things – English Grammar Profiler

These are the search results in iWeb for: no_AT _DA * 1 NO MORE THAN 156094 C2 grammar This phrase means “not more than” and it is used to express an upper limit. 2 NO SUCH THING 49851 B2 is a phrase that means “it does not exist.” It is used to deny the existence …

NO + post-determiner Read More »

one or two things |
a day or two

The usage of simple affirmative and negative declarative clauses in English, particularly focusing on the verb ‘be’. Simple affirmative declarative clauses are basic statements in English. Examples include “We’re different” and “People see us as being different anyway”. Negative statements of the main verb ‘be’, with contracted and uncontracted forms, are also at the A1 level. Examples include “I’m not a doctor” and “It’s not bad for a couple of lawyers”. The text also provides a list of common phrases found in the iWeb corpus where a noun is followed by a verb, such as “People are” and “Problem is”.

A search in the NOW corpus for pronoun + lexical verb shows that the present tense is about as common as the past tense, with examples like “He said” (past tense) and “I think” (present tense).

Affirmative declarative clauses are statements that express how things are. Modal verbs are verbs that indicate possibility, ability, permission, obligation, etc. Affirmative declarative clauses with modal verbs combine the subject, the modal verb and the bare infinitive of the main verb.

Here are some examples of how quantifying determiners can be used in a non-literal and non-academic way:

I have TONS OF THINGS to do this weekend, but the party might be LOADS OF FUN.
I told you MILLIONS OF TIMES that housework and study are more important than your parties!

‘Either’ can mean “the one or the other.” ‘Neither’ can mean “not the one and not the other” or “not either.” C1 English Grammar Profile point 63 in DETERMINERS/quantity is defined as: ‘either’ and ‘neither’ + ‘of’ with plural noun phrases or pronouns. For example: Neither of these men is Chaney. (note the subject-verb agreement!) listen I don’t think …

neither | either + of + PLURAL NOUN PHRASE Read More »

Fixed expressions are phrases that have a specific meaning and are often used in spoken language. For example, “at the end of the day” or “all in all”.

When we put a fixed expression in the front position of a sentence, we create a focus on it. This means we want to emphasize or highlight the meaning of the expression.

Here’s an example of determiners premodifying nouns: I regret some of the things I said to you. A2 point 18 in the category of NOUNS/phrases is defined: form simple noun phrases by pre-modifying nouns with an increasing range of determiners. A2 point 17 in the category of PRONOUNS: limited range of pronouns (‘all’, ‘both’) with ‘of’ followed by an object pronoun, to …

ALL | SOME | BOTH | HALF + OF + noun phrase Read More »

Adverbs of indefinite frequency, such as ‘sometimes’, ‘occasionally’, ‘usually’, ‘normally’, ‘regularly’, and ‘often’, are commonly used with the present simple tense to indicate routine or repeated activities without specifying exact timing. These adverbs typically precede the main verb but follow the verb ‘to be’ and auxiliary verbs. They can also be positioned at the beginning or end of a sentence in some cases. The webpage provides examples of these usages in various contexts, including TED talks and student writings.

In contrast, definite adverbs of frequency, like ‘yearly’, ‘weekly’, ‘every hour’, and ‘every day’, provide exact frequencies and usually appear at the end of a sentence. The webpage also highlights the overlap and differences in the usage of these adverbs at different language proficiency levels (A1 and A2).

Furthermore, it presents common collocates for the adverb ‘usually’ and examples of sentences using ‘often’. The examples illustrate common behaviors or thought processes, suggesting that these adverbs are integral to expressing frequency in English.

These are the 12 adverbs I would teach with “must” to advanced students: correctly, either, generally, somehow, therefore, constantly, currently, necessarily, simply, successfully, surely, satisfactorily, ultimately.