COBUILD English Grammar And I was, like, wow! Penny Hands and Kate Wild HarperCollins

COBUILD English Grammar

And I was, like, wow!

Penny Hands and Kate WildHarperCollins

‘Language is not a collection of rules and target forms to be acquired, but rather a by-product of communicative processes.’

Ellis, N (2007) Dynamic systems and SLA: The wood and the trees. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 10/1

the adjective or noun – or sometimes other type of word – that comes after, but not necessarily always after, the linking verb

EXAMPLESEXAMPLES EXAMPLESEXAMPLES

CORPUS RESEARCHCORPUS RESEARCHCORPUS RESEARCHCORPUS RESEARCH

AREAS OF RESEARCHAREAS OF RESEARCH

1. pronouns and determiners

2. stative verbs

3. much

4. be like as reporting structure

AREAS OF RESEARCHAREAS OF RESEARCH

1. pronouns and determiners

2. stative verbs

3. much

4. be like as reporting structure

COLLINS CORPUSCOLLINS CORPUS (4 billion words)COLLINS CORPUSCOLLINS CORPUS (4 billion words)

UK and US Englishspoken and written English

since 1990

We examined:

PRONOUNS AND DETERMINERSPRONOUNS AND DETERMINERSPRONOUNS AND DETERMINERSPRONOUNS AND DETERMINERS

A

I saw John yesterday. He was with his new girlfriend.

My mum is from New Zealand. She moved to Britain when she was 15.

B

A person cannot ignore the past but he can choose his future.

Every child needs to feel that she is loved.

A

If you see Chris and Linda, tell them I’ll call later.

Residents are allowed to bring their own furniture.

B

If anyone calls, tell them I’m in a meeting.

Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.

PRONOUNS AND DETERMINERSPRONOUNS AND DETERMINERSPRONOUNS AND DETERMINERSPRONOUNS AND DETERMINERS

GENERIC PRONOUNS AND GENERIC PRONOUNS AND DETERMINERSDETERMINERS


1. If you want to help somebody, you have to accept them first.

2. If you want to help somebody, you have to accept him first.

3. If you want to help somebody, you have to accept her first.

4. If you want to help somebody, you have to accept him or her first.





We searched the corpus for:

• he, him, his, himself• she, her, hers, herself• they, them, their, theirs, themselves• he or she, his or her, s/he, etc.

…referring back to:

someone, anyone, everyone, each, every, a person…, etc.





Tricky examples:

There is one rule that debars anyone who has played first-class cricket as a home player in his native land in the previous 12 months.

Tricky examples:

I mean steal a baby to give it away don't be crazy why did they whoever left it on our doorstep maybe she'll come back for it…







Both informal:

When somebody feels good, they’re healthy, they work harder and they’re more focused.

…and formal:

The retention piece allows an individual to transfer a portion of their benefit or all of their benefit at different points in their career….





Used even when gender is known:

I talked to somebody else in line, and they said it would be many, many hours.


Ask the young mothers and no one will say they regret having their baby.

STATIVE VERBSSTATIVE VERBSSTATIVE VERBSSTATIVE VERBS

1. What are some typical stative verbs?

2. When can you use them? When can’t you use them?

The term is typically used for verbs relating to:

lasting emotions (e.g. love, like, hate, want)mental states (e.g. know, think, imagine,

remember)senses (e.g. see, hear, smell)permanent states (e.g. belong, own, possess,

fit, keep)



But hang on a tick, I'm forgetting my manners.

Nobody is imagining that the Conservatives can win.

I'm wanting the film to be deliberately old-fashioned.

I'm loving midnight blue eye shadow.


STATIVE VERBS: STATIVE VERBS: loveloveSTATIVE VERBS: STATIVE VERBS: lovelove


meaning enjoy:

I'm loving my football so much at the moment I can't wait for the next game to come along. (UK 90–94)


meaning enjoy:

Now Jessica is four months old and Gillian is loving every minute of motherhood. (UK 90–94)

STATIVE VERBS: STATIVE VERBS: loveloveSTATIVE VERBS: STATIVE VERBS: lovelovemeaning like very much:

Kids 2 and 3 years old are loving our album. (US 05–09)

…a model and artist who looked particularly cool in colourful striped socks and a pair of Converse – a look we're loving. (UK 05–09)

…and the phrase loving it or lovin’ it:

People are relating to the film and they are loving it, so who am I to complain? (UK 05–09)


STATIVE VERBS: STATIVE VERBS: wantwantSTATIVE VERBS: STATIVE VERBS: wantwant

Compare:

We've been wanting to come for three years. It was worth the wait.

Everyone knew that Bob had been wanting to resign for months.

“You want to get married, you want kids, next thing you'll be wanting Tupperware.”

…with:

My sponsors have invested a lot of money in it, and I think they're wanting to capitalize on it.

We were wanting a price of $35 million and didn't get it.

STATIVE VERBS: STATIVE VERBS: wantwant

STATIVE VERBS: STATIVE VERBS: wantwantSTATIVE VERBS: STATIVE VERBS: wantwant

Collins Cobuild English Grammar, 3rd ed.

muchmuchmuchmuch

How many children do you have?

I’ve got too many things to do.

I didn’t have many friends at school.

? I had many friends at school.

How much time do we have?

Ugh! Too much information!

We don’t have much time.

?? We have much time.

What is the rule for much and many?

muchmuch in positive, unmodified in positive, unmodified statementsstatements




discussion much talk / discussion / debate / argument

thought much speculation / deliberation / doubt

study much research / study

attention much attention / interest

excitement much excitement / laughter / fun / fanfare





After much speculation that he was killed, intelligence agencies now believe that he survived.

The Israeli team's findings have caused much excitement among medical experts.


REPORTING STRUCTUREREPORTING STRUCTURE be likebe like

REPORTING STRUCTUREREPORTING STRUCTURE be likebe like

We saw that and we were like ‘Oh my god!’

At first, I was like, no, what are you talking about?

They look at you like you’re mental and it's like, “Chill out, what’s your problem?”

REPORTING STRUCTURE REPORTING STRUCTURE be likebe like


When I was a teenager, that song came on the radio and it was like, Oh, my God! (UK 05–09)

So I get back in the bus, quarter of an hour passes and it's like, Where's Graham? (UK 90–94)




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COBUILD English Grammar And I was, like, wow! Penny Hands and Kate Wild HarperCollins