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.
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 …
We are interested in finding the most common noun phrases after ‘open to‘ that complete more abstract ideas such as willingness to consider something or something is likely to happen. In the English Vocabulary Profile: open to discussion/suggestions, etc. = C1 willing to consider a discussion/suggestions, etc. open to abuse/criticism, etc. = C2 likely to …
In this post, we explore long complex noun phrases in the object position after the verb ‘have‘. Here is a search in the iWeb corpus for: _VH _A _JJ _NN of 1 HAS A LONG HISTORY OF 12459 C1+ Huff Hoyle has a long history of bad business practices. listen 2 HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF 9459 B1 You have a wide range …
A search in the NOW corpus for TAKE * _NN1 _TO _VVI 1 TOOK TO TWITTER TO SHARE 5632 UNLISTED And fans were angry and they took to Twitter with the hashtag #WeWantLeia. TED 2 TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK 5134 B2 We want to take this opportunity to thank you for coming and taking the time to pay your respects. listen 3 TOOK TO TWITTER TO EXPRESS 3331 4 TAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ENSURE 2530 5 TAKES A VILLAGE TO …
In this post, we look for longer noun phrases with advanced vocabulary in the MOVIE corpus with the query: _AT _NN of _AT _JJ _NN 1 A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY 59 2 A HELL OF A LONG TIME 31 3 THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 27 4 A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL …
article + noun + OF + article + adjective + noun Read More »
one or two things |
a day or two
In this post, we search for the most common adjectives found before the noun ‘order‘. For example: Now, that might sound pretty good, but ask yourself what would happen under our current economic and political order? TED A search in the NOW corpus for _J order_N 1 PUBLIC ORDER 37962 2 RESTRAINING ORDER 35066 3 STAY-AT-HOME ORDER 21381 4 NEW ORDER 20398 5 MIDDLE ORDER 16531 6 INTERIM …
If specific details about something are not important or have been forgotten, we can use phrases with ‘or other‘. For example: When you didn’t return and time was getting on, I imagined you‘d be sticking your nose in somewhere or other that you shouldn’t be. listen A search in the NOW corpus for: * * or other . 1 SOME FORM OR OTHER. 197 2 SOME WAY OR OTHER. 139 So the way of treating these diseases in early times was to, in some way or …
MIGHT HAVE BEEN BEING RELEASED
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
We profile this prepositional construction at B1 because ‘no‘ can be used to pre-modify nouns at A2. However, it is usually found with extremely advanced phrases related to negative statements. A search in iWeb corpus for: to_II no _NN 1 TO NO AVAIL 26494 C2 unlisted in the EVP They tried to bring a case against her but to no avail. listen 2 TO …
At A2, in the Oxford learner’s dictionary, when ‘All’ is an adverb, it can mean ‘completely’. Also, adverbs pre-modifying prepositions are found at A2, B1 and C1 in the English Grammar Profile. We can search for ALL + prepositional phrases in iWeb corpus with: _DB _II _A _NN *not every result will be ‘all‘ as …
A search in iWeb corpus for: _VB _VVN by 1 BE USED BY 82353 C2 treat someone badly in order to get what you want I knew he wouldn’t take it well, that he‘d be angry with me, but why is he allowing himself to be used by them? A United Kingdom 2 IS CAUSED BY 64234 3 IS DETERMINED BY 56481 C1 Eighty percent of what we are and what we do is determined by our genetic expression. listen 4 BE CAUSED BY 56024 5 IS USED …
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 IN 50638 6 TAKING PART IN 44691 7 …
A search in iWeb corpus for Lexical verb + noun phrase + prepositional phrase _VV _AT _NN _II 1 TAKE A LOOK AT 296242 B1 Let’s take a look at the rest of the house first. listen 2 KEEP AN EYE ON 61814 B2 We will definitely keep an eye on her for you. listen 3 MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN 32648 B2 I‘d like to help my country make a difference …
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 …
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 …
We generally understand that interjections express sudden feelings and emotions such as pleasure, anger, disappointment, shock, surprise, and excitement. Formally, these words often proceed with punctuation marks, which are most often but not always exclamation points, and they are often ‘thrown’ in between sentences. However, exact definitions are not so precise once we look at …
B2 To cause something means to make it happen. This is often a bad thing/negative. Here are some advanced causative examples : I think the jury is entitled to know what powerful force has caused him to change his mind. listen This tidal wave of high-energy particles excites atmospheric atoms such as oxygen and nitrogen, causing them to rapidly shed photons at various energy levels. TED A search in the NOW corpus for: CAUSE _P _TO _VVI 1 CAUSED HIM TO MISS 2458 2 CAUSING HIM TO FALL 1518 3 …
