CLAUSES

  • A clause is traditionally defined as ‘SUBJECT + PREDICATE’.  The predicate is a verb or the part containing a verb and stating something about the subject.
  • Clauses are the next organisation of words after sentences.
  • A clause contains one or more phrases.
  • A clause can contain one or more other clauses inside it.
  • Clauses can be embedded in phrases.  For example, after the head noun followed by a ‘relative clause.’

fronted preposition + relative pronoun

B2, CLAUSES, complements, formal, PREPOSITIONS, PRONOUNS, relative, stranding

Wh-relatives can be preceded by a preposition unlike ‘that’ or ‘zero’ relatives.  For example: This is the thing which I am interested in.  (stranded preposition) This is the thing in which I am interested. (fronted preposition) This is the thing that I am interested in. (stranding) This is the thing I am interested in. (‘zero’ relative pronoun and stranding) In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 12 in the category of PREPOSITIONs is defined as: preposition + relative pronoun as complement, to […]

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past perfect continuous in a relative clause

B2, background, CLAUSES, continuous, PAST, perfect, relative

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 78 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous in relative clauses to give background information. For example: I was scrolling on social media,  and I saw a friend who had been sharing positive news stories. TED A search in iWeb corpus for: who|that|which had been _vvg gives us the most common continuous verbs found in past perfect continuous relative

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NEVER BEFORE + perfect inversion

B2, FOCUS, formal, inversion, PAST, perfect, unique

‘never + inversion‘ is B2 with or without past perfect.  The following examples use present perfect simple + inversion: Never before has man possessed so much power. listen Never before have so many people risen so far so fast, on so many different dimensions. listen Here’s an example with past perfect inversion without ‘before’: Never had I felt such an incomprehensible emptiness within myself. listen In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 68 in  PAST is defined as: past perfect

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10 ways ‘FAR’ is used in English grammar.

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, CLAUSES, phrases, vocabulary

Here are 10 ways ‘far’ is used ranked by order of frequency: 1. A2 general adverb *Numbers on the right are the frequency in iWeb corpus: (RR) 1578722 ‘far‘ means ‘at, to or from a great distance in space or time‘  For example: Is it far away? I don’t live far from here. Thailand is not far from Vietnam. 2. B1 phrase ‘so far‘ means ‘until now‘ So far

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so much as | in as much as

ADVERBS, alternative, amount, C2, CLAUSES, conditional, CONJUNCTIONS, contrast, degree, DETERMINERS, emphasis, NEGATIVE, reason

A search in playphrase.me for “so much as” reveals the following 3 most common collocations/multi-word units containing negative meaning or being surrounded with negation:  You let your wife throw you out of your own house  without so much as a whimper. listen to the example The phrase “without so much as a” means “not even the slightest amount of“. In the example above, it emphasizes that the

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if | when | while | so + SUBORDINATE CLAUSE

A2, B1, CLAUSES, conditional, CONJUNCTIONS, subordinate

A subordinating conjunction connects a sentence’s main clause and a subordinate clause. The subordinate clause (also known as an adverb clause) provides additional information explaining the when, where, how, or why of the main clause. “If, when & while” are sometimes interchangeable. In the sentence “It’s hard to have a girlfriend when you don’t have a

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some of which | many of whom

C1, CLAUSES, modify, PRONOUNS, quantity, relative

Here’s an example of ‘some of’ modifying the relative pronoun ‘which’: I have many connections, some of which are less than reputable. Listen In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 98 in the category of PRONOUNS / quantity is defined as: ‘some of’, ‘many of’ to modify relative pronouns in a relative clause. A search on iWeb for ngrams of some|many of  _**q

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adjective + (that) clause

A2, ADJECTIVES, assertion, B1, B2, CLAUSES, FOCUS, GSE, hedging, likelihood, MODALITY, possibility

Here’s a student example of an adjective followed by a ‘that’ clause. However, I am sure that  the most useful English for you is American English. PELIC Korean male level 4 writing In the sentence above, the phrase “I am sure that” is an example of epistemic modality. Epistemic modality is a type of linguistic modality that deals with a

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the reason that | the place which + CLAUSE

B2, CLAUSES, FOCUS, relative

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 Point 4 in the category of FOCUS is defined as ‘The reason (that)’, ‘The place (which)’ + clause as subject + ‘be’ for focus. Expert examples: The reason you‘re alive today is because of those changes in our brains that took place in Africa. TED But the reason that a lot of his fans are in the stands is because of another video. listen Student in speaking

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THE + comparative phrases ‘The more you have, the better it is.’

article, B2, CLAUSES, comparatives, DETERMINERS, phrases

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

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Both and

ADVERBS, B2, CLAUSES, combine, CONJUNCTIONS, emphasis, phrases

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

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