In linguistic terms, modality refers to the expression of possibility, necessity, or certainty in a statement. The word “may” is a modal verb that typically indicates possibility or permission. However, in certain contexts, “may” can also express a negative or restrictive sense of possibility. When “may” is used in a negative context, it suggests uncertainty […]
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 63 in the category of ADJECTIVES is defined as using ‘much’ to modify and intensify comparative adjectives used attributively before countable and uncountable nouns. much + comparative + noun A search on iWeb corpus for: _rr _jjr _nn 1 MUCH BETTER JOB 4896 1 DO (VDI ) 1362 […]
A monotransitive verb requires a subject and a direct object in order to form a sentence. subject verb object Read More » The use of the conjunction ‘plus’ is covered by two different B1 grammar points in the English Grammar Profile. Point 14 in CONJUNCTIONS/coordinating is defined as: ‘PLUS’ WITH NOUNS often in relation to […]
Some adjectives that may refer to time and are always attributive include latter, past, previous, eventual and ultimate. For example: The purpose of our existence is enlightenment and eventual liberation from the perpetual suffering of life and death. listen ‘Eventual’ is listed at C2 in the English Vocabulary Profile, meaning ‘happening or existing at the end of a process or period of time” Judging by the pollution content of the atmosphere, I believe we have arrived at the latter half of the twentieth century. listen The meaning […]
The 13 most common B2 adjectives found after the definite article are: actual, appropriate, current, entire, global, major, official, overall, potential, primary, royal, standard, ultimate A search in iWeb for: the _JJ 1 THE BEST 4698241 2 THE OTHER 3603343 3 THE NEW 3566930 4 THE ONLY 2604971 5 THE FOLLOWING 2598260 6 THE RIGHT […]
C1 English Grammar point 60 in the category of FUTURE/simple is defined as: negative form ‘shall not’ On the uselessness of climbing Mt. Everest: We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, and not a gem, nor any coal or iron. We shall not find a single foot of earth that can be planted with crops to raise food. A search in iWeb for shall not _VVI 1 SHALL NOT APPLY 9981 2 SHALL NOT EXCEED 7825 3 SHALL […]
A search in iWeb for _JJ as 1 GOOD AS 206337 2 SIMPLE AS 116801 3 AVAILABLE AS 100100 4 HIGH AS 90051 5 IMPORTANT AS 85859 6 EASY AS 76766 7 ONLY AS 76363 8 LOW AS 72885 9 BAD AS 56258 10 GREAT AS 46149 11 EFFECTIVE AS 36161 I want to be as effective as you were, Annie. listen […]
In the English Vocabulary Profile, be welcome to do sth B1 used to tell someone that they can certainly do something, if they want to A search NOW corpus for: welcome _TO _V 1 WELCOME TO COMMENT 8459 2 WELCOME TO JOIN 7347 3 WELCOME TO USE 6739 4 WELCOME TO ATTEND 5863 You‘re welcome to attend all meetings. […]
‘Suppose‘ can mean let’s imagine or consider the following situation or example. For example: Suppose they rejected an 18th-century classification system and incorporated instead the most advanced knowledge of human genetic diversity and unity, that human beings cannot be categorized into biological races. TED It’s almost as if this imperative subordinates the whole sentence. And we are waiting for the following result clause or sentence. ‘that‘ can be used or not used. Suppose that the variants reach a hypothetical isolated city of 1 million people who are completely susceptible to both viruses on the same day. TED Supposing, for example, […]
Let’s explain what a ‘superlative clause’ is with this example: It’s the best car that you can buy. the best is the superlative adjective. that you can buy is the relative clause We can rewrite this as two sentences: It is the best car. You can buy it. Here the object it is replaced with the […]
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 56 in PAST perfect simple is defined as: invert the subject and auxiliary verb with ‘no sooner … than’ to talk about something that happened immediately before something else, often in formal contexts This is quite a rare structure. 1 NO SOONER HAD HE SAID 30 2 NO […]
Between an adjective and a preposition, a word ending in ‘-ES’ is a plural noun. 1 DIFFERENT (JJ) TYPES (NN2) OF (IO) 214636 2 OTHER (JJ) TYPES (NN2) OF (IO) 88973 3 VARIOUS (JJ) TYPES (NN2) OF (IO) 44725 4 CERTAIN (JJ) TYPES (NN2) OF (IO) 40226 5 EARLY (JJ) STAGES (NN2) OF (IO) 33456 […]
The following sentence means that you have a question that you wanted or intended to ask someone for a long time, but you did not ask it until now. It is a way to introduce a question. I‘ve been meaning to ask you something. listen There are 3 B1 basic present perfect continuous points in the category of PAST in […]
In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 120 in the category of CLAUSES/conditional is defined as: inverted ‘should’, + ‘would’ in the main clause to talk about possible future outcomes, in polite or formal contexts. Example: Should they come forward, that would be a tricky situation for us. Listen In the COCA corpus we can do a […]
