or two
one or two things |
a day or two
The phrase “or other” is a type of ellipsis, which is a grammatical omission of words that are understood from the context. In this case, the omitted words are the specific details about something that are not important or have been forgotten. The phrase “or other” serves as a placeholder for those details, allowing the speaker or writer to communicate the general idea without having to be specific.
A1 points 1-7 in the English Grammar Profile are listed as:
single word conjunctions (‘and, but, or’):
to connect single nouns and adjectives.
to combine phrases, clauses, and sentences.
‘and’ and ‘or’ before the final item in a list.
‘but’ to add unexpected contrast.
‘because’ as a subordinating conjunction to introduce a subordinate clause.
and | but | or | because Read More »
I don’t quite trust the CEFR level Pearson gives to the following grammar construct. GSE 58 B1+ is defined: ‘so’ in sentence-final positions as a placeholder (substitute) for verbs and verb phrases. It was too expensive. – I told you so. John is from Seattle. – I thought so. ‘So’ has many possible meanings and uses near the end of sentences. When we look at the English
‘SO’ (end of the sentence) Read More »
An alternative question is a question that asks the respondent to choose between two options. In the case of alternative questions with two words from the same class combined with “or,” the two options are words that belong to the same grammatical category. For example, you could ask the following alternative question: Do you prefer
word OR word ? (alternative questions) Read More »
Point 15 in the category of QUESTIONs is defined as: VAGUE alternative question with ‘or something else’ as the second alternative to a noun phrase, to refer to something non-specific. FOR EXAMPLE: Ultimately, does longer life as we know it come down to diet, exercise, medicine, or something else? A search in iWeb for: _N or something else ? 1 ISSUE OR SOMETHING ELSE ?
or something else? Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 22 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: alternative questions with two phrases combined with ‘or’. If we follow the patterns in the EGP examples and search in iWeb with them: or _I _A _NN ? 1 OR IN THE FUTURE? 152 EXAMPLE: Where can we see you perform next or in the future? missguided.co.uk
phrase + OR + phrase ? (alternative question) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 23 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: alternative questions using ‘or not’ to substitute for a clause, sometimes to express annoyance or impatience An iWeb search for: * * or not ? 1 THIS EARNING OR NOT? 287 2 GOOD IDEA OR NOT? 122 Is drinking fruit juices a good idea or not? cityspidey.com 3
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 27 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: alternative questions with two clauses combined with ‘or’. A search in iWeb for or _V _P * ? 1 OR AM I WRONG? 621 2 OR DOES IT MATTER? 287 Villanovan Do you view all these changes in entertainment as good or bad, or does it matter at all? *Note
clause OR clause ? (question) Read More »
The C2 Point 34 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: alternative questions with two or more clauses and ellipsis in the second or third clause. *However, if the ellipsis is of a verb after a Modal it is actually only listed at C1. Considering how odd this complexity is and how difficult it
alternative question (ellipsis) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 50 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as: combine clauses of the same type, main or subordinate, finite or non-finite, with conjunctions. *This is difficult to interpret exactly because at A1, students can omit the subject after ‘and’ or ‘or’. We can start by looking at the structure of
COMBINING CLAUSES OF THE SAME TYPE Read More »
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 »
Point 31 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: alternative questions using an extreme alternative to give greater pragmatic force. This grammar requires manual interpretation, so it is not really something we can automatically find in corpora. There is only one example in the EGP (the fact that there is only one means it
or (STRONG ALTERNATIVE) Read More »
C1 English Grammar Profile point 30 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: alternative questions with two clauses and ellipsis (of the modal) in the second clause, often as a hedging device. *Both of the English Grammar Profile examples contain ‘maybe’ and do not invert as questions usually do. They both seem like weak
ellipted modal – alternative question Read More »
As a conjunction, ‘either’ is used before the first of two or more alternatives, and then the other alternative is introduced by ‘or’. Here’s an example of using the ‘either or’ structure. And so, to be anti-racist, again, is to recognize that there are only two causes of racial inequity: either there’s something wrong with people, or there’s something wrong with power and policy. listen There are two almost identical points in the English Grammar Profile for the following grammar. C1
C2: it is not important which possibility is true
WHETHER * OR NOT (conditional clause) Read More »
‘Another‘ is listed at A2 in the English Vocabulary Profile as a determiner or pronoun, with the meanings: one more person or thing, or an additional amount a different person or thing of the same type In the English Grammar Profile at B1, there are many points covering the use of ‘another’. Considering that they
A2 point 34 in the category of PRONOUNS: ‘something’ in vague expressions, to refer to things in a non-specific way. B2 point 69 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: indefinite pronouns in vague expressions to refer to things in a non-specific way. *The B2 examples given in the EGP are: or_CC anything_PN1 or_CC
OR + indefinite pronouns (vague expressions) Read More »
See, this is really weird, but I had this feeling the minute that the phone rang, I said, Jackie, pick it up, you‘ve got a grandchild. listen Minute is usually a noun, but in the above usage ‘the minute + that CLAUSE‘ it means as soon as. Similary, in the next example, ‘any minute‘ means ‘very soon‘: Colin could you possibly find somewhere else to pray, your brother and sister will be here any minute now. listen 1 MINUTE (NNT1) 645067 (A1 noun) = 60 seconds.