Verb patterns with ‘not to be’ generally fall between A2 and B1. If they are also negated, non-finite, passive or ellipted they should be at least B2. A search in the NOW corpus for: not to be * * 1 NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH 10259 Not to be confused with the diary of Anne Hathaway which we stole out of her purse at the Gotham Awards. listen 2 NOT […]
self-driving self-employed self-esteem self-determination
SELF-word (hyphenated prefix) Read More »
I have little to no interest in politics. (I have very little or no interest in politics.)
There is next to no evidence for his claim. (There is almost no evidence for his claim.)
She left but to no avail. (She left but it was useless.)
( LITTLE | NEXT | BUT ) TO NO + noun Read More »
At A2 level in the Oxford learner’s dictionary, ‘All’ as an adverb can mean ‘completely’.
Adverbs pre-modifying prepositions are found at A2, B1, and C1 levels in the English Grammar Profile.
The iWeb corpus was searched for ALL + prepositional phrases using the pattern _DB _II _A _NN. However, not every result represents ‘all’ as an adverb.
Some of the most common phrases include ‘All around the world’, ‘All across the country’, and ‘All along the way’, among others.
Each phrase is used in a unique context. For example, ‘All around the world’ is often used when referring to a global phenomenon or distribution, as in “Television rights have been sold all around the world”. Similarly, ‘All along the way’ can be used to indicate a consistent pattern or presence across a process or journey, as in “Black girls are overrepresented all along the way”.
ALL + preposition + noun phrase Read More »
A detailed analysis of the structure “BE + past participle + BY”, which is commonly used to form passive voice sentences in English. This structure consists of a form of the verb “to be”, a past participle, and the preposition “by”. The webpage also includes examples from the iWeb corpus, showcasing how this structure is used in various contexts. Some of the most common phrases include “BE USED BY”, “IS CAUSED BY”, and “IS DETERMINED BY”. The examples illustrate how this structure allows us to focus on the action and its impact, rather than on who or what performed the action.
BE + past participle + BY phrase Read More »
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
A search in iWeb corpus for: _VV _P _AT1 _NN 1 GIVE IT A TRY 48224 B2 We have to give it a try. listen 2 GIVE US A CALL 38081 3 GIVE YOU AN IDEA 24523 4 GIVE IT A GO 19538 5 GIVE IT A SHOT 14861 6 SEND US AN EMAIL 10866 A2 You know, why
lexical verb + pronoun + indefinite article + noun Read More »
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 »
In this post, we are looking at more advanced uses of the ‘preposition + article + noun phrase‘ structure. For example: I just came on the spur of the moment. listen I was just in the mood for a little conversation. Even Money My life has been extraordinarily blessed with marriage and children and certainly interesting work to do, whether it be at the University of Sydney Law School, where I served a term as dean, or now as I sit on the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in Geneva. TED Someone‘s in a mood. listen Your mother will be over the
preposition + article + noun Read More »
A search in iWeb corpus for: _NN of 1 PART OF 4885158 _VV part of 1 BECOME PART OF 45393 Adele has become part of the country’s psyche. listen 2 FORM PART OF 18038 When on duty, you will form part of the armed forces. listen 3 BECAME PART OF 16702 4 FORMS PART OF 13260 5 BECOMES PART OF 8361 6 CONSIDERED PART OF 7249 7 BECOMING
I don’t get time for a cup of coffee? Nobody’s Fool A search in iWeb corpus for: _VV _NN _II 1 TAKE PART IN 104907 What brought you to take part in this outrage? listen 2 PAY ATTENTION TO 93080 Don’t pay attention to him. Pay attention to me. listen 3 TAKE PLACE IN 63015 Our marriage will take place in the Poconos. listen 4 TOOK PLACE IN 55684 5 TAKES PLACE
lexical verb + noun + preposition 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 »
A search in the iWeb corpus for: at _APPGE _NN 1 AT HIS HOME 25665 *Although this is basic grammar, it often reports the locations of crimes such as murder. For example: A man has been shot dead at his home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs last night. listen 2 AT YOUR FINGERTIPS 24481 C2 What’s it like to have such power at your fingertips? listen 3 AT YOUR DISPOSAL 17599
preposition + possessive determiner + noun Read More »
The following grammar pattern does not have an entry in the English Profile. It relates to questions with stranded prepositions which are generally pegged at B2. It also relates to either A1 possession or ownership = have got or A2 modality = have got to do something. The overall complexity of this pattern is at least
What + HAVE + PRONOUN + got to be Read More »
One could argue that being able to front the following ‘indefinite’ time phrases shows evidence of a higher CEFR level. A search in iWeb corpus for: . _II _NNT2 , 1 . AT TIMES, 11672 C1 → C2 She still misses him at times, but we all do. listen Kit accused me of only being along for the ride while at times I wished he‘d fall in the river and drown, so I could watch. At times, I actually like it. listen 2 . WITHIN
prepositon + plural time Read More »
A search in the NOW corpus for: at_II _AT1 _NN 1 AT A TIME 475982 2 AT A PRESS 98426 3 AT A COST 80801 4 AT A MEETING 65340 5 AT A NEWS 61714 6 AT A PRICE 54148 7 AT AN EVENT 49461 8 AT A CAGR 44712 9 AT A RATE 41236
AT + indefinite article + noun Read More »
A search in NOW corpus for: _VB _XX at _NN _TO 1 ARE NOT AT LIBERTY TO 260 2 ‘M NOT AT LIBERTY TO 220 Who‘s your client? I‘m not at liberty to say. listen 3 AM NOT AT LIBERTY TO 217 4 IS NOT AT LIBERTY TO 149 5 WAS NOT AT LIBERTY TO 118 6 ‘RE NOT
BE + at + NOUN + to INFINITIVE Read More »
A search in iWeb corpus for: at the _NN of 1 AT THE END OF 947125 2 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF 332126 3 AT THE TIME OF 315200 4 AT THE TOP OF 304001 5 AT THE BOTTOM OF 207682 6 AT THE BEGINNING OF 193966 7 AT THE AGE OF 140280 8 AT THE
at the + NOUN + of Read More »
The text discusses the use of interjections in language, which are words that express sudden feelings and emotions such as pleasure, anger, disappointment, shock, surprise, and excitement. These words often come with punctuation marks and are usually inserted between sentences.
The text also presents a search result from the NOW corpus for the frequency of interjections. The most frequent interjections are ‘YES’ and ‘NO’, which are sometimes classified as interjections but do not always express emotion or act as calls for attention. They are sometimes classified as a part of speech in their own right: sentence words or word sentences.
The text provides examples of how ‘YES’, ‘NO’, and other interjections like ‘OH’, ‘YEAH’, ‘HEY’, etc., are used to express various emotions. It also notes that there is no entry in the English Profile or Collins dictionary for ‘yes’ used to express emotion, suggesting this is not an A1 cando. However, ‘Yeah’ is listed at A2 as an exclamation, and ‘No’ as an exclamation is listed in the Collins dictionary at A2.
The text concludes with a list of the top 100 most common interjections according to the NOW corpus, with ‘YES’, ‘NO’, and ‘OH’ being the top three.
interjections & other sentence words Read More »
A monotransitive verb requires a subject and a direct object in order to form a sentence.
subject verb object Read More »
