The CEFR C2 level of English is advanced and the users at this level are proficient with their English. They are similar to native speakers of the language. To see the full list of C2 grammar on one page click here.
A search in the NOW corpus for: the _NN2 are that_CST 1 THE CHANCES ARE THAT 2517 C2 *The article is not necessary: It‘s called wage theft, and chances are that you or someone you know has experienced it. TED *’that’ can be omitted: Chances are you know a lot more than you think. listen *Note that the elements can be rearranged: In fact, the chances that you get rejected at some point in your life, at some point this year, are high. TED 2 …
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 …
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 …
MIGHT HAVE BEEN BEING RELEASED
self-driving self-employed self-esteem self-determination
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 …
Here are the most common adjectives ending in -ful found in the NOW corpus: *Note, 60% of them are not included in the English Vocabulary Profile. The twelve most common adjectives that end with the suffix -ful all have positive meanings: 1 SUCCESSFUL 1589851 2 POWERFUL 1151163 3 BEAUTIFUL 1091675 4 WONDERFUL 595077 5 USEFUL …
Here are examples of verbs that suggest ability (or lack of) + the noun phrase ‘the use of’: So how have we enabled the use of goats as a reliable form of currency? TED In that service, he actually lost the use of his legs, he‘s paralyzed and he uses marijuana for pain management. TED In the English Vocabulary Profile: the use of sth = C2 permission to use something, or the ability to use something We are interested in finding which verbs might suggest …
In the English Vocabulary Profile, come in useful|handy are C2. A search in iWeb corpus for: COME IN _JJ . 1 COME IN HANDY. 9001 2 COMES IN HANDY. 4142 Huh, comes in handy on the cash register. listen 3 CAME IN HANDY. 660 4 COME IN USEFUL. 257 All these moves will come in useful in real life when she grows up. listen 5 COMES IN BLACK. 116 This structure …
In the English Vocabulary Profile: NOUN give vent to = C2 to express strong anger or another strong feeling VERB vent your anger/frustration, etc. = C2 to do or say something to show your anger or another strong, bad feeling A search for collocates in iWeb for: gave vent to (gave is more common) 1 …
In the English Vocabulary Profile, on the threshold of sth = C2 at the start of a new and important time or development be on the verge of sth/doing sth = C2 to be going to happen or to do something very soon Here are the top 20 collocations of ‘on the verge of‘ in …
Why say “is of interest” instead of “is interesting“? ‘is of + noun‘ is more formal and in academic writing, we use the noun form of a word more often. More importantly, ‘of+noun’ functions as a noun in this position. Therefore, it can often collocate correctly with modifiers. For example: “greatest interest” is much more …
Much to my surprise, and Much to the surprise of someone, are ‘comment adverbial phrases’. This structure is not listed in the English Vocabulary or Grammar Profile, so we turn to the Longman dictionary: FORMAL used to say that someone feels very surprised, embarrassed etc when something happens A search in NOW corpus for: . …
‘Twee‘ is unlisted in the English Vocabulary Profile. Google Oxford defines it as: BRITISH excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental. adverb: affectedly in a way that is artificial, pretentious, and designed to impress. adjective: quaint attractively unusual or old-fashioned. adjective sentimental of or prompted by feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia. — A search for collocates …
can’t/couldn’t very well do sth = used to say that something is not a suitable or practical thing to do
You can’t very well expect other people to be nice to you if you aren’t willing to lead the way.
English Vocabulary Profile at C2
There is no mention of ‘subjunctive’ in the English Grammar Profile. There are some points such as the second conditional though that indirectly cover it. For this reason, we suggest that sentences using other subjunctive forms that are not conditional or listed elsewhere, be considered as C2. Here are that clause examples from Wikipedia: It‘s crucial that he be here by noon. …
Here are C2 phrases in the English Vocabulary Profile: A search in Now corpus: 1 WITHIN REACH 20327 = within somebody’s reach = possible for someone to achieve We are beginning to see that it is possible to unite beyond borders, that it is within our reach. TED 2 WITHIN REASON 3721 = acceptable and possible A search for collocates in COCA: 1 ANYTHING 23 There was nothing I wanted more and I was willing to do anything within reason to achieve that goal. Christian Science Monitor 2 …
At C2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: work out = to understand something or to find the answer to something by thinking about it A search in NOW corpus for which ‘question words’ follow phrasal verbs: work out _*Q 1 WORK OUT HOW 12286 Just give us five minutes, Mr Poirot, and I‘m sure we‘ll be able to work out how you did it. listen 2 WORK OUT WHAT 11671 …
Here’s an example of a C2 phrase in the English Vocabulary Profile that means: worry that something very bad will happen or that something very bad has happened We fear the worst. TED A search for collocates of ‘fear the worst‘ in the NOW corpus: 1 COME 126 2 YET 114 3 BEGAN 59 4 EXPERTS 31 Experts initially feared the worst. …
At C2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: If it is worth your while doing something, it is useful or enjoyable to do it. A search in the NOW corpus for: * * worth _AP while 1 MAKE IT WORTH YOUR WHILE 738 2 MAKE IT WORTH THEIR WHILE 413 Adam Smith was convinced that human beings were by their very natures lazy, and wouldn’t do anything unless you made it worth their while, and the way you made it worth …
