In the English Vocabulary Profile at B2, ‘bear’ is defined: accept someone or something unpleasant For example: I can’t bear to see him like this. listen *There are other uses of ‘bear’ that are more advanced. However, the sense defined above has a distinct grammar pattern: (CAN | COULD) (often negative) + bear + (to-infinitive | Verb-ing | noun phrase) Verb-ing …
‘Any’ can be used as an adverb to mean ‘at all’ or ‘in some degree’. In the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘any’ is listed as ADVERB B1 used in questions and negatives to emphasize a comparative adjective or adverb Do you feel any better? I can’t walk any faster. Those trousers don’t look any different from the others. Houses in this area used to be a real bargain, but they’re not cheap any more. This radio isn’t any good – I ‘ll have to buy another. She couldn’t wait any longer. *’any more’ …
Here’s an expert example of negation + ‘in the least’: I’m not in the least bit religious. Listen to this sentence C2 Point 28 in the category of NEGATION is defined: ‘IN THE LEAST’ after a negative form for emphasis. A search in iWeb: 1 NOT SURPRISED IN THE LEAST 86 2 NOT BE IN THE LEAST 63 …
The following rare student writing example shows how ‘used not to’ expresses modality: Also when I was younger, I used not to be allowed to drink coffee. PELIC Korean female level 3 grammar class. It sounds more natural to say: “I didn’t use to be allowed to drink coffee.” *In other words, she did not have permission to drink coffee. Although now she is an adult and can. Point 227 …
PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: I think we should do our best at the present moment in order not to be regretful. Chinese male level 5 writing class. We will only cover half of: GSE 60 B2 express negative purpose with ‘so as/in order not to’ In order not to seem stupid, he didn’t say anything. I came in very quietly, so as not to wake anyone. because ‘so as not to’ is at C1 in the English Vocabulary Profile. ‘in order …
There are many types of negative adverbials with inversion, that are not in the EGP, so they should be listed at C2. For example: Seldom do orcs journey in the open under the sun, yet these have done so. Listen Let’s analyse two EXPERT EXAMPLES to understand inversion with complex negative adverbials. Under no circumstances should doodling be eradicated from a classroom or a boardroom or even the war room. TED In no way am I saying that preference doesn’t exist. TED ‘Under no circumstances‘ …
NOT ONLY MUST people go to the event, but they must also be respectful there.
NEVER MUST they forget what the soldiers died for.
You must not ask about it when we are there. NOR MUST I be expected to explain it.
When grammar points are from the same CEFR level, and in the same category, we believe it is more useful to have a single post that covers them. Both these A2 points come from the category of DETERMINERS/quantity. Point 15: ‘many’ with plural nouns in negative contexts. Point 23: ‘much’ with uncountable nouns in negative …
Point 15 in MODALITY is defined: would negative forms *It is incredibly hard to find an example that is not already a part of another grammar point. PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: I’m convinced that it wouldn’t take much time to change the system and think about how to add new things in order to help people to start the workday in a more enjoyable manner. French male level 4 writing class. An iWeb search for: would _XX * * * 1 WOULD NOT BE …
Here are two A2 English Grammar Profile points in different categories that cover imperatives. Point 39 in the category of CLAUSES is defined: affirmative imperative with the base form of a main verb Point 7 in NEGATION: negative imperatives of main verbs with ‘don’t’ + main verb. However, ‘let me/us’ is listed at B2 in …
Here is another difficult point to understand in the EGP because it is so general and there are so many other points that are more specific. A2 Point 11 in CLAUSES: negative interrogative clauses. The English Grammar Profile examples: Don’t you like pizza? (however, this is also listed at B1) Didn’t I tell you? There is not much …
Point 73 in the category of MODALITY is defined: ‘might’ negative form TLC STUDENT SPEAKING TEST EXAMPLE: I might not earn as much as others do. female India B1 An iWeb search for: might _XX _VVI 1 MIGHT NOT KNOW 12293 2 MIGHT NOT WANT 9556 3 MIGHT NOT WORK 8820 4 MIGHT NOT GET 8374 5 MIGHT NOT SEEM 7198 6 …
Point 32 in the category of FUTURE is defined: future continuous NEGATIVE WITH ‘WILL’ (won’t) An iWeb search for: wo|will _X be _VVG 1 WO N’T BE GETTING 2959 2 WO N’T BE GOING 2821 3 WO N’T BE USING 2817 4 WILL NOT BE USING 2040 5 WO N’T BE MAKING 1550 6 WILL …
Point 26 in the category of FUTURE is defined: the negative form of ‘be going to’ to talk about plans and intentions An iWeb search for: _XX _VVGK _T _VVI 1 NOT GOING TO GET 20965 2 NOT GOING TO HAPPEN 14351 3 NOT GOING TO GO 10194 4 NOT GOING TO MAKE 9409 5 …
Point 94 in the category of MODALITY is defined: ‘may’ negative PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: However, you may not deny that you can not buy happiness even if you have too much money. Korean male, level 4 writing class. An iWeb search for: may_VM not _V*I 1 MAY NOT KNOW 28529 2 MAY NOT WORK 22681 3 MAY NOT WANT 17165 4 MAY NOT USE 14983 5 MAY NOT …
Point 105 in the category of MODALITY is defined: negative forms of ‘would’ to talk about willingness in the past. This is incredibly hard to automatically differentiate in corpora from structures like the ‘second conditional’, reported speech or thought . The best we can do in iWeb is search for: _VVD * * would _XX …
Here’s a student example of ‘present perfect simple negative‘: Today I can play very well with someone, even when I haven’t played for a long time. Portuguese female level 3 writing. A2 point 5 in the category of NEGATION/AUXILIARY VERBS is defined: negative statements of main verbs in the present continuous and present perfect with ‘be’ and ‘have’ + ‘not/n’t’. A2 point 13 in the category of PAST is defined: …
This is another clashing grammar point and therefore not really useful to expand. It would be better if it listed which tenses/aspects it is associated with. B1 Point 11 in the category of NEGATION is defined: adverbs: ‘ever’, ‘never’, ‘yet’, ‘still’ in negative contexts. Let’s look at the English Grammar Profile examples to see if …
Negative questions usually show the speaker’s expectation that the response should be positive. Point 12 in the category of NEGATION: negative question forms in main clauses and question tags. This is such a general point that overlaps and clashes against so many other points in the English Grammar Profile. For example: an uncontracted question for …
In the English Grammar Profile, there are a few grammar points that overlap and clash across CEFR levels A2, B1. In regards to the use of the indefinite pronoun: ‘anything.‘ To make things worse, ‘anything‘ is listed at A1 in the English Vocabulary Profile with an A1 student example: … I can’t say anything. A2 point …
