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plural noun phrase + ARE + THAT clause

Here is an example of B2 focus with a singular noun phrase at the front of a sentence: The problem is that she wants a bottle of red wine. listen It is easy to find information about singular noun phrases + that clauses on the internet: We use a noun + that-clause to express opinions and feelings, often about certainty and possibility. We […]

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defining relative clause TO infinitive

Here’s an expert example of a defining relative clause using TO-infinitive: Several years earlier, she‘d become the first woman to ski to the South Pole. Listen to the sentence. The first woman to ski can be written in another way with the same meaning: the first woman who skied  Pearson’s GSE 56 B1+ is defined:  construct defining (restrictive) relative clauses with ‘to’ + infinitive verb

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NOT ONLY + present perfect continuous (inversion) + BUT

Adverb expressions such as ‘not only’, ‘not just’, and ‘not simply’ emphasize that something is true, but it is not the whole truth.  These co-ordinate clauses. In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 92 in the category of PAST is defined: present perfect continuous, invert the subject and affirmative auxiliary verb with ‘not only … but’

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adverb + GOING TO

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 34 in the category of FUTURE: ‘be going to’ with a  limited range of adverbs, after the auxiliary be form, in the normal mid position. The EGP examples of adverbs include ‘never’ and ‘really’. An iWeb search for: _VB _RR _VVGK *we removed the past forms of BE 1 ‘M

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CAN + limited range of adverbs

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 120 in the category of MODALITY is defined as: ‘can’ with a limited range of adverbs (including ‘also’, ‘always’, ‘even’, ‘just’, ‘only’, ‘really’, ‘still’) in the normal mid position after the modal verb. PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: Some old people can only sit on the wheelchair. Chinese female level 3 writing class. A search on iWeb for: can_VM

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not only do * but also

In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 19 in CONJUNCTIONS/coordinating is defined as: inverted auxiliary ‘do’ + the subject after ‘not only’, to give focus. For example: It‘s kind of like the dirty, little secret of poverty, which is that, not only do poor people take in very little income, but also, the income that they take in, they don’t spend it very wisely, and unfortunately, most of that spending is done by men. *This is an overlapping point at multiple levels.

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ONE (pronoun)

In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 16 in the category of PRONOUNS/substitution: ‘the one’ and ‘the’ + pre-modifier + ‘one’ with a complement, to refer to something specific. Point 35 in PRONOUNS/substitution is defined as: substitute for singular countable nouns which have already been mentioned or are obvious from the context. *There are a

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