Multiwords and associated tags in BNC2

List of Multiwords and Associated Tags in BNC2

For an explanation of multiwords, please see the Introduction to the Manual and Guidelines to Wordclass Tagging.

Column 1 in the table lists the different types of multiword unit which appear in BNC2. The POS-tag for the multiword is given in column 2; a slash ( / ) separates alternative choices of POS-tag where relevant: for example, for à la carte, both AJ0 (adjective) and AV0 (adverb) are possible; eg 'they dined <w AV0>à la carte'; and 'on the <w AJ0>à la carte menu'. When these items do not function as multiwords, they are treated as individual words and given separate wordclass tags, as listed in column 3; a plus sign (+) links the consecutive tags used, and a slash ( / ) separates alternatives. Eg a bit in a bit of cheese would be tagged AT0 + NN1, ie <w AT0>a <w NN1>bit. Cf. he ran <w AV0>a bit. Column 4 adds other information relevant to a particular multiword, such as examples of use and differences in application from BNC version 1.

Please note also:

The list subsumes foreign expressions naturalised into English, such as crème de menthe and prima facie. These were listed in a separate section (9.10.3) of the Users' Reference Guide for Version 1 of the BNC. Here we give the expressions with accents included, although the same terms are liable to occur also without accents.

We have not applied any multiword tags to proper nouns.
The list encompasses misspellings, including omission of accents in foreign expressions.
Changes to the list since BNC version 1: (i) Items added since the tagging of BNC1 are marked 'New.' in column 4. These include pluralisations of items in the older list, further foreign expressions, and other items observed in the BNC and other corpora. (ii) Twelve items in the list for which one of the former multiword readings no longer applies are noted in column 4 with a number, linked to a summary at the end of the table. (iii) Ten multiwords that no longer apply are listed at the end of the table. These changes were required either because of difficulties in automatic disambiguation, or for the sake of consistency with other sections of the tagging guidelines.

