C2 – English Grammar Profiler
I am reading higher than normal alcohol levels in your bloodstream, sir. listen to the pronunciation “higher than normal” refers to the alcohol levels in the bloodstream being above the standard or average range. This could be due to recent consumption of alcohol. The exact range for “normal” can vary, but typically, a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% is considered legally impaired in […]
comparative + THAN + adjective Read More »
The phrase “at a time” means during any one period or in each instance. Here are some examples and explanations: I can only do one thing at a time. This means I cannot multitask or focus on more than one task in each moment. She reads two books at a time. This means she reads two books
(number) noun + AT A TIME Read More »
Here are the search results in the iWeb corpus for: _NN _I mind 1 PEACE OF MIND 92742 C2 “Peace of mind” is a noun phrase that means a feeling of being safe or protected, or a mental state of calmness or tranquility. For example: And it‘s peace of mind for me, you know? listen 2 STATE OF MIND 30565 It is my opinion that Senior Chief Kelly is
noun + preposition + MIND Read More »
There is no specific point in the English Grammar Profile that suggests that “It was here that” is an example of introducing a cleft sentence for focus. We know that inversion starts around the B1 level but this may be C2 Clefting similar to that with nouns. Looking at the low frequency in the iWeb corpus
It + BE + location + that CLAUSE Read More »
Here is an example of B2 focus with a singular noun phrase at the front of a sentence: The problem is that she wants a bottle of red wine. listen It is easy to find information about singular noun phrases + that clauses on the internet: We use a noun + that-clause to express opinions and feelings, often about certainty and possibility. We
plural noun phrase + ARE + THAT clause Read More »
In this post, we look at adverbial phrases with the pronoun ‘one‘. In the English Vocabulary Profile: (all) in one = C2 combined into a single thing one by one= B2 separately, one after the other Frequency in iWeb corpus: one by one 135405 all in one 60329 For example: What if they asked, you could use them as a living probiotic drink and health monitor, all in one? TED
all in one | one by one Read More »
In this post, we search for the most common adjectives found before the noun ‘order‘. For example: Now, that might sound pretty good, but ask yourself what would happen under our current economic and political order? TED A search in the NOW corpus for _J order_N 1 PUBLIC ORDER 37962 2 RESTRAINING ORDER 35066 3 STAY-AT-HOME ORDER 21381 4 NEW ORDER 20398 5 MIDDLE ORDER 16531 6 INTERIM
adjective + ORDER Read More »
self-driving self-employed self-esteem self-determination
SELF-word (hyphenated prefix) Read More »
A search in NOW corpus for: _VB _XX at _NN _TO 1 ARE NOT AT LIBERTY TO 260 2 ‘M NOT AT LIBERTY TO 220 Who‘s your client? I‘m not at liberty to say. listen 3 AM NOT AT LIBERTY TO 217 4 IS NOT AT LIBERTY TO 149 5 WAS NOT AT LIBERTY TO 118 6 ‘RE NOT
BE + at + NOUN + to INFINITIVE Read More »
Here are the most common adjectives ending in -ful found in the NOW corpus: *Note, 60% of them are not included in the English Vocabulary Profile. The twelve most common adjectives that end with the suffix -ful all have positive meanings: 1 SUCCESSFUL 1589851 2 POWERFUL 1151163 3 BEAUTIFUL 1091675 4 WONDERFUL 595077 5 USEFUL
FUL adjective suffix Read More »
Here are examples of verbs that suggest ability (or lack of) + the noun phrase ‘the use of’: So how have we enabled the use of goats as a reliable form of currency? TED In that service, he actually lost the use of his legs, he‘s paralyzed and he uses marijuana for pain management. TED In the English Vocabulary Profile: the use of sth = C2 permission to use something, or the ability to use something We are interested in finding which verbs might suggest
lexical verb + THE USE OF Read More »
In the English Vocabulary Profile, come in useful|handy are C2. A search in iWeb corpus for: COME IN _JJ . 1 COME IN HANDY. 9001 2 COMES IN HANDY. 4142 Huh, comes in handy on the cash register. listen 3 CAME IN HANDY. 660 4 COME IN USEFUL. 257 All these moves will come in useful in real life when she grows up. listen 5 COMES IN BLACK. 116 This structure
COME IN + adjective Read More »
In the English Vocabulary Profile: NOUN give vent to = C2 to express strong anger or another strong feeling VERB vent your anger/frustration, etc. = C2 to do or say something to show your anger or another strong, bad feeling A search for collocates in iWeb for: gave vent to (gave is more common) 1
give vent to | vent their anger Read More »
In the English Vocabulary Profile, on the threshold of sth = C2 at the start of a new and important time or development be on the verge of sth/doing sth = C2 to be going to happen or to do something very soon Here are the top 20 collocations of ‘on the verge of‘ in
on the + ( verge | threshold ) + of Read More »
Why say “is of interest” instead of “is interesting“? ‘is of + noun‘ is more formal and in academic writing, we use the noun form of a word more often. More importantly, ‘of+noun’ functions as a noun in this position. Therefore, it can often collocate correctly with modifiers. For example: “greatest interest” is much more
BE + of NOUN PHRASE Read More »
Much to my surprise, and Much to the surprise of someone, are ‘comment adverbial phrases’. This structure is not listed in the English Vocabulary or Grammar Profile, so we turn to the Longman dictionary: FORMAL used to say that someone feels very surprised, embarrassed etc when something happens A search in NOW corpus for: .
MUCH TO + possessive noun phrase Read More »
‘Twee‘ is unlisted in the English Vocabulary Profile. Google Oxford defines it as: BRITISH excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental. adverb: affectedly in a way that is artificial, pretentious, and designed to impress. adjective: quaint attractively unusual or old-fashioned. adjective sentimental of or prompted by feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia. — A search for collocates
twee Read More »
can’t/couldn’t very well do sth = used to say that something is not a suitable or practical thing to do You can’t very well expect other people to be nice to you if you aren’t willing to lead the way.
English Vocabulary Profile at C2