Verb: call, report, focus, guess, sign, step, figure, roll, fire, hire, file, oppose, wrap, interview, accomplish, testify, bake, track, evolve, violate, target, pitch, flip, ruin, hike, invade
Noun: student, president, percent, kid, guy, nation, photo, arm, American, Republican, phone, movie, store, lawyer, Democrat, professor, expert, senator, break, camera, coach, item, mom, dream, attorney, scientist, web, camp, truck, apartment, bowl, baseball, internet, basketball
AdJective: American, federal, tough, native, Iraqi, crazy, smart, Israeli, Mexican, congressional, elementary, online, gifted, athletic, ongoing, African-American, suburban, Hispanic, scary, high-tech, cute, nonprofit, immigrant, skeptical, aging, low-income, interstate
+British (BNC) / -American (COCA)
The following are Just a sampling of the words that are much more common in the BNC than in COCA. In all cases, the word is at least twice as far down the list in the COCA wordlist as in the BNC (e.g. #2000 in the BNC, #5000 in COCA).
Verb: ensure, suppose, regard, voice, bind, retain, undertake, phone, wan, allocate, knit, book, abolish, envisage, incur, fancy, commence, enclose, enquire, sack, adJourn, tidy, query, retort, queue, nick, remand, smelt
Noun: council, minister, union, pound, scheme, shop, principle, village, provision, sector, appeal, parliament, mum, tea, lord, cabinet, pension, flat, expenditure, solicitor, coal, crown, castle, pub, parish, tenant, councillor, countryside, plaintiff, autumn, cottage
AdJective: British, European, English, royal, French, industrial, Scottish, lovely, working, bloody, parliamentary, alright, statutory, keen, Welsh, Tory, socialist, unemployed, delighted, Victorian, liable, superb, working-class, compulsory, splendid, post-war, dreadful, redundant, inland, wee
2737 ceremony n
adj religious, closing, traditional, annual, private, formal, civil, brief, solemn, ribbon-cutting noun openings awards, weddings graduation, day, master, marriage^, white, signing^ verb hold, attends, perform, open, conduct, honor, follow, ·mark, participate^, ·celebrate 11008 | 0.94
2738 button n
adj hot, red, mute, wrong, blue, off, left, nuclear noun belly^ shirt, push, elevator, finger, door, touch, ·mushroom, calL, panic verb hit, punch, click, wear, release, pop, fasten 11353 | 0.91 F
shopping n
adj one-stop, online, suburban, busy, downtown, electronic, regional noun .center, .mall, .bag, .cart, .list, home., grocery., .trip, holiday., .guide verb build, buy, carry., fill, push., finish., .cook, enjoy.
11047 | 0.94 N
pay n
adj low, equal, high, take-home, better, average, extra, annual noun .phone, percent, year, .cut, .benefit, worker, work, teacher, increase, executive. verb .raise, receive., earn, suspend., keep, accept.
11015 | 0.94 N
dispute n
adj legal, political, territorial, domestic, bitter, involved, alternative, major, ongoing, long-running noun resolution, settlement, labor., trade., border., contract., .mechanism verb resolve., settle., involve, .arise, mediate., end, solve., deal., adjudicate., avoid 11586 | 0.89 A
like r
just., guy, mean, really, .oh, kind, sort
12092 | 0.85 S
furniture n
adj American, antique, fine, painted, outdoor, upholstered, wooden, used noun piece., room, .store, .maker, office., wall, art, design, wood, floor verb move, buy, sell, rearrange., fill, arrange
11674 | 0.88 M
marine j
noun mammal, US, fishery, life, biologist, division, resource, environment, ecosystem, officer, unit, species misc national, former, service, retired, expeditionary, coastal, terrestrial, environmental, freshwater
11351 | 0.91
statistics n
adj descriptive, national, vital, available, official, recent, economic, federal, educational noun bureau., labor., table, health., education., crime., number, government., data, analysis verb .show, .indicate, keep, compile, .suggest, report, cite, base, collect, present 11123 | 0.93 A
Olympic j
noun game, committee, team, gold, medal, park, trial, athlete, medalist, champion, sport, stadium
12067 | 0.85 N
balance v
noun .budget, need, .work, .interest, .checkbook, book, .demand, body, .career, weight, cost, .leg, attempt., account, .edge misc try., .against, must., .federal, precariously
out will., all, thing., kind., .life, .over 10690 | 0.96
wipe v
noun hand, .eye, .tear, .face, .mouth, .sweat, .nose, .forehead, table, finger misc .off, .away, .clean, down, .across, .dry, whole, quickly., carefully, nearly, virtually., gently
out can., .by, entire, whole, disease, saving, virtually., species, nearly., .dinosaur
11338 | 0.91 F
spokesman n
adj national, foreign, chief, military, official, presidential, leading, corporate, eloquent
noun house., department, state, company, US, president, government., police., ministry., army. verb say, .decline, .deny, comment, .confirm, quote, .insist, .acknowledge, press, concede
11775 | 0.87 N
super j
noun bowl, team, delegate, champion, power, victory, game, season, hero, coach, model, star misc win, play, four, rich, superconducting, Austrian, host, straight
11323 | 0.91 N
Islamic j
noun group, world, jihad, law, republic, movement, state, revolution, fundamentalism, militant, country, fundamentalist
12011 | 0.86 A
track v
noun .progress, .movement, system., computer, .change, police., .trend, firm., stock, camera., .activity, satellite, ability., .sales, storm misc try., able., closely, .across, easy., difficult., easily
down try., help, able., finally., .killer, investigator., .terrorist, .source, .suspect, effort. 10711 | 0.96
translate v
noun language, .English, word, book, .action, .French, text, .practice, .Arabic, .German, computer, success, .document, knowledge, article misc .into, .Spanish, roughly, necessarily., directly
10827 | 0.95 A
interpret v
noun way, result, court., data, law, .constitution, finding, .caution, .information, .meaning misc .as, how., .mean, difficult., .differently, correctly, analyze., broadly, thus, widely., .literally
11472 | 0.89 A
testify v
noun witness., .Congress, .trial, court, .jury, .hearing, expert, .committee, case, .oath, officer., week, police, official., agent. misc .before, .against, .grand, .under, refuse.