In the English Vocabulary Profile at B1: not believe/understand/hear/say, etc. a word = anything A search in iWeb corpus for: _XX _VV a word 1 N’T SAY A WORD 1726 Don’t say a word against my father. listen 2 NOT SAY A WORD 756 3 N’T UNDERSTAND A WORD 608 It was brilliant, even though I didn’t understand a word of it. listen 4 N’T BELIEVE A […]
There are many types of negative adverbials with inversion, that are not in the English Grammar Profile (EGP), so they should be listed at C2. For example: Seldom do orcs journey in the open under the sun, yet these have done so. Listen Examples of some vocabulary items in inversion can be found in the English Vocabulary Profile. For example: LITTLE (adverb) = C1 not
negative adverbials + inversion Read More »
Here is another group of A2 English Grammar Profile points that overlap multiple categories. Many of these could be all merged into one point. Point 3 in the category of QUESTIONS: yes/no AUXILIARY ‘BE’ + subject + the continuous A search in NOW corpus for: _VB _P _VVG 1 ARE YOU GOING 38887 2 ARE
BE | HAVE | DO (auxiliary verbs) Read More »
Negative interrogative clauses are interrogative sentences that are made negative. They are often used to imply that the speaker is expecting a certain answer or for emphatic effect. For example, “Aren’t you coming?” is a negative interrogative clause because it is a question that is made negative by the word “not”. Here is another difficult
negative interrogative clauses Read More »
In the English Vocabulary Profile at B1: If something used to happen or a situation used to exist, it happened regularly or in the past but it does not happen or exist now. In the English Grammar Profile at B1: Point 60 in MODALITY: ‘used to’ to talk about repeated actions or states in the
didn’t use to + INFINITIVE Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 83 in PAST is defined as: ‘NOT ONLY … BUT ALSO’ the inverted form of the past simple with auxiliary ‘do’ *Note that any type of inversion with ‘not only but also’ is C1. Our example: Sportskeeda Not only did this affect his reputation with the fans, but also
Not only did + but also Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 82 in the category of PAST is defined as: the past simple with ‘did’ for emphasis A search in iWeb corpus for: _N did _VVI 1 STUDY DID FIND 301 2 THINGS DID GET 205 3 RESEARCHERS DID FIND 159 4 THINGS DID HAPPEN 159 5 STUDY DID SHOW 114
English Grammar Profile C1 point 81 in the category of PAST/simple is defined as: ‘yes/no’, ‘wh-‘, tag and negative question forms with a wide range of verbs. *This is more about vocabulary than grammar. We have tried to cover this same topic also here. However, we’ll attempt to focus on what is C1 in this
past simple questions (with a wide range of verbs) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 201 in MODALITY is defined as ‘used to’ QUESTIONS For example: The New York Times What problem did you use to have but now have licked? 19 Nov 2020 The following list does not specify whether or not it is basic past simple with the more common infinitive of purpose. It must
used to (questions) Read More »
This post is another one where the English Grammar Profile has clashing proficiency levels associated with a point and in the examples. Here we are looking at the category of QUESTIONS. It is understandable that usage is what is different, but the examples could be better selected: B2 Point 29: ‘wh-‘words + the negative form
WH – negative question Read More »
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 »
Point 52 at B2 in the category of PAST simple QUESTIONS is defined as: yes/no’, ‘wh-‘, tag and negative question forms with an increasing range of verbs. There is great confusion trying to differentiate this across levels from other points on the EGP. *Point 63 Past simple negative wide range of verbs and point 29
past simple questions – range Read More »
‘WH-‘ questions expect a reply that supplies information. The wh-word can be a pronoun: What made you think that? (listen to this question) adverb: Where did it go? (listen) or a determiner: Which part? (listen) A search for the most common questions in the iWeb corpus with: _ddq _v _p _v ? 1 WHAT DO YOU THINK? (‘what’
B2 example: Our volunteers know that the families who benefit from his generosity not only appreciate his action but take extra pleasure in knowing that it comes with the compliments of Mrs Brown, an iconic and internationally famous Dublin mother. C1 example: Not only did this virus continue in the places where they’d already become infected, but then it started to escalate and we saw the case numbers that you see here, something we’d never seen before on such a scale, an exponential increase of Ebola
A rarer grammar structure to do with adverbs, negation and inversion.
Never + inversion ‘Never have I…’ Read More »
