in – English Grammar Profiler
Here are the results from the iWeb corpus for: _A _NN of 1 A LOT OF 3787315 A2 2 THE END OF 1984621 Everybody chokes sometimes. It‘s not the end of the world. listen 3 A NUMBER OF 1464260 I had a very good one for a number of years, thank you. listen 4 THE NUMBER OF 1194874 5 THE REST OF 1102466 6 A COUPLE OF 1090076 …
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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 »
A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence. A preposition + noun combination is called a prepositional phrase, which can act as an adjective or an adverb.
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 …
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At A2 level in the Oxford learner’s dictionary, ‘All’ as an adverb can mean ‘completely’. Adverbs pre-modifying prepositions are found at A2, B1, and C1 levels in the English Grammar Profile. The iWeb corpus was searched for ALL + prepositional phrases using the pattern _DB _II _A _NN. However, not every result represents ‘all’ as an adverb. Some of the most common phrases include ‘All around the world’, ‘All across the country’, and ‘All along the way’, among others.
Each phrase is used in a unique context. For example, ‘All around the world’ is often used when referring to a global phenomenon or distribution, as in “Television rights have been sold all around the world”. Similarly, ‘All along the way’ can be used to indicate a consistent pattern or presence across a process or journey, as in “Black girls are overrepresented all along the way”.
In this post, we are looking at more advanced uses of the ‘preposition + article + noun phrase‘ structure. For example: I just came on the spur of the moment. listen I was just in the mood for a little conversation. Even Money My life has been extraordinarily blessed with marriage and children and certainly interesting work to do, whether it be at the University of Sydney Law School, where I served a term as dean, or now as I sit on the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in Geneva. TED Someone‘s in a mood. listen Your mother will be over the …
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I don’t get time for a cup of coffee? Nobody’s Fool A search in iWeb corpus for: _VV _NN _II 1 TAKE PART IN 104907 What brought you to take part in this outrage? listen 2 PAY ATTENTION TO 93080 Don’t pay attention to him. Pay attention to me. listen 3 TAKE PLACE IN 63015 Our marriage will take place in the Poconos. listen 4 TOOK PLACE IN 55684 5 TAKES PLACE …
lexical verb + noun + preposition Read More »
A phrase is a group of words that functions as a unit in a sentence. A phrase can have different types depending on the word that heads it. A phrase that includes the word order lexical verb + article + noun + preposition is called a verb phrase. A lexical verb is a verb that has meaning by itself, such as run, eat, or sleep. An article is a word that modifies a noun, such as the, a, or an. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence, such as in, on, or to.
One could argue that being able to front the following ‘indefinite’ time phrases shows evidence of a higher CEFR level. A search in iWeb corpus for: . _II _NNT2 , 1 . AT TIMES, 11672 C1 → C2 She still misses him at times, but we all do. listen Kit accused me of only being along for the ride while at times I wished he‘d fall in the river and drown, so I could watch. At times, I actually like it. listen 2 . WITHIN …
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At A2 level in the English Vocabulary Profile, the adjective ‘own’ is used with a possessive to emphasize ownership or belonging. This usage is common in advanced phrases, sometimes in C1 adverbial phrases describing the manner in which something is done. ‘Own’ can also function as a pronoun, referring back to a noun phrase. Additionally, ‘own’ can mean ‘alone’ at B1 level.
Examples of usage include sentences like “The least you could do is allow me to live here in my own way,” emphasizing personal ownership, and “Feel free to use our pool, but use it at your own risk,” indicating individual responsibility. Moreover, phrases like “on their own” and “of their own” are frequently used to express independence and ownership.
Furthermore, ‘own’ can be part of idiomatic expressions such as “mind your own business,” which means to tell someone in a rude way not to inquire about something private.
‘a bit‘ can modify verb phrases with the meaning ‘by a small degree or amount‘ Here’s a search in NOW corpus to find words before this time/distance etc. adverbial phrase: * in|for a bit . 1 THAT IN A BIT. 572 We‘re going to come to that in a bit. TED 2 OUT FOR A BIT. 191 I‘m going …
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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 …
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There are two points in the English Vocabulary Profile that relate to ‘way‘ in regards to manner: way MANNER C1[no plural] the manner in which someone behaves or thinks, or in which something happens For example: How do we measure changes in behavior in a meaningful way that‘s going to help us with prevention of disease, early onset of disease, and tracking the progression of disease over a long period of time? TED in a big way INFORMAL C2 used to say that someone or something …
lexical verb + IN + article + adjective + WAY (manner) Read More »
In the C1 advanced handbook, there is a practice test for Reading and Use of English Part 1: Multiple Choice Cloze. We put the text with the answers through our English Grammar Profiler on this website and the text is clearly C2. Next, we are taking a corpus-based approach to do the test to see …
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In the English Vocabulary Profile at B1: not believe/understand/hear/say, etc. a word = anything A search in iWeb corpus for: _XX _VV a word 1 N’T SAY A WORD 1726 Don’t say a word against my father. listen 2 NOT SAY A WORD 756 3 N’T UNDERSTAND A WORD 608 It was brilliant, even though I didn’t understand a word of it. listen 4 N’T BELIEVE A …
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In the English Vocabulary Profile at C1, ‘in no time’ means ‘very soon’ A search for collocates in THE MOVIE CORPUS: 1 AT 138 I know this is a big change for you, but it‘ll feel like home in no time at all. listen 2 FIXED 29 Never fear. We‘ll have Alice fixed in no time. listen 3 FEET 25 4 NORMAL 14 5 FLAT 12
frightened = feeling fear or worry. To find the frequency of prepositions that come after the adjective frightened, we can search in iWeb corpus for: frightened _I We have added example sentences containing frightened preposition: 1 FRIGHTENED OF 4688 What have you got to be frightened of? listen 2 FRIGHTENED BY 4585 People are frightened by the way that I look, especially children. listen 3 FRIGHTENED AT 703 …
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In the English Vocabulary Profile: in order (for sb/sth) to do sth B1 with the purpose of achieving something The most common collocates of ‘in order to’ in COCA: For example: Or is the concept of an afterlife just a lie in order to avoid the terror of obliteration? listen In order for this all to work, you need to completely let me in. listen
Here’s an example of the time phrase that means the person is at the age of 20-29: I‘m not even in my twenties anymore. NSFW This phrase is B2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: (be) in your eighties to be aged between 80 and 89 the eighties the years from 1980-1989 A search in iWeb corpus for: _I …
preposition + determiner + plural numeral Read More »
‘in the long run’ is B2 in the English Vocabulary Profile with the meaning at a time that is far away in the future A search for collocates of ‘in the long run’ in the COCA: 1 MONEY 200 2 CHEAPER 58 3 EFFECTIVE 38 4 BENEFIT 30 5 SUSTAINABLE 27 6 SURVIVE 25 7 …
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