In this post, we give examples of 7 different ways the noun ‘world‘ is used in English. In the English Vocabulary Profile at A2: your world = your life and experiences A search in NOW corpus for: _APPGE world 1 OUR WORLD 67437 This may be literally our planet. 2 THEIR WORLD 33865 Note that ‘their’ […]
Here’s an example of a C2 phrase in the English Vocabulary Profile that means: worry that something very bad will happen or that something very bad has happened We fear the worst. TED A search for collocates of ‘fear the worst‘ in the NOW corpus: 1 COME 126 2 YET 114 3 BEGAN 59 4 EXPERTS 31 Experts initially feared the worst.
‘in the long run’ is B2 in the English Vocabulary Profile with the meaning at a time that is far away in the future A search for collocates of ‘in the long run’ in the COCA: 1 MONEY 200 2 CHEAPER 58 3 EFFECTIVE 38 4 BENEFIT 30 5 SUSTAINABLE 27 6 SURVIVE 25 7
In the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘one’ is listed as a determiner at A2 = to refer to a particular person or thing in a group This is one of the most important documents in history. listen In this context, “one” is used to indicate a particular but unspecified example of something, in this case, a document. It’s part of the phrase
In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 3 in the category of PREPOSITIONS is defined:
‘JUST’ + to modify prepositions.
JUST + preposition Read More »
Here’s a student example of a determiner + uncountable noun: My teacher told me “enjoy the music and you will dance naturally.” PELIC Taiwanese female level 3 writing class A2 point 18 in the category of NOUNS is defined: form simple noun phrases by pre-modifying nouns with an increasing range of determiners. A2 point 24 in the category of NOUNS: form
determiner + noun phrase (increasing range) Read More »
Male raptors are about one-third the size of females. CSMonitor A search in iWeb for _MF _A _N 1 1/2 A CUP 770 2 1/2 THE PRICE 663 3 1/2 AN HOUR 655 4 1/2 AN INCH 593 5 1/3 THE PRICE 543 6 1/2 THE TIME 386 7 ONE-THIRD THE SIZE 377 8 1/3 THE SIZE 370 9
fractions as predeterminers 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 »
Using noun phrases as objects of the clause helps provide more information about the action or state described by the verb in a sentence. It helps answer questions about the direct recipients of the verb’s action or the entities affected by it.
noun phrase (direct object) Read More »
Here is an example of a longer noun phrase as the subject of a sentence: The rest of the time is spent in classes. spectator.org Not all of these will be the subject of the sentence… A search in iWeb corpus for . _A _N _I _A 1 . THE REST OF THE 36076 COCA 1 . THE REST OF THE
noun phrase (subject) Read More »
Here are expert examples of negation + ‘the least‘: I’m not in the least bit religious. Listen to this sentence Well, aren’t you the least bit curious as to how I can be talking to you on the phone right now when I ‘m supposed to be taped to a chair? listen C2 Point 28 in the category of NEGATION is defined: ‘IN THE LEAST’ after a negative form for emphasis. A search in iWeb: 1 NOT SURPRISED
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
defining relative clause TO infinitive Read More »
B1+ Reduced Adjective Clauses
We reduce sentences when you have the same subject in the main clause and the adjective clause.
Adjective clauses contain relative pronouns like who, which, or that. The reduced adjective clause
becomes an adjective phrase, which does not have a subject. An adjective phrase does not have a
subject and a verb. Instead, it has a present participle (base verb + ing) for the active voice or a past
participle for the passive voice.
(Mt. SAC Writing Center)
reduced adjective clause Read More »
Within a text or speech, we can use imperatives to point to its parts for the reader or listener to focus on. For example:
SEE the section on the presence of issues below.
NOTE the lack of a safety manual.
NOTICE the difference between these two charts.
Note | Notice | See (focus) Read More »
Defining relative clauses, also known as restrictive relative clauses, provide essential information about the noun they refer to. This information is crucial for defining or restricting the meaning of the noun.
When the noun refers to a person, ‘who’ is often used as the subject of a defining relative clause. For example, in the sentence “The woman who lives next door is a doctor,” ‘who’ is the subject of the clause and refers back to ‘the woman’. The clause “who lives next door” provides essential information about which woman is being referred to.
On the other hand, ‘that’ can also be used as a subject in defining relative clauses when referring to both people and things. For instance, in the sentence “He’s the man that saw me yesterday,” ‘that’ refers to ‘the man’, and the clause “that saw me yesterday” tells us which man is being referred to.
WHO | THAT subject pronouns in defining relative clauses Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 13 in the category of ADJECTIVES/superlatives: one syllable with a short vowel, by doubling the final consonant and adding ‘est’ PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: Consequently, Darwin’s theory on survival of the fittest no longer applies to humans. Survival of the fittest mainly relies on nature or predators to eliminate the young, old, weak or unfit, yet humans today no longer fear animal attacks or blizzards. Chinese level 5 writing class. Here are the superlatives we found in a search in iWeb corpus for: _JJT 4
doubling final consonant + -EST biggest hottest Read More »
Habitual states or actions are regular occurrences that can be physical, mental, or emotional. The Past Simple tense in English often expresses these habitual states or actions that occurred in the past but may no longer happen in the present. Learn more about how language can indicate habitual states or actions and how they are defined in the English Grammar Profile.
ALWAYS + PAST SIMPLE ( habitual past ) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 40 in the category of NOUNS is defined as: the noun phrase ‘The thing’ in front position, with a clause complement, to give focus to something. *This grammar point overlaps others at B1 and there is a slight overlap with B2. A search in iWeb corpus for: . The
The thing + CLAUSE COMPLEMENT (front position) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 59 in the category of PRONOUNS/substitution is defined as: POSTMODIFYING, SPECIFYING: ‘the ones’ with a complement, to refer to something specific. the_AT ones _P 1 THE ONES WHO 62764 We are the ones who will inherit this earth. listen 2 THE ONES I 34421 3 THE ONES YOU 33077 4 THE ONES WE 15126 5
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 5 in the category of discourse markers: in writing, ORGANISING, MARKING NEW KNOWLEDGE, INFORMAL ‘you see’, ‘the thing is’ *Note that ‘the thing is’ is listed at B2 in the category of FOCUS. A search in the TLC shows that at B1 ‘the thing is’ is used, but
You see (MARKING NEW KNOWLEDGE) Read More »
