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.
B2 English Grammar point 59 in the category of DETERMINERS and quantity is defined as: modifier + ‘little’ + uncountable nouns and modifier + ‘few’ + countable nouns, to indicate a lack of something or not as much as expected of something. We also have an earlier post for ‘very few + noun.’ _RG\w* (little|few) […]
little | few + NOUN Read More »
iWeb search for B1 1 THEIR LIVES 325158 2 THEIR WAY 262764 3 THEIR CHILDREN 216153 4 THEIR WORK 213183 5 THEIR FAMILIES 209014 6 THEIR HOME 163269 7 THEIR TIME 157752 8 THEIR BUSINESS 143531 9 THEIR PARENTS 129414 10 THEIR WEBSITE 119786 11 THEIR HANDS 116015 12 THEIR PRODUCTS 110206 13 THEIR CUSTOMERS
Here’s an expert example of using ‘their’ with a general reference: Tech Guide It‘s based on the idea that people learn best when they are actively involved in their education. The use of ‘their’ is confusing to give level to, because there is differing information between the English Vocabulary and Grammar Profiles, and secondly the uses are hard to locate in corpora automatically. At B2,
Here are some examples of plural possessives with an apostrophe s’:
Children’s books: These books belong to the children.
Women’s rights: These rights belong to women.
Men’s clothing: This clothing belongs to men.
Teachers’ pets: These pets belong to the teachers.
Students’ essays: These essays belong to the students.
When a plural noun ends in s, we make the possessive form by adding an apostrophe only. For example:
The cats’ toys: These toys belong to the cats.
The dogs’ beds: These beds belong to the dogs.
The horses’ saddles: These saddles belong to the horses.
PLURAL NOUN possessive Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 56 in the category of DETERMINERS and articles is defined as “the” in comparative phrases ‘more’, ‘less’, ‘worse’, ‘better’ * the more’, ‘less’, ‘worse’ * to talk about one thing that is affected by another. comparative clauses For example: The broader the sentiment across business, the more influence and power there is to make change. timesnewsgroup.com.au The more guns there are here, the more likely there is to
THE + comparative phrases ‘The more you have, the better it is.’ Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 55 in the category of DETERMINERS & possessives is defined as ‘s after a noun phrase with ‘of’ to indicate possession. There is no mention that there must be no following noun after ‘s However, there is a C2 point that covers an ellipted following noun. For example:
The possessive determiner “its” is used to indicate possession or ownership by a singular inanimate subject or object. It is the third-person singular neuter form of the possessive pronoun “it.” Typically, possessive determiners are used before nouns to show that the noun belongs to someone or something. For example: “The dog wagged its tail.” –
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 17 in CONJUNCTIONS/coordinating is defined as: ‘BOTH AND’ to combine phrases and clauses, often for emphasis. For example: You come up with this framework to guide the way through both the story and the data. Listen In the iWeb corpus we can run up to 4 wildcards with different combinations: ‘both * * and * *’ 1 BOTH MEN AND WOMEN
There are two overlapping points in the English Grammar Profile at B2 for ‘neither nor’. Point 104 in CLAUSES & coordinated is defined as: combine two main clauses of the same type using ‘neither’ in front or mid-position, followed by ‘nor’ to introduce the second clause, for emphasis. Point 15 in the Conjunctions & coordinating
neither nor coordinating Read More »
B2 COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVE + ‘THAN’ + NON-FINITE CLAUSE
‘than’ + an increasing range of non-finite clauses (to-infinitive, reduced clause) forming the second part of a comparison after a comparative adjective.
(ENGLISH GRAMMAR PROFILE)
comparative non-finite clause Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 102 in the category of CLAUSES that are relative is defined as: defining relative clauses and non-defining relative clauses ending in a preposition, with ‘who/which/that’ as the complement of the preposition. *This point overlaps other categories and is already covered here. Here are the 4 most common prepositions
relative clause preposition (stranding) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 101 in CLAUSES & comparatives is defined as ‘THE SAME’ (+ NOUN) + ‘AS’ + CLAUSE In the following example ‘way’ can be removed: I want to be around as many people as possible who feel the same way as I do. listen But Alan says none of us are the same as we were a moment ago and we shouldn’t try to be. listen Sadly there is no mention of whether this is only finite clauses because
the same (NOUN) as + CLAUSE Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 Point 100 in the category of CLAUSES is hard to find formally as it is more USE related as the relative clause: refers to a whole clause or sentence, often to express an opinion or evaluation or give a reason. This is also found in PEARSON’S: GSE 61 B2
evaluative relative clause ‘… which is good’ Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 Point 99 in the category of CLAUSES & imperatives is defined as: ‘DO NOT’ for EMPHASIS in formal contexts We do not believe ‘formality’ is essential to make this structure B2. *We have expanded this point because the first person imperative can be negated simply by inserting ‘not’ after the
Do not (imperative) Read More »
Let’s look at a simple example of starting a sentence with a ‘Verb-ing’. Our context is someone explaining how to do something on the computer. “Using a mouse, you can move a word.” This sentence can be rewritten as: You can move a word by using a mouse. The main clause is: you can
non-finite VERBing clause Read More »
Let’s look at how ‘rather than‘ is used to compare. In the English Vocabulary Profile, at B1 the meaning is: ‘instead of ‘ rather than examples: I‘d like coffee rather than tea. I usually wear a swimsuit rather than shorts. In the above examples: coffee, tea, a swimsuit, shorts are nouns or noun phrases, so ‘rather than‘ or ‘instead of‘ are complex prepositions. Here’s
RATHER THAN + non-finite clause | phrase Read More »
B2 example: Our volunteers know that the families who benefit from his generosity not only appreciate his action but take extra pleasure in knowing that it comes with the compliments of Mrs Brown, an iconic and internationally famous Dublin mother. C1 example: Not only did this virus continue in the places where they’d already become infected, but then it started to escalate and we saw the case numbers that you see here, something we’d never seen before on such a scale, an exponential increase of Ebola
Let’s explain what a ‘superlative clause’ is with this example: It’s the best car that you can buy. the best is the superlative adjective. that you can buy is the relative clause We can rewrite this as two sentences: It is the best car. You can buy it. Here the object it is replaced with the
superlative + THAT clause ‘the best you can’ Read More »
There are a number of overlapping points when it comes to negative questions in the English Grammar Profile. At a purely formal level, we can identify an adverb position in a negative question to identify B2, but at usage level, some of these would be considered rhetorical or persuasive strategies found at the more advanced
negative question adverb Read More »
An in-depth explanation of the grammar structure ‘after being pp’ and ‘after having pp’. ‘after’ is a preposition used before a complement ‘verb-ing’ clause. For example: “After being told these stories, I started thinking” and “I moved back to India after having spent six years in the US”. In the English Grammar Profile, this structure is defined as a non-finite subordinate clause with ‘after’ + ‘having/being’ + ‘-ed’ form, before a main clause, to refer to past time.
After + having | being + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »
