search for: _VV _APPGE _NN to_II 1 MAKE YOUR WAY TO 9604 B2 Please make your way to the nearest exits. listen 2 MAKE THEIR WAY TO 6953 3 MADE THEIR WAY TO 6103 4 CHANGED ITS NAME TO 5283 B2 possessive determiner
lexical verb + possessive determiner + noun + TO prepositional phrase Read More »
A phrase is a group of words that functions as a unit in a sentence. A phrase can have different types depending on the word that heads it. A phrase that includes the word order lexical verb + article + noun + preposition is called a verb phrase. A lexical verb is a verb that has meaning by itself, such as run, eat, or sleep. An article is a word that modifies a noun, such as the, a, or an. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence, such as in, on, or to.
lexical verb + article + noun (+ prepositon) Read More »
Although there is an English Grammar Profile point at B2 for introducing a new subject before a gerund, there is no point for a new subject before a past participle which we then assume points to C1 ability. Even a ‘new’ subject is questionable as a criterion for advanced ability. Here’s an advanced example sentence
lexical verb + pronoun + past participle Read More »
This structure is generally B2 grammar because it often comes with a wide range of general reference nouns without a determiner. However, more detail can be found in the English Vocabulary Profile regarding meaning and level: make fun of sb/sth = B2 to make a joke about someone or something in an unkind way make
MAKE + noun phrase + OF Read More »
In the English Vocabulary Profile at B2: to make matters worse = to make a situation more difficult, unpleasant, etc. If the most common example of to-infinitive + noun + comparative is listed at B2, then it would make sense that other less common should also be considered as B2. The closest form which is clearly
to-infinitive + noun phrase + comparative Read More »
At C2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: If it is worth your while doing something, it is useful or enjoyable to do it. A search in the NOW corpus for: * * worth _AP while 1 MAKE IT WORTH YOUR WHILE 738 2 MAKE IT WORTH THEIR WHILE 413 Adam Smith was convinced that human beings were by their very natures lazy, and wouldn’t do anything unless you made it worth their while, and the way you made it worth
worth + POSSESSIVE + while Read More »
The first point in the English Grammar Profile!
A1 point 1 in the category of ADVERBS is defined:
adverbs of degree and time to modify verbs.
really | always | sometimes + VERB Read More »
C2 in the English Grammar Profile, point 230 in the category of MODALITY is defined as:
‘BE’ + ADJECTIVE + ‘NOT’ + ‘TO + infinitive for emphasis
adjective + NOT TO + infinitive (be careful not to disturb them) Read More »
The following rare student writing example shows how ‘used not to‘ expresses modality: Also when I was younger, I used not to be allowed to drink coffee. PELIC Korean female level 3 grammar class. It sounds more natural to say: “I didn’t use to be allowed to drink coffee.” *In other words, she did not have permission to drink coffee. Although now she is an adult and can. In the
In the English Grammar Profile, A1 point 5 in CLAUSES/co-ordinated is defined as:
omit the subject in a second main declarative clause when the subject is obvious or the same as the first clause.
CLAUSE + CLAUSE, ELLIPTED SUBJECT Read More »
To understand ‘make + object + adjective’ let’s see how there are many ways to say for example: ‘you make me happy.‘ The meaning is the same as: ‘I am happy because of you.’ ‘You cause me to be happy.’ ‘You are the reason I am happy.’ The grammar of ‘you make me happy’ “you
make + OBJECT + ADJECTIVE ‘make me happy’ Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, point 52 at B1 in ADJECTIVES/position is defined as: adjectives as object complement after ‘make’. *However, this clashes with B2: where ‘it’ introduces a reference. *Note, if you capitalise your search term such as MAKE on iWeb, it will give you all forms of the word. A search in iWeb
MAKE + object + adjective Read More »
Point 95 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: ‘ ‘it’ as an object with ‘make’ to introduce something the speaker or writer is going to refer to. The 2 examples in the EGP follow the structure make|makes it _jj for *although the following adjective might get incorrectly tagged as an adverb. 1
make it (introduce reference) Read More »
B2 PASSIVE causing someone to do something
English Grammar Profile
GET + object + TO infinitive “get them to come” Read More »
We use would be to make suggestions when we want to express our opinion or preference about something. For example:
It would be nice to go to the beach today.
It would be great if you could help me with this project.
WOULD + linking verb + adjective (suggestions | imagined situations) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 180 in the category of MODALITY is defined as: ‘ought to’ with ‘really’ to add emphasis. A search on iWeb for clusters with lexical verbs: 1 REALLY OUGHT TO KNOW 254 2 REALLY OUGHT TO GET 136 3 REALLY OUGHT TO GO 76 4 REALLY OUGHT TO CONSIDER
Rhetorical questions using “how can” serve to engage the reader or listener, provoke thought, and draw attention to the underlying issues or contradictions in a persuasive and reflective manner.
how can (reflections) Read More »