(1) Multiword type	(2) Multiword tag, eg <w AV0>a bit	(3) Alternative tags when not a multiword, eg <w AT0>a <w NN1>bit	(4) Notes
number + 's	CRD	CRD + VBZ/VHZ/POS	Eg <w CRD>6's and <MC2>7's
letter + 's	ZZ0	ZZ0 + VBZ/VHZ/POS	Eg <w ZZ0>A's and <ZZ2>B's
a bit	AV0	AT0 + NN1	¹
a capella	AJ0 / AV0
a fortiori	AV0 / AJ0
a good deal	AV0	AT0 + AJ0 + NN1	¹
a great deal	AV0	AT0 + AJ0 + NN1	¹
a heck of a lot	AV0	AT0 + NN1 + PRF + AT0 + NN1	¹
a hell of a lot	AV0	AT0 + NN1 + PRF + AT0 + NN1	¹
à la	PRP
à la carte	AJ0 / AV0
à la mode	AJ0 / AV0
à la provençale	AJ0
a little	AV0	AT0 + AJ0/DT0	²
a little bit	AV0	AT0 + AJ0 + NN1	¹
a lot	AV0	AT0 + NN1	¹
a posteriori	AV0 / AJ0
a priori	AV0 / AJ0
a propos	PRP / AV0
ab initio	AV0 / AJ0
according as	CJS
according to	PRP
ad astra	AV0 / AJ0
ad hoc	AV0 / AJ0
ad hominem	AV0 / AJ0
ad infinitum	AV0
ad lib	AJ0 / AV0 / NN1		Verb reading (VVB/VVI) missing
ad libs	NN2		New; but verb reading VVZ missing
ad nauseam	AV0 / AJ0
ad valorem	AJ0		New.
adjacent to	PRP
affaire d'honneur	NN1
affaire de coeur	NN1
affaire du coeur	NN1		New. Allows for spelling variation.
affaires d'honneur	NN2		New.
affaires de coeur	NN2		New.
agent provocateur	NN1
agents provocateurs	NN2		New.
agnus dei	NN1
ahead of	PRP
aide de camp	NN1
aide memoire	NN1
aides de camp	NN2		New.
al dente	AJ0 / AV0
al fresco	AV0 / AJ0
all at once	AV0		New.
all but	AV0	DT0/AV0 + CJC/PRP
all of a sudden	AV0
all right	AV0 / AJ0		Adjective-Adverb disambiguation weak.
all the same	AV0	DT0 + AT0 + DT0
alla breve	AV0 / AJ0 / NN0
alma mater	NN1
alma maters	NN2		New.
along with	PRP	AVP + PRP
alter ego	NN1
alter egos	NN2		New.
an awful lot	AV0	AT0 + AJ0 + NN1	¹
an' all	AV0
ancien régime	NN1
and so forth	AV0
and so on	AV0
anno dom	AV0		New.
anno domini	AV0 / NN1
annus horribilis	NN1
annus mirabilis	NN1
ante meridiem	AV0
any longer	AV0
anything but	AV0	PNI + CJC/CJS/PRP
apart from	PRP	AV0 + PRP
aqua vitae	NN1
art deco	NN1		New.
art nouveau	NN1
as against	PRP
as between	PRP
as for	PRP	CJS + PRP
as from	PRP	CJS + PRP
as if	CJS
as it were	AV0
as long as	CJS	AV0 + AJ0/AV0 + CJS
as of	PRP	CJS + PRF
as opposed to	PRP
as regards	PRP
as soon as	CJS	AV0 + AV0 + CJS
as though	CJS
as to	PRP	CJS + PRP/TO0
as usual	AV0	CJS + AJ0
as well as	PRP	AV0 + AV0 + CJS	³
as yet	AV0
aside from	PRP
asti spumante	NN1
at all	AV0	PRP + DT0
at best	AV0
at first	AV0	PRP + ORD
at large	AV0	PRP + AJ0
at last	AV0	PRP + ORD
at least	AV0
at length	AV0
at long last	AV0		New.
at long length	AV0
at most	AV0	PRP + DT0
at once	AV0
at present	AV0	PRP + AJ0
at random	AV0	PRP + AJ0
at worst	AV0
au contraire	AV0
au fait	AJ0
au naturel	AV0 / AJ0		New.
au pair	NN1
au pairs	NN2		New.
au revoir	ITJ
auf Wiedersehen	ITJ
aurora australis	NN1
aurora borealis	NN1
avant garde	NN1 / AJ0
away from	PRP	AV0 + PRP
bar mitzvah	NN1 / AJ0
bar mitzvahs	NN2		New.
basso continuo	NN0		New.
basso profundo	NN1
beau monde	NN1
beaujolais nouveau	NN1		New.
because of	PRP
belles lettres	NN2
bête noir	NN1		New. Allows for misspelling.
bête noire	NN1
bêtes noires	NN2		New.
billet doux	NN1
billets doux	NN2		New.
bon appetit	ITJ
bon jour	ITJ		New.
bon mot	NN1
bon soir	ITJ		New.
bon vivant	NN1
bon viveur	NN1
bon voyage	ITJ
bona fide	AJ0
bona fides	NN2		Should be NN1, but see file A4U
bons mots	NN2
bons vivants	NN2		New.
bons viveurs	NN2		New.
bouquet garni	NN1
brand new	AJ0
bric à brac	NN1
but for	PRP	CJC + PRP
