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.
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 16 in the category of REPORTED SPEECH is defined as: events in the past with backshifts for tenses and words relating to time Automatic searches for this are impossible but we can look in corpora for combinations of told * previous|following * _nnt since these all exist in the […]
temporal shift & time words Read More »
Point 15 in the category of REPORTED SPEECH / DIRECT SPEECH is defined as: the reporting verb in the mid position of the reported clause. Here’s a list of the 10 most common B2 reporting verbs found in the mid position: claimed, commented, muttered, observed, recalled, remarked, responded, sighed, stated, whispered This is a very
reporting clause (mid position) Read More »
The English Grammar Profile B2 point 14 in REPORTED SPEECH is defined as: ‘ask’ or ‘tell’ + direct object + ‘not’ + ‘to-‘infinitive. This point can be extended with Pearson’s GSE 60 B2 report orders, requests and advice with infinitive clauses. She told me not to do it. He warned us not to be late. *Pearson also includes an affirmative example: ‘She encouraged him to
He told me not to do it (negative request) Read More »
Point 13 in REPORTED SPEECH (DIRECT SPEECH) is defined as: Report speech directly inverting the subject and verb in the reporting clause where the subject is a proper noun or noun phrase. A search in iWeb for: ” thought|said|asked * * 1 ” SAID HE , 4159 2 ” SAID HEAD COACH 3022 3 ”
direct speech (inverted) Read More »
Point 12 in the category of REPORTED SPEECH for CITATION is defined as: PRESENT SIMPLE of the reporting verb to report information from a written source and a present tense verb in the reported clause. We can start our search with: _nn1 says|tells and then choose nouns related to citation: 1 REPORT SAYS 19880
reported speech (present simple) Read More »
This post is another one where the English Grammar Profile has clashing proficiency levels associated with a point and in the examples. Here we are looking at the category of QUESTIONS. It is understandable that usage is what is different, but the examples could be better selected: B2 Point 29: ‘wh-‘words + the negative form
WH – negative question Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 28 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: affirmative or negative tag after an imperative clause to soften the imperative. *Some examples don’t seem to soften but instead add a touch of sarcasm. iWeb corpus doesn’t allow searching for such a complex string. We can start with
imperative clause + question tag Read More »
Point 97 in PRONOUNS is defined as: possessive ‘THEIRS’ with singular and plural reference, in object positions, and complement positions after ‘be’ and after prepositions. An iWeb search for * * * * theirs . : 1 YOUR PROBLEM , NOT THEIRS . 31 2 . THE CHOICE IS THEIRS . 27 3 BE THE
Point 96 in PRONOUNS is defined as: possessive pronoun ‘hers’, with singular reference, in object positions, and complement positions after ‘be’ and after prepositions. In iWeb: * * _vb hers 1 THE CHOICE IS HERS 28 BabyGaga What To Do If Someone Announced Your Pregnancy Before You Were Ready The choice is hers to
Point 95 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: ‘ ‘it’ as an object with ‘make’ to introduce something the speaker or writer is going to refer to. The 2 examples in the EGP follow the structure make|makes it _jj for *although the following adjective might get incorrectly tagged as an adverb. 1
make it (introduce reference) Read More »
Plural reflexive pronouns are used when the subject of the sentence is plural. For example, in the sentence “The children played by themselves,” the plural reflexive pronoun “themselves” refers back to the subject “children.”
Prepositions are words that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence. For example, in the sentence “The children played by themselves,” the preposition “by” shows the relationship between the noun “children” and the pronoun “themselves.”
preposition + plural reflexive Read More »
Point 93 in the category of PRONOUNS / reflexive is defined as singular pronoun ‘itself’ for emphasis. An iWeb search for _nn1 itself: 1 GAME ITSELF 15067 2 LIFE ITSELF 10893 3 CITY ITSELF 7443 4 SYSTEM ITSELF 7390 5 PROCESS ITSELF 7192 6 PRODUCT ITSELF 6909 7 BUILDING ITSELF 5512 8 DEVICE ITSELF 4694
noun + ITSELF (emphasis) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 92 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: full range of indefinite pronouns as subjects, with a singular verb. A search inWeb corpus for: . nothing|everybody|everywhere|anything _v *Not all the results are singular verbs. And PELIC B2 student examples: 1 . NOTHING IS 18676 Chinese, Male, level 4,
indefinite pronoun + singular verb Read More »
This post lists two clashing points in the English Grammar Profile. The only difference that we can guess from the definition is that the B1 point does not require the subject position. B2 point 91 in PRONOUNS is defined as: ‘ONE’ as a generic personal pronoun in the subject position to mean people in general.
B2 point 90 in the category of PRONOUNS / generic is defined as: ‘we’ and ‘us’ to refer to people in general. This is a point that requires manual searching in the corpora for the ‘usage’ definition to be met. A search for we|us in iWeb is not possible because they are such common words. The
WE | US (people in general) Read More »
B2 English Grammar Profile point 89 in the category of PRONOUNS/ quantity is defined as: ‘each’, ‘either’, ‘enough’, ‘neither’, ‘several’ as subject and object pronouns. Two examples from PELIC B2/C1 students: subject pronoun object pronoun Although these vocabulary items are easy to find, they usually are not acting as subjects or objects. This makes finding
each | either | enough | neither | several Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 85 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: (SUBJECT) ELLIPSIS: leave out the subject pronoun with a limited range of verbs, in informal contexts. *this will clash with imperatives and iWeb searches time out too much, so here we search for modals, past participles and 3rd person verbs.
subject pronoun (ellipsis) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 84 in the category of PRONOUNS / reciprocal is defined as: ‘ONE ANOTHER’ as the object of a verb or complement of a preposition to talk about the mutual behaviour of two or more people, often in formal contexts. A search for * * * * one another
These pronouns are used to express specific relationships or conditions regarding the absence, choice, or negation of options or items in a given context.
either of them | us Read More »
Here are two B2 points in the English Grammar Profile in the category of PRONOUNS: Point 80: plural reflexive pronouns for emphasis. Point 83: plural reflexive pronouns to refer to actions where the subject and object of the verb are the same. This overlaps many other reflexive pronoun points and ’emphasis’ is not something
plural reflexive pronouns Read More »
