The phrase “or other” is a type of ellipsis, which is a grammatical omission of words that are understood from the context. In this case, the omitted words are the specific details about something that are not important or have been forgotten. The phrase “or other” serves as a placeholder for those details, allowing the speaker or writer to communicate the general idea without having to be specific.
The text discusses the use of interjections in language, which are words that express sudden feelings and emotions such as pleasure, anger, disappointment, shock, surprise, and excitement. These words often come with punctuation marks and are usually inserted between sentences.
The text also presents a search result from the NOW corpus for the frequency of interjections. The most frequent interjections are ‘YES’ and ‘NO’, which are sometimes classified as interjections but do not always express emotion or act as calls for attention. They are sometimes classified as a part of speech in their own right: sentence words or word sentences.
The text provides examples of how ‘YES’, ‘NO’, and other interjections like ‘OH’, ‘YEAH’, ‘HEY’, etc., are used to express various emotions. It also notes that there is no entry in the English Profile or Collins dictionary for ‘yes’ used to express emotion, suggesting this is not an A1 cando. However, ‘Yeah’ is listed at A2 as an exclamation, and ‘No’ as an exclamation is listed in the Collins dictionary at A2.
The text concludes with a list of the top 100 most common interjections according to the NOW corpus, with ‘YES’, ‘NO’, and ‘OH’ being the top three.
interjections & other sentence words Read More »
‘a bit‘ can modify verb phrases with the meaning ‘by a small degree or amount‘ Here’s a search in NOW corpus to find words before this time/distance etc. adverbial phrase: * in|for a bit . 1 THAT IN A BIT. 572 We‘re going to come to that in a bit. TED 2 OUT FOR A BIT. 191 I‘m going
In the English Vocabulary Profile, Don’t get me wrong INFORMAL C2 used when you do not want someone to think that you do not like someone or something For example: Now, don’t get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful to be alive, and I am painfully aware that this struggle is a privilege that many don’t get to experience. fsc.org.au Collocates of ‘Don’t get me wrong‘ in the MOVIE corpus: 1 N’T 917 2 LOVE 72 Don’t get me wrong, I love it. listen
Don’t get me wrong Read More »
Here are some examples of how quantifying determiners can be used in a non-literal and non-academic way:
I have TONS OF THINGS to do this weekend, but the party might be LOADS OF FUN.
I told you MILLIONS OF TIMES that housework and study are more important than your parties!
millions | loads | tons + of (hyperbole) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 18 in the category of VERBS/patterns is defined as: reporting verbs, especially mental process verbs, with a clause as the direct object, without ‘that’, especially in informal contexts. For example: I hope you are doing well. *notably, in the English Grammar Profile examples, all the verbs but ‘said’ are in the present
Here are examples of exclamatory sentences starting with “What”. They express strong emotions or feelings.
“What” is a predeterminer that precedes the indefinite article “a”.
The phrases following “What a” are noun phrases, often modified by adjectives for emphasis (e.g., “great”, “wonderful”).
Many sentences are followed by adverbial phrases (e.g., “to save time”, “to be alive”) that provide more information about the noun.
These sentences are common in spoken English to convey strong feelings. They’re less common in formal written English but might appear in dialogue or informal writing.
In the English Grammar Profile, such usage of ‘What’ falls under A2 level for expressing strong opinions.
The most common collocates in corpora are words like “great”, “waste”, “idea”, etc., often followed by infinitive phrases or prepositional phrases acting as adverbs.
This structure allows for a wide range of expressions, from surprise (“What a surprise!”) to disappointment (“What a waste of money!”) to admiration (“What a great idea for a party!”). It’s a versatile and expressive part of English grammar.
What a + NOUN PHRASE Read More »
“Let’s + verb” in English is used to suggest a joint action, introduce a topic, propose hypothetical situations, acknowledge a fact, remind or emphasize a point, and transition to a new topic.
Comparative clauses using ‘be’ + ‘like’ + a noun phrase are used to draw similarities between two things. The structure is typically: subject + be + like + noun/pronoun. For example, in the sentence “John is like a lion”, John is being compared to a lion, suggesting that he has similar qualities or characteristics. This structure can also be used with negation or adverbs followed by an infinitive clause, as in “It would be just like him to forget his keys at home”, indicating that forgetting his keys would be typical behavior for him. The phrase “I was like” is used colloquially to express a reaction or feeling. For instance, “When I saw the test results, I was like, ‘I can’t believe I aced it!’” expresses surprise and disbelief. This structure is common in English and can be found in various forms in different contexts.
BE + like + NOUN PHRASE Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 5 in the category of discourse markers: in writing, ORGANISING, MARKING NEW KNOWLEDGE, INFORMAL ‘you see’, ‘the thing is’ *Note that ‘the thing is’ is listed at B2 in the category of FOCUS. A search in the TLC shows that at B1 ‘the thing is’ is used, but
You see (MARKING NEW KNOWLEDGE) Read More »
‘BIT’ related to quantity is countable = a bit of … bits of … For example: By inserting those genes into yeast, we could produce little bits of that smell and be able to, maybe, smell a little bit of something that‘s lost forever. TED A2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: bit = a small amount or piece of something B1 in the Oxford Learner Dictionary: [countable] bit of something (especially British English) a small
a little | bits of | a bit of | a bit of a | a little bit of Read More »
Point 16 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: ‘RIGHT’ AS AN INFORMAL TAG in informal contexts. A search in iWeb for: * * , right ? 1 I KNOW , RIGHT ? 1260 2 MAKES SENSE , RIGHT ? 866 3 PRETTY COOL , RIGHT ? 735 National Law Review New Jersey
C1 English Grammar Profile point 35 in PASSIVES is defined as: ‘get’ + object + ‘-ed’ to talk about causing or instructing something to happen or to be done by somebody else, often informally For example: Now, as it happens, I do have some connections in the drilling business who might help get us started. listen Here are the other forms of ‘GET’: He got his friend fired by revealing their
‘GET’ + OBJECT + PAST PARTICPLE Read More »
Linking adverbs, also known as conjunctive adverbs, are used to connect ideas between two independent clauses or sentences. They help to show the relationship between these ideas. Here’s how the adverbs ‘also’, ‘however’ and the conjunction ‘so’ function in this capacity: Also: This adverb is used to add information or express agreement with the previous
LINKING ADVERBS / SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS Read More »
Here are examples of reported speech with relative clauses ending with stranded prepositions: He told me the company he works for. She requested that I give him all the information he asks for. He exclaimed that this is the best festival he has been to. This type of construction is considered informal and is often discouraged in formal writing. However, it is commonly used in spoken English and in informal writing. Profiling Research This post is about two points in the English Grammar
STRANDED PREPOSITION 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 »
The future continuous tense, used in sentences like “Sarah will be joining us for dinner,” indicates a planned or confirmed action that will occur over a period in the future. It expresses certainty about the future and is often used when the action is expected to happen as a matter of course. While usually not used with stative verbs, exceptions exist, especially in informal contexts. For instance, “I guess I’ll be needing a receipt off you there, Red” is a polite, indirect request.
will be + VERBing (future continuous) Read More »
This blog post teaches how to express wishes and preferences using verbs like ‘like’ and ‘prefer’. It explains the difference between ‘I’d prefer’ and ‘I prefer’ and how to use ‘would’ to sound more polite and less confrontational. The post also explores examples of ‘would’ with verbs like ‘love’ and ‘hate’.
WOULD + love | prefer (politeness) Read More »
A range of adverbs with this future construction is examined.
“You’re going to absolutely love it” (‘going to’ ADVERB INFINITIVE) Read More »
