Any of the following questions could be used as part of your
assignment if you choose the corpora topic.
How is the word “because” used?
What meanings does it have?
How do the words "say" / "tell" / "ask"
/ "allow" differ in their grammatical usage? Which grammatical
constructions work with all of them, which with only some of them? Give
examples from corpora to substantiate your claims. How do the different
grammatical constructions relate to the differing meanings of the words
and of their individual usages?
The same for the words "gather" / "collect" / "accumulate"...
The same for the words "scatter" / "divide" / "distribute"
...
In what contexts does the perfect tense appear in English?
Is the "it cleft" construction ("It was on Tuesday that
the course was held.") used equally in all types/genres of text?
Does it occur more in some genres than others? Is it used by differing
age groups equally?
The same for "stranded prepositions" ... i.e., prepositions
that turn up at the end of their phrases...:
"Enjoying what he paid for"
"That's what I am talking about"
"At the end of the day she's got a very indifferent degree
which I can comfort myself with."
Consider the three constructions:
"the burning of Rome by the barbarians was a sad event"
"Rome´s burning by the barbarians was a sad event"