In the English Vocabulary Profile at B1, listed as pronouns: WHAT = THE THING = used to refer to something without naming it WHATEVER = anything or everything However, one of their examples is a cleft for focus: What I like most about her is her honesty. is C1 when it is a noun CLAUSE subject. Similarly, we cover ‘whatever’ in more detail […]
WHAT | WHATEVER noun clause Read More »
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 »
Point 213 in MODALITY is defined as: ‘may’ in a subordinate clause expressing concession with ‘however’, ‘whatever’, ‘whoever’ + ‘it or this may be or seem Our examples: All you’ve got to go on is streams of electrical impulses, which are only indirectly related to things in the world, whatever they may be. Compromises can be struck, however difficult it yet may be. A search in iWeb for: however _JJ it|this may_V be|seem 1
however | whoever | whatever + may + seem Read More »
In the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘Whatever’ is listed as a pronoun at B1 meaning ‘anything’ or ‘everything’, one example they give is: Whatever I say I always seem to get it wrong. This EVP example could be rewritten as: I always seem to get whatever I say wrong. As a pronoun or a determiner at B2 meaning ‘no difference’: Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy a wonderful summer. It could be rewritten as I hope you enjoy a wonderful summer
whatever | wherever | whenever | however Read More »
Wh-relatives can be preceded by a preposition unlike ‘that’ or ‘zero’ relatives. For example: This is the thing which I am interested in. (stranded preposition) This is the thing in which I am interested. (fronted preposition) This is the thing that I am interested in. (stranding) This is the thing I am interested in. (‘zero’ relative pronoun and stranding) In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 12 in the category of PREPOSITIONs is defined as: preposition + relative pronoun as complement, to
fronted preposition + relative pronoun Read More »
