August 2021

must see

Usually, ‘must’ is a modal verb. You must see this movie. You must see the difference. (see can mean understand/notice) However, ‘must’ can be a noun. It’s a must. = This is a thing that you must do. There are new combinations: As an adjective: It’s a must-see movie. =  It’s a movie that you must see. As […]

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May be vs maybe (possibility)

Here we explain the differences between may be and maybe ‘maybe‘ is usually an adverb that means ‘perhaps’ or ‘possibly’. ‘may‘ is usually a modal auxiliary verb with many uses related to ‘possibility’, ‘permission’ etc. He is in Vietnam.  (sure.) He may be in Vietnam. (50% sure.) Maybe, he is in Vietnam. (50% sure.) ‘be’

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Children’s grammar?

We love testing the grammar profiler app against all types of texts.  The following comes from an 8-year-old in grade 3 in an Australian primary school.  She was asked to write a paragraph about anything.  The CLAWS7 tagger had a problem marking the part of speech for a few words since they are new.  And

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THERE + is | are | was | were

In English grammar, “there is” and “there are” are commonly used to indicate the existence or presence of something.

“There is” is used when the noun following it is singular. For example, “There is a book on the table.”
“There are” is used when the noun following it is plural. For example, “There are many books on the shelf.”
These phrases can be used in various tenses by adjusting the form of the verb “be”. For instance, you could say “There was a time when I was everything to you,” using the past tense. However, this usage is typically considered more advanced and may be classified as A2 level in some learning resources.

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irregular plural noun + ‘s + noun

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 44 in the category of DETERMINERS is defined as: ‘S after irregular plural nouns to indicate possession. Here’s an expert example: Women‘s organizations were active participants from the beginning. (Listen to this sentence) A search in iWeb for: _NN2 _GE _NN We removed those that are not irregular. 1 CHILDREN ‘S HOSPITAL 34865 2 MEN ‘S

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