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lexical verb + article + adjective + noun + particle | preposition

We‘re keeping an open mind about the causes of the fire. listen A search in NOW corpus for: _VV _AT _JJ _NN _RP *note that particles and prepositions are sometimes incorrectly tagged. 1 TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT 761 (C1) You didn’t take the easy way out. listen 2 VISITED THE RIVAL NATION IN 734 3 TAKING THE EASY WAY OUT 465 4 KEEP […]

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NOT + adverb

When “not” is used before an adverb, it typically forms a negative construction that modifies the action or verb it is associated with. This construction is used to indicate the absence or negation of the quality or manner expressed by the adverb. Next, we want to know the most common adverbs in this position, so

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BY phrases

The preposition “by” has several meanings in English, depending on the context. Here are some common ones:

It can mean “beside” or “next to” when used with a place, such as “by the window” or “by the sea”.
It can show the person or thing that does something, such as “written by Shakespeare” or “made by hand”.
It can show how or in what way something is done, such as “by car” or “by mistake”.
It can mean “not later than” when used with a time, such as “by tomorrow” or “by 5 pm”.

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