The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is one standard for describing English language ability. It is divided from A1 for beginners to C2 for mastery. English Grammar Pro uses this for all of its grammar posts.
I am reading higher than normal alcohol levels in your bloodstream, sir. listen to the pronunciation “higher than normal” refers to the alcohol levels in the bloodstream being above the standard or average range. This could be due to recent consumption of alcohol. The exact range for “normal” can vary, but typically, a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% is considered legally impaired in […]
comparative + THAN + adjective Read More »
After a passive verb phrase (or a past participle as an adjective), the preposition “for” indicates purpose or reason. Here are the results of a search in the iWeb corpus for: _VB _VVN for 1 BE USED FOR 284604 Crush. It‘s funny how the same word for the feeling of attraction can be used for the feeling of disappointment. listen 2 IS KNOWN FOR 97688 And he is known for being a liar. listen The sentence “he is known
BE + past participle + FOR Read More »
The phrase “at a time” means during any one period or in each instance. Here are some examples and explanations: I can only do one thing at a time. This means I cannot multitask or focus on more than one task in each moment. She reads two books at a time. This means she reads two books
(number) noun + AT A TIME Read More »
Here are the iWeb search results for an attempt to get double hyphenated nouns: *-*_N *Note that many of these results may be adjectives. Most of these will be at the very least B2. 1 ONE-OF-A-KIND 40130 2 STEP-BY-STEP 23794 3 MOTHER-IN-LAW 22141 Your mother-in-law invited me. listen 4 BROTHER-IN-LAW 21775 5 SON-IN-LAW 20170 6 SISTER-IN-LAW 17571 7
double hyphen words Read More »
English grammar tells us that: I haven’t got a clue. I don’t have a clue. are the correct ways to express negative possession. However, there is the rarer, older British sounding: I haven’t a clue. Notice that a superlative phrase is common to give emphasis: I haven’t the slightest idea how he works. listen Here are the search results from
HAVE NOT + noun phrase Read More »
Here are the search results in the iWeb corpus for: _NN _I mind 1 PEACE OF MIND 92742 C2 “Peace of mind” is a noun phrase that means a feeling of being safe or protected, or a mental state of calmness or tranquility. For example: And it‘s peace of mind for me, you know? listen 2 STATE OF MIND 30565 It is my opinion that Senior Chief Kelly is
noun + preposition + MIND Read More »
There is no specific point in the English Grammar Profile that suggests that “It was here that” is an example of introducing a cleft sentence for focus. We know that inversion starts around the B1 level but this may be C2 Clefting similar to that with nouns. Looking at the low frequency in the iWeb corpus
It + BE + location + that CLAUSE Read More »
The mouth of something can mean the place where a river flows into the sea or a larger body of water. For example: We‘ve got to get our hero, Captain Willard, to the mouth of the Nung River so he can go pursue Colonel Kurtz. TED It was here that Homer described the Greek encampment at the mouth of the Scamander River. TED Located at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal, this coastal village was built on top of the Meghna River delta. TED It
A locative adverb is a type of adverb that refers to a location or to a combination of a location and a relation to that location. For example, here, there, inside, outside, etc. A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and another word in the sentence. For example, in, on, at, by, etc.
locative adverb + preposition Read More »
BE + adjective + NEWS FOR expresses an opinion or a reaction to some information. For example, you might say, “It’s good news for the environment that the government banned plastic bags.” The adjective describes how the speaker feels about the news, and the preposition FOR introduces who or what the news affects. For example,
BE + adjective + NEWS FOR Read More »
These are the search results in iWeb for: no_AT _DA * 1 NO MORE THAN 156094 C2 grammar This phrase means “not more than” and it is used to express an upper limit. 2 NO SUCH THING 49851 B2 is a phrase that means “it does not exist.” It is used to deny the existence
NO + post-determiner Read More »
The phrase “return to normal” means to go back to the way things were before a change or disruption. It can be used in a variety of contexts, such as: After a natural disaster: “The city is slowly returning to normal after the hurricane.” After a pandemic: “We hope to return to normal soon after the pandemic
lexical verb + preposition + NORMAL Read More »
‘Suppose‘ can mean let’s imagine or consider the following situation or example. For example: Suppose they rejected an 18th-century classification system and incorporated instead the most advanced knowledge of human genetic diversity and unity, that human beings cannot be categorized into biological races. TED It’s almost as if this imperative subordinates the whole sentence. And we are waiting for the following result clause or sentence. ‘that‘ can be used or not used. Suppose that the variants reach a hypothetical isolated city of 1 million people who are completely susceptible to both viruses on the same day. TED Supposing, for example,
suppose | supposing CONDITIONAL Read More »
Are you allowed to say that?
Are you attracted to me?
Were you born in a barn?
What’s it called?
passive questions VS questions with adjectives Read More »
Here is an example of B2 focus with a singular noun phrase at the front of a sentence: The problem is that she wants a bottle of red wine. listen It is easy to find information about singular noun phrases + that clauses on the internet: We use a noun + that-clause to express opinions and feelings, often about certainty and possibility. We
plural noun phrase + ARE + THAT clause Read More »
Particularizers are a category of adverbs that focus attention on what follows them, without excluding other possibilities. They are used to modify verbs and adjectives and can be found at different levels of English Vocabulary Profile such as A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2.
The TED corpus has some examples of particularizers used in natural chunks. For example, “especially when it comes” is a 4-gram chunk that is at least C1 level. “Largely due to” is another 3-gram chunk that is at least C1 level. “Mainly because” is a 2-gram chunk that is at least B2 level.
LEAVE ME ALONE
TAKE IT EASY
GET IT RIGHT
DRIVING ME CRAZY
lexical verb + noun phrase + adjective Read More »
In this post, we look at adverbial phrases with the pronoun ‘one‘. In the English Vocabulary Profile: (all) in one = C2 combined into a single thing one by one= B2 separately, one after the other Frequency in iWeb corpus: one by one 135405 all in one 60329 For example: What if they asked, you could use them as a living probiotic drink and health monitor, all in one? TED
all in one | one by one Read More »
Most reporting or mental processing constructions that introduce object clauses are listed at A2 or B1 in the English Grammar Profile. We believe that if adverbs are also included, this probably shows B2 ability. To check this, we look in the TLC speaking tests and find that the most common example only starts being used at
subject + adverb + lexical verb + clause Read More »
