Wiktionary:BNC chunks

Introduction

The chunks in the following list are the most common four-word, three-word, and two-word lexical chunks in the academic subcorpora of the British National Corpus. They are chosen entirely on the basis of frequency with no attention at all to utility. The result is a list that includes both very useful expressions (e.g., on the other hand) and common strings that are rather meaningless on their own (e.g., is that it is). Within each sublist, they are listed roughly in the order of frequency, but those appearing in more disciplines are listed those with a narrower range of use.

Chunks

Four-word chunks

in the case of, the nature of the, in the context of, the extent to which, in the form of, in the absence of, it is important to, it is difficult to, is likely to be, a wide range of, a result of the, a large number of , in the same way, the development of the, the size of the, the basis of the, in a number of, are likely to be, in the development of, it is likely that, the position of the, on the other hand, the end of the, at the same time, as a result of, on the basis of, at the end of, the way in which, the fact that the, one of the most, the rest of the, that there is a, to be able to, at the beginning of, is one of the, at the time of, it is possible to, it is clear that, in the united states, the role of the, as we have seen, it is necessary to, the use of the, by the end of, the case of the, to be found in, as part of the, the beginning of the, that there is no, by the fact that, in such a way, it is possible that, to ensure that the, the effect of the, the value of the, of a number of, the structure of the, the form of a, the form of the, for the first time , a great deal of, on the one hand, the time of the, as we shall see, can be used to, in the number of, in the sense that, way in which the, more likely to be, the relationship between the, the ways in which, at the level of, the course of the, be found in the, the existence of a, it can not be, it should be noted, that it is not, are a number of, there are a number, the point of view, point of view of, it is not clear, it is to be, from the point of, as part of a, the same way as, it is not possible, the development of a, is that it is, in the use of, it is not surprising, would have to be, the needs of the, as in the case, is to be found, in the course of, in the united kingdom, the interests of the, in england and wales, as a means of, on the grounds that, the case of a, to the extent that, the second world war, at the expense of, in the face of, of the nineteenth century, the context of the, the importance of the, it may be that, it is true that, in the hands of, in the nineteenth century, the work of the, at a time when, in the process of, the power of the, in a position to, the first world war, in the sense of, but it is not, it has been suggested, the meaning of the, be seen as a, extent to which the, it is impossible to, the creation of a, the purpose of the, to the fact that, the centre of the, this is not to, there is no reason, does not mean that, by the use of, in a variety of, of some of the, the majority of the, a wide variety of, despite the fact that, an increase in the, the fact that it, to that of the, of the nature of, should be noted that, the start of the, is based on the, a small number of, of the fact that, can be seen in, in the first place,

Three-word chunks

many of the, as a whole, a series of, in the early, the need for, is not a, the concept of, the possibility of, the effects of, parts of the, in this way, between the two, should not be, of the same, and that the, that they are, it is also, of the first, the result of, the most important, of the two, the study of, may not be, the problem of, is not the, a range of, be regarded as, each of the, related to the, there is an, analysis of the, the lack of, the introduction of, appears to be, there may be, half of the, the degree of, in some cases, the distribution of, those of the, involved in the, in the second, understanding of the, and there is, a group of, knowledge of the, the range of, that this is, but there is, there are no, can be made, some of these, the difference between, this may be, in this case, per cent of, much of the, it does not, may have been, if it is, the need to, it was not, which can be, a set of, are to be, the results of, they do not, needs to be, changes in the, account of the, in the following, of the other, in this chapter, they are not, will not be, is in the, has not been, appear to be, associated with the, can only be, aspects of the, a period of, this can be, the influence of, the type of, may be a, the cost of, which may be, as it is, there are two, change in the, an example of, because it is, of such a, may also be, we do not, can also be, and to the, this type of, responsible for the, used in the, the production of, be expected to, there are many, if they are, the ability to, which has been, compared with the, difference between the, of all the, there is little, all of the, and on the

Two-word chunks

nature of , the use , associated with , development of , a more , per cent of , be used , effect of , the more , the development , the nature , the effect , be seen , but also , could not , found in , possible to , analysis of , aspects of , compared with , changes in , forms of , types of , the form , the process , the extent , the subject , the study , variety of , proportion of , process of , necessary to , related to , the result , suggests that , an important , suggest that , should not , used in , role of , referred to , other hand , which can , absence of , the presence , increase in , relationship between , presence of , importance of , the results , carried out , value of , is likely , is possible , the relationship , the role , is more , be found , a similar , which have , the possibility , and are , is important , means of , course of , the original , levels of , which may , is often , areas of , to ensure , was also , rate of , are also , clear that , the importance , a further , majority of , suggested that , be taken , has not , state of , source of , the major , understanding of , the absence , led to , which were , responsible for , knowledge of , lead to , of information , the central , change in , a series , only the , and more , more likely , ensure that , loss of , to produce , control of , together with , a variety , made by , be considered , the majority , a general , found that , numbers of , to understand , the existence , the total , this may , known as , the various , similar to , the effects , the value , be given , a significant , show that , may also , area of , both the , approach to , are more , be more , to explain , of different , important to , to avoid , not necessarily , the final , only to , derived from , the high , or even , is used , pattern of , a high , the level , to establish , is necessary , capable of , to develop , unable to , have not , interpretation of , or other , seen in , been made , a wide , different from , function of , this has , method of , not always , to identify , when the , features of , with other , used for , this would , are often , this can , followed by , available to , it also , provided by , in turn , the individual , and can , is difficult , there may , is usually , were also , effect on , is therefore , can also , the growth , and others , the different , be expected , caused by , a common , size of , and may , extent of , to allow , as follows , feature of , in different , the above , ways of , groups of , a much , applied to , to maintain , and has , the degree , are likely , and thus , differences between , consequence of , thus the , used by , depends on , a range , to other , a greater , a simple , combination of , the ability , used as , the introduction , also a , model of , the full , the relative , is based , the normal , of interest , the range , methods of , made in , to describe , already been , details of , and hence , the highest , depend on , unlikely to , dependent on , but is , the lack , is seen , measure of , a considerable , a change , not yet , the natural , more than one , to define , time the , out by , is one , is less , made to