FOUND MYSELF THINKING | FIND THEMSELVES FACING | SEE HIMSELF PLAYING | KEEP ITSELF WAITING | DEFENDED HIMSELF SAYING lexical verb + reflexive pronoun + verbING Read More » B1: NO PROBLEM GETTING | NO EVIDENCE LINKING | NO TROUBLE FINDING | NO POINT TRYING NO + noun + verbING Read More » This post […]
If we know what the following infinitive will be after the modal verb ‘should’ or its negative form ‘shouldn’t’, then it doesn’t need to be repeated. *Click here for the interactive word tree of this grammar point. A search on iWeb for the cluster: * * * * should . B1 vocabulary: familiar, seriously, B2: […]
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 42 in the category of NOUNS is defined as: complex noun phrases with noun phrase + ‘of’ + noun phrase + possessive determiner ‘s + noun phrase. PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: Our chairs are on the opposite side of the doctor’s chair, in front of the desk. Chinese female, Level 3 Writing Class. An iWeb search for: _NN of _NN _GE _NN 1 […]
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 10 in the category of REPORTED SPEECH is defined as: ‘wh-‘questions using a reporting verb + ‘wh-‘word + clause, with a change of pronoun and tense shift where relevant Expert examples: I once asked a really bright student what he hoped to learn from me. TED When asked what the biggest challenge was in making the film, William Joyce says, not giving up. listen PELIC student example: Every time, someone asked me what my major was, they always […]
The “-ise” suffix is a common spelling variant of the verb-forming suffix “-ize.” It is primarily used in British English, while in American English, the corresponding spelling is “-ize.” The suffix “-ise” (or “-ize”) is added to the end of a noun or adjective to create a verb form. For example, real ⇒ realise advert […]
Let’s look at some examples of the indefinite pronoun ‘something’ + adjective phrase. This relates to “post positioned adjectives” ‘something’ is an indefinite pronoun. ‘special’ is an adjective. The adjective post-modifies the pronoun. The adjective makes the pronoun more specific. (Watch example sentences) The meaning of ‘something adjective‘ can be understood with similar grammar, but […]
Point 66 in the category of PAST is past perfect simple used for a CHANGE OF SITUATION. The EGP uses HAD + ‘planned’ and ‘wanted’ + ‘but’ in their examples. Since this is a difficult structure to find in corpora due to the length of sentences, we have looked directly in Google news for examples: […]
The expression ‘so did we/so have I/so is mine, etc.’ is used to show agreement with someone else’s statement or situation. It is formed by using so plus the same auxiliary verb as the previous sentence, and then inverting the subject and the auxiliary verb. For example: He likes pizza. So do I. (I also […]
This is another overlapping B2 grammar point found in a few different places in the English Grammar Profile. Point 47 in VERBS is defined as semi-modal auxiliary verbs, ‘dare’ and ‘need’. The two examples are both in the negative. And the comments in the EGP are very interesting for this point: LOW FREQUENCY ITEM. There […]
C1 point 32 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: NON-FINITE CLAUSES ‘-ing’ form as a subordinate clause or a noun clause to give explanatory background information. A search in the iWeb corpus for . Being _VVN * * gives us our being + past participle list 1 . BEING LOCATED IN THE 77 […]
The fixed expressions “you must admit” and “I must admit” are both used to introduce a statement that the speaker believes is true, but that they may not want to say or admit outright. They can be used to express a variety of emotions, such as reluctance, guilt, or surprise. “You must admit” is generally […]
‘Most’ is used to mark the superlative degree a little more often that it’s a superlative after determiner. As a degree adverb ‘most’ usually modifies an adjective or an adverb. 1 MOST (RGT) 7895059 1 MOST (RGT) IMPORTANT (JJ) 619744 2 MOST (RGT) COMMON (JJ) 385906 3 MOST (RGT) POPULAR (JJ) 368581 4 MOST (RGT) […]
BETTER AIRIER ANGRIER APTER BADDER BALDER BEEFIER BETTER-INFORMED BETTER-KNOWN BETTER-LOOKING BETTER-OFF BETTER-THAN-EXPECTED BIGGER BLACKER BLEAKER BLONDER BLOODIER BLUER BLUNTER BLURRIER BOLDER BOSSIER BOUNCIER BRAINIER BRASHER BRAVER BRIEFER BRIGHTER BROADER BROWNER BULKIER BUMPIER BUSHIER BUSIER BUSTIER CALMER CAMPER CATHETER CHEAPER CHEWIER CHILLIER CHUNKIER CLASSIER CLEANER CLEARER CLEVERER CLOSER CLOUDIER CLUNKIER COARSER COLDER COMFIER COOLER COSTLIER COZIER […]
1 MOST (DAT) PEOPLE (NN) 528006 2 MOST (DAT) CASES (NN2) 174149 3 MOST (DAT) THINGS (NN2) 27916 4 MOST (DAT) WOMEN (NN2) 25879 5 MOST (DAT) COMPANIES (NN2) 25464 6 MOST (DAT) STATES (NN2) 23512 7 MOST (DAT) DAYS (NNT2) 23351 8 MOST (DAT) AMERICANS (NN2) 21777 9 MOST (DAT) STUDENTS (NN2) 21195 10 […]
