'''Pattern Grammar''' is a model for describing the syntactic environments of individual lexical items, derived from studying their occurrences in authentic linguistic corpora. It was developed by Hunston, Francis, and Manning as part of the COBUILD project. It is a highly informal account that suggests a linear view of grammar (as opposed to phrase-structure or dependency grammars).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Christopher |title=Review of Pattern grammar: A corpus-driven approach to the lexical grammar of English |journal=Computational Linguistics |date=2000 |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=318–320|doi=10.1162/coli.2000.27.2.318 |s2cid=15705043 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
Each word has a set of patterns assigned to it which describe typical contexts in which they are used. Often these are separate for different word senses.
== Pattern Notation ==
Patterns are given as sequence of lower-case grammatical elements, with the central element of the pattern in upper case. The elements are either labels for grammatical categories ('v' for verb, 'n' for noun group, 'prep' for preposition) or actual lexical items (for example specific prepositions).
== Examples: SKIM == The word ''skim'' includes the following patterns in the COBUILD dictionary:
=== V n ''off''/''from'' n === ''Skim'' is a verb, and as the pattern describes its behaviour it is in upper case. The verb is then followed by a noun group, a preposition (either ''off'' or ''from'') and a second noun group. This pattern applies for example to "She '''skimmed the cream ''off'' the milk'''". The choice of preposition is limited to those two options, which is why they are specified directly instead of using the broader category 'prep'.
=== V n === This pattern describes the use of ''skim'' in "...re-surface all the walls by '''skimming the surface''' smooth ready for painting..."
=== V ''over''/''across'' n ===
"I was wondering if someone who speaks French could '''skim''' '''''over''''' '''it''' for me and correct it."
=== V ''through'' n ===
"You can '''skim ''through'' our step-by-step guide''' and find out why"
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * Francis, Gill; Hunston, Susan; Manning, Elizabeth, ''Collins COBUILD Grammar Patterns 1: Verbs'', HarperCollins, 1996. * Francis, Gill; Hunston, Susan; Manning, Elizabeth, ''Collins COBUILD Grammar Patterns 2: Nouns and Adjectives'', HarperCollins, 1997. * Hunston, Susan; Francis, Gill, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nqqh46Q0uVMC ''Pattern Grammar: A corpus-driven approach to the lexical grammar of English''], John Benjamins, 2000. {{ISBN|90-272-2273-8}}
Category:Grammar frameworks