‘Simple’ is used in various ways to explain grammar.
The modal verbs: Will / Shall are often used with the pronouns I and we to show our intentions and to make promises with future simple. In the mid-position, the adverbs: ‘always’ and ‘never’ can make it quite clear that these statements are intended to be true for a long time. For example: This is a day we shall […]
will | shall + always | never (long-term intention) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 66 in the category of FUTURE is defined as: INVERSION present simple with ‘only when’ (followed by ‘will’ and inverted subject) to refer to the future. A search on Google News: The Irish Times Miriam Lord: Séamus the Dog beats Mary Lou to the hard questions “And
Only when + PRESENT SIMPLE + will INVERTED SUBJECT Read More »
The past simple affirmative is used to describe completed actions or events in the past. Its usage varies with proficiency level, starting with a limited range of regular and irregular verbs at A1 level, increasing at A2 level, and covering a wide range of verbs at B1 level. The most common verbs used in the past simple tense are also listed, providing a useful reference for English language learners.
past simple affirmative Read More »
Point 12 in the category of REPORTED SPEECH for CITATION is defined as: PRESENT SIMPLE of the reporting verb to report information from a written source and a present tense verb in the reported clause. We can start our search with: _nn1 says|tells and then choose nouns related to citation: 1 REPORT SAYS 19880
reported speech (present simple) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 31 in the category of PRESENT is defined as: Present simple, STORIES AND COMMENTARIES, to summarise events or plot in a story or piece of history, often to give immediate dramatic interest. This usage is not really something that can be easily located in Corpora. However, both example
present simple to summarise (TAKES PLACE) Read More »
Point 29 in the category of PRESENT is defined as: present simple with a wide range of speech act verbs, including ‘(dis)agree’, ‘accept’, ‘advise.’ A search on iWeb corpus for agree|disagree|accept|advise * * * * *does not really locate speech act theory since there are other uses of these verbs. In particular the most common
present simple (speech act verbs) Read More »
When it comes to single word grammar points such as single-word prepositions, the English Vocabulary Profile is much better at explaining range than the English Grammar Profile. For that reason, this post will only cover the prepositions appearing in the EGP examples. A1 is defined: prepositional phrases with a preposition and a noun phrase. limited
simple prepositions (range) Read More »
Point 79 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect simple, IMAGINED PAST, the affirmative form after ‘if only’, and the affirmative and negative forms after ‘wish’ to talk about regret. This is a rare match of grammar levels with Pearons’ GSE 62 B2: If only I’d worked harder. I wish we’d bought that house. if only * _vhd _vvn 1
IF ONLY | WISH + past perfect simple Read More »
You can give background information in a past perfect simple relative clause. For example:
The people WHO ATTENDED the lecture knew about the test.
The teachers WHO HAD DEVELOPED the test explained what to study the night before.
past perfect simple in relative clauses Read More »
Point 75 in the category of PAST is defined as: Past perfect simple to report statements, where the main verb in the reporting clause is in the past simple. *This point overlaps B1. So we might surmise that ‘said’ and ‘told’ are B1 and other reporting verbs might be B2 within this structure. A search
past perfect simple (report of statements) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 74 in the category of PAST is defined as: leave out the subject before the past perfect simple where it is understood from the previous clause. _c _had _vvn *However the common that clauses do not really locate ellipsis. 1 THAT HAD COME 3547 2 THAT HAD HAPPENED
past perfect simple (ellipsis) Read More »
Point 73 in the category of PAST is defined as: Past simple: ‘I wondered’ and ‘I wanted’ as politeness structures, when making polite requests and thanking. I wondered if * could * 1 I WONDERED IF IT COULD BE 52 2 I WONDERED IF I COULD DO 46 3 I WONDERED IF I COULD MAKE
past simple (politeness) Read More »
Point 66 in the category of PAST is past perfect simple used for a CHANGE OF SITUATION. The EGP uses HAD + ‘planned’ and ‘wanted’ + ‘but’ in their examples. Since this is a difficult structure to find in corpora due to the length of sentences, we have looked directly in Google news for examples:
past perfect simple (change of situation) Read More »
Here is an example of a past perfect simple question: What had I done to deserve it? TED Past perfect simple questions are formed by putting had before the subject and the past participle of the verb. They are used to ask about an action or event that happened before another past action or event, or before a specific time in the
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In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 63 in the category of PAST is defined as: past simple NEGATIVE wide range of regular and irregular verbs. This point is very much about vocabulary and so probably doubles up on using the English vocabulary profile. How do we divide the range up better than looking for
past simple negative (range) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 62 in category of PAST is defined as: a range of time adjuncts with the past simple. This is quite ambiguous as to what constitutes this in the EGP exactly. The examples all include a past simple verb and a time word but often with lots of words
Past simple + time adjuncts Read More »
B2 English Grammar Profile point 61 in the category of PAST is defined as: negative form of the present perfect simple with ‘still’ to emphasise that something that was expected to happen continues not to happen. An iWeb search for: still have|has _xx _vvn 1 STILL HAVE N’T FOUND 1847 2 STILL HAVE N’T GOTTEN
STILL + present perfect simple negative ‘still haven’t found’ Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 59 in the category of PAST is defined: past perfect simple AFTER ‘BECAUSE’ giving explanatory information. Here are examples of past perfect simple used to give explanations. Someone even wiped away tears because she had done it, she had connected them to information differently, she helped them see something they couldn’t unsee. TED Vicky called because her husband had suddenly collapsed in the hallway of their home. TED A search in iWeb for because _P had _VVN 1 BECAUSE I HAD HEARD
BECAUSE + past perfect simple Read More »
B2 Point 57 in the category of past and perfect simple is defined as: REPORTS OF QUESTIONS where the main verb in the reporting clause is in the past simple. *However, only by investigating the rest of the EGP do we discover that there is an B1 point that clashes here for yes-no questions in
past perfect simple (report of question) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 56 in PAST perfect simple is defined as: invert the subject and auxiliary verb with ‘no sooner … than’ to talk about something that happened immediately before something else, often in formal contexts This is quite a rare structure. 1 NO SOONER HAD HE SAID 30 2 NO
NO SOONER + past perfect – than Read More »
