towards i
move., attitude., walk., head., turn., step., .end, .door, policy., point., direct., lean., trend., push.
17140 | 0.88 F
waste n
adj hazardous, solid, toxic, nuclear, radioactive, municipal, industrial, medical, human noun .time, .management, disposal, .site, ·stream, .facility, .money, ton., amount., household. verb reduce., generate, dispose, recycle, lay., store, clean., contain, collect, contaminate 18240 | 0.83 A
wheel n
adj rear, front, big, asleep, hot, spinning, squeaky, huge, back, tubeless noun steering., hand, car, ·fortune, wagon., spoke, bicycle, drive, rim, training. verb turn, spin, sit., grip., reinvent., steer, roll, climb., grab., lock 17020 | 0.89 F M
17. The vocabulary of fiction texts
In the Corpus of Contemporary American English, the fiction texts come from nearly 75 million words in novels, short stories, plays, and movie scripts. Notice the high degree of concrete nouns, the verbs denoting physical movement and appearance, and the descriptive adjectives and adverbs—all of which are an important part of narration.
The following tables show the most frequent words (grouped by part of speech) that are at least three times as common (per million words) in fiction as in the other four genres, along with the frequency of each lemma (or headword).
[noun] hand 114904, eye 103343, head 80920, room 79276, door 77861, face 74067, mother 73338, father 61551, voice 48768, girl 46151, boy 45513, arm 44069, hair 39458, light 38758, window 37514, bed 32997, wall 30797, floor 28759, finger 25502,
shoulder 25386
[verb] look 206546, sit 70921, stand 65788, walk 55092, pull 45033, wait 44021, smile 31790, stare 31593, shake 29573, laugh 28586, close 25973, nod 23062, wonder 21782, hang 20956, lay 19814, lean 18584, notice 17968, step 17506, sleep 17349,
touch 16890
[adjective] dead 24327, dark 21706, sorry 18709, empty 12890, tall 11777, quiet 11446, strange 10645, thin 10006, alone 9897, thick 9705, silent 9438, gray 9427, brown 9427, yellow 9388, tired 8004, pale 7454, asleep 6837, glad 6523, stupid 6505,
wet 6492
[adverb] away 60710, maybe 45211, suddenly 23941, slowly 17663, inside 15466, please 15106, okay 13662, anyway 13263, outside 10418, somewhere 9846, straight 9730, barely 8109, closer 7400, quietly 7152, gently 6185, softly 5710, besides 4697, upstairs 3859, o'clock 3776, silently 3542
athlete n
adj female, high, professional, male, young, Olympic, great, black, best, competitive noun sport, coach, student, school, college, team, elite., woman, study, level verb .compete, indicate, .participate, train, ·receive, .perform, identify, examine, influence., reveal 21786 | 0.69 A
convince v
noun .people, .jury, .public, .voter, .American, .judge, ·Congress, official, evidence, doctor, administration, campaign., .juror, .reader, argument misc try., .myself ·himself, able.
15555 | 0.97
alternative n
adj other, only, viable, traditional, better, best, attractive, effective, cheap, healthy noun program, policy, education, energy, treatment, response., transportation., .violence, .prison verb offer., provide., consider, suggest, develop., choose, present, propose, ·exist, discuss 16159 | 0.93 A
pepper n
adj red, black, green, hot, white, cracked, grilled, stuffed, Italian, tender noun salt., teaspoon, bell., cup, onion, ground., garlic, cayenne, sauce, tablespoon verb .taste, add, chop, dice, sprinkle, roast, crush., grind., peel, drain 17923 | 0.84 M N
cream n
adj sour, whipped, heavy, light, cold, shaving, whipping noun ice., cup, .cheese, vanilla, butter, chocolate, sugar, tablespoon, sauce, milk verb whip., add, serve, eat., beat, stir, shave., .soften, fill, melt
16688 | 0.90 M
land v
noun .job, plane, .airport, helicopter, .role, troop, .Mars, fish, aircraft, floor, .contract, .jail, flight., ball, ground misc .on, before., .near, .safely, fly., .softly, crash
15787 | 0.95
technical j
noun assistance, support, skill, problem, information, difficulty, college, expertise, school, training, issue, term misc provide, scientific, financial, economic, require, highly, professional, legal
16572 | 0.91 A
square n
adj public, central, main, downtown, ordinary, tiny, mean, wide, gray, framing noun time., .garden, town., city, market., street, red., park, center, village. verb cut., fill, place, form, gather., overlook., cross., surround, locate, frame 15750 | 0.95
plenty p
(plenty of) .of, there., .time, .room, still., leave, .water, ·money, .opportunity, sure., offer., .space, food, drink.
15886 | 0.94 M
behind r
leave., from., far., fall., stay., close., child., lag., follow., remain., trail., grab., step., .payment
15824 | 0.95 F
invest v
noun money, company, fund, .stock, dollar, business, capital, .technology, energy, .future, amount, resource, firm, .education, saving misc .million, .heavily, much, billion, mutual, willing., save., fully., private, .wisely
16521 | 0.91 M
mind v
noun .business, .asking, .store, .manner, joke, .saying, ·cold misc do., you, never., if, come., bring., .own, seem., immediately., spring., nobody.
16021 | 0.93 F
potential n
adj great, full, human, economic, enormous, greatest, tremendous, future, commercial, significant noun growth, .conflict, development, technology, market, energy, profit, .abuse, .violence, .success verb realize., reach., develop, recognize., offer., create, reduce, increase, .exist, maximize. 16267 | 0.92 A
regard v
noun American., .suspicion, expert, .threat, critic, being, .expression, .skepticism, observer., colleague, scholar, historian, .symbol, .hero, tendency. misc .as, highly., widely., generally., .themselves, tend.
15856 | 0.94 A
intervention n
adj military, early, effective, divine, direct, human, medical, humanitarian, surgical, foreign noun .program, government., group, .strategy, state, Us., child, prevention, effect, assessment. verb design, require, implement, develop, support, suggest, focus, .reduce, target, .address 18820 | 0.79 A
illegal j
noun drug, immigration, alien, activity, use, abortion, law, worker, act, trade, border, weapon misc legal, nothing, anything, hire, declare, engage, immoral, immigrant
15912 | 0.94
lower v