Grammar Lessons
Master grammar patterns used in real news articles, organized by CEFR level.
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Absolute construction (nominative absolute)
“The weather being fine, we decided to eat outside.”
Absolute construction: All things considered
“All things considered, the event was a remarkable success.”
Absolute construction: The matter having been settled
“The matter having been settled, the committee moved on to the next item.”
Advanced affixation: noun and adjective suffixes
“The accessibility and reliability of the service have improved dramatically.”
Advanced affixation: productive prefixes
“The report was widely criticised for misrepresenting the data and underestimating the costs.”
Advanced conjunctions: insofar as / inasmuch as / lest
“The policy is effective insofar as it addresses the immediate problem.”
Advanced conjunctions: provided that / in the event that / failing that
“You may take the exam early, provided that you submit a written request.”
Advanced relative: in which case / at which point / by which time
“The train may be delayed, in which case we'll take a taxi.”
Advanced relative: which referring to whole clause
“He passed the exam on his first attempt, which surprised everyone.”
Be due to / be set to (expected future)
“The new regulations are due to come into effect next month.”
Be on the verge of / be on the point of
“The company was on the verge of collapsing when new investors stepped in.”
Be to + infinitive (formal future arrangement)
“The Prime Minister is to visit Brussels next week.”
But for + noun (third conditional variant)
“But for your timely intervention, the project would have failed.”
Cleft: All I want/need is...
“All I want is a quiet evening at home.”
Cleft: The thing/reason/place/time + relative clause
“The reason I called is that we need to reschedule the meeting.”
Cleft: What happened was...
“What happened was that the system crashed just before the deadline.”
Cohesion: the aforementioned / hitherto
“The aforementioned study provides compelling evidence.”
Cohesion: the former / the latter
“Both proposals have merit, but the latter seems more practical.”
Cohesion: thereby, whereby, thereof, herein
“The company restructured its operations, thereby reducing costs by thirty percent.”
Complex post-modification of noun phrases
“The decision taken by the committee to review the evidence was widely criticised.”
Complex pre-modification of noun phrases
“The highly controversial new government immigration policy was debated in Parliament.”
Complex prepositions: in light of / in lieu of / notwithstanding
“In light of recent developments, the committee has decided to postpone the vote.”
Complex prepositions: pursuant to / subject to / prior to / subsequent to
“Subject to approval by the board, the merger will proceed as planned.”
Concession: Granted / Admittedly + nonetheless
“Granted, the initial costs are high.”
Concession: While it is true that...
“While it is true that renewable energy has limitations, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.”
Conditional inversion: Had it not been for...
“Had it not been for the firefighters' quick response, the building would have been destroyed.”
Conditional inversion: Should there be...
“Should there be any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.”
Conditional inversion: Were it not for...
“Were it not for the traffic, we would arrive on time.”
Could have done vs was able to
“I could have finished it yesterday, but I chose to wait.”
Discourse markers: by the same token / in the same vein
“The new law protects tenants' rights.”
Discourse markers: for what it's worth / to all intents and purposes / as it were
“He is, to all intents and purposes, the leader of the group.”
Discourse markers: that said / having said that
“The food was mediocre.”
Distancing: continuous for tentativeness
“I was thinking we might leave a bit earlier tomorrow.”
Distancing: past tense for politeness
“I was wondering if you could help me with something.”
Echo questions and rhetorical questions
“She resigned?”
Ellipsis: if so / if not / if anything / if at all
“The treatment may help, but if so, the effects will take weeks to appear.”
Emphasis through parallelism and repetition
“What we need is patience.”
Extraposition with It + passive + that-clause
“It has been suggested that the funding model needs to be reformed.”
Extraposition with It + passive + to-infinitive
“It is considered to be one of the greatest achievements in modern science.”
Fronting: Try as I might
“Try as I might, I couldn't persuade him to change his mind.”
Fronting: What... + subject + make up for / lack in
“What she lacks in experience, she makes up for in enthusiasm.”
Garden-path structures (reduced relative clauses)
“The horse raced past the barn fell.”
Hedging in academic discourse: It could be argued
“It could be argued that social media has done more harm than good.”
Hedging: this would seem to / further research is needed
“This would seem to indicate a correlation between sleep quality and academic performance.”
