trying

determination

In the English Vocabulary Profile, the noun ‘determination’ is listed at B2 with the meaning: when someone continues trying to do something, although it is very difficult For example: Fretting arises from our determination to have our own way. listen ‘determination’ is often followed by an infinitive. A search in iWeb corpus for: determination TO _VVI 1 DETERMINATION TO MAKE 1407 2 DETERMINATION TO

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GO + verbING

Listed at A2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: go + verb-ing to go somewhere to do a particular activity For example: If you guys aren’t doing anything, we‘re all gonna go surfing. listen An iWeb search for: GO _VVG 1 GO SHOPPING 15263 ‘GO SHOPPING’ is listed at A1. Yeah, that‘s a good idea, because I was gonna go shopping for a wheelchair anyway. 2 WENT MISSING 12104 ‘GO MSSING’ is not an activity,

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TO infinitive

Let’s look at the most frequent ‘to infinitives’ on the internet in the top 100 verbs.  Our research is by doing a search in iWeb for _TO _VVI At A2, ‘keep’ stands out. We have put in bold the most frequent collocations too: I’m trying hard to keep my family out of my life. Cat Run At B1, ‘create’ is the most frequent. The

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ENJOY + verb-ING

The phrase “enjoy + ing” is used to describe an activity that someone finds pleasurable. In the sentence “Panda enjoyed reading, building, and solving puzzles,” the word “enjoyed” is in the past tense and is used to describe an action that has already happened. The words “reading,” “building,” and “solving puzzles” are all in the

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BE + like + NOUN PHRASE

Comparative clauses using ‘be’ + ‘like’ + a noun phrase are used to draw similarities between two things. The structure is typically: subject + be + like + noun/pronoun. For example, in the sentence “John is like a lion”, John is being compared to a lion, suggesting that he has similar qualities or characteristics. This structure can also be used with negation or adverbs followed by an infinitive clause, as in “It would be just like him to forget his keys at home”, indicating that forgetting his keys would be typical behavior for him. The phrase “I was like” is used colloquially to express a reaction or feeling. For instance, “When I saw the test results, I was like, ‘I can’t believe I aced it!’” expresses surprise and disbelief. This structure is common in English and can be found in various forms in different contexts.

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BECAUSE + past continuous

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 37 in the category of PAST/continuous  is defined: give a reason for something, often with ‘because’ PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: I could not focus on my reading at all, after a while because I was sweating hard. Chinese male, level 5, writing class An iWeb search for: because * _VBD _VVG 1 BECAUSE I WAS TRYING 1574 I only got you those bloody business cards  because I was trying to be cute. listen

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past continuous negative

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 39 in the category of PAST is simply defined as: past continuous NEGATIVE TLC STUDENT SPEAKING TEST example: (discussing saving money as a child) I was saving. I was not eating chocolates. I was just spending my money on my studies. male India B1 An iWeb search: _VBD _XX _VVG 1 WASN’T GOING 29202 2 WAS NOT GOING 16267 3

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had been + VERBing

Point 27 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous: an action or event which began before a point in the past and was still continuing up to that point, often with ‘for’ or ‘since’, to give background information. Point 32 in the PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous: background action

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look forward to

In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 13 in the category of VERBS/phrasal-prepositional is defined as: ‘look forward to’ as a fixed expression followed by an ‘-ing’ form or noun phrase, usually at the end of correspondence. However, the English Vocabulary Profile lists this at: B1 to feel happy and excited about something that is

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which one

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 44 in the category of PRONOUNS/substitution is defined as: ‘one’ after ‘which’ in indirect questions to refer to one of two or more options. For example: If I were to show you these two urban scenes, and I were to ask you which one is more beautiful, which one would you say? TED *not all the examples are ‘indirect questions’ in the EGP examples. A search in iWeb for: which one

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as if + NON-FINITE CLAUSE

‘As if’ means ‘as would be the case if’. Here’s an example of the subordinators as if +  Verb-ing clause. She studied the bracelet as if trying to estimate its fair market value. Listen ‘trying to estimate…’ is a manner clause, it describes how she studied. We could ask the question, How did she study it?   C2 point 133 CLAUSES/comparatives is defined as: ‘as if’ +

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