C1 Advanced – Profesor Kenny

Writing Tasks Using Grammarly

During this course, we will use an app called Grammarly for our writing tasks. The free app is more than adequate for our purposes in this course, so there is no reason to students to pay for the Pro version.

Grammarly is an artificial intelligence app (AI) designed to help writers improve their output by focusing on spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes. By this level of English, learners are expected to have learned to properly use most of the language’s grammar structures and wielding an extensive vocabulary. Grammarly helps to reinforce that learning by focusing students’ attention on their own mistakes, offering suggested corrections.

Additionally, Grammarly notes unique words, rare words, word length, and sentence length. While we do not focus on these ideas specifically in our writing tasks, they are all the same indicators of the writer’s ability to use a broad range of language, and may help students identify and avoid common problems such as run-on sentences.

Grammarly also detects plagiarism from published sources, online and print, so please make sure to present your own work, which is the expected standard for all academic writing.

What Grammarly Will Do

improve writing quality by helping writers learn from mistakes
bring attention to errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar
suggest corrections for writers to apply to their work
keep track of character, word, and sentence counts
generate a beautiful report with errors cited for correction

What Grammarly Will Not Do

help writers in any way to meet the actual requirements of any writing task
correct very poorly-formed English, though it will certainly draw attention to it

How to Use Grammarly for Your Writing Task

It is recommended to use Grammarly instead of other applications throughout the writing process, though Grammarly offers a Microsoft Word plug-in, as well as keyboard apps to use on cellular and tablet devices.

To begin, please visit Grammarly and download the app. Once it is installed, you simply need to set the language settings to the correct dialect. At The Anglo, we teach British English, so this is the recommended setting. You may choose American English, if you prefer. However, please do not use the Canadian or Australian dialect settings for your Writing Tasks at The Anglo.

It’s important to remember that for Cambridge certifications, you may use either the British or American dialect, but once you decide which you will use, you must use it consistently.

When you start a new document, Grammarly will display a Set Goals modal, similar to what you see here. Make sure to adjust settings for formality and tone to match the task so that Grammarly understands what types of changes to recommend. The other settings are less important but may apply more strict or relaxed rules to your writing, so use them with caution.

Complete the Writing Task according to the instructions given to you by your instructor based on the approved institutional material for the course.

When you are done, review the feedback from Grammarly and make any necessary changes. Grammarly will score your work in comparison with other users of the application. This is a useful number, but this is only assessing writing for correct use of English, so it is not a reliable predictor of your grade. That said, we want to aim for our writing to be rated 90 or higher. To do this, we need to review the suggestions made by Grammarly in the right column to make the necessary changes.

To accept a change, you may simply click to accept the recommended change, and Grammarly will make the edit for you. Grammarly will notice the change and remove the edit suggestion if you choose to make the edit directly.

If the output is confusing to you, you may have confused Grammarly with a word misused previously in the document, so it remains important to review all your work, not only the errors noted by Grammarly.

Grammarly may draw your attention to grammar constructions used in your document to satisfy the requirements of the task. For example, suppose you are writing formal English in a neutral register. In that case, you may need to use passive forms extensively as part of the task. Grammarly will not understand this at all and may recommend changing those passive forms, so it is important to remember that YOU are smarter than Grammarly when it comes to understanding the requirements of the task. In short, if Grammarly is suggesting changes to the language you have included as part of the requirements of the task, ignore the suggested change. Instead, simply make sure you have used the form correctly.

When you have finished reviewing and correcting spelling, punctuation, and grammar in Grammarly, return to the task requirements to make sure you have met all the requirements of the task. Review your work again, reading it from start to finish for clarity and cohesion.

When you are satisfied that you have met the requirements of the task, and you have achieved a Grammarly rating of 90 or higher, you may now produce the document to submit for your grade. To do this, click where it says “Overall Score. See Performance” at the right upper corner of the app. Grammarly will display another modal with a link below that says “Download PDF Report”. Click to download the report and add your name to the filename so that I know whose work it is.

Submit this document using the Google Form provided by your instructor. It is essential to submit your work using the form as the questions amount to your self-evaluation, which is part of your grade. Therefore, do not submit your writing to the teacher’s email, MS Teams channel(s), chat, or any other method.

