I. MISUSE
1. *give/have possibility to do sth:
... the adoptive parents have influenced their child, without giving him any choice or
possibility to "try out" other options. (PICLE)
For this reason we should reread a story because it gives us possibility to look at the
literary work from a perspective. (PICLE)
PICLE top collocates: HAVE, GIVE
BNC top collocates: EXPLORE, OPEN, CONSIDER, OFFER
cf. native examples (sense = likelihood + of):
... Goethe, with whose conception of nature his own future was to be so closely
linked, and of Schiller, from whose letters a few sentences were to wake the train of
thought that led him to the perception that man has the possibility of changing his
state of consciousness.
The sample was so arranged as to be fully representative over the country as a
whole, and everyone had the same possibility of being included.
2. *in case of (instead of in the case(s) of):
... the older they are the more difficult it is to adjust to another person. Especially, in
case of women where their attractiveness decreases with their age. (PICLE)
The same phenomenon can be observed in case of young people who decide to join
skinheads whose philosophy is known for its radicalism and an overt aggression.
(PICLE)
cf. BNC top collocates: emergency/emergencies, trouble, fire, accident(s),
need, dispute, doubt, breakdown, illness, war, injury
II. OVERUSE (1)
1. Basic vocabulary (based on smaller samples):
Running words
(tokens)
Word types
Lemmas
Type/token
(general) [%]
Lemma/token
(general) [%]
Nat.
Nat.
PICLE
Polish
Polish
Learners Profs
(learners)
(profs)
105400
93715 109193 103335
101911
9219
7318
8,75
11697
9469
12,48
9034
7072
8,27
22836
10950
22,10
26832
13200
26,33
6,94
10,10
6,48
10,60
12,95
2. Adverbs of stance (statement enforcement):
certainly adverbs: definitely, certainly, undoubtedly, for sure
cf. underuse of to be sure
3. Other adverbial / connective expressions:
PICLE8
(freq. / 330,000 words)
Besides
Moreover
What is more
107 (incl. 92 Besides, )
165
79 (+13 what’s more)
LOB + Brown
(freq. / 2 mln words)
108 (47)
141
9 (+2)
II. OVERUSE (2)
4. Some other typical idioms and collocations
BE
BE full of <sth>
BE connected with <sth>
as far as <sth> BE concerned
that/this BE why
what is more <adj: important etc.>
DO
DO <sth: something/anything/nothing/a lot (of things) etc.> about it/<sth>
DO a/the job
DO (<adj> / many / a lot of etc.) things
MAKE
MAKE <sb/sth> <adj> (especially MAKE <sth> easier)
TAKE
TAKE care (of <sb/sth>)
TAKE <sb/sth> into consideration
Examples:
 However, the greatest harm is done to children. Our television is full of
programmes unsuitable for young viewers.
 The second group of conditions is also well satisfied by the animal world. The
cultural background is connected here with acquiring new sounds.
 The only result which has been achieved is the increased number of responsibilities
and duties on the side of a woman, who is now expected not only to take care of
her house and family but also to find time for professional work.
 In cities buses, trams and cars take care of the issue of communication.
III. UNDERUSE
5. Adverbs of stance: multi-word certainty adverb to be sure, e.g.
The motivations for both sexes, to be sure, are different.
There is plenty of violence, to be sure, but it is a nice violence and no one gets killed.
6. passive made – underused + fewer collocations, e.g.
advances
application
attempts
discoveries
examination
notes
point
start
statement
suggestion(s)
use(s) etc.
was/were made ...
7. MAKE (it) clear that...:
In inviting the reader to join me on this voyage of exploration I have made it clear
that our purpose is not that of those who set out to draw maps of the oceans and who
have to record all their currents, islands and shores. (MCONC)
The testatrix has made it amply clear that she wishes the land to pass from her sons
to their descendants. (MCONC)
IV. DIFFERENT USAGE PROFILE
8. Adverbials of stance: , no doubt, (NS) vs. there is no doubt that, (NNS):
PICLE – 70% of the no doubt combination is clausal, e.g.
 There is no doubt there would be no problem in finding such people, as already
there are many volunteers for the professional service ...
 There is no doubt then that the development of technology has serious ecological
consequences. Moreover, the development of ....
cf. native corpus – adverbial no doubt 40% (vs. 34% of there is etc. ...)
 Familiarity with this statistical detail can no doubt give us a comfortable feeling
that we know what is going on in international trade, ...
 Experts could no doubt identify most of the characters and situations with those
of earlier books and even the less initiated can see that this one involves no
striking new departures.
9. Clause-initial vs. clause-medial adverb placement: e.g. therefore:
cf. typical Polish use (over 75% of clause-initial use):
 The more people are glued to a source of information the more profitable it is, the
money from commercials constituting its income. Therefore, different news relaying
media compete trying to scoop others by being fastest, most reliable and accurate
about the news they disseminate.
 They have a particular function – mostly an informative one – and they are to attract
people's attention to the particular products. Therefore, commercials must be made
and presented in such a way as to get to every receiver and to satisfy his or her
average taste.
cf. native English examples (less than 10% of clause-initial use)
 so strong is prejudice that one will still find people who will apply the adjective
"decadent" to Cavafy's poetry. It is therefore refreshing to find such a critic as Sir
Maurice Bowra, who writes: ...