Frame Sentences

Used in the experiments reported in the article, "Rules vs. Analogy in English Past Tenses: A Computational/Experimental Study," by Adam Albright and Bruce Hayes


1. I dream that one day I'll be able to ___.
   The chance to ___ would be very exciting.
   I think I'd really enjoy ___.
   My friend Sam ___ once and he loved it.

2. Every day I like to ___.
   I usually ___ first thing in the morning.
   After I'm finished ___, I'm ready to start the day.
   This morning I ___ as usual.

3. Why won't John ___?
   I want him to ___.
   He's only tolerable when he's ___.
   Like yesterday he ___, and he was fine

4. You should ___.
   It's always worthwhile to ___.
   I'm ___, and you should too.
   Last week you ___, why won't you now?

5. Egbert loves to ___ all the time.
   It seems he was born to ___.
   ___ is what he's good at.
   Last week he ___ six days out of seven.

6. Nobody wants to ___ these days.
   I don't know why people don't ___.
   This country has a long tradition of ___.
   Years ago everyone ___ and life was much better.

7. I don't want to ___.
   I try not to ___.
   I know that ___ isn't good for you.
   I know that because I ___ a lot when I was a teenager.

8. Fred couldn't ___.
   All he wanted was to ___.
   Finally, he succeeded in ___.
   After he ___ his mind was at ease.

9. It's difficult to ___.
   I've always found it hard to ___.
   Some people say ___ is easy.
   But I ___ last week and I can tell you it's not easy.

10. Everyone wants to ___.
      Magazines are telling me to ___.
      It seems like ___ is "in".
      But I ___ last week, and I don't see what all the fuss is about.

11. Jane refuses to ___.
      She's too frightened to ___.
      I don't know why she's so scared of ___.
      Everyone else ___ last year.

12. When I was a kid I used to ___.
      My father taught me to ___.
      I used to enjoy ___ very much.
      But I probably ___ one too many times.

13. Next week we're going to ___.
      We've been waiting ages for the chance to ___.
      We're reading a book about ___.
      My friend ___ once before, but this will be my first time.

14. Nick tries to ___ every day.
      He gets off work early so he can ___.
      He says that ___ holds his life together.
      But I ___ once, and it was nothing special.

15. In the 80s everyone used to ___.
      If you didn't ___, you weren't living.
      You could say ___ was the national pastime.
      Of course I ___ along with everyone else.


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Last modified May 5, 2003