English grammar tells us that: I haven’t got a clue. I don’t have a clue. are the correct ways to express negative possession. However, there is the rarer, older British sounding: I haven’t a clue. Notice that a superlative phrase is common to give emphasis: I haven’t the slightest idea how he works. listen Here are the search results from […]
HAVE NOT + noun phrase Read More »
In this post, we explore long complex noun phrases in the object position after the verb ‘have‘. Here is a search in the iWeb corpus for: _VH _A _JJ _NN of 1 HAS A LONG HISTORY OF 12459 C1+ Huff Hoyle has a long history of bad business practices. listen 2 HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF 9459 B1 You have a wide range
HAVE + article + adjective + noun + OF Read More »
In the English Vocabulary Profile at B1: not believe/understand/hear/say, etc. a word = anything A search in iWeb corpus for: _XX _VV a word 1 N’T SAY A WORD 1726 Don’t say a word against my father. listen 2 NOT SAY A WORD 756 3 N’T UNDERSTAND A WORD 608 It was brilliant, even though I didn’t understand a word of it. listen 4 N’T BELIEVE A
While working on another piece of grammar, I noticed a complex piece of grammar that is not listed in the English Grammar Profile. There are many grammar points that are listed that are about adverbs in the middle position, but none about two which should be listed at C2. A search in iWeb corpus for
verb + adverb + verb + adverb + verb Read More »
The expression ‘so did we/so have I/so is mine, etc.’ is used to show agreement with someone else’s statement or situation. It is formed by using so plus the same auxiliary verb as the previous sentence, and then inverting the subject and the auxiliary verb. For example:
He likes pizza. So do I. (I also like pizza)
She has been to Paris. So have I. (I have also been to Paris)
His car is red. So is mine. (My car is also red)
so are we | so do you | so has he (same thing is true) Read More »
Here’s an example of past modality:
You HAD TO HAVE KNOWN about the problem before you started driving.
Before the car broke down on the highway, I am sure you noticed something was wrong with the car.
‘HAVE’ to have + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »
Here is another group of A2 English Grammar Profile points that overlap multiple categories. Many of these could be all merged into one point. Point 3 in the category of QUESTIONS: yes/no AUXILIARY ‘BE’ + subject + the continuous A search in NOW corpus for: _VB _P _VVG 1 ARE YOU GOING 38887 2 ARE
BE | HAVE | DO (auxiliary verbs) Read More »
B1 Point 41 in the category of PAST is defined as: present perfect simple WITH SUPERLATIVE to talk about a unique experience. This point will clash with superlatives followed by clauses at B2. And it overlaps Point 33 B1 clauses with a present perfect or past perfect as a superlative noun phrase complement, to talk
superlative + present pefect simple Read More »
We use present perfect simple negative questions to ask about actions that have not happened in the recent past.
Haven’t you finished your homework yet?
Hasn’t she seen the new movie?
Why haven’t they called us back?
present perfect negative question Read More »
Point 39 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: ‘have’ + object + infinitive without ‘to’ to talk about asking or causing someone to do something, often in formal contexts _VH _P _VV0 1 HAVE YOU BELIEVE 5396 Interesting Engineering From Scientific Research to Memes: A Brief History of the … Amazon
have + OBJECT + INFINITIVE Read More »
B2 PAST | adverbs in the normal mid position
present perfect progressive
English Grammar Profile
present perfect continuous + adverb Read More »
Here’s an example of someone or something causing something to happen to you while you are passive: All I can say is, get ready to have your mind blown. listen ‘Proactive’ means ‘taking action by causing change and not only reacting to change when it happens.’ In this post related to causative verbs, we look at two different resources. In the English Grammar Profile
GET | HAVE + object + past participle Read More »
Collocations of HAVE TO in the COCA corpus (9 tokens left and right): 1 WORRY (VVI ) 4009 2 CAREFUL (JJ ) 2155 3 ADMIT (VVI ) 1572 4 VIGILANT (JJ ) 176 5 RELEARN (VVI ) 33 One can guess there is a generally negative tone to this grammar structure from the above verbs
have (got) to INFINITVE Read More »
