Verb patterns with ‘not to be’ generally fall between A2 and B1. If they are also negated, non-finite, passive or ellipted they should be at least B2. A search in the NOW corpus for: not to be * * 1 NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH 10259 Not to be confused with the diary of Anne Hathaway which we stole out of her purse at the Gotham Awards. listen 2 NOT […]
At C2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: work out = to understand something or to find the answer to something by thinking about it A search in NOW corpus for which ‘question words’ follow phrasal verbs: work out _*Q 1 WORK OUT HOW 12286 Just give us five minutes, Mr Poirot, and I‘m sure we‘ll be able to work out how you did it. listen 2 WORK OUT WHAT: I
phrasal verb + clause ‘work out how you did it’ 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 »
A cleft construction beginning with “it” to emphasize the subject of the main clause is called an it-cleft. It is a type of sentence that divides the clause into two parts:
The cleft phrase, which is the part of the sentence that is being emphasized.
The relative clause, which provides more information about the cleft phrase.
(SUBJECT) CLEFT CONSTRUCTION WITH ‘it’ Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 75 in CLAUSES is defined as: a non-defining relative clause with ‘who’ as the object. A search in iWeb for: , who _P _VV 1 , WHO HE SAID 968 2 , WHO I THINK 946 3 , WHO I BELIEVE 495 This is a design by Philippe Starck, who I believe is in the audience at this very moment.
non-defining WHO (object) Read More »
Here’s an example of using a defining relative clause for focus: The person who sent me was you. Listen to the pronunciation. B1 Point 73 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as: defining relative clauses: ‘the person who/that, the thing that, the (only) one who/that’ as a focusing device. *Some people looking for information about a relative pronoun
THE + noun + WHO|THAT + clause (focus) Read More »
How | What + about + NOUN PHRASE ? = A2 suggesting or offering something to someone | B1 ask for someone’s opinion on a particular subject (EVP)
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 67 in the category of CLAUSES/interrogatives is defined as:
questions with a ‘wh-‘ word as the subject, without an auxiliary verb.
WH- questions (no auxiliary) Read More »
It -clefts consist of the pronoun it, a form of the verb to be, the focused element, and a relative-like dependant clause introduced by that, who/which or zero. grin.com In the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP), the pronoun ‘it’ is C2 when it emphasizes one part of a sentence. The example given in the EVP matches two C2 grammar points in the
In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 16 in the category of PRONOUNS/substitution: ‘the one’ and ‘the’ + pre-modifier + ‘one’ with a complement, to refer to something specific. Point 35 in PRONOUNS/substitution is defined as: substitute for singular countable nouns which have already been mentioned or are obvious from the context. *There are a
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 79 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: indefinite pronouns with a relative clause to form complex noun phrases, to give focus *Note that there does not seem to be any other grammar point in the EGP or EVP that relates to indefinite pronoun + relative pronoun which
indefinite pronoun + relative clause (focus) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 70 in the category of PRONOUNS & demonstratives is defined as: ‘those’ as a substitute, followed by a relative clause or ‘-ed’ or ‘-ing’. The examples in the EGP contain: those who|which|that on iWeb these are broken down as: 1 THOSE WHO 1715629 2 THOSE THAT 337742 3
THOSE + relative clause Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 78 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous in relative clauses to give background information. For example: I was scrolling on social media, and I saw a friend who had been sharing positive news stories. TED A search in iWeb corpus for: who|that|which had been _vvg gives us the most common continuous verbs found in past perfect continuous relative
past perfect continuous in a relative clause Read More »
You can give background information in a past perfect simple relative clause. For example:
The people WHO ATTENDED the lecture knew about the test.
The teachers WHO HAD DEVELOPED the test explained what to study the night before.
past perfect simple in relative clauses Read More »
B1 MODALITY imagined situations in the past
| PAST AFFIRMATIVE ‘would have’ + ‘-ed’
| PAST NEGATIVE ‘would not have’ + ‘-ed’ or ‘wouldn’t have’ + ‘-ed’
(English Grammar Profile)
would ( not ) have + PAST PARTICIPLE Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 102 in the category of CLAUSES that are relative is defined as: defining relative clauses and non-defining relative clauses ending in a preposition, with ‘who/which/that’ as the complement of the preposition. *This point overlaps other categories and is already covered here. Here are the 4 most common prepositions
relative clause preposition (stranding) Read More »
A defining relative clause (also known as a restrictive relative clause) provides essential information about the noun or noun phrase it modifies, the purpose of which is to define that noun or noun phrase. The clause cannot be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence. When ‘that’ is used as the object in a
THAT | WHO ( object pronouns ) Read More »
