not – English Grammar Profiler
can’t/couldn’t very well do sth = used to say that something is not a suitable or practical thing to do You can’t very well expect other people to be nice to you if you aren’t willing to lead the way.
English Vocabulary Profile at C2
There is no mention of ‘subjunctive’ in the English Grammar Profile. There are some points such as the second conditional though that indirectly cover it. For this reason, we suggest that sentences using other subjunctive forms that are not conditional or listed elsewhere, be considered as C2. Here are that clause examples from Wikipedia: It‘s crucial that he be here by noon. …
subjunctive THAT clauses Read More »
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 …
WORD (phrases) Read More »
In the English Vocabulary Profile at C1, YET from now and for a particular period of time in the future A search in the NOW corpus for: for a _JJ _NNT yet 1 FOR A LONG TIME YET 605 I‘m not gonna die for a long time yet. The Babadook 2 FOR A LITTLE WHILE YET 197 Dinner won’t be ready for a little while yet. Little Deaths 3 …
negative future + time period + YET Read More »
In this post, we put common lexical bundles that French EFL students use in their writing, through our GRAMMAR PROFILER. Magali Paquot wrote a paper about Lexical bundles. Here are the significant forms found in the ICLE – FR: Here are our expert examples: You‘ll be tempted to tear it off. listen They may never be considered as such by religion, but they are just as important as the ones in your textbooks. listen Kaleb‘s art can be viewed as deeply rooted in the pop minimalism of Aureur or Baer. …
English lexical bundles and their most frequent equivalent forms in French Read More »
‘not even’ can be used to emphasize that something is not true or didn’t happen. It’s B1 in the English Vocabulary Profile. Here are the collocates of ‘not even’ in the movie corpus: 1 CLOSE 443 It‘s not even close! listen 2 YET 398 3 ANYMORE 215 I‘m not even allowed to swim with her anymore. listen 4 SUPPOSED 164 5 ANYONE 133 …
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A1 point 2 in the category of CLAUSES is defined: simple affirmative declarative clauses For example: We‘re different. People see us as being different anyway. listen Also at A1 is: negative statements of the main verb ‘be’, with contracted and uncontracted forms. For example: I‘m not a doctor. listen *The English Grammar Profile examples contain the verb ‘BE’. An iWeb search for: _NN _VB …
subject + verb Read More »
In the English Vocabulary Profile at B2, ‘bear’ is defined: accept someone or something unpleasant For example: I can’t bear to see him like this. listen *There are other uses of ‘bear’ that are more advanced. However, the sense defined above has a distinct grammar pattern: (CAN | COULD) (often negative) + bear + (to-infinitive | Verb-ing | noun phrase) Verb-ing …
can’t bear + to-infinitive Read More »
Here’s an expert example of negation + ‘in the least’: I’m not in the least bit religious. Listen to this sentence C2 Point 28 in the category of NEGATION is defined: ‘IN THE LEAST’ after a negative form for emphasis. A search in iWeb: 1 NOT SURPRISED IN THE LEAST 86 2 NOT BE IN THE LEAST 63 …
IN THE LEAST Read More »
C2 in the English Grammar Profile, point 230 in the category of MODALITY is defined as:
‘BE’ + ADJECTIVE + ‘NOT’ + ‘TO + infinitive for emphasis
The following rare student writing example shows how ‘used not to‘ expresses modality: Also when I was younger, I used not to be allowed to drink coffee. PELIC Korean female level 3 grammar class. It sounds more natural to say: “I didn’t use to be allowed to drink coffee.” *In other words, she did not have permission to drink coffee. Although now she is an adult and can. In the …
used not to Read More »
PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: I think we should do our best at the present moment in order not to be regretful. Chinese male level 5 writing class. We will only cover half of: GSE 60 B2 express negative purpose with ‘so as/in order not to’ In order not to seem stupid, he didn’t say anything. I came in very quietly, so as not to wake anyone. because ‘so as not to’ is at C1 in the English Vocabulary Profile. ‘in order …
‘In order not to’ + INFINITIVE Read More »
NOT ONLY MUST people go to the event, but they must also be respectful there. NEVER MUST they forget what the soldiers died for.
You must not ask about it when we are there. NOR MUST I be expected to explain it.
Adverb expressions such as ‘not only’, ‘not just’, and ‘not simply’ emphasize that something is true, but it is not the whole truth. These co-ordinate clauses. In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 92 in the category of PAST is defined: present perfect continuous, invert the subject and affirmative auxiliary verb with ‘not only … but’ …
NOT ONLY + present perfect continuous (inversion) + BUT Read More »
Here are examples of speculating about the past using this form: He COULDN’T HAVE SAID he loves you! I am still married to him!
It COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED.
When grammar points are from the same CEFR level, and in the same category, we believe it is more useful to have a single post that covers them. Both these A2 points come from the category of DETERMINERS/quantity. Point 15: ‘many’ with plural nouns in negative contexts. Point 23: ‘much’ with uncountable nouns in negative …
not + any | many | much + NOUN Read More »
Point 15 in MODALITY is defined: would negative forms *It is incredibly hard to find an example that is not already a part of another grammar point. PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: I’m convinced that it wouldn’t take much time to change the system and think about how to add new things in order to help people to start the workday in a more enjoyable manner. French male level 4 writing class. An iWeb search for: would _XX * * * 1 WOULD NOT BE …
wouldn’t Read More »
You guys might not know this = B1 MODALITY NEGATIVE.
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 73 in the category of MODALITY is defined: ‘might’ negative form.
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 32 in the category of FUTURE is defined: future continuous NEGATIVE WITH ‘WILL’ (won’t) An iWeb search for: wo|will _X be _VVG 1 GETTING 2959 2 GOING 2821 3 USING 2817 4 USING 2040 5 MAKING 1550 6 WILL NOT BE RETURNING 1537 Mamamia Kim Cattrall will not be returning as Samantha. …
will not be VERBing Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 94 in the category of MODALITY is defined: ‘may’ negative PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: However, you may not deny that you can not buy happiness even if you have too much money. Korean male, level 4 writing class. An iWeb search for: may_VM not _V*I 1 MAY NOT KNOW 28529 2 MAY NOT WORK 22681 3 MAY NOT WANT 17165 4 MAY …
may not Read More »