plural

  • a ‘plural’ noun means more than one.
  • The inflectional –s at the end of a noun tell us that the noun is plural,  (Inflections are morphemes that signal the grammatical variants of a word)

plural noun phrase + ARE + THAT clause

A search in the NOW corpus for: the _NN2 are that_CST 1 THE CHANCES ARE THAT 2517 C2 *The article is not necessary: It‘s called wage theft,  and chances are that you or someone you know  has experienced it. TED *’that’ can be omitted: Chances are you know a lot more than you think. listen   *Note that the elements can be rearranged: In fact, the chances that you get rejected at some point in your life,  at some point this year, are high. TED 2 …

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prepositon + plural time

One could argue that being able to front the following ‘indefinite’ time phrases shows evidence of a higher CEFR level. A search in iWeb corpus for: . _II _NNT2 , 1 . AT TIMES, 11672 C1 → C2 She still misses him at times,  but we all do. listen   Kit accused me of only being along for the ride  while at times  I wished he‘d fall in the river and drown,  so I could watch. At times, I actually like it. listen 2 . WITHIN …

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adjective + VALUES

In the English Vocabulary Profile: values = B2 the beliefs people have about what is right and wrong and what is most important in life, which control their behaviour A search in NOW corpus for: _JJ values_N 1 DEMOCRATIC VALUES 11972 Give a full and detailed account of who supports you,  where your arms and supplies come from and that your aim is the overthrow of established democratic values. listen 2 SHARED VALUES 10229 3 MORAL VALUES 8609 4 CULTURAL VALUES …

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there is | there are

Although ‘There is’ and ‘There are’ is an A1 elementary piece of grammar, the noun phrases as complements are quite difficult for English learners. The following sentences are corrected sentences from Thai students: There are many religions in Thailand. There are many different cultures and traditions. There are many fresh plants and beautiful flowers. See uncorrected versions here. Point 1 in the category of  VERBS: there is/are + singular noun …

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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 …

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several | a few of

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 39 in the category of DETERMINERS is defined as: wide range of quantifying determiners with plural nouns (‘several’, ‘millions of’, ‘a few of’). *Note that if ‘millions of’ is used as hyperbole, then it is a C1 point. TLC, Speaking test examples: There are very few sports cars in Sri Lanka. We don’t …

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THOSE

In the English Grammar Profile, there are two almost identical B1 grammar points for ‘those’ in the category of PRONOUNS/demonstratives Point 46 is defined as: ‘those’ as a pronoun with plural reference. Point 62: ‘those’ as a pronoun to refer to things which have already been mentioned. An iWeb search for: * * * those …

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neither | either + of + PLURAL NOUN PHRASE

‘Either’ can mean “the one or the other.” ‘Neither’ can mean “not the one and not the other” or “not either.” C1 English Grammar Profile point 63 in DETERMINERS/quantity is defined as: ‘either’ and ‘neither’ + ‘of’ with plural noun phrases or pronouns. For example: Neither of these men is Chaney. (note the subject-verb agreement!) listen I don’t think …

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one | some + of the + SUPERLATIVE + PLURAL NOUN

Here are two expert examples of complex noun phrases as subject complements: Ocean worlds are some of the most fascinating places. Listen to this sentence This is one of the most important things that any man can do. Listen *Note, ‘is one of the most‘ is the second most frequent 5-word Ngram. iWeb 262,288 In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 41 in ADJECTIVES is defined as:  ‘ONE OF THE’ …

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singular noun ending in S + possessive ‘ (-s’)

From Google/Oxford, the suffix: s’ denotes possession in plural nouns and sometimes in singular nouns having a final s. For example:  “the girls’ dormitories” Girls is plural. Usually, the possessive singular noun takes ‘s regardless if it ends in s or not.  (Many English users get this wrong.) You are the boss‘s son. (A2 grammar) listen Boss is singular.  …

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all | both | a few + PLURAL NOUN

‘All’ and ‘both’ are predeterminers, meaning they come before other determiners.  For example: “All the things”, “both our children” In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 22 in DETERMINERS is defined as: increasing range of quantifying determiners with plural nouns ‘all’, ‘both’, ‘a few’ In the English Vocabulary Profile: a few = A2 some, or …

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some | any | no | more | a lot of + NOUN

A2 Point 13 in DETERMINERS is defined as: range of quantifying determiners (‘some’, ‘any’, ‘no’, ‘more’, ‘a lot of’) with both plural nouns and uncountable nouns. This point overlaps: A2 Point 18 in the category of NOUNS: form simple noun phrases by pre-modifying nouns with an increasing range of determiners. For example: We would like to remove any doubt as to the validity of our search. …

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