In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 70 in the category of PRONOUNS & demonstratives is defined as: ‘those’ as a substitute, followed by a relative clause or ‘-ed’ or ‘-ing’. The examples in the EGP contain: those who|which|that on iWeb these are broken down as: 1 THOSE WHO 1715629 2 THOSE THAT 337742 3 […]
THOSE + relative clause Read More »
A2 point 34 in the category of PRONOUNS: ‘something’ in vague expressions, to refer to things in a non-specific way. B2 point 69 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: indefinite pronouns in vague expressions to refer to things in a non-specific way. *The B2 examples given in the EGP are: or_CC anything_PN1 or_CC
OR + indefinite pronouns (vague expressions) Read More »
Point 68 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: ‘he/she’, ‘he’ or ‘she’ or ‘they’ to refer back to gender neutral singular nouns or indefinite pronouns when we are not sure of the gender. Unfortunately these are incredibly hard to locate in corpora due to the punctuation or many other combinations within the clusters.
pronouns (gender neutral) Read More »
Wh-relatives can be preceded by a preposition unlike ‘that’ or ‘zero’ relatives. For example: This is the thing which I am interested in. (stranded preposition) This is the thing in which I am interested. (fronted preposition) This is the thing that I am interested in. (stranding) This is the thing I am interested in. (‘zero’ relative pronoun and stranding) In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 12 in the category of PREPOSITIONs is defined as: preposition + relative pronoun as complement, to
fronted preposition + relative pronoun Read More »
It is much more common to follow an indefinite pronoun with ‘THAT’ as a conjunction. ‘That’ as a determiner is less common. 1 SOMETHING (PN1) THAT (CST) 806036 2 ONE (PN1) THAT (CST) 546938 3 ANYTHING (PN1) THAT (CST) 216969 4 EVERYTHING (PN1) THAT (CST) 172404 6 SOMEONE (PN1) THAT (CST) 46752 7 NOTHING (PN1)
Indefinite pronoun + THAT Read More »
A search in iWeb for the word “ONE” shows us 6 different tags. 1 ONE (MC1) 24583449 (number) 1 . ONE OF THE 217127 2 THIS IS ONE OF THE 109499 3 TO BE ONE OF THE 88041 4 IT IS ONE OF THE 66555 5 IT ‘S ONE OF THE 42852 It‘s one of the worst crimes of
‘Anything’ is usually an indefinite pronoun. Rarely, it is in a two part adverbial phrase. 1 ANYTHING (PN1) 2 ANYTHING BUT (RR21) idiom = the opposite of the stated quality
Is the word ‘anything’ a pronoun or an adverb? Read More »
In this post, we look at more complex phrases using the word NONE. Here are the frequency and tagging results in iWeb for the word “NONE“: 1 NONE (PN) 929301 Although the English Vocabulary Profile lists ‘none’ at B1 as a pronoun, meaning ‘not any’, there is also B2 idiom: This is none of your business. listen
NONE other than | nonetheless | NONE the wiser | NONE too pleased Read More »
In this post, we are looking for advanced phrases with the word ‘same‘. For example: It‘s the same old story. The rich get richer, and the most vulnerable in our country suffer. listen 1 SAME (DA) 9442876 A search in iWeb corpus for: * * same_DA * * 1 AT THE SAME TIME, 242223 B1 phrase in the English Vocabulary Profile. At the same time, we are doing business with the very same government that is flooding our streets with cocaine. listen 2
Here’s an example of determiners premodifying nouns: I regret some of the things I said to you. A2 point 18 in the category of NOUNS/phrases is defined: form simple noun phrases by pre-modifying nouns with an increasing range of determiners. A2 point 17 in the category of PRONOUNS: limited range of pronouns (‘all’, ‘both’) with ‘of’ followed by an object pronoun, to
ALL | SOME | BOTH | HALF + OF + noun phrase Read More »
Using a reflexive pronoun with the GET passive suggests the subject was at least partly responsible for making something happen.
GET + reflexive pronoun + past participle Read More »
At C2, in the English Grammar Profile, point 109 in the category of PRONOUNS and reciprocal is defined as: ‘each’ (+ noun or pronoun) as subject followed by ‘the other(s)’ as an object, to refer to two related things. (quantity) Most of the examples in iWeb corpus seem related to law. A looser search each
EACH … THE OTHER(S) Read More »
There are two overlapping points at A2 in the English Grammar Profile for reporting verbs. Point 2 in the category of REPORTED SPEECH is defined as: reporting clause with ‘tell’ + direct object + ‘that-‘clause, with a pronoun shift where relevant. Point 12 in VERBS and patterns is defined as: Verbs, typically reporting verbs, followed
told me that (reported) Read More »
Here’s an example of ‘some of’ modifying the relative pronoun ‘which’: I have many connections, some of which are less than reputable. Listen In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 98 in the category of PRONOUNS / quantity is defined as: ‘some of’, ‘many of’ to modify relative pronouns in a relative clause. A search on iWeb for ngrams of some|many of _**q
some of which | many of whom 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 »
We use would be to make suggestions when we want to express our opinion or preference about something. For example:
It would be nice to go to the beach today.
It would be great if you could help me with this project.
WOULD + linking verb + adjective (suggestions | imagined situations) Read More »
B2 MODALITY: She is unlikely to get a job.
BE + adjective + TO-infinitive Read More »
Here’s an expert example of using ‘their’ with a general reference: Tech Guide It‘s based on the idea that people learn best when they are actively involved in their education. The use of ‘their’ is confusing to give level to, because there is differing information between the English Vocabulary and Grammar Profiles, and secondly the uses are hard to locate in corpora automatically. At B2,
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 102 in the category of CLAUSES that are relative is defined as: defining relative clauses and non-defining relative clauses ending in a preposition, with ‘who/which/that’ as the complement of the preposition. *This point overlaps other categories and is already covered here. Here are the 4 most common prepositions
relative clause preposition (stranding) Read More »
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
a wide range of linking verbs used in other complex ways Read More »