Below is a link to a sample of the PDF report produced by Grammarly, which I used to write this article. As I have either made or ignored all recommended changes, the error output with suggested corrections is missing at the end of the document where it is normally found.

Sample of Grammarly PDF report

C1 Advanced

Advanced Conditionals

Advanced Conditional Forms

Advanced conditional forms are used to express formality and/or sophistication. These forms include inversions, polite requests, casual negotiations, and various replacements for if to produce more sophisticated, formal, and polite English expressions.

Inversions: Express formality or sophistication when using conditional 1, 2, or 3. They may also be used in mixed conditionals.
1. Method of inversion:
  1. Eliminate the word “if” from the condition.
  2. Invert the word order of the subject and verb.
    1. In most cases, the inversion is the same order normally used for questions.
    2. In perfect/passive forms, the subject is placed between the modal/auxiliary verb and the past participle.
2. Conditional 1:
  Standard: If you don’t tell her how you feel, you’ll lose her forever.
  Inversion: Should you not tell her how you feel, you’ll lose her forever.
  Note: In this case, replace if with should. Other replacements for ‘if’ are explained below.
3. Conditional 2:
  Standard: If I were you, I would demand an apology.
  Inversion: Were I you, I would demand an apology.
4. Conditional 3:
  Standard: If that had happened to me, I would have been really angry.
  Inversion: Had that happened to me, I would have been really angry.
5. Mixed Past/Present:
  Standard: If he hadn’t been more careful, he would be dead by now.
  Inversion: Had he been more careful, he wouldn’t be dead now.
6. Mixed Present/Past:
  Standard: If he passed the test, he would have been admitted to medical school.
  Inversion: Had he passed the text, he would have been admitted to medical school.
Sophistication: By replacing the word if with one of several variations below, you can express your ideas in more formal or sophisticated ways.
1. Emphasize a Condition: providing, provided that, as long as, so long as
  form: providing, provided that, as long as, so long as
  use: to add extra emphasis to the condition
  e.g. Providing/provided that everything is in order, the adoption will be certified by the judge.
  e.g. As long as we leave early, we should arrive on the coast by mid-afternoon.
  e.g. So long as he does not commit another crime, he shall remain free.
2. Extreme Condition: even if
  form: even if
  use: to make a condition more extreme in its effect
  e.g. Even if he comes back crawling on his hands and knees, I will never forgive him!
3. Exceptions to a Condition: unless
  form: unless, similar in meaning to if…not, providing…not, or except when
  use: an exception to a fully-formed conditional statement
  e.g. If an athlete has that magic combination of genetics plus discipline, he can compete in almost any sport, unless he overtrains to the point of injury.
4. General Negative Conditions: unless
  form: unless (i.e. if…not, providing…not, except when)
  use: to express a negative condition
  e.g. I will not pay this bill unless you adjust the bogus charge from my balance. (negative condition as the second clause)
5. Conditional (3) Negative Expressions: but for, without
  form: but for, without (i.e. if it hadn’t been for)
  use: replace negative past perfect when followed by a noun
  e.g. But for the kindness of strangers, the family might not have survived being homeless in the cold.
  e.g. Without all the food in our pantries, we might have gotten quite hungry during the three-day blackout!
6. Problem Solving: supposing
  form: supposing
  use: sets up a condition as a problem, followed by a question, possibly rhetorical
  e.g. Supposing there’s a blizzard in the mountains and we don’t have chains? Will we go out like the Donner party?
7. Stating the Obvious: given that
  form: given that
  use: something already known but important enough to mention
  e.g. Given that sea levels will rise significantly in the next 50 years, I would think twice before buying property near the beach.
8. Polite requests: would
  form: if + would + infinitive without “to” | will + infinitive without “to”
  e.g. If you would be so kind as to sign these documents, the loan officer will be right with you.
9. Casual Negotiations: will
  form: if + will + infinitive without “to” | will + infinitive without “to”
  e.g. If you’ll just do me this little favor, sweetie, I‘ll be forever in your debt!

B2 Upper Intermediate

Past Tenses and Constructions

When referencing the past in English, there are many forms to employ depending on the context, including time references, sequencing, and relevance to the present.

