phrases

  • A phrase is one or more words working together meaningfully.  (most people call a phrase two or more words)
  • Phrases have many grammatical functions in the clause. For example, in the sentence “They call this place their home.” The noun phrase ‘their home‘ is an object predicate.
  • There are five types of phrases:
    • Noun phrases have a noun, pronoun, nominal adjective (‘the elderly’) or a numeral as the ‘head’ (main word) which can be joined with modifiers, determiners, and complements.
    • A verb phrase consists of one or more auxiliaries plus the main ‘head‘ verb. For example, “has been used“
    • Adverb phrases have an adverb as the ‘head’.  For example, “more frequently“
    • Prepositional…
    • Adjective phrases.  For example: “far more attractive.”  Here ‘attractive’ is the head and has been pre-modified.
  • Phrases can be premodified and/or postmodified.  Here’s an example of a pre and post modified adverb: ‘very luckily for me’
  • Noun phrases can post be modified by a clause: ‘the house which we lived in‘
  • Phrases can contain one or more other phrases inside them.  For example:
  1. The name of the story = noun phrase with ‘name’ as the head noun.
  2. of the story = prepositional phrase
  3. the story = noun phrase
  • phrases can be extended with co-ordinating conjunctions or with apposition.

THE + comparative phrases ‘The more you have, the better it is.’

article, B2, CLAUSES, comparatives, DETERMINERS, phrases

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 56 in the category of DETERMINERS and articles is defined as “the” in comparative phrases ‘more’, ‘less’, ‘worse’, ‘better’ * the more’, ‘less’, ‘worse’ * to talk about one thing that is affected by another. comparative clauses For example: The broader the sentiment across business, the more influence and power there is to make change. timesnewsgroup.com.au   The more guns there are here, the more likely there is to […]

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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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a wide range of linking verbs used in other complex ways

ADJECTIVES, B2, hedging, linking, NOUNS, phrases, PRONOUNS, range, subject, true, VERBS

To get started, let’s look at some spoken student examples that show a wide range of linking verbs with very literal meanings: It‘s like a fairy tale  because it doesn’t seem real. TLC female Mexico B1   To remain healthy, we have to exercise. TLC female India B1 The verbs ‘remain’ and ‘seem’ link the adjective complements: ‘real’ and ‘healthy’ in a more detailed way than

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adverb comparative phrase ‘more frequently than’

ADVERBS, B2, comparatives, modify, phrases

‘more rapidly‘ is an example of an adverb phrase.  In this example, ‘rapidly‘ is the head of the phrase. B2 point 55 in the English Grammar Profile under the category of adverbs is defined: phrases that modify with an adverb and comparative structure. What is particularly noticeable about this structure is that it attracts higher

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And yet

C1, C2, CLAUSES, concessive, CONJUNCTIONS, contrast, coordinating, formal, phrases

In the English Grammar Profile ‘and yet’ or ‘yet’ is listed at C2 Point 24 in CONJUNCTIONS “CONCESSIVE to combine sentences, often unexpected” C1 Point 20 in CONJUNCTIONS coordinating CONCESSIVE ‘(and) yet’ to combine phrases and clauses to introduce a contrast, often unexpected. In the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘yet’ as a conjunction is listed as:

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adJective Noun phrases and compound nouns

A2, ADJECTIVES, NOUNS, phrases, range

Here are two examples of an A2 adjective followed by an A2 noun: If you need any further information,  it‘s available online.  listen They have hundreds of jobs  in a wide variety of qualifications. listen _JJ or supposedly an adjective + _NN a noun on iWeb gives us a picture that requires interpretation of manual data. On the left is how text inspector divides the vocabulary level. 

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almost all & very few

ADVERBS, B2, degree, DETERMINERS, modify, phrases

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 51 in the category of adverbs/phrases is defined as: degree adverbs (‘almost’, ‘very’) to modify determiners. Adverbs phrases can be put together with degree adverbs such as “almost” and “very” to modify determiners, such as “all” and “few”. *.[RR] *.[DB] After removing a few unrelated results to the

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