advice

OPEN TO ( adjective + prepositional phrase )

We are interested in finding the most common noun phrases after ‘open to‘ that complete more abstract ideas such as willingness to consider something or something is likely to happen. In the English Vocabulary Profile: open to discussion/suggestions, etc. = C1 willing to consider a discussion/suggestions, etc. open to abuse/criticism, etc. = C2 likely to […]

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pre-modified superlative phrase

Here are more advanced examples of premodified superlative phrases: It‘s the next best thing to having you beside me. listen It was the second-largest gold rush in American history. Rat Race Note, the phrase “the second largest” is a compound modifier, where “second” modifies “largest”. It usually takes a hyphen before its noun. US customs officials report that  tomato smuggling is at its highest level  since the Great Tomato War. listen its = B2 possessive determiner   In the English Grammar Profile,

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a little | bits of | a bit of | a bit of a | a little bit of

‘BIT’ related to quantity is countable = a bit of … bits of … For example: By inserting those genes into yeast, we could produce little bits of that smell and be able to, maybe, smell a little bit of something that‘s lost forever. TED A2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: bit = a small amount or piece of something B1 in the Oxford Learner Dictionary: [countable] bit of something (especially British English) a small

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MY | YOUR + superlative + noun

The formation of noun phrases using ‘my’ or ‘your’ + superlative adjective + noun in English grammar.

A noun phrase acts as a noun and describes a noun, while a superlative adjective compares a noun to the rest of a group and indicates the highest degree of a quality.

For instance, in the sentence “That’s your biggest mistake,” ‘your biggest mistake’ is a noun phrase where ‘biggest’ is the superlative adjective and ‘mistake’ is the noun.

The text also provides examples of such phrases commonly used in English, such as “your best bet,” “my best friend,” “your best friend,” and so on. It mentions that using A2 vocabulary or higher in this structure will probably be considered B1 context.

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WH- (reported question)

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 10 in the category of REPORTED SPEECH is defined as: ‘wh-‘questions using a reporting verb + ‘wh-‘word + clause, with a change of pronoun and tense shift where relevant Expert examples: I once asked a really bright student what he hoped to learn from me. TED When asked what the biggest challenge was in making the film, William Joyce says, not giving up. listen PELIC student example: Every time, someone asked me what my major was, they always

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