modal verb + HAVE BEEN BEING + past participle
MIGHT HAVE BEEN BEING RELEASED
continuous
- The ‘continuous‘ ( also known as ‘progressive’) aspect expresses an incomplete action or state at a specific time.
- It is not habitual.
- It is a verb phrase/construction that contains a form of: ‘BE’ + verb-ING
to be being
There is no entry in the English Grammar Profile for the continuous infinitive passive. Therefore, we say this is a C2 grammar structure. A search in NOW corpus for: * to be being * 1 BELIEVED TO BE BEING HELD 18 The following example has past passive + infinitive + continuous passive: The driver of the lorry was believed to be being held by police. …
past perfect continuous passive
Because there is no past perfect continuous passive in the English Grammar Profile, we can say it is C2. A search in NOW corpus shows that this grammar is extremely rare. 1 HAD BEEN BEING TREATED 10 The woman had left the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, where she had been being treated. belfastlive.co.uk 2 HAD BEEN BEING ABUSED 7 3 ‘D BEEN BEING ABUSED 7 4 HAD …
can be + VERB-ing
What can be going through a man‘s mind at this moment? The Right Stuff The verb phrase “can be going” in the sentence above expresses possibility or uncertainty. The speaker is not sure what is going through the man’s mind, but they are asking for possible explanations. The word “going” is a present participle, which is a verb form that is used here to …
ing forms
On this website, ing forms are best located in our posts by searching for the tag: VVG A search in the iWeb corpus for _VVG gives the most common ing forms as follows: 1 USING 9077632 2 GOING 8570578 3 MAKING 4986719 4 LOOKING 4903064 5 WORKING 4440144 6 GETTING 4427697 7 TAKING 3186185 8 …
past continuous affirmative
The grammar of the past continuous tense is as follows: Subject + was/were + present participle For example: I was becoming more and more tired as the day went on. The plants were growing very quickly in the warm weather. Something strange was happening in the forest. The past continuous tense is used to describe …
past perfect continuous questions
Here are some examples of past perfect continuous questions:
He just did something very unusual. WHAT HAD HE BEEN THINKING?
She was really sick in the taxi. HAD SHE BEEN DRINKING?
NOT ONLY + present perfect continuous (inversion) + BUT
Adverb expressions such as ‘not only’, ‘not just’, and ‘not simply’ emphasize that something is true, but it is not the whole truth. These co-ordinate clauses. In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 92 in the category of PAST is defined: present perfect continuous, invert the subject and affirmative auxiliary verb with ‘not only … but’ …
NOT ONLY + present perfect continuous (inversion) + BUT Read More »
I am asking | wanting (polite)
C2 English Grammar Profile point 38 in the category of PRESENT/continuous is defined as: POLITENESS: with verbs that are not usually used in this form to make statements and requests sound less direct. EXAMPLES: I am asking us to use our power to choose. I am asking us to level up. TED We are asking businesses not to produce and consumers not to go out and consume. TED An iWeb search for I|We am|are asking|wanting * …
will not be VERBing
B1 FUTURE continuous NEGATIVE WITH ‘WILL’ (won’t)
English Grammar Profile
past continuous question
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 28 in the category of PAST is defined: past continuous question form Here’s an iWeb search for: was|were _P _VVG *not all these will lead to questions. 1 WERE YOU THINKING 2389 EXPERT EXAMPLE: What were you thinking? stuff.co.nz 2 WAS I GOING 2198 3 WERE THEY THINKING 1716 4 WERE YOU …
present perfect continuous questions
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 31 in the category of PAST is defined: present perfect continuous: QUESTIONS with a limited range of verbs. Note that questions are generally low frequency in the CLC probably due to lack of spoken data. *Also note that there are no other entries for ‘range of verbs’ PELIC …
BECAUSE + past continuous
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 37 in the category of PAST/continuous is defined: give a reason for something, often with ‘because’ PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: I could not focus on my reading at all, after a while because I was sweating hard. Chinese male, level 5, writing class An iWeb search for: because * _VBD _VVG 1 BECAUSE I WAS TRYING 1574 I only got you those bloody business cards because I was trying to be cute. listen …
past continuous negative
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 39 in the category of PAST is simply defined as: past continuous NEGATIVE TLC STUDENT SPEAKING TEST example: (discussing saving money as a child) I was saving. I was not eating chocolates. I was just spending my money on my studies. male India B1 An iWeb search: _VBD _XX _VVG 1 WASN’T GOING 29202 2 WAS NOT GOING 16267 3 …
had been + VERBing
Point 27 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous: an action or event which began before a point in the past and was still continuing up to that point, often with ‘for’ or ‘since’, to give background information. Point 32 in the PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous: background action …
BE + being + PAST PARTICIPLE
In the English Grammar Profile, there are two B1 passive grammar points that overlap to some degree. point 7 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: PRESENT CONTINUOUS, AFFIRMATIVE limited range of verbs point 9 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: PRESENT CONTINUOUS, FUTURE REFERENCE There are no examples of this grammar …
present continuous (rhetorical questions)
Point 35 in PRESENT continuous is defined as: question forms to ask rhetorical questions. For example, the first three questions asked the speaker does not expect an answer. So we said that we have seven million deaths caused by air pollution every year. Are we panicking? Are we keeping calm? Are we declaring a national …
may | might + FUTURE CONTINUOUS
C1 English Grammar Profile point 65 in the category of future is defined as: EXPECTATIONS WITH ‘MIGHT’ OR ‘MAY’ potentially in progress at a specified or understood time in the future. A search in iWeb: might|may_V be _VVG *Not all of these are about the future. 1 MAY BE WONDERING 10730 2 MAY BE LOOKING …
past perfect continuous in a relative clause
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 78 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous in relative clauses to give background information. For example: I was scrolling on social media, and I saw a friend who had been sharing positive news stories. TED A search in iWeb corpus for: who|that|which had been _vvg gives us the most common continuous verbs found in past perfect continuous relative …
past perfect continuous + adverb ‘had already been doing’
B2 English Grammar Profile point 76 in the category of PAST is: past perfect continuous WITH ADVERBS in the normal mid position For example: I had just been doing some reading. listen An iWeb search for: had _rr been _vvg 1 HAD ALREADY BEEN WORKING 359 2 HAD ALREADY BEEN USING 210 3 HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN USING 122 4 HAD ALSO …
past perfect continuous + adverb ‘had already been doing’ Read More »