say – English Grammar Profiler
In the English Vocabulary Profile at C2: can’t/couldn’t very well do sth = used to say that something is not a suitable or practical thing to do A search in the iWeb corpus for: _VM _XX very well _V 1 CAN’T VERY WELL HAVE 30 2 CAN’T VERY WELL GO 28 3 CAN’T VERY WELL …
can’t | couldn’t + very well + INFINITIVE 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 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 »
‘All’ with the meaning ‘the only thing’ is listed at B1 in the English Vocabulary Profile. For example: All I can say is I‘m sorry. listen All it does is tire your mind and stops you thinking for yourself. listen That‘s all I can suggest. Stranger Than Fiction An iWeb search for: All * _VM _VVI _VB 1 ALL I CAN SAY IS 19460 2 ALL WE CAN SAY IS 1135 3 ALL …
ALL + clause (the only thing) ‘all I can say is…’ Read More »
A1 point 1 in the category of CLAUSES is defined: affirmative declarative clauses with modal verbs. The English Grammar Profile examples include: ‘can’ and ‘will’. Future simple modality is also covered here. Here are STUDENT EXAMPLES: A lot of farmers can read and write, but they didn’t complete high school. PELIC Chinese female level 3 writing class. I will go to New York on Thanksgiving day. Korean female level …
CAN | WILL (affirmative declarative clause) Read More »
This is an example of modality in a question:
NEED I GO ON?
It could be asked with the meaning: I don’t need to keep talking about this.
In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 18 in the category of VERBS/patterns is defined as: reporting verbs, especially mental process verbs, with a clause as the direct object, without ‘that’, especially in informal contexts. For example: I hope you are doing well. *notably, in the English Grammar Profile examples, all the verbs but ‘said’ are in the present …
reporting verbs Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 26 in the category of PRESENT/simple is defined: a limited range of reporting verbs, including ‘say’, ‘show’ EXPERT EXAMPLE: This map shows the presence of agriculture on planet Earth. PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: Some people say that money is the root of all evil, but I disagree with it. Korean male, writing class. _P show|shows|say|says * * * We have removed lines that are not …
say | show Read More »
B1 Point 24 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: ‘wh-‘words + the negative form of modal verbs + subject + main verb to form ‘wh-‘questions. B1 Point 26 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as: modal verbs + ‘not’ + subject + main verb to form ‘yes/no’ questions *Note that there is …
NEGATIVE QUESTION + MODAL VERB Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 36 in the category of VERBs is defined as: verb pattern / reporting verb with prepositional phrase + that clause as the direct object A search in iWeb for: SAY to_II * that 1 SAID TO ME THAT 2340 2 SAY TO YOU THAT 1483 3 SAYS TO ME THAT …
SAY to SOMEONE that Read More »
At C1 in the English Grammar Profile, point 106 in the category of PRONOUNS/quantity is defined as: ‘few’, ‘many’, ‘most’, ‘others’ to refer to people in formal written contexts, often reports or surveys. Here are some expert examples: Though in terms of grammar, it is relatively more straightforward than many languages around the world, but when it comes to pronunciation, many find themselves stumbling. (more context) Many were plagiarists, some were backstabbers, and there is even a grave robber among them. …
few | many | most | others (people) Read More »
May I BE SO BOLD AS TO ASK why you want to understand this grammar?
Would you BE SO KIND AS TO GIVE me a lift down to the book store?
This very formal grammar is used in polite requests.
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 186 in MODALITY is defined as: Expressions with ‘can’ or ‘can’t’ to give focus or add emphasis, such as ‘as you can see’, ‘I can’t say’, ‘I can tell you that’, ‘as you can imagine’, ‘I can say that’, ‘I can assure you that’ For example: I can’t …
CAN (focus) Read More »
At B1 in the English Grammar Profile, point 102 in MODALITY and INDIRECTNESS is defined as: ‘would’ with verbs such as ‘advise’, ‘imagine’, ‘recommend’, ‘say’ to be less direct. *We are not sure if ‘indirectness’ is absolutely crucial to defining the complexity level of our following examples. Frequency in the iWeb corpus of these can …
WOULD advise imagine recommend say Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 124 in the category of modality is defined as using: the fixed expression ‘I must say’ to give emphasis, usually about something positive. An iWeb search for I must say * * * * 1 I MUST SAY THAT I AM VERY 144 EU-Startups “Computer vision can have …
I must say Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 Point 4 in the category of FOCUS is defined as ‘The reason (that)’, ‘The place (which)’ + clause as subject + ‘be’ for focus. Expert examples: The reason you‘re alive today is because of those changes in our brains that took place in Africa. TED But the reason that a lot of his fans are in the stands is because of another video. listen Student in speaking …
the reason that | the place which + CLAUSE Read More »
C1 point 206 in Modality, in the English Grammar Profile, is used to say that something is probably true. Looking at 4 spaces to the right of the expression on iWeb corpus we find the following collocates which point to the fact the expression is often used with more modality. Two of those are contractions …
I dare say Read More »