If it weren't for / If it hadn't been for
“If it hadn't been for the scholarship, I could never have attended university.”
Inversion after so/such + adjective/noun
“So great was the damage that the building had to be demolished.”
Inversion for emphasis: Only then did / Only after
“Only after reading the fine print did I realise what I had agreed to.”
Inversion: Little did / Never before had
“Little did they know that the company was about to go bankrupt.”
Inversion: Not only... but also (with inversion in first clause)
“Not only did she win the competition, but she also broke the national record.”
Inversion: On no account / In no way
“On no account are employees to leave the premises during the drill.”
Inversion: Under no circumstances / At no time
“Under no circumstances should you reveal this information to anyone.”
Irony through understatement
“He's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, is he?”
It remains to be seen whether...
“It remains to be seen whether the new policy will have the desired effect.”
Lexical grammar: advanced verb-noun collocations
“Several residents lodged complaints about the noise from the construction site.”
Lexical grammar: exert/exercise collocations
“The government exercised caution in responding to the crisis.”
Litotes: negative + positive = emphatic positive
“That's not a bad idea.”
Might have / may have for past speculation
“He might have missed the train — that would explain the delay.”
Modal backshift in reported speech
“She said the project might take longer than expected.”
Need doing / need to be done
“The car needs washing.”
Needn't have done vs didn't need to
“You needn't have bought all that food — we already had plenty.”
Negative questions for surprise or persuasion
“Don't you think we should at least consider the alternative?”
Nominalisation for formality
“An investigation into the causes of the failure revealed significant compliance issues.”
Perfect participle clause: Having + past participle
“Having been told the news, she sat in silence for a long time.”
Performative verbs: I hereby declare / promise / apologise
“I hereby declare this meeting adjourned.”
Pragmatic markers: mind you / then again / even so / at any rate
“The hotel was expensive.”
Present participle clause for reason/context
“Being a teacher myself, I understand the challenges of large class sizes.”
Pseudo-cleft: What I'm saying is...
“What I'm saying is that we can't afford to take the risk.”
Pseudo-cleft: What they did was...
“What they did was raise the prices without telling anyone.”
Register shift within text for effect
“The fiscal policy implemented by the administration has, to put it bluntly, been a disaster.”
Reported speech: claim/alleged + to have + past participle
“The suspect is alleged to have fled the country before the arrest warrant was issued.”
Reported speech: is understood/believed to be
“The President is understood to be considering a cabinet reshuffle.”
Shall for formal offers and suggestions
“Shall I arrange a meeting with the director for you?”
Stance adverbials: arguably, admittedly, undeniably
“Arguably, this is the most significant discovery of the decade.”
Stance adverbials: predictably, inevitably, paradoxically
“Paradoxically, the more options people have, the less satisfied they feel.”
Stative verbs in continuous (deliberate/informal)
“I'm loving this new restaurant — the food is amazing.”
Subjunctive: be that as it may
“Be that as it may, we still need to find a solution.”
Subjunctive: come what may
“Come what may, I intend to finish this project by Friday.”
Subjunctive: God forbid / far be it from me
“Far be it from me to criticise, but I think there's a better approach.”
Subjunctive: if need be
“We can extend the deadline if need be.”
Subjunctive: so be it / suffice it to say
“Suffice it to say that the negotiations did not go well.”
Substitution: that of / those of
“The crime rate in this city is comparable to that of much larger metropolitan areas.”
Suppose / Supposing / Imagine + past
“Suppose you lost your job tomorrow — what would you do?”
Understatement: not exactly, not the most
“The hotel wasn't exactly the most luxurious place I've ever stayed.”
Understatement: somewhat, rather, a touch, slightly
“I was rather disappointed with the outcome, to be honest.”
Vague language: or so, roughly, in the region of
“The repair will cost in the region of five hundred pounds.”
Vague language: sort of, kind of, -ish
“The meeting will be at threeish — I'll confirm later.”
Want doing (British English passive sense)
“This wall wants painting before the winter.”
Will for habits and characteristics
“He'll sit there for hours just staring out the window.”
Would for past habits and characteristics
“When I was a child, we would spend every summer at the lake.”
Would have done (unrealised past)
“She would have accepted the offer, but the salary was too low.”