Below are brief explanations of each, including information about how they are conjugated or constructed with relevant examples demonstrating the tense in bold.

Present perfect: connects the past to the present; used when an action started in the past is unfinished or remains relevant in the present
Form: have/has + past participle
e.g. I have belonged to the association since earning my degree at the university.
e.g. He has returned to his family’s ancestral city to research their history.
Present perfect continuous: connects the past to the present, used when an action started in the past continues in the present
Form: have/has + been + -ing (gerund/present participle)
e.g. I have been working long days the past month or so in order to buy a car.
e.g. He has been trying so hard to facilitate a family meeting, but his sisters are being belligerent.
Past simple: Used to discuss past events that are finished
Form: conjugate the infinitive form of the verb, adding -ed to the end; watch out for irregulars
e.g. I cooked tacos for dinner, are you hungry? (cook + -ed ending = past simple of cook)
e.g. I read 3 books a week when I was in grade school. (read is irregular in the past tense)
Past continuous: One of the narrative tenses, used to set the scene in a story, and to describe continuing actions in the past
Form: was/were + -ing (gerund/present participle)
e.g. I was walking through the park one day in the month of May.
e.g. We were singing around the camp fire when a big, hungry bear appeared out of nowhere.
Past participles: Used in passive and perfect constructions, may also used as an adjective
Form: identical to the past simple, except for irregulars;
e.g. talk > talked
e.g. read > read (irregular)
e.g. speak > spoken (irregular)
e.g. frost > frosted glass (past participles are also used as adjectives)
Past perfect: One of the narrative tenses used to sequence events in the past
Form: had + past participle
e.g. I had just finished my dinner when the building began to shake.
Past perfect continuous: One of the narrative tenses, used to sequence ongoing events in the past
Form: had + been + -ing (gerund/present participle)
e.g. I had been walking along the bay to work for years before the new streetcar line opened.
Past and Speculative modals: Used to express regret or criticism about the past, discuss past possibilities, and to speculate about past situations
Form: (should/could/would/may/might/must/can’t) + have + past participle
e.g. They should have called mother before making the trip across town for her surprise birthday party.
e.g. If I had known about the problem, I could have done more to help resolve it.
e.g. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to check visa requirements before getting on the plane.
e.g. He may have wanted more information about the promotion before making his purchase.
e.g. I might have rescheduled my vacation had I known the hotel was under construction.
e.g. I must have left my cellular at home this morning.
e.g. I can’t have forgotten my wedding anniversary again!

Additionally, all past tenses may be used in the passive, which is not a tense but a “voice” that emphasizes what happened rather than who did the action.

Past passive forms: passive forms of each tense are used in situations where what happened is more important than who did it
Form: be + past participle, with the addition of has/have/had for passive perfect forms.
Infinitive: The UFO was believed to have been spotted near Roswell, New Mexico.
Form: was/were + past participle + infinitive + been + past participle
Present perfect: A general strike has been called on Tuesday to protest the tax increase recently approved by Congress.
Form: has/have + been + past participle
Present perfect continuous: Artisan crafts have been being produced in the same houses by the same families for centuries.
Form: has/have + been + gerund + past participle
Past simple: The package was delivered last Tuesday.
Form: was/were + past participle
Past continuous: The new floor was being installed when it caught on fire and burned down the house.
Form: was/were + being + past participle
Past perfect: A nuclear arms agreement had been reached before the war began, easing concern around the world.
Form: had + been + past participle
Past perfect continuous: The project had been proceeding as expected when suddenly its funding was pulled.
Form: had + been + gerund
Past and Speculative Modals:
(should/could/would/may/might/must/can’t) + have + + been + past participle
e.g. Mother should have been called before everybody made the trip across town for her surprise birthday party.
e.g. If I had known about the problem, more could have been done to help resolve it.
e.g. Such a stunning swap of a priceless piece of art would have been noticed by a professional art historian.
e.g. More information may have been needed about the promotion before making his purchase.
e.g. My vacation might have been rescheduled if I had known the hotel was under construction.
e.g. My suitcase must have been left on the hotel shuttle van.

Category: C1 Advanced