millions | loads | tons + of (hyperbole) – English Grammar Profiler

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This is another post about clashing CEFR levels between the English Grammar Profile and English Vocabulary Profile.

EGP C1 Point 61 in the category of DETERMINERS/quantity is defined as:

determiners in hyperbole, often in informal contexts (‘millions of’, ‘loads of‘, ‘tons of’)

However:

TLC STUDENT SPEAKING TEST EXAMPLE:

The filmmakers just want to find an excuse to show us tons and tons of blood on the screen.

male Mexico B1

*hyperbole cannot be automatically found with form alone.

A search in iWeb corpus for:

millions|tons|loads of * * *

  • 51 TONS OF THINGS TO DO 290 (same as the EVP B2 example)
  • 69 LOADS OF FUN. 227
  • 92 TONS OF FUN. 175
  • 95 TONS OF FUN  169
  • 98 TONS OF MONEY. 166

The following are probably not hyperbole. ‘Millions’ is by far the most common, so these could be considered mostly A2:

1 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE 3691 2 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS . 2368 3 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF 1665 4 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE . 1389 5 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE 1344 6 MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO . 1288 7 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR 1105 8 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE 1098 9 MILLIONS OF YEARS . 936 10 MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO , 931 11 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR 861 12 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALL OVER 659 13 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE 596 14 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE 594 15 MILLIONS OF YEARS OF EVOLUTION 586 16 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE . 546 17 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO THE 545 18 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS , AND 543 19 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THE 521 20 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS EVERY YEAR 492 21 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN REVENUE 485 22 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ‘ WORTH 460 23 MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER 455 24 MILLIONS OF AMERICANS . 445 25 MILLIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN 444 26 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS PER YEAR 439 27 MILLIONS OF VISITORS EACH YEAR 420 28 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM THE 411 29 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS HAVE BEEN 411 30 MILLIONS OF FANS AROUND THE 406 31 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE , AND 406 32 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS . ” 378 33 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS . THE 366 34 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR THE 366 35 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO THE 363 36 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE EVERY DAY 355 37 MILLIONS OF POUNDS WORTH OF 329 38 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE EACH YEAR 327 39 MILLIONS OF YEARS , AND 317 40 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS , ” 316 41 MILLIONS OF YEARS , THE 309 42 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DAMAGE 304 43 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN 302 44 MILLIONS OF VISITORS EVERY YEAR 302 45 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE . THE 301 46 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE EVERY YEAR 301 47 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON THE 296 48 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OVER THE 290 49 MILLIONS OF LINES OF CODE 290

50 MILLIONS OF POUNDS . 290

52 MILLIONS OF YEARS . THE 289 53 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE 277 54 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE . ” 275 55 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS , BUT 273 56 MILLIONS OF USERS . 273 57 MILLIONS OF YEARS OLD . 270 58 MILLIONS OF LIVES . 260 59 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN SALES 256 60 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN LOST 252 61 MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WHO ARE 251 62 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DAMAGES 251 63 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE OUT OF 251 64 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE SUFFER FROM 251 65 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE LIVING IN 235 66 TONS OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS 234 67 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ARE SPENT 233

68 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN FEDERAL 233

70 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN FUNDING 221 71 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THIS 219 72 MILLIONS OF USERS AROUND THE 218 73 MILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE 212 74 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE OUT THERE 209 75 TONS OF CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS 206 76 MILLIONS OF ACRES OF LAND 204 77 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WILL BE 204 78 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE FROM ALL 195 79 MILLIONS OF BARRELS OF OIL 189 80 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON A 188 81 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE . IT 188 82 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE , ” 186 83 MILLIONS OF SQUARE FEET OF 186 84 MILLIONS OF YEARS OLD , 186 85 MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WHO HAVE 185 86 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN NEW 185 87 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BUILD 184 88 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TAX 183 89 MILLIONS OF MEN , WOMEN 177 90 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN A 176

91 MILLIONS OF WOMEN AROUND THE 175

93 MILLIONS OF CHILDREN AROUND THE 174
94 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE , 173

96 MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO AND 168
97 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ANNUALLY . 166

99 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN ANNUAL 165
100 MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR A 164