Small Topics for Doing Corpus Research Work --- Questions Bank
[日期：2006-04-25] 来源：何安平 作者：何安平 [字体：大 中 小]
1. Is it correct (as some books say) that the dropping of the preposition of in such expressions as look out (of) the window is only used in American English?
2. Is it possible to use an indicative form of the verb (the simple present) in a subclause following an expression of demand, suggestion etc., such as Why don’t you suggest that he sees his doctor?
3. Is the use of an initial small letter in words for political ideologies and their adherents or adjectives referring to them as common as the use of an initial capital letter?
4. Which is the more common genitive construction with personal names already ending in Cs: an ’s (Charles’s) or the zero construction (Charles’)
5. Is it OK to leave out the definite article with musical instruments as objects of the verb play, like in play the piano?
6. How frequent is the use of singular quantifiers (a good/great deal of, amount of, less) with plural nouns? Are there any regional differences?
7. Is the use of plenty (of) restricted to spoken language?
8. Which is the most common expression: every second, every two or every other?
9. How frequent are the alternatives to different from, i.e. different to and different than?
10. Are abbreviations such as USA and EU used without the definite article? Are the names of ships always used with the definite article?
11. Are titles like Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister etc. always written with capital letters?
12. Is the last days etc. ever used without few in sentences like He’s been at home for the last (few) days?
13. How frequent is types/sorts/kinds of books compared to types/sorts/kinds of book?
14. (a) How frequent is I look/am looking/forward to wee you compared to I look/am looking/forward to seeing you? (b) Can you say I look forward seeing you?
15. Is there a difference between saying Sweden’s economy and the economy of Sweden?
16. When are the names of seasons and holidays used with the definite article?
17. How frequent is a conditional construction like Had you been there, you would have … compared to the if-construction (If you had been there, you would have …)
18. Are the adjectives ill and well ever used in a premodifying position, as in an ill child?
19. Should the verb be in the singular or plural after subject noun phrases containing a number of or the number of?
20. In some cases there is variation in the use or non-use of the pro-form one, as in The new model is faster than the old (one). Which should I choose?
21. When should I and me be used in constructions like between you and I/me, better than I/me and it’s I/me?
22. Are plural nouns like police and scissors ever used with singular verb/pronoun forms?
23. Is it possible to leave out the definite article with the word knowledge as in (a) good knowledge of Chinese?
24. When are adverbs used with the Cly ending and when without, as in real good/really good and dig deep/dig deeply?
25. Which is the most frequent construction of used to in questions and negative statements?
26. Is it a nonsense to say a Chinese?
27. Can you say who of ?
28. Which preposition should be used with adjectives like harmful, harmless, advantageous and disadvantageous?
29. Can you say I use to/don’t use to go by bike to work?
30. Which form of the verb C the infinitive, the Cing form or the to infinitive C should be used after the construction rather than?
31. Can friendly be used as an adverb?
32. Are the names of foreign newspapers used with or without the definite article in English?
33. How frequent is the use of reflexive instead of personal pronouns in sentences such as She closed the door behind herself?
34. People use the preterite form of irregular verbs as past participles (e.g. I have came) in the States. How frequent is this usage? Does it only occur in the U.S.?
35. How are the female titles Mrs, Miss and Ms used in present-day English?
36. What is the origin of the noun woman and why is the plural form, women, pronounced so strangely?
37. How acceptable and how frequent is the use of plural verbal agreement with subjects consisting of either, neither and none?
38. How to distinguish ‘realize and recognize’, realize and understand’ difficulty, dilemama and predicament’, frightened and afraid’ , ‘still, yet’ already’ heaps of and loads of’
39. What significance can be attached to repetitions such as ‘yes, yes’, or ‘no, no’ or even ‘yes, yes’yes’ or ‘no, no’no”, for connotations (do adverbs like utterly or participial adjectives like fixed carry negative overtones?
40. For interlingusal false friends (does ‘actually’ in Enlgish behave like its congnate form in other European languages or it ist quite different
41. the development of collocations of specific words, such as ‘ develop, develops, developed, developing, development’, particularly fi a lemmatized serch is first undertaken, so that all possible forms of a word are used in the exercises. Who or what ‘develops’? Who or what ‘is developed’? With what words does ‘develop’ regularly collocate? Do these collocations have any striking semantic feature? Are there senses of the verb ‘develop’ not covered by the nominalization ‘development’ or vice versa?
