July 2020 – English Grammar Pro

The following clusters from iWeb were searched with varying the spaces between said|told * * * could 1 SAID HE COULD 13770 1 SAID HE COULD SEE 543 2 SAID HE COULD GET 186 3 SAID HE COULD HEAR 161 4 SAID HE COULD TELL 161 5 SAID HE COULD FEEL 122 6 SAID HE […]

Point 137 in MODALITY is defined as: negative forms of ‘can’t’ and ‘cannot’ to guess, predict and deduce. This point is an extremely difficult point to locate because it heavily relies on usage. The use of ‘can’t’ is A1 by default, but not ‘cannot’ which has not been given a level in the EGP. We […]

Point 99 in Modality and expressions with be is defined as: a limited range of expressions with ‘be’ + infinitive (‘be allowed to’, ‘be supposed to’, ‘be able to’) with present and past forms of ‘be’ and with modal ‘will’ ‘Supposed’ overlaps in B2 also. There is also some overlap with 106 in Modality ‘Plan’. […]

Point 129 in the category of MODALITY expressions with be is defined as: ‘ be sure to’, ‘be certain to’ to talk about certainty. Some of this point also overlaps with point 148 in Modality imperative obligation. It is easy to see below that ‘Be’ is very common. It also overlaps Point 152 MODALITY the […]

Point 126 in the category of MODALITY is: need NEGATIVE iWeb search for need _x _vvi* 1 NEED NOT WORRY 3770 2 NEED NOT APPLY 2083 Observer Prince William and Kate Could Be Your New Norfolk Neighbors All of the properties are offered unfurnished, and feline lovers need not apply, as there’s a strict […]

There are three negative points in Modality that are quite rare. Point 215 is defined as: negative form ‘ought not to’ Point 226: CONTRACTED NEGATIVE ‘oughtn’t’ (without ‘to’) + verb Point 235 ‘ought’ + subject + ‘not to’ + verb to form (rhetorical) questions, often in formal contexts. *Point 35 in the category of QUESTIONS […]

Point 202 in MODALITY is defined as: PAST AFFIRMATIVE ‘ought to have’ + ‘-ed’ to refer to desired states of affairs in the past. 1 OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN 2986 2 OUGHT TO HAVE KNOWN 850 3 OUGHT TO HAVE DONE 575 4 OUGHT TO HAVE HAD 230 5 OUGHT TO HAVE SAID 133 6 […]

Point 180 in the category of MODALITY is defined as: ‘ought to’ with ‘really’ to add emphasis. A search on iWeb for clusters with lexical verbs: 1 REALLY OUGHT TO KNOW 254 2 REALLY OUGHT TO GET 136 3 REALLY OUGHT TO GO 76 4 REALLY OUGHT TO CONSIDER 75 Golf Channel Why ‘The […]

Point 192 in the category of MODALITY is defined as: ‘THERE OUGHT TO BE” to talk about desired states of affairs. iWeb search for * * * 1 THERE OUGHT TO BE A WAY TO 66 2 THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW AGAINST 33 Daily Mail SARAH VINE: Hurrah for Carole Middleton! But […]

Point 145 in the category of MODALITY and ELLIPSIS is defined as: ‘ought to’ without a following verb where the previous main verb is understood. There is an important note in the comments section of the EGP: This is a very low-frequency form in both the learner and native speaker data. A search for collocates […]