This post will attempt to untangle another set of grammar features that are clashing across levels. The centre of the confusion starts with: C1 Point 63 in the category of ADVERB phrases which is defined as: degree adverbs (‘slightly‘, ‘a bit‘, ‘much‘) to modify comparatives. But it clashes completely with B2 Point 57 in the category […]
There are at least 30 points to do with the present continuous in the English Grammar Profile. Half of those are easily distinguished between formally, but many others are not. One aspect that they can be distinguished apart for level is on vocabulary range. The usage aspect is too difficult to search for as it […]
B2 point 160 in MODALITY is defined as: ‘would’ to talk about habitual actions and events in the past It formally overlaps A2 point 26 in MODALITY: ‘would’ to talk about imagined situations. Looking in iWeb corpus manually for collocates of ‘every’ ‘time‘ with ‘would’ is 1 in 5 on the usage: ..note, my mom […]
Point 143 in MODALITY is defined as: ‘used to’ without a following verb where the previous main verb is understood. Interestingly, this grammar feature is often located with comparative clauses. A search for on NOW corpus for * * * * used to .|, *from these cluster searches we can put to the right the […]
B2 Point 131 in the category of MODALITY is defined as: ‘you have (got) to’ to make a strong suggestion. Because the ‘have (got) to structure is found at lower levels too, it is hard to find this formally and because it requires interpretation (not obligation). This structure is found with a great deal of […]
The B2 Point 4 in the category of FOCUS is defined as ‘The reason (that)’, ‘The place (which)’ + clause as subject + ‘be’ for focus. *although the verb ‘be’ is probably the most common, for complexity, we should also accept any verb after the clause. Hindustan Times The reason that less number of workers […]
What does a wide range really mean? Read more It is very hard to distinguish between levels for some items because it is not clear on the EGP too. Read more One of the rarest C2 grammar structures is the present perfect continuous passive Read more Which verbs should I learn first? Read more There’s […]
But’ is usually a conjunction. It is also used in phrases as a preposition or adverb. 1 (CCB) 3 (RR22) 5 (II21) 6 (II) 7 (CS) Read more Point 45 in the category of NOUNS is defined as: increasing range of complex noun phrases with more than one adjective combined with ‘but’. 1 SERIOUS BUT […]
