In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 20 in NEGATION is defined as: uncontracted ‘not’ for emphasis or in formal contexts. There are problems with this grammar point. One is that you could argue that the ability to contract various forms marks a higher level of English skill. Secondly, this point clearly cannot be automatically […]
uncontracted NOT (emphasis) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 19 in the category of NEGATION is defined as: ‘NEITHER OF’, ‘NONE OF’ + PRONOUN or noun phrase with the affirmative form of the verb. Expert examples: None of us thought it could happen in America or anyplace else. listen You can not bring up a conversation topic if neither of you is interested. listen STUDENT EXAMPLE: The funny part is when the investigation was done it was realised that none of the family members had actually seen the movie. TLC, Speaking Test, Female,
None of | Neither of Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 188 in the category of MODALITY is defined as: PAST NEGATIVE, ‘can’t’ or ‘cannot have’ + ‘-ed’ to make deductions. It means that if we cannot have fired those torpedoes, someone else did. listen A search in iWeb: 1 CA N’T HAVE HELPED 61 The New York Times Emma Thompson Can’t Live Without Hannah Gadsby and
can’t have past participle Read More »
Negative questions with the modal verb “can’t” are used to ask for permission or confirmation in a polite or surprised way. For example:
Can’t we go to the park today? (asking for permission)
Can’t you see I’m busy? (expressing surprise)
To form a negative question with “can’t”, we put “can’t” before the subject and the main verb after the subject. For example:
Can’t + you + see?
Can’t + we + go?
Modality is the grammatical expression of the speaker’s attitude or opinion about the possibility, necessity, or certainty of an action or state. Can’t is a modal verb that shows the negation of the verb can. It means that the subject is unable to do something, such as perform an action or demonstrate an ability. It can also be used to express deduction, which is a logical inference based on evidence or reasoning. For example:
She can’t swim. (ability)
He can’t be at home. It’s too early. (deduction)
These constructions allow for the formation of negative questions by adding the negative contractions (“don’t” or “doesn’t” for “do,” and “haven’t” or “hasn’t” for “have”) before the subject and the base form or past participle of the main verb. This structure is particularly useful for seeking confirmation or clarification when expressing negation.
Don’t you think ? | Haven’t you heard ? Read More »
B1 MODALITY imagined situations in the past
| PAST AFFIRMATIVE ‘would have’ + ‘-ed’
| PAST NEGATIVE ‘would not have’ + ‘-ed’ or ‘wouldn’t have’ + ‘-ed’
(English Grammar Profile)
would ( not ) have + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »
“Mustn’t” is a contraction of “must not”, used to indicate prohibition or to suggest that something is a bad or unacceptable idea. It’s frequently used in phrases like “We mustn’t” (99 instances), “I mustn’t” (66 instances), “You mustn’t be” (37 instances), and so on.
In the sentence “Strict instructions from Edward, we mustn’t be late for his parade”, it emphasizes the importance of not being late for Edward’s parade. Other examples include “I mustn’t let my fears stop me from pursuing my dreams” and “You mustn’t be too hard on yourself, everyone makes mistakes”.
In English grammar, the negative form of ‘must’ appears at two levels. At A2 level, it’s used with basic subjects and verbs, while at B2 level, it’s used to talk about what is not permitted with a range of subjects or verbs. For instance, “Mr. Iannazzo placed an order at the Robeks and stressed to the staff that the product must not contain peanuts.”
The most common lexical verbs used with “must not” in the iWeb corpus include “exceed”, “use”, “forget”, and “contain”. For example, “France must not drop guard against COVID-19, minister says – The Jakarta Post” and “Safety experts warn that US trade deal must not include dangerous American cars. Trade Secretary urged to exclude US cars. Jon Stone Policy …”.
must not | mustn’t Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 137 in MODALITY is defined as: negative forms of ‘can’t’ and ‘cannot’ to guess, predict and deduce. This point is an extremely difficult point to locate because it heavily relies on usage. The use of ‘can’t’ is A1 by default, but not ‘cannot’ which has not been given
‘It cannot be true’ (modality) Read More »
Something that is not needed can be expressed with ‘need not’. For example: But while we are determined by history, it is my personal belief that we need not be trapped by history, and we need not be the victims of history. TED In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 126 in the category of MODALITY is: need NEGATIVE However, in the English Vocabulary Profile, this is listed at A2 with the following example: You needn’t bring any food. iWeb search for need
There are three negative points in the English Grammar Profile at C2 Modality that are quite rare. Point 215 is defined as: negative form ‘ought not to’ Point 226: CONTRACTED NEGATIVE ‘oughtn’t’ (without ‘to’) + verb Point 235 ‘ought’ + subject + ‘not to’ + verb to form (rhetorical) questions, often in formal contexts. *Point
OUGHT (negative OR questions) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, using the word ‘dare’ is b2-c2 and rare. The other strange thing is that some of the most common Ngrams (words found together) are C2 and less common seem to be B2 according to Cambridge research. For that reason, the complexity checking ability around this vocabulary item should be taken
dare (not) infinitive Read More »
Here are some student writing examples of present continuous highlighted with details: I am typing English words right now. PELIC Chinese female level 2 writing class However, we also can interpret from the graph that we aren’t preparing for it yet. PELIC Korean female level 3 writing class I am always falling over one of his toy cars or trucks. PELIC Arabic male level 3 writing class There are at least 30 points to do with the present
Present Continuous Read More »
There are three B2 future perfect continuous points in the EGP that are all very rare. B2 Point 54 is defined as LOOKING BACK FROM A POINT IN THE FUTURE and to emphasise the duration of an activity or event. B2 Point 49 is AFFIRMATIVE with ‘will’. B2 Point 42 is NEGATIVE *Actually we have
will (not) have been verbING Read More »
There are 5 formally related grammar points in the English Grammar Profile in the category of FUTURE/perfect simple with ‘will.’ Many of them overlap and at C1 they are very rare and hard to find in corpora. An example from the iWeb corpus of the future perfect form used for a polite assumption about the
will have + PAST PARTICIPLE (future perfect) 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 »
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
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 »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 87 in the category of CLAUSES and related to imperatives is ‘let’s not’ + base form of a main verb to make a suggestion. 1 LET’S NOT FORGET 13135 1 LET’S NOT FORGET THAT THIS IS 65 The following are similar to saying “don’t forget to” but it
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 86 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as: phrases or exclamations where the negative interrogative form of an auxiliary verb is used to express surprise or enthusiasm. This is a real challenge to search for. Surprise and enthusiasm are not something you can formally search for, but
surprise enthusiasm or negative exclamation Read More »
