for

BE + past participle + FOR

After a passive verb phrase (or a past participle as an adjective), the preposition “for” indicates purpose or reason. Here are the results of a search in the iWeb corpus for: _VB _VVN for 1 BE USED FOR 284604 Crush. It‘s funny how the same word for the feeling of attraction can be used for the feeling of disappointment. listen 2 IS KNOWN FOR 97688 And he is known for being a liar. listen The sentence “he is known […]

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WORD (phrases)

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

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frightened + PREPOSITION

frightened = feeling fear or worry. To find the frequency of prepositions that come after the adjective frightened, we can search in iWeb corpus for: frightened _I We have added example sentences containing frightened preposition: 1 FRIGHTENED OF 4688 What have you got to be frightened of? listen 2 FRIGHTENED BY 4585 People are frightened by the way that I look, especially children. listen 3 FRIGHTENED AT 703

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in order + to | for

In the English Vocabulary Profile: in order (for sb/sth) to do sth B1 with the purpose of achieving something The most common collocates of ‘in order to’ in COCA: For example: Or is the concept of an afterlife just a lie in order to avoid the terror of obliteration? listen   In order for this all to work, you need to completely let me in. listen

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so much for (informal)

At C2, in the English Vocabulary Profile, the INFORMAL phrase ‘so much for’ + noun phrase is defined:  used to say that something has not been useful or successful The Cambridge dictionary: used to express disappointment at the fact that a situation is not as you thought it was A search in COCA 1 .

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had been + VERBing

Point 27 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous: an action or event which began before a point in the past and was still continuing up to that point, often with ‘for’ or ‘since’, to give background information. Point 32 in the PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous: background action

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As for myself

Point 119 in PRONOUNS/reflexive is defined as: ‘as for myself’ as a discourse marker to introduce or focus on a personal opinion. FOR EXAMPLE: As for myself, I have some ideas about where we went wrong this time, and one day I may call on you once more. listen     TechRaptor As for myself, I am an artist in the loosest possible definition of the word; that is to say, I make art. 16 Dec 2020 A search in iWeb corpus for: . As

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WERE IT NOT FOR

‘were it not for’ + noun phrase expresses that someone or something prevented something from happening.  For example: Were it not for the cataclysmic events which overtook them, it’s entirely possible that raptors, rather than humans,  would have become the dominant species on this planet. Listen C2 point 132 in CLAUSES/conditional is defined as: ‘Were it not for’ + noun phrase to introduce conditions in formal contexts. *The big corpora do not

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IF IT WERE NOT FOR

In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 125 in CLAUSES/conditional is defined as ‘If it weren’t / were not for’ + noun phrase to introduce conditions in formal contexts. past simple For example: And none of us would be here if it weren’t for you. Listen iWeb doesn’t allow a search for **** to the right even on a premium licence. 1 IF

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STRANDED PREPOSITION

Here are examples of reported speech with relative clauses ending with stranded prepositions: He told me the company he works for.  She requested that I give him all the information he asks for.  He exclaimed that this is the best festival he has been to. This type of construction is considered informal and is often discouraged in formal writing. However, it is commonly used in spoken English and in informal writing. Profiling Research This post is about two points in the English Grammar

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VERB + ADVERB + PREPOSITION ‘go directly to’

B2 English Grammar Profile point 51 in the category of VERBS/prepositional is defined as: adverb between the verb and the preposition For example: George says the piston’s going to go right through the block any minute now. listen   Alex, maybe if everything goes well with the paintings, Victor and I will tour and we could visit you in New York. listen An iWeb search for _VV *ly_R _II 1 GO DIRECTLY TO 17903 We‘re gonna go directly to the airport and get a plane. listen 2 BASED SOLELY ON 13229 We can’t work based solely on rumour, can we?

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