emphasis

BE + sure | certain + to INFINITIVE

ADJECTIVES, B2, certainty, emphasis, infinitive, instruction, MODALITY

In this post, we explore modality with two adjectives followed by infinitives. Here is an imperative example of telling someone with emphasis not to forget or fail to do something: Be sure to check the weather  before you go to the airport. listen And here is an extremely advanced modification of an assertion, a bit like a negative superlative comparison:   There’s nothing more certain to ruin a beautiful relationship than marriage. […]

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really ought to

ADVERBS, C1, emphasis, MODALITY

In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 180 in the category of MODALITY is defined as: ‘ought to’ with ‘really’ to add emphasis. A search on iWeb for clusters with lexical verbs: 1 REALLY OUGHT TO KNOW 254 2 REALLY OUGHT TO GET 136 3 REALLY OUGHT TO GO 76 4 REALLY OUGHT TO CONSIDER

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The + thing | fact | point | problem | reason + is (FOCUS)

B2, cleft, FOCUS, fronting

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 5 in the category of FOCUS is defined as: ‘The thing, fact, point, problem, or reason + is (that)’ for focus. For example: The fact is I can’t take any more of your money unless I raise the rates on you. listen   However, we believe the structure should not be limited to just the article ‘the’.  For example: My point

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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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RATHER THAN + non-finite clause | phrase

B1, B2, CLAUSES, comparatives, complex, emphasis, gerund, non-finite, phrases, PREPOSITIONS

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

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actually

A2, ADVERBS, B1, emphasis, range, stance, surprise, true

Why do I believe that the English Grammar Profile and Vocabulary profile should be merged? Well, they both have tons of fantastic information but it would be better if they worked together. If we use the grammar profile for single token grammar points such as “actually” notice the lack of information in the EGP: Point

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