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