I am reading higher than normal alcohol levels in your bloodstream, sir. listen to the pronunciation “higher than normal” refers to the alcohol levels in the bloodstream being above the standard or average range. This could be due to recent consumption of alcohol. The exact range for “normal” can vary, but typically, a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% is considered legally impaired in […]
comparative + THAN + adjective Read More »
These are the search results in iWeb for: no_AT _DA * 1 NO MORE THAN 156094 C2 grammar This phrase means “not more than” and it is used to express an upper limit. 2 NO SUCH THING 49851 B2 is a phrase that means “it does not exist.” It is used to deny the existence
NO + post-determiner Read More »
At C2 in the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘would sooner’ means ‘would prefer.’ For example: They would sooner sacrifice numbers to save the people. TED The most common collocate or grammar structure related here is comparative ‘than’. For example: I would sooner resign than be forced to get the vaccine. Chicago Tribune on MSN.com A search in the NOW corpus for which infinitives are found next to ‘would sooner’ would
would sooner + INFINITIVE Read More »
‘double, treble, quadruple’ can be multiplying predeterminers. They come before other determiners in a noun phrase. For example, ‘double the national average.’ Bloomberg.com New York City‘s unemployment rate was nearly double the national average in June. Other multiplying expressions: He earns three times more than me. She gets paid nearly three times as much as me. *In the English Vocabulary Profile, B1 if followed by a comparative structure. We can’t be
mutiplying predeterminer + noun phrase Read More »
A simple comparison in English is “She is more important than you.” One way to make comparisons more complex is to increase the number of words between ‘more’ and ‘than.’ This could include nouns or adjectives followed by non-finite clauses such as in the following EXPERT EXAMPLES: Today, billions of citizens have more tools, more access to information, more capacity to influence than ever before. TED It‘s harder to compose than to play. TLC native
MORE * THAN (complex comparisions) Read More »
CHEAPER THAN BUYING | BETTER THAN GETTING | EASIER THAN TRYING
comparative adjective + THAN + verb-ING Read More »
B1 = ‘than’ + a finite clause forming the second part of comparison after a comparative adjective
English Grammar Profile, point 56 in the category of CLAUSES.
comparative adjective + THAN + finite clause Read More »
Let’s look at an expert example of limiting comparison: Now, these people are no more special than any of us. (listen to this sentence) ‘no more‘ = not more In Collins dictionary as an ADVERB at B1+ use no to make the negative form of a comparative. In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 74 in the category of ADJECTIVES is
NO | NOT ANY + comparative Read More »
Point 76 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: Possessive pronouns ‘hers’ and ‘ours’ in comparative clauses. An iWeb search for _jj as|than hers|ours: 1 DIFFERENT THAN OURS 491 EXPERT EXAMPLE: His approach was totally different than ours. *’ from ours’ is traditionally correct, but this is the highest frequency example! 2 IMPORTANT AS OURS 470 3 GOOD AS
comparative + hers | ours Read More »
1 HALF The word ‘half’ is typically a before determiner or pre-determiner capable of pronominal function. (DB) 1183937 Here are 10 examples of the intensifier phrase ‘more than‘ premodifying the determiner ‘half’: 1 MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY 3921 It‘s been more than half a century. 2 MORE THAN HALF A MILLION 3884 3 MORE THAN HALF AN HOUR 1064
1 RATHER THAN (II21 II22) 956100 = most commonly found as a complex prepositional phrase. This grammar point is already covered here. 2 RATHER (RG) 529786 = ‘Rather’ as a degree adverb usually modifies an adjective. 1 BUT (CCB) RATHER (RG_RR@) A (AT1) 22044 2 A (AT1) RATHER (RG) LARGE (JJ) 7161 3 BUT (CCB) RATHER
“Before” is a versatile word in English, functioning as a preposition, subordinating conjunction, and time adverb. As a preposition, it connects a noun or pronoun to another word, indicating something happens earlier than the time or event mentioned. As a subordinating conjunction, it connects two clauses, showing a relationship between them. As a time adverb, it modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb to indicate when something happens. Examples from various corpora illustrate these uses.
In this post, we look at more complex phrases using the word NONE. Here are the frequency and tagging results in iWeb for the word “NONE“: 1 NONE (PN) 929301 Although the English Vocabulary Profile lists ‘none’ at B1 as a pronoun, meaning ‘not any’, there is also B2 idiom: This is none of your business. listen
NONE other than | nonetheless | NONE the wiser | NONE too pleased Read More »
B2 COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVE + ‘THAN’ + NON-FINITE CLAUSE
‘than’ + an increasing range of non-finite clauses (to-infinitive, reduced clause) forming the second part of a comparison after a comparative adjective.
(ENGLISH GRAMMAR PROFILE)
comparative non-finite clause Read More »
Let’s look at how ‘rather than‘ is used to compare. In the English Vocabulary Profile, at B1 the meaning is: ‘instead of ‘ rather than examples: I‘d like coffee rather than tea. I usually wear a swimsuit rather than shorts. In the above examples: coffee, tea, a swimsuit, shorts are nouns or noun phrases, so ‘rather than‘ or ‘instead of‘ are complex prepositions. Here’s
RATHER THAN + non-finite clause | phrase Read More »
‘more rapidly‘ is an example of an adverb phrase. In this example, ‘rapidly‘ is the head of the phrase. B2 point 55 in the English Grammar Profile under the category of adverbs is defined: phrases that modify with an adverb and comparative structure. What is particularly noticeable about this structure is that it attracts higher
adverb comparative phrase ‘more frequently than’ Read More »
B2 modify and intensify comparative ADJECTIVES with ‘a lot’.
used predicatively after a verb, usually ‘be’
English Grammar Profile
verb + A LOT + comparative adjective | adverb Read More »
Which adverb can I teach with comparative adjectives to B2 students?
‘The price is slightly higher’ (slightly + comparative adjective) Read More »
