Most of our examples on this site refer to:
The CLAWS tagger does not always tag the difference between adjectives and past participles perfectly, so we do a search in the iWeb corpus with the query: _VB *ed to_II 1 IS COMMITTED TO 117911 C2 adjective It‘s true, I could use someone who is committed to putting an end to Mr. White. Live by Night 2 BE ADDED TO 115128 […]
BE + *ed + to PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE Read More »
MIGHT HAVE BEEN BEING RELEASED
modal verb + HAVE BEEN BEING + past participle Read More »
A detailed analysis of the structure “BE + past participle + BY”, which is commonly used to form passive voice sentences in English. This structure consists of a form of the verb “to be”, a past participle, and the preposition “by”. The webpage also includes examples from the iWeb corpus, showcasing how this structure is used in various contexts. Some of the most common phrases include “BE USED BY”, “IS CAUSED BY”, and “IS DETERMINED BY”. The examples illustrate how this structure allows us to focus on the action and its impact, rather than on who or what performed the action.
BE + past participle + BY phrase Read More »
In the English Vocabulary Profile, on the threshold of sth = C2 at the start of a new and important time or development be on the verge of sth/doing sth = C2 to be going to happen or to do something very soon Here are the top 20 collocations of ‘on the verge of‘ in
on the + ( verge | threshold ) + of Read More »
There is no entry in the English Grammar Profile for the continuous infinitive passive. Therefore, we say this is a C2 grammar structure. A search in NOW corpus for: * to be being * 1 BELIEVED TO BE BEING HELD 18 The following example has past passive + infinitive + continuous passive: The driver of the lorry was believed to be being held by police.
Because there is no past perfect continuous passive in the English Grammar Profile, we can say it is C2. A search in NOW corpus shows that this grammar is extremely rare. 1 HAD BEEN BEING TREATED 10 The woman had left the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, where she had been being treated. belfastlive.co.uk 2 HAD BEEN BEING ABUSED 7 3 ‘D BEEN BEING ABUSED 7 4 HAD
past perfect continuous passive Read More »
Here’s a STUDENT EXAMPLE: Therefore, people should educate themselves on their human rights and the basic human rights that other nations have in order to avoid being deceived. PELIC Arabic female level 4 writing class. GSE 64 B2 NP + VP +VP gerund (passive) An iWeb search for: * _VV being _VVN * 1 TO AVOID BEING HIT BY 313 2 TO AVOID BEING HIT . 185 3 N’T LIKE BEING TOLD WHAT 182
gerund (passive complement) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, there are two B1 passive grammar points that overlap to some degree. point 7 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: PRESENT CONTINUOUS, AFFIRMATIVE limited range of verbs point 9 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: PRESENT CONTINUOUS, FUTURE REFERENCE There are no examples of this grammar
BE + being + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »
C1 point 32 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: NON-FINITE CLAUSES ‘-ing’ form as a subordinate clause or a noun clause to give explanatory background information. A search in the iWeb corpus for . Being _VVN * * gives us our being + past participle list 1 . BEING LOCATED IN THE
BEING + past participle ‘Being born in the …’ Read More »
The word ‘being‘ is most often used as a verb, but also a noun (human being, comes into being) and in a time adverbial phrase (for the time being). Here are the search results in NOW corpus for: * * _VBG * * ADDRESS BEFORE BEING ALLOWED TO At least, you didn’t require readers to log in with an email address before being allowed to read it! brownsnation.com The rest of
In this post, we look at 5 ways the word ‘time’ is tagged by the CLAWS 7 tagger in the iWeb corpus: 1 TIME (NNT1) 24212119 (noun) * * time_NNT1 * * 1 AT THE TIME OF THE 94020 After all, where were you at the time of the murder? listen 2 THE SAME TIME. 51368 3 AT THE TIME.
TIME (complex adverbial phrases) Read More »
In this post, we investigate 11 ways ‘for’ is tagged by the claws 7 tag set. 1 FOR (IF) 140146366 A1 simple preposition 1 . FOR MORE INFORMATION 77314 For more information, you‘ll have to speak with the doctor. Harry Brown 2 . FOR THOSE WHO 22531 3 THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL 19815 4 THE REASON FOR THIS IS
You might know how ‘the’ is used as an article. But did you know all the different phrases it is found in?
advanced phrases with ‘THE’ Read More »
B2 PASSIVE PAST CONTINUOUS AFFIRMATIVE
English Grammar Profile
was | were + being + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, point 15 in the category of PASSIVES at B2 is PRESENT CONTINUOUS, NEGATIVE. This clashes for usage with point 34 at C1: present continuous passive negative form to refer to ongoing situations in the present. _vb _xx being _vvn 1 IS NOT BEING USED 3339 2 ARE NOT BEING USED
present continuous passive negative Read More »
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
RATHER THAN + non-finite clause | phrase Read More »
An in-depth explanation of the grammar structure ‘after being pp’ and ‘after having pp’. ‘after’ is a preposition used before a complement ‘verb-ing’ clause. For example: “After being told these stories, I started thinking” and “I moved back to India after having spent six years in the US”. In the English Grammar Profile, this structure is defined as a non-finite subordinate clause with ‘after’ + ‘having/being’ + ‘-ed’ form, before a main clause, to refer to past time.
After + having | being + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »
Let’s look at two examples to explain this grammar. The first is from a student writing example using past continuous with an adverb that shows he didn’t control the situation with his friend and the second one is from an expert speaker using passives: For example, he was always playing soccer when I played baseball. PELIC Korean male level 4 grammar class. They were
(always | constantly) + past continuous Read More »
Here is a comprehensive analysis of the most common “BE + NOT” forms in English, essential for expressing negation. The forms are listed in order of their frequency in the iWeb corpus. The top three forms are “is not”, “are not”, and “isn’t”, used in various contexts to deny or contradict assertions, form negative statements, and express doubt or uncertainty. Other forms like “’s not”, “was not”, “wasn’t”, “I’m not”, “aren’t”, and “were not” are also discussed with examples illustrating their usage.
