Each relies on the other for support. Each sibling has a unique bond with the others. Each of the players passed the ball to the others during the game. In these examples, “each” indicates individuality or distribution, and “the others” serves as a complement of a preposition, representing the remaining entities in the group or set. […]
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 85 in the category of PAST is defined as: invert the subject and affirmative auxiliary verb to talk about imagined situations in the past, often with regret, in formal contexts *although a following modal verb ‘could’ or ‘would’ is not mentioned in the description above, they do follow in the
past perfect simple (inversion) Read More »
English Grammar Profile C1 point 80 in the category of PAST is defined as: past simple ‘I thought’ as a politeness structure to sound less direct. However, there is no way to formally decide if this is actually a politeness construction. If it is not, it might still contain B2 modal passive or B1 reporting structures. For
I thought… (polite) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 194 in MODALITY is defined as: ‘might’ QUESTIONS For example: How might you mark up the diagram to figure out what to do next? iWeb doesn’t allow us variable-length queries so the best we can do is: might _P * * * 1 MIGHT YOU BE ABLE TO 191 2 MIGHT IT BE POSSIBLE TO 132 3 MIGHT I BE
The English Grammar Profile C1 point 10 in the category of FOCUS is defined as: ‘What’ + noun or pronoun + verb phrase as subject + ‘be’, for focus. Note that Pearson lists this point: GSE 59 B2 clauses with ‘What …’ to emphasise the topic or main point. For example: What we need now is a good night’s sleep. What I said was that I don’t need your help.
‘What you see is what you get.’ (CLEFT CLAUSE) Read More »
Here are 2 examples of post-modifying a superlative adverb phrase with a clause containing an ellipted modal verb: I do the best I can with what I have. I go about my business, make money, help society the best I can and try to promote free trade in this world. listen You know, I did the best I could with what I had. listen C1 English Grammar Profile point 118 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as: ‘the best’ as a superlative adverb + pronoun + ellipted ‘can’ or ‘could’.
the best + PRONOUN + can | could Read More »
Here are two examples of ordering someone not to allow something: Don’t let him get away. listen Don’t let them go. listen C1 point 117 in CLAUSES/imperatives is defined as: an imperative clause with ‘let’ + ‘him/her/them’ + base form of a main verb, to disallow something or instruct someone to disallow something *I disagree that ‘him|her|them’ should
DON’T LET + pronoun (permission/order) Read More »
C2 point 14 in the category of FOCUS is defined as: ‘How’, ‘Why’, or ‘Where’ cleft clauses as subject, for focus. *Note, HOW + CLAUSE is also C2 as an exclamation. A search on iWeb for: . How|Why|Where _P _V * 1 . WHERE I LIVE , 688 2 . WHY YOU ASK ? 544
how | why | where + CLEFT CLAUSE Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, point 52 at B1 in ADJECTIVES/position is defined as: adjectives as object complement after ‘make’. *However, this clashes with B2: where ‘it’ introduces a reference. *Note, if you capitalise your search term such as MAKE on iWeb, it will give you all forms of the word. A search in iWeb
MAKE + object + adjective Read More »
C2 INTRODUCE A CONDITION in a formal context
‘Were’ + pronoun + ‘to’ infinitive to introduce a condition, in formal contexts
‘were’ with an inverted subject + ‘to’ infinitive, to introduce conditions in formal contexts.
Point 127 CLAUSES/conditional | Point 126 CLAUSES/subordinated
The English Grammar Profile
WERE + noun phrase + TO infinitive Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 120 in the category of CLAUSES/conditional is defined as: inverted ‘should’, + ‘would’ in the main clause to talk about possible future outcomes, in polite or formal contexts. Example: Should they come forward, that would be a tricky situation for us. Listen In the COCA corpus we can do a
(conditional) inverted SHOULD + WOULD clause Read More »
C2 FOCUS | FORMAL | happened immediately before something else
HARDLY HAD + inversion Read More »
B2 point 54 in VERBS/patterns is defined as: some verbs connected with the senses + direct object + an ‘-ing’ form, to give emphasis to an ongoing activity. *I don’t believe B2 complexity should hinge on ‘activity’. It should also include a state. For example: I don’t see myself being with anyone else but you, Sarah. listen An iWeb search for: sense verbs
sense verb + OBJECT + VERB-ing Read More »
At B2 in the English Grammar Profile, point 52 in the category of VERBS/patterns is defined as: introducing a new subject before the ‘-ing’ form (using noun or object pronoun) For example: This session is designed to stop you wasting time and procrastinating when you need to be getting an earlier night. context * The example above can also be structured: “stop you FROM wasting time” _VV _P _V*G *Notice that the ‘get/keep
verb + new subject + verbING Read More »
B2 increasing range of verb + particle + preposition + noun or pronoun.
English Grammar Profile point 49 in VERBS/phrasal-prepositional.
VERB + PARTICLE + PREPOSITION + OBJECT Read More »
The modal verb “will” is used in English to express various future meanings. Here are some of its uses: Future Affirmative: “Will” is used to talk about the future. For example, “I will help you tomorrow.” Here, “will help” indicates a future action that is going to take place. “Will” is used to express beliefs
WILL (future simple) Read More »
Prepositional verbs are idiomatic multiword units. The consist of a verb + prepositional phrase. The meaning of this unit is idiomatic.
verb + preposition + object Read More »
Point 15 in the category of REPORTED SPEECH / DIRECT SPEECH is defined as: the reporting verb in the mid position of the reported clause. Here’s a list of the 10 most common B2 reporting verbs found in the mid position: claimed, commented, muttered, observed, recalled, remarked, responded, sighed, stated, whispered This is a very
reporting clause (mid position) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 28 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: affirmative or negative tag after an imperative clause to soften the imperative. *Some examples don’t seem to soften but instead add a touch of sarcasm. iWeb corpus doesn’t allow searching for such a complex string. We can start with
imperative clause + question tag Read More »
This post lists two clashing points in the English Grammar Profile. The only difference that we can guess from the definition is that the B1 point does not require the subject position. B2 point 91 in PRONOUNS is defined as: ‘ONE’ as a generic personal pronoun in the subject position to mean people in general.
