mostly

particularizers

ADVERBS, B2, degree, FOCUS, modify

Particularizers are a category of adverbs that focus attention on what follows them, without excluding other possibilities. They are used to modify verbs and adjectives and can be found at different levels of English Vocabulary Profile such as A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2.
The TED corpus has some examples of particularizers used in natural chunks. For example, “especially when it comes” is a 4-gram chunk that is at least C1 level. “Largely due to” is another 3-gram chunk that is at least C1 level. “Mainly because” is a 2-gram chunk that is at least B2 level.

particularizers Read More »

this one | that one

B1, countable, demonstrative, NOUNS, PRONOUNS, singular, substitution

In English grammar, “this” and “that” are demonstrative pronouns used to refer to specific things or people. “This” refers to something close to the speaker, while “that” refers to something farther away. Both can also refer to situations or experiences.

The pronoun ‘one’ can substitute for a singular noun, helping avoid repetition. For example, “I prefer the red apple, not the green one”.

When combined with “this” or “that”, as in ‘this one’ or ‘that one’, they refer to a specific, previously mentioned singular countable noun. ‘This one’ refers to something closer in distance or time, while ‘that one’ refers to something further in distance or time.

For instance, in the sentence “Get a new photo. You look like a ghost in this one,” “this one” refers to the current photo of the person being spoken to. Similarly, in the sentence “I learned the answer to that one the hard way,” “that one” refers to a particular issue or challenge that the speaker encountered and learned from through a difficult experience.

this one | that one Read More »