article + adverb + adjective + noun – English Grammar Profiler

Although the English Grammar Profile offers good evidence of what structures students can do at each level, it should be remembered that the examples that the students provide are not good examples to teach with.  Indeed, they are sometimes very rare combinations.  We can see that when we look at the same grammar patterns in the iWeb corpus.  Compare for example “a very important meeting” which comes from a student and found only 149 times to “a very long time” which appears 45,254.

There is also a clash of levels between A1 and B1 when deciding on how to place “very” within this structure. The example for B1 could easily meet the criteria of A1.  In the English Grammar Profile, point 54 in the category of Adjectives, under modifying at B1 is ADJECTIVE PHRASE + NOUN attributively which means before a noun.

• … my boss told me that at 10.15 am I have a very important meeting. (frequency in iWeb = 149)
• … she’s also a really good friend. (756)

However, point 8 in Determiners in A1,  ‘a’ + ‘very’ + adjectives in basic noun phrases. ► adverbs ► noun phrases

• He’s a very good man.  (frequency in iWeb 423 )
• It is a very beautiful place. (255)
• It’s a very nice town. (48)

A search in COCA for:

_a _rr _jj _n

1 A REALLY LONG TIME 540 2 A MUCH BETTER JOB 423 3 A REALLY GOOD JOB 422 4 A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE 334 5 A REALLY GOOD TIME 324 6 A RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER 322 7 A REALLY HARD TIME 295

8 A LIGHTLY FLOURED SURFACE 258

9 A MUCH BETTER CHANCE 245 (B1 modifying a comparative adjective is listed under another point)

We‘d have a much better chance of knowing if she stops taking her medication.

listen

10 A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD 239 11 A REALLY GOOD IDEA 214 12 A NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE 185 13 A RELATIVELY SHORT TIME 180 14 A MUCH BETTER PLACE 177 15 A REALLY NICE GUY 177 16 A REALLY BIG DEAL 164

17 A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE 155

18 A REALLY GOOD THING 154 19 A MUCH HIGHER LEVEL 153 20 A REALLY GOOD POINT 149 21 A REALLY BAD IDEA 141 22 A MUCH HIGHER RATE 140 23 NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES 137

24 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON 136 (C1 grammar)

Give it a month and you‘ll feel like a completely different person.

listen

25 A REALLY GOOD QUESTION 136
26 A MUCH BETTER POSITION 133 27 A MUCH LARGER SCALE 130 28 A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WAY 130

29 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAY 126

30 THE RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER 124 31 A REALLY GOOD GUY 123 32 A MUCH SMALLER SCALE 122 33 A MUCH BETTER IDEA 120 34 AN AWFULLY LONG TIME 117 35 A MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM 114 36 A MUCH BETTER WAY 108 37 A REALLY GOOD FRIEND 102 38 NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE 102

39 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY 101

40 A MUCH BETTER UNDERSTANDING 99

41 AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT ROLE 99

42 A REALLY BAD DAY 97

43 A RELATIVELY SMALL AMOUNT 97

44 AN ALMOST DAILY BASIS 97 45 A MUCH FASTER RATE 90 46 AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MATTER 89 47 A MUCH EASIER TIME 87 48 A MUCH HIGHER PERCENTAGE 87 49 A MUCH HARDER TIME 86

50 A FAIRLY REGULAR BASIS 85

51 A REALLY GOOD WAY 84 52 A REALLY GREAT TIME 84 53 AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT STORY 82 54 AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAY 82

55 A CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET 79

56 A MUCH LARGER NUMBER 79 57 A REALLY GOOD PLACE 78 58 A REALLY GREAT GUY 78 59 A MUCH GREATER DEGREE 77 60 A MUCH LONGER TIME 77

61 A TOTALLY DIFFERENT PERSON 77

62 A REALLY IMPORTANT POINT 76 63 A RELATIVELY NEW PHENOMENON 75 64 AN UNUSUALLY HIGH NUMBER 75

65 A MUCH WIDER RANGE 74

66 A REALLY GREAT JOB 73 67 A RELATIVELY SMALL GROUP 73 68 AN EVEN BIGGER PROBLEM 73

69 A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP 72

70 A MUCH YOUNGER MAN 70 71 A REALLY GOOD REASON 70 72 A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD 69

73 A REALLY GOOD CHANCE 69

You‘ve got a really good chance.

listen

74 A REALLY NICE TIME 69 75 A REALLY TOUGH TIME 69 76 A RELATIVELY SMALL PERCENTAGE 69 77 AN ENTIRELY NEW WAY 69

78 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SET 68

79 A REALLY GOOD TEAM 68

80 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WORLD 66

81 A MUCH GREATER EXTENT 66 82 A MUCH HIGHER PRICE 66 83 A REALLY BAD TIME 64 84 A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE 63

