cleft – English Grammar Profiler
Here we look at examples of using ‘the past tense’ in a way that is not referring to past time. In these EXPERT EXAMPLES: It’s time we started to think about the environment and a little bit less about money. Isle of Man Newspapers As an environmentalist, we would rather that didn’t happen. TED ‘the past tense’ expresses a wish that is distanced from the real situation. In reality, they are not thinking …
‘would rather’ | ‘it’s time’ + PAST TENSE CLAUSE Read More »
Let’s analyse questions that have relative clauses to give emphasis. So usually, we would say something like: What do we want to ask? What are we trying to find out here? You can see the normal auxiliary verbs ‘be’ and ‘do’ get removed and relative clauses are added in the EXPERT EXAMPLES: What is it that we want …
WHAT IS IT YOU WANT? (relative clause question) Read More »
On Pearson’s scale at GSE 71 B2+ describe present or future outcomes of a hypothetical situation using initial ‘only if’ with inversion of subject and object. ‘Only if’ + first/second conditional with inversion The complexity of this structure is highly unlikely to be B2 as Pearson has it listed. The most similar EGP construction is …
ONLY IF + inverted conditional Read More »
Here we look at one of the main it constructions
This English Grammar Profile C1 point 53 in NOUNS/phrases defined complex noun phrases with ‘wh-‘ cleft clauses, followed by ‘be’, to give focus is also found in the category of FOCUS. A search in iWeb: . What _P _V _VB 1 . WHAT I MEAN IS 3278 2 . WHAT I DID WAS 1894 3 …
What + CLAUSE + BE Read More »
The English Grammar Profile C1 point 10 in the category of FOCUS is defined as: ‘What’ + noun or pronoun + verb phrase as subject + ‘be’, for focus. Note that Pearson lists this point: GSE 59 B2 clauses with ‘What …’ to emphasise the topic or main point. For example: What we need now is a good night’s sleep. What I said was that I don’t need your help. …
‘What you see is what you get.’ (CLEFT CLAUSE) 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 …
it + BE (cleft) Read More »
C2 point 14 in the category of FOCUS is defined as: ‘How’, ‘Why’, or ‘Where’ cleft clauses as subject, for focus. *Note, HOW + CLAUSE is also C2 as an exclamation. A search on iWeb for: . How|Why|Where _P _V * 1 . WHERE I LIVE , 688 2 . WHY YOU ASK ? 544 …
how | why | where + CLEFT CLAUSE Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 55 in MODALITY is defined as: ‘it would be’ to make suggestions. *However, this seems like more advanced grammar related to clefts. A search in iWeb for: it would be _jj 1 IT WOULD BE NICE 50238 2 IT WOULD BE GREAT 34095 NEWS.com.au Ben Brown: North forward’s knee …
It would be + ADJECTIVE Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 5 in the category of FOCUS is defined as: ‘The thing, fact, point, problem, or reason + is (that)’ for focus. For example: The fact is I can’t take any more of your money unless I raise the rates on you. listen However, we believe the structure should not be limited to just the article ‘the’. For example: My point …
The + thing | fact | point | problem | reason + is (FOCUS) Read More »