as – English Grammar Profiler

A search in iWeb for _JJ as 1 GOOD AS 206337 2 SIMPLE AS 116801 3 AVAILABLE AS 100100 4 HIGH AS 90051 5 IMPORTANT AS 85859 6 EASY AS 76766 7 ONLY AS 76363 8 LOW AS 72885 9 BAD AS 56258 10 GREAT AS 46149 11 EFFECTIVE AS 36161 I want to be as effective as you were, Annie. listen …

adjective + AS Read More »

Here is a list from an iWeb corpus search for complex phrases tagged with: _*31 _*32 _*33 1 AS WELL AS 3933159 (complex prepositional phrase) This is also known as the as as stucture. I‘m gonna prescribe a regimen of vitamins as well as the mineral zinc, it‘ll build up your immune system. listen 2 IN ADDITION TO 1012418 (complex prepositional phrase) In addition to Naomi and my two perfect kids,  I own a mansion, private jet, six cars, three horses, two vacation homes and a one hundred and seventy-foot yacht. listen 3 IN TERMS OF …

3 part complex phrases Read More »

‘double, treble, quadruple’ can be multiplying predeterminers.  They come before other determiners in a noun phrase.  For example, ‘double the national average.’   Bloomberg.com New York City‘s unemployment rate was nearly double the national average in June. Other multiplying expressions: He earns three times more than me. She gets paid nearly three times as much as me. *In the English Vocabulary Profile, B1 if followed by a comparative structure. We can’t be …

mutiplying predeterminer + noun phrase Read More »

If you want to make an unenthusiastic suggestion or say you are not enjoying, interested in, or approving of something, then you can use this grammar structure with ‘may as well‘ or ‘might as well‘. Here are some examples.  The first is a student speaking test example: You might as well just open the door to an unknown person. TLC female Mexico B2 Expert …

may | might + as well Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 236 in the category of MODALITY is defined: ‘as’ + pronoun + ‘used to’ to add background to a narrative, often to highlight something unusual *Note this is not the “as + adjective + as” structure. Student example in a speaking test: I don’t think that they pay enough attention towards the national customs as they used to do those days. …

‘AS’ + pronoun + ‘USED’ + to-infinitive Read More »

The construction ‘try as * might,’ means that someone is trying very hard, but they still cannot do it. In the English Grammar Profile, point 219 in the category of MODALITY is defined: ‘try as I might’ for emphasis at the beginning of a sentence. An iWeb search for . Try as * _VM 1 …

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This is another clashing point.  Although ‘as soon as’ is listed at B1 future, it is also listed in B2 conjunctions. FOR EXAMPLE: It will end as soon as Hedge finds his target. A search in iWeb for: _VVI as soon as _P 1 KNOW AS SOON AS WE 441 2 KNOW AS SOON AS YOU 362 3 KNOW AS SOON …

as soon as (future) Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 5 in the category of discourse markers: in writing, ORGANISING, MARKING NEW KNOWLEDGE, INFORMAL ‘you see’, ‘the thing is’ *Note that ‘the thing is’ is listed at B2 in the category of FOCUS.  A search in the TLC shows that at B1 ‘the thing is’ is used, but …

You see (MARKING NEW KNOWLEDGE) Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 63 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: possessive pronouns ‘mine’ and ‘yours’, with singular reference, in comparative clauses after ‘(not) as … as’. *The following example does not have a singular reference, and the use of ‘yours’ is A2 in the English Vocabulary Profile. They‘re not as complicated as …

as * as + mine | yours Read More »

Point 90 in MODALITY is defined as: ‘might’ in phrases, such as ‘as you might know’, ‘have already heard’, to focus the reader on shared knowledge. 1 AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT , 6532 2 AS YOU MIGHT THINK . 3862 3 AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE , 3657 4 AS YOU MIGHT HAVE GUESSED 2253 As …

as you might (SHARED KNOWLEDGE) Read More »

Point 119 in PRONOUNS/reflexive is defined as: ‘as for myself’ as a discourse marker to introduce or focus on a personal opinion. FOR EXAMPLE: As for myself, I have some ideas about where we went wrong this time, and one day I may call on you once more. listen     TechRaptor As for myself, I am an artist in the loosest possible definition of the word; that is to say, I make art. 16 Dec 2020 A search in iWeb corpus for: . As …

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In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 69 in the category of CLAUSES/comparatives is defined as: ‘(not) as’ + adjective/adverb + ‘as’ to introduce a clause (often with a substitute auxiliary verb) to talk about two things being equal or unequal in some way. *note that the EGP examples also include ‘as much as’ where …

as + ADJECTIVE | ADVERB + as + CLAUSE Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 52 in the category of CLAUSES/comparatives is defined as: THE SAME’ (+ NOUN) + ‘AS’ + PRONOUN OR NOUN Here is an example without a noun after ‘the same’: The Mary Lou is actually the same as the Mary Jane. listen A search in iWeb for: the same _N as _N *Note that if there is …

the same as Read More »

‘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’ + …

as if + NON-FINITE CLAUSE Read More »

May I BE SO BOLD AS TO ASK why you want to understand this grammar?
Would you BE SO KIND AS TO GIVE me a lift down to the book store?

This very formal grammar is used in polite requests.

Here are examples of ‘so long as’ and ‘on condition that’ meaning ‘only if’: So long as they keep to themselves, it makes no difference to me. Listen   The house and grounds are left to the city of Gotham on condition that they never be demolished,  altered or otherwise interfered with. Listen Here’s an example of ‘in the event that’ meaning ‘should something happen’: I’m here to protect you in the event that someone tries to access your mind through your dreams. Listen The English Grammar Profile C2 Point 122 in CLAUSES/conditional is defined as: …

(complex conjunctions) so long as | on condition that | in the event that Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 19 in the category of ADVERBS is defined as: LINKING limited range of adverbs (‘also’, ‘so’, ‘however’) to show a relationship between two clauses or sentences. The EGP examples: I_PPIS1 also_RR bought_VVD ,_, so_CS I_PPIS1 decided_VVD However_RR ,_, the_AT clothes_NN2 were_VBDR cheap_JJ ._. Point in 2 A2 DISCOURSE …

LINKING ADVERBS / SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 75 in ADJECTIVES is defined as: ‘as… as’ and ‘so… that’ in comparative structures. comparative clauses *The EGP doesn’t state that there must be a noun phrase in the middle, but we can guess from the examples. Using the POS from the EGP examples: so_RG strong_JJ a_AT1 shock_NN1 …

modifying COMPARISON Read More »

Point 76 in the category of PRONOUNS is defined as: Possessive pronouns ‘hers’ and ‘ours’ in comparative clauses. An iWeb search for  _jj as|than hers|ours: 1 DIFFERENT THAN OURS 491 EXPERT EXAMPLE: His approach was totally different than ours. *’ from ours’ is traditionally correct, but this is the highest frequency example! 2 IMPORTANT AS OURS 470 3 GOOD AS …

comparative + hers | ours Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, there are two points that overlap.  B2 point 55 is defined as: PAST simple after ‘if’ as a politeness structure, especially in letters and emails. B2 point 72 is defined as: the past simple with a range of subordinating conjunctions, including ‘as soon as’, ‘before’, ‘if’, ‘once’, ‘since’, ‘so’, ‘until’, …

conjunction + past simple Read More »