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 »
Myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves are called reflexive pronouns. They are used when the subject and the object of a sentence are the same. For example:
I cut myself when I was making dinner.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
They enjoyed themselves at the party.
himself | herself | myself | yourself Read More »
A defining relative clause is a type of clause that gives essential information about a noun or noun phrase. It usually follows the noun it modifies and is introduced by a relative pronoun, such as who, which, that, where, or whose. When the noun relates to time, we can use when as the relative pronoun.
defining relative clause (time) Read More »
C1 The present simple with ‘by the time’ to refer to the future.
English Grammar Profile
by the time + CLAUSE Read More »
Regardless of what your government decides, the best way to prevent food waste is to eat what you buy! TED In this sentence, “the best way to prevent food waste” means the most effective or desirable method that can avoid throwing away food that could be eaten. This highlighted pattern can replace a defining relative clause that identifies the noun. For example: She is the best teacher to
the best + NOUN + to INFINITVE Read More »
A defining relative clause provides essential information about the noun it modifies. In English grammar, it’s possible to omit the relative pronoun (who, which, that, etc.) in such clauses when it is the object. This structure, termed as a defining relative clause without a relative pronoun, is often found in phrases like “the time it takes,” “the information you need,” and “the way you want.”
defining relative clause without a relative pronoun Read More »
‘Another‘ is listed at A2 in the English Vocabulary Profile as a determiner or pronoun, with the meanings: one more person or thing, or an additional amount a different person or thing of the same type In the English Grammar Profile at B1, there are many points covering the use of ‘another’. Considering that they
‘An’, ‘one’, and ‘each’ are all examples of determiners as they help to specify the noun in some way. Let’s explain the differences between them when used with singular nouns: An: This is an indefinite article that is used before singular countable nouns that start with a vowel sound. It doesn’t specify which particular thing or person
each | an | one + SINGULAR NOUN Read More »
In this post, we give a detailed explanation of the use of certain determiners in English grammar, specifically ‘some’, ‘any’, ‘no’, ‘more’, ‘a lot of’, and ‘lots of’. These determiners are often used with both plural and uncountable nouns to indicate quantity or amount. We also discuss the English Grammar Profile (EGP) and its classification of these determiners at different proficiency levels (A1, A2). We provide examples of usage and notes on the application of these.
some | any | no | more | a lot of | lots of + NOUN phrase Read More »
Words like ‘once’ and ‘twice’ can be predeterminers as multipliers. For example: “Once every two weeks” “Twice a day” A search in the iWeb corpus for: once _AT1 _NNT 1 ONCE A WEEK 75774 We are proposing to meet at least once a week and just to do as many collections as we can. listen 2 ONCE A MONTH 44242 3 ONCE A YEAR 43510 4 ONCE A DAY
The word ‘being‘ is most often used as a verb, but also a noun (human being, comes into being) and in a time adverbial phrase (for the time being). Here are the search results in NOW corpus for: * * _VBG * * ADDRESS BEFORE BEING ALLOWED TO At least, you didn’t require readers to log in with an email address before being allowed to read it! brownsnation.com The rest of
In this post, we look at 5 ways the word ‘time’ is tagged by the CLAWS 7 tagger in the iWeb corpus: 1 TIME (NNT1) 24212119 (noun) * * time_NNT1 * * 1 AT THE TIME OF THE 94020 After all, where were you at the time of the murder? listen 2 THE SAME TIME. 51368 3 AT THE TIME.
TIME (complex adverbial phrases) Read More »
The word ‘to’ is most often before an infinitive or it is a simple preposition. A search in iWeb corpus for frequency data related to part of speech: 1 TO (TO) 240771826 infinitive marker _TO * * * * 1 TO BE ONE OF THE 87871 Everyone, this is our dear friend, Brian Bloom who also happens to be one of the most talented young writers. listen to this C1 example
In this post, we are looking for advanced phrases with the word ‘same‘. For example: It‘s the same old story. The rich get richer, and the most vulnerable in our country suffer. listen 1 SAME (DA) 9442876 A search in iWeb corpus for: * * same_DA * * 1 AT THE SAME TIME, 242223 B1 phrase in the English Vocabulary Profile. At the same time, we are doing business with the very same government that is flooding our streets with cocaine. listen 2
In this post, we investigate 11 ways ‘for’ is tagged by the claws 7 tag set. 1 FOR (IF) 140146366 A1 simple preposition 1 . FOR MORE INFORMATION 77314 For more information, you‘ll have to speak with the doctor. Harry Brown 2 . FOR THOSE WHO 22531 3 THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL 19815 4 THE REASON FOR THIS IS
The second most common word in English is ‘AND’ which is usually a conjunction. It’s also used in complex adverbial phrases: and so on (A2 in the English Vocabulary Profile EVP) I need you to help me with my bags and so on. listen Also, note that ‘and so forth‘ is not listed in the EVP, but is listed in OXFORD at B1: I‘ve had ample opportunity to observe Browning and adopt his physical presence, study his mannerisms, and so
adverbial phrases with ‘AND’ Read More »
You might know how ‘the’ is used as an article. But did you know all the different phrases it is found in?
advanced phrases with ‘THE’ Read More »
A2 point 1 and the only point in the category of FOCUS / FRONTING is defined as: ‘a prepositional phrases in the front position for focus.’
“At the time, I had a girlfriend, so I didn’t talk to her.” This is an example of putting a prepositional phrase at the start of a sentence which is what pre-intermediate students can do.
fronted prepositional phrase Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile (EGP), B2 point 160 in MODALITY is defined as: ‘would’ to talk about habitual actions and events in the past Looking in iWeb corpus manually for collocates of ‘every’ ‘time‘ with ‘would’ is 1 in 5 on the usage: … my mom also helped raise my nephews, who would stay with her every summer when school was out. Gone are the days where riders would get two bikes every year. The
would (habitual past) Read More »
B2 English Grammar point 59 in the category of DETERMINERS and quantity is defined as: modifier + ‘little’ + uncountable nouns and modifier + ‘few’ + countable nouns, to indicate a lack of something or not as much as expected of something. We also have an earlier post for ‘very few + noun.’ _RG\w* (little|few)
little | few + NOUN Read More »
