September 2020

LONG

A search in iWeb for the part of speech of ‘long’: 1 LONG (JJ) 3552089 adjective 2 LONG (RR) 1695369 adverb   5 LONG (CS32) 727692 B2 complex subordinating conjunction: He says he‘s waited as long as he can for Batman to do the right thing. 6 LONG (RR22) 93610 C1 complex adverbial phrase ‘for long’ But if it went wrong, I would not want to live like that for long. 9 LONG (VVI) 48001 verb 14 LONG […]

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JUST

The word ‘just’ is most often used as a general adverb. Here are a few examples that showcase its usage in this context: “He’s just a beginner in playing the piano.” In this sentence, ‘just’ is used to convey that the person is only a beginner and implies a sense of being at the early

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VERB + NOUN + VERB

It seems impossible to find a lexical base verb after lexical verb + noun. 1 GET (VVI) THINGS (NN2) DONE (VDN) 15273 2 MAKE (VVI) ENDS (NN2) MEET (VVI) 12084 3 GETTING (VVG) THINGS (NN2) DONE (VDN) 7515 4 LET (VVI) PEOPLE (NN) KNOW (VVI) 6309 5 HAVING (VHG) TROUBLE (NN1) GETTING (VVG) 6301 6

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AROUND

1 AROUND (II) 2642412 2 AROUND (RP) 2001519 1 BEEN (VBN) AROUND (RP) FOR (IF) 57254 2 WAY (NN1) AROUND (RP) . (.) 26838 3 TIME (NNT1) AROUND (RP) . (.) 23802 4 TIME (NNT1) AROUND (RP) , (,) 22216 5 PLAY (VVI) AROUND (RP) WITH (IW) 20354 6 PLAYING (VVG) AROUND (RP) WITH (IW)

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ACROSS

The word ‘across’ is most often a preposition.  It can also be a locative adverb or adverb particle. Often the meaning is ‘opposite’: We‘ll be right across from you. listen   Tagging doesn’t always get it right.  THIS IS NOT A PHRASAL VERB (come across something).  For example: Police think the single shot came from across the street. listen 1 (II) As a preposition, ‘across’ precedes

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verb + general ADVERB + indefinite article + noun phrase

A search in iWeb corpus for: _V _RR _AT1 1 IS ALSO A 431112 It is also a legal requirement in most countries,  but above everything else,  it helps every business and every organization become more inclusive.   2 IS (VBZ) JUST (RR) A (AT1) 186187 3 IS (VBZ) STILL (RR) A (AT1) 126059 4 IS (VBZ) ALWAYS (RR) A (AT1) 99232 5 WAS (VBDZ) ALSO (RR) A (AT1) 98531 6 ‘S (VBZ) JUST (RR)

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SO MUCH | A LOT adverbial phrases in end position

The text discusses the use of “so much” and “a lot” as adverbs of degree in English grammar. These phrases modify verbs to indicate a high degree or intensity of an action. For example, in the sentence “You bother me a lot”, “a lot” intensifies the verb “bother”. Similarly, in “He loved it so much that he continued to show up every week”, “so much” intensifies “loved” and the phrase “so much that” establishes a cause-effect relationship between the high degree of love and the action of showing up every week.

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BEFORE

“Before” is a versatile word in English, functioning as a preposition, subordinating conjunction, and time adverb. As a preposition, it connects a noun or pronoun to another word, indicating something happens earlier than the time or event mentioned. As a subordinating conjunction, it connects two clauses, showing a relationship between them. As a time adverb, it modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb to indicate when something happens. Examples from various corpora illustrate these uses.

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lexical verb + general adverb

Here’s an idiomatic and advanced example of a lexical verb followed by an adverb: I think I‘ve always had a talent for painting and drawing. I think it‘s something that came naturally. listen It is much rarer to follow a lexical verb by a general adverb than a preposition or adverb of degree. In this search in iWeb corpus, we have removed results that do not match the criteria or

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lexical verb + degree adverb

Following a lexical verb with a degree adverb is possible but much rarer than following a lexical verb with a preposition and a little rarer than following a lexical verb with a general adverb. Here we have kept the results with _VV _RG 11 TAKES ABOUT 36989 All in all, the process takes about a month, give or take. listen 12 LOOKS VERY 34563

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lexical verb + preposition

A search in iWeb corpus for: _VV _II sometimes catches past participles that might be considered adjectives. *doesn’t include ‘with’ and ‘for’ 1 BASED ON 2713989 2 KNOWN AS 1156665 This is what is known as a precautionary measure. listen 3 COMES TO 937726 4 COMPARED TO 832204 5 LOOKING AT 822174 6 GO TO 800246 (two verb forms) 7 GO

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OVER

We use claws7 tagging software to analyze the part of speech of ‘over’.  Claws7 is used in iWeb corpus so it is easy to also look for examples. I go_VV0 over_RP the_AT bridge_NN1 ._. (if lexical verb before then ‘over’ is a particle, regardless if followed by a noun or prepositional phrase) I go_VV0 over_RP

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comparative adjective list

BETTER AIRIER ANGRIER APTER BADDER BALDER BEEFIER BETTER-INFORMED BETTER-KNOWN BETTER-LOOKING BETTER-OFF BETTER-THAN-EXPECTED BIGGER BLACKER BLEAKER BLONDER BLOODIER BLUER BLUNTER BLURRIER BOLDER BOSSIER BOUNCIER BRAINIER BRASHER BRAVER BRIEFER BRIGHTER BROADER BROWNER BULKIER BUMPIER BUSHIER BUSIER BUSTIER CALMER CAMPER CATHETER CHEAPER CHEWIER CHILLIER CHUNKIER CLASSIER CLEANER CLEARER CLEVERER CLOSER CLOUDIER CLUNKIER COARSER COLDER COMFIER COOLER COSTLIER COZIER

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NOUN + ADJECTIVE

1 YEARS (NNT2) OLD (JJ) 539284 2 YEAR (NNT1) OLD (JJ) 384604 3 ATTORNEY (NN1) GENERAL (JJ) 80829 4 OPTIONS (NN2) AVAILABLE (JJ) 76190 5 MONTHS (NNT2) OLD (JJ) 54992 6 INFORMATION (NN1) AVAILABLE (JJ) 39309 7 ENERGY (NN1) EFFICIENT (JJ) 38041 8 FEET (NN2) TALL (JJ) 34023 9 MONTH (NNT1) OLD (JJ) 33878 10

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