told

past perfect continuous passive

Because there is no past perfect continuous passive in the English Grammar Profile, we can say it is C2. A search in NOW corpus shows that this grammar is extremely rare. 1   HAD BEEN BEING TREATED 10 The woman had left the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, where she had been being treated. belfastlive.co.uk 2   HAD BEEN BEING ABUSED 7 3   ‘D BEEN BEING ABUSED 7 4   HAD […]

past perfect continuous passive Read More »

VERB + DIRECT OBJECT + to INFINITIVE

This post contains an example of overlapping B1 grammar points located inside two different categories in the English Grammar Profile (EGP). EGP B1 point 6 in the category of REPORTED SPEECH is defined as: REPORTED REQUESTS AND COMMANDS with ‘ask’ or ‘tell’ + direct object and ‘to-‘infinitive EGP B1 point 38 in the category of

VERB + DIRECT OBJECT + to INFINITIVE Read More »

He told me not to do it (negative request)

The English Grammar Profile B2 point 14 in REPORTED SPEECH is defined as: ‘ask’ or ‘tell’ + direct object + ‘not’ + ‘to-‘infinitive. This point can be extended with Pearson’s GSE 60 B2 report orders, requests and advice with infinitive clauses. She told me not to do it. He warned us not to be late. *Pearson also includes an affirmative example: ‘She encouraged him to

He told me not to do it (negative request) Read More »

could (reported speech)

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 138 in the category of MODALITY is defined as: could as the past form of ‘can’ in reported speech For example: Victim support arrived at our door and told us that we could expect to write off the next five years to grief. TED The following clusters from iWeb were searched with varying the spaces between said|told * * * could 1 SAID HE COULD 13770 1 SAID

could (reported speech) Read More »

After + having | being + PAST PARTICIPLE

An in-depth explanation of the grammar structure ‘after being pp’ and ‘after having pp’. ‘after’ is a preposition used before a complement ‘verb-ing’ clause. For example: “After being told these stories, I started thinking” and “I moved back to India after having spent six years in the US”. In the English Grammar Profile, this structure is defined as a non-finite subordinate clause with ‘after’ + ‘having/being’ + ‘-ed’ form, before a main clause, to refer to past time.

After + having | being + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »