time adjuncts
These phrases can be used to add specific information about the time of an event or action. For example, the phrase “tomorrow morning” tells us that an event will happen the next day, in the morning.
NOUNS
- Nouns are words usually combined with determiners to be the subject or object of verbs.
- Many nouns have an inflectional form with ...s, they can be singular or plural.
- Nouns can be replaced with pronouns.
- Nouns refer to physical objects, entities, abstract concepts, qualities, states, actions, or concepts.
- Proper nouns are names, such as “John”, “Australia.”
- Nouns make up more than a third of every text.
my | your | his | her | our + NOUN
A1 point 9 in the category of DETERMINERS is defined:
possessive determiners ‘my’, ‘your’, ‘his’, ‘her’ and ‘our’ before nouns.
my | your | his | her | our + NOUN Read More »
article + EAST | NORTH | SOUTH | WEST
A2 the direction that you face A2 the part of an area The East (with a capital letter) B2 the countries of Asia In iWeb corpus, ‘east’ is tagged mostly as the noun of direction. It is also often in names. However the part of speech really is often as an adjective or an adverb.
article + EAST | NORTH | SOUTH | WEST Read More »
A noun OF noun (quantity expression) ‘a piece of paper’
A2 point 26 in the category of NOUNS is defined: QUANTITY EXPRESSIONS: refer to an individual example or quantity of an uncountable noun using words for containers and countable items. a search in iWeb for: a_AT _NN1 of _NN1 *we have removed examples that don’t match the grammar. 5 A PIECE OF PAPER 27250 Student
A noun OF noun (quantity expression) ‘a piece of paper’ Read More »
nouns only in the plural (agreement)
Here’s an example of the plural only noun ‘pants’ agreeing with the determiner ‘these’ and the verb ‘are’ These pants are lycra. Listen to this sentence. Here’s a student example: His jeans were too tight. PELIC Korean female level 5 listening class. A2 point 16 in the category of NOUNS is defined: NOUNS ONLY USED IN THE PLURAL with plural
nouns only in the plural (agreement) Read More »
determiner + noun phrase (increasing range)
Here’s a student example of a determiner + uncountable noun: My teacher told me “enjoy the music and you will dance naturally.” PELIC Taiwanese female level 3 writing class A2 point 18 in the category of NOUNS is defined: form simple noun phrases by pre-modifying nouns with an increasing range of determiners. A2 point 24 in the category of NOUNS: form
determiner + noun phrase (increasing range) Read More »
must see
Usually, ‘must’ is a modal verb. You must see this movie. You must see the difference. (see can mean understand/notice) However, ‘must’ can be a noun. It’s a must. = This is a thing that you must do. There are new combinations: As an adjective: It’s a must-see movie. = It’s a movie that you must see. As
noun phrase (subject predicative)
It is easy to find noun phrases functioning as a subject-predicate in a clause. For example, “I was a kid.” ‘a kid’ is a noun phrase after the copular verb ‘was.’ An iWeb search for: _P _VB _A _NN . 1 I WAS A KID . 7523 2 I WAS A CHILD . 2942 3
noun phrase (subject predicative) Read More »
noun phrase (direct object)
Using noun phrases as objects of the clause helps provide more information about the action or state described by the verb in a sentence. It helps answer questions about the direct recipients of the verb’s action or the entities affected by it.
noun phrase (direct object) Read More »
noun phrase (subject)
Here is an example of a longer noun phrase as the subject of a sentence: The rest of the time is spent in classes. spectator.org Not all of these will be the subject of the sentence… A search in iWeb corpus for . _A _N _I _A 1 . THE REST OF THE 36076 COCA 1 . THE REST OF THE
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adjective + noun + preposition + noun (noun phrases)
In this post, we are interested in discovering the most common noun phrases that follow the adjective + noun + preposition + noun pattern. It was a short period of time. In the above example, the noun ‘period‘ is the head noun of the noun phrase. A search in iWeb for _JJ _NN _I _NN
adjective + noun + preposition + noun (noun phrases) Read More »
THERE + is | are | was | were
In English grammar, “there is” and “there are” are commonly used to indicate the existence or presence of something.
“There is” is used when the noun following it is singular. For example, “There is a book on the table.”
“There are” is used when the noun following it is plural. For example, “There are many books on the shelf.”
These phrases can be used in various tenses by adjusting the form of the verb “be”. For instance, you could say “There was a time when I was everything to you,” using the past tense. However, this usage is typically considered more advanced and may be classified as A2 level in some learning resources.
THERE + is | are | was | were Read More »
irregular plural noun + ‘s + noun
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 44 in the category of DETERMINERS is defined as: ‘S after irregular plural nouns to indicate possession. Here’s an expert example: Women‘s organizations were active participants from the beginning. (Listen to this sentence) A search in iWeb for: _NN2 _GE _NN We removed those that are not irregular. 1 CHILDREN ‘S HOSPITAL 34865 2 MEN ‘S
irregular plural noun + ‘s + noun Read More »
abstract concepts
STUDENT EXAMPLE: The professor tries to explain the abstract concept of freedom. PELIC Arabic male level 5 writing class The plural form is more common in iWeb corpus: 1 ABSTRACT CONCEPTS 2856 2 ABSTRACT CONCEPT 1883 further collocates in iWeb: 1 CONCEPTS 2978 2 AN 1170 3 SUCH 302 4 UNDERSTAND 183 5 CONCRETE 149 6 RATHER 102 7 UNDERSTANDING 101 8 ABILITY 74
quantifying determiner + OF + possessive determiner + noun phrase
When a quantifying determiner and a possessive determiner are used together before a noun, they indicate the quantity of something that belongs to someone or something else. For instance, in the sentence “For most of my life, I was terrified of ghosts,” the phrase “most of my” signifies a large portion of the speaker’s life. Similarly, in “All of our fathers enter our doors feeling hopeless,” the phrase “all of our” refers to every father associated with a certain group. In “Many of his senior team thought he was crazy,” the phrase “many of his” denotes a large number of a specific group associated with a person.
quantifying determiner + OF + possessive determiner + noun phrase Read More »
a | every + SINGULAR NOUN
In the English Grammar Profile, A1 point 1 in the category of DETERMINERS/quantity is defined:
limited range of quantifying determiners with singular nouns (‘a’, ‘every’) determiners: articles
Here are two examples showing a limited range of determiners:
A man had A problem.
EVERY person wanted to play A game.
a | every + SINGULAR NOUN Read More »
not + any | many | much + NOUN
In negative contexts, “much” and “many” denote a small amount or number of uncountable and countable nouns respectively. “Any” implies the absence of something, applicable to both countable and uncountable nouns. For instance, “Not many companies can build planes” implies a small number of such companies. “There’s not much difference between them” suggests a minimal difference. “I don’t have any apples” means zero apples are present.
not + any | many | much + NOUN Read More »
There is | are + a lot of + NOUN
In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 15 in the category of VERBS is defined: ‘there is’ and ‘there are’ + ‘a lot of’ + plural noun iWeb doesn’t allow for longer than 5 token searches: _EX _VB a lot of 1 THERE ARE A LOT OF 145235 2 THERE IS A LOT OF 69785
There is | are + a lot of + NOUN Read More »