85 A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT APPROACH 63

86 A MUCH LOWER COST 62 87 A MUCH SHORTER TIME 61 88 A REALLY GOOD FEELING 61 89 A RELATIVELY LARGE NUMBER 61 90 AN EVEN HIGHER LEVEL 61 91 AN UNUSUALLY LARGE NUMBER 61 92 A REALLY GOOD DEAL 60 93 YOUR LAWFULLY WEDDED WIFE 60

94 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIRECTION 59

95 A MUCH BIGGER ISSUE 59 96 A MUCH LARGER GROUP 59

97 A MUCH LONGER PERIOD 59

98 A MUCH OLDER MAN 58

99 A RELATIVELY RECENT PHENOMENON 58

100 A MUCH BIGGER DEAL 57

B1 vocabulary:

amount, approach, chance, completely, direction, disease, fairly, issue, lightly, period, position, range, recent, regular, relationship, role , secret, totally

A search for _a _r _jj _n in the iWeb corpus:

Superlatives are to the right

1 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING  69789

2 A VERY LONG TIME  45254

3 THE MOST IMPORTANT PART 22968 4 THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS 20263 5 THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY 16378 6 THE MOST COMMON TYPE 13960 7 THE MOST COMMON CAUSE 13079

8 THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR 10862

9 A VERY YOUNG AGE 9693

10 A VERY SHORT TIME  9452

11 THE MOST COMMON FORM 9399

12 A VERY GOOD JOB 9099

13 THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT 8918
14 THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY 8882

15 A PRETTY GOOD JOB 8596

16 THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS 8305

17 A VERY IMPORTANT PART 8189

18 THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS 7705

19 A VERY SMALL AMOUNT 7631

20 A PRETTY GOOD IDEA 7444

21 THE MOST COMMON CAUSES 7391 22 THE MOST COMMON TYPES 6978

23 THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS 6864

24 A VERY GOOD IDEA 6519

25 THE MOST COMMON WAY 6310
26 A REALLY LONG TIME 6187

27 THE VERY NEAR FUTURE 6182

28 THE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS 6145 29 THE MOST RECENT VERSION 6117 30 THE MOST COMMON REASON 5953 31 THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS 5836

32 THE MOST DIFFICULT PART 5822

33 A VERY GOOD CHANCE 5547

34 A REALLY GOOD JOB 5445

35 THE MOST COMMON REASONS 5340
36 YOUR PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION 5336

37 A VERY SHORT PERIOD 5147

38 A MUCH BETTER JOB 4871 39 A VERY GOOD THING 4854 40 A VERY GOOD REASON 4775 41 A VERY SMALL NUMBER 4620 42 THE MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS 4458 43 A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE 4390 44 A VERY HIGH STANDARD 4376 45 A VERY REASONABLE PRICE 4325 46 A VERY DIFFICULT TIME 4287 47 A VERY LARGE NUMBER 4259 48 A MUCH BETTER CHANCE 4113 49 A VERY HARD TIME 4078 50 THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP 4022 51 A REALLY HARD TIME 3724 52 THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION 3654 53 THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT 3610 54 A VERY EARLY AGE 3538 55 A VERY LONG WAY 3514 56 A REALLY GOOD IDEA 3500 57 A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD 3491 58 A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE 3486 59 A VERY HIGH QUALITY 3454 60 THE MOST COMMON SIDE 3417 61 THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS 3368 62 THE MOST COMMON PROBLEMS 3336 63 THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION 3299 64 THE MOST COMMON METHOD 3267 65 A VERY WIDE RANGE 3266 66 THE MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION 3210 67 THE MOST INTERESTING THING 3126 68 THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES 3083 69 A MORE ACTIVE ROLE 3041 70 A RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER 3014 71 THE MOST COMMON WAYS 2984 72 THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE 2963 73 THE MOST COMMON MISTAKES 2962 74 THE MOST INTERESTING PART 2923 75 A VERY HIGH LEVEL 2916 76 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES 2900 77 THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES 2893 78 A VERY USEFUL TOOL 2831 79 THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE 2829 80 THE MOST CURRENT VERSION 2820 81 A RELATIVELY SHORT TIME 2819 82 A VERY GOOD WAY 2790 83 THE MOST RECENT DATA 2758 84 THE MOST DIFFICULT THING 2729 85 A VERY SPECIAL PLACE 2723 86 THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME 2704 87 A PRETTY GOOD DEAL 2663 88 THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL 2638 89 THE MOST COMMON USE 2623 90 A VERY EFFECTIVE WAY 2602 91 A MORE EFFICIENT WAY 2585 92 A MUCH BETTER IDEA 2565 93 A VERY GOOD POINT 2549 94 THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE 2548 95 THE MOST AMAZING THING 96 A VERY HIGH LEVEL 97 THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT 98 A PRETTY GOOD CHANCE 99 THE MOST COMMON ONES

100 THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON