guy – English Grammar Profiler

Exclamative ‘what’ can precede the indefinite article and is, therefore, a predeterminer.  Here’s an example: What a surprise! Listen In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 38 in the category of CLAUSES/exclamations: ‘What a’ + noun phrase and ‘What a’ + noun phrase + clause However, in the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘what’ is listed at B1 …

What a + NOUN PHRASE Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 32 in the category of NOUNs is defined as: complex noun phrases with adverb + adjective + noun EXPERT EXAMPLE: And, you know, this is a fairly transparent example. wnpr.org *This overlaps B1 noun phrases in the category of ADJECTIVES and clashes with C1 in the category of modality (emphasis). A search in iWeb for: …

adverb + adjective + noun Read More »

‘BIT’ related to quantity is countable = a bit of … bits of … For example: By inserting those genes into yeast, we could produce little bits of that smell and be able to, maybe, smell a little bit of something that‘s lost forever. TED A2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: bit = a small amount or piece of something B1 in the Oxford Learner Dictionary: [countable] bit of something (especially British English) a small …

a little | bits of | a bit of | a bit of a | a little bit of Read More »

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 47 in the category of DETERMINERS/articles is defined as: ‘THE OTHER’ with a singular noun to refer to the second or the opposite of two things, and with a plural noun to refer to one of a set of things. PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: After a while, I thought that it was better to move to the other house. Korean, Female, Level …

THE OTHER + noun Read More »

Here’s an example of using a defining relative clause for focus: The person who sent me was you. Listen to the pronunciation. B1 Point 73 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as: defining relative clauses: ‘the person who/that, the thing that, the (only) one who/that’ as a focusing device. *Some people looking for information about a relative pronoun …

THE + noun + WHO|THAT + clause (focus) Read More »