[日期：2006-04-25] 来源：何安平 作者：何安平 [字体：大 中 小]
1. Is it correct (as some books say) that the dropping of the preposition of in such expressions as look out (of) the window is only used in American English?
2. Is it possible to use an indicative form of the verb (the simple present) in a subclause following an expression of demand, suggestion etc., such as Why don’t you suggest that he sees his doctor?
3. Is the use of an initial small letter in words for political ideologies and their adherents or adjectives referring to them as common as the use of an initial capital letter?
4. Which is the more common genitive construction with personal names already ending in Cs: an ’s (Charles’s) or the zero construction (Charles’)
5. Is it OK to leave out the definite article with musical instruments as objects of the verb play, like in play the piano?
6. How frequent is the use of singular quantifiers (a good/great deal of, amount of, less) with plural nouns? Are there any regional differences?
7. Is the use of plenty (of) restricted to spoken language?
8. Which is the most common expression: every second, every two or every other?
9. How frequent are the alternatives to different from, i.e. different to and different than?
10. Are abbreviations such as USA and EU used without the definite article? Are the names of ships always used with the definite article?
11. Are titles like Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister etc. always written with capital letters?
12. Is the last days etc. ever used without few in sentences like He’s been at home for the last (few) days?
13. How frequent is types/sorts/kinds of books compared to types/sorts/kinds of book?
14. (a) How frequent is I look/am looking/forward to wee you compared to I look/am looking/forward to seeing you? (b) Can you say I look forward seeing you?
15. Is there a difference between saying Sweden’s economy and the economy of Sweden?
16. When are the names of seasons and holidays used with the definite article?
17. How frequent is a conditional construction like Had you been there, you would have … compared to the if-construction (If you had been there, you would have …)
18. Are the adjectives ill and well ever used in a premodifying position, as in an ill child?
19. Should the verb be in the singular or plural after subject noun phrases containing a number of or the number of?
20. In some cases there is variation in the use or non-use of the pro-form one, as in The new model is faster than the old (one). Which should I choose?
21. When should I and me be used in constructions like between you and I/me, better than I/me and it’s I/me?
22. Are plural nouns like police and scissors ever used with singular verb/pronoun forms?
23. Is it possible to leave out the definite article with the word knowledge as in (a) good knowledge of Chinese?
24. When are adverbs used with the Cly ending and when without, as in real good/really good and dig deep/dig deeply?
25. Which is the most frequent construction of used to in questions and negative statements?
26. Is it a nonsense to say a Chinese?
27. Can you say who of ?
28. Which preposition should be used with adjectives like harmful, harmless, advantageous and disadvantageous?
29. Can you say I use to/don’t use to go by bike to work?
30. Which form of the verb C the infinitive, the Cing form or the to infinitive C should be used after the construction rather than?
31. Can friendly be used as an adverb?
32. Are the names of foreign newspapers used with or without the definite article in English?
33. How frequent is the use of reflexive instead of personal pronouns in sentences such as She closed the door behind herself?
34. People use the preterite form of irregular verbs as past participles (e.g. I have came) in the States. How frequent is this usage? Does it only occur in the U.S.?
35. How are the female titles Mrs, Miss and Ms used in present-day English?
36. What is the origin of the noun woman and why is the plural form, women, pronounced so strangely?
37. How acceptable and how frequent is the use of plural verbal agreement with subjects consisting of either, neither and none?
38. How to distinguish ‘realize and recognize’, realize and understand’ difficulty, dilemama and predicament’, frightened and afraid’ , ‘still, yet’ already’ heaps of and loads of’
39. What significance can be attached to repetitions such as ‘yes, yes’, or ‘no, no’ or even ‘yes, yes’yes’ or ‘no, no’no”, for connotations (do adverbs like utterly or participial adjectives like fixed carry negative overtones?
40. For interlingusal false friends (does ‘actually’ in Enlgish behave like its congnate form in other European languages or it ist quite different
41. the development of collocations of specific words, such as ‘ develop, develops, developed, developing, development’, particularly fi a lemmatized serch is first undertaken, so that all possible forms of a word are used in the exercises. Who or what ‘develops’? Who or what ‘is developed’? With what words does ‘develop’ regularly collocate? Do these collocations have any striking semantic feature? Are there senses of the verb ‘develop’ not covered by the nominalization ‘development’ or vice versa?