by and by	AV0
by and large	AV0
by far	AV0
by far and away	AV0
by means of	PRP
by no means	AV0
by now	AV0
by reason of	PRP
by the by	AV0
by way of	PRP
café au lait	NN1
camera obscura	NN1
camera obscuras	NN2
carte blanche	NN1
casus belli	NN1
casus omissus	NN1
cause célèbre	NN1
causes célèbres	NN2
caveat emptor	ITJ		(NN1 perhaps more appropriate)
ceteris paribus	AV0
chaise longue	NN1
chaise longues	NN2
chaises longues	NN2
chargé d'affaires	NN1
chargés d'affaires	NN2
check outs	NN2
chef d'oeuvre	NN1
chez moi	AV0
chez nous	AV0
chez vous	AV0
chilli con carne	NN1		Misspelt as 'chile' in BNC1 list(!)
chop suey	NN1
chow mein	NN1
clamp down	NN1	VVB/VVI + AVP
close to	AV0	AJ0/AV0 + PRP/TO0	Multiword AV0 when followed by quantifying expression
compos mentis	AJ0
con brio	AJ0 / AV0
con fuoco	AJ0 / AV0
con moto	AJ0 / AV0
considering that	CJS	VVG + CJT/DT0
contrary to	PRP
cordon bleu	NN1
cordon sanitaire	NN1
corps de ballet	NN1
corpus delicti	NN1
corpus juris	NN1
coup d'état	NN1
coup de foudre	NN1
coup de grâce	NN1
coup de théâtre	NN1
coups d'état	NN2
coups de grâce	NN2
coups de théâtre	NN2
crème brulée	NN1
crème de la crème	NN1
crème de menthe	NN1
crème fraîche	NN1
cri de coeur	NN1
crime passionel	NN1
crimes passionels	NN2
cris de coeur	NN2
croix de guerre	NN0
cul de sac	NN1
curriculum vitae	NN1
danse macabre	NN1
danse ronde	NN1
de facto	AV0 / AJ0
de jure	AV0 / AJ0
de luxe	AJ0
de profundis	AV0
de rigeur	AJ0		Misspelling of next.
de rigueur	AJ0
de trop	AJ0
decree nisi	NN1
dei gratia	AV0
déjà vu	NN1
delirium tremens	NN1
demi monde	NN1
depending on	PRP
deus ex machina	NN1
double entendre	NN1
double entendres	NN2
doubles entendres	NN2
dramatis personae	NN2
due to	PRP	AJ0 + TO0/PRP
each other	PNX
eau de cologne	NN1
eminence grise	NN1
en bloc	AV0
en famille	AV0
en masse	AV0
en passant	AV0
en route	AV0
en suite	AJ0
enfant terrible	NN1
enfants terribles	NN2
entente cordiale	NN1
esprit de corps	NN1
et al	AV0		Occurs with or without full-stop.
et cetera	AV0
even if	CJS
even so	AV0	AV0 + AV0
even though	CJS
even when	CJS
ever so	AV0
every so often	AV0
ex ante	AJ0 / AV0
ex army	AJ0
ex cathedra	AV0 / AJ0
ex gratia	AV0 / AJ0
ex hypothesi	AV0
ex libris	AV0
ex officio	AV0 / AJ0
ex parte	AV0 / AJ0
ex post	AJ0 / AV0
ex post facto	AV0
ex silentio	AJ0
ex tempore	AV0 / AJ0
ex turpi causa	NN1
ex vitro	AJ0 / AV0
ex vivo	AJ0 / AV0
except for	PRP
except that	CJS
excepting for	PRP
fair do's	fair=AJ0 do's=NN2
fait accompli	NN1
far from	AV0	AJ0/AV0 + PRP
far off	AJ0	AJ0/AV0 + PRP/AVP
faute de mieux	AV0
faux ami	NN1
faux amis	NN2
faux pas	NN0
fed up	AJ0
femme fatale	NN1
femmes fatales	NN2
film noir	NN1
films noirs	NN2
fin de siècle	NN1
fines herbes	NN2
foie gras	NN1
follow up	NN1	VVB/VVI + AVP/PRP
for certain	AV0	PRP + AJ0
for ever	AV0
for example	AV0
for fear of	PRP
for good	AV0	PRP + AJ0/NN1
for instance	AV0
for keeps	AV0
for long	AV0	PRP + AJ0/AV0
for once	AV0
for sure	AV0
for the most part	AV0
for the time being	AV0
force majeure	NN1
from now on	AV0
from time to time	AV0
fromage frais	NN1
gee whizz	ITJ
genius loci	NN1
getting on for	AV0	VVG + AVP + PRP	Multiword AV0 when followed by quantifying expression
given that	CJS	VVN + CJT/DT0
grand mal	NN1
grand prix	NN1
grande dame	NN1
grands prix	NN2
grown up	NN1	VVN + AVP
grown ups	NN2
guardian ad litem	NN1
gung ho	AJ0 / AV0
habeas corpus	NN1
half way	AV0
hara kiri	NN1
hard up	AJ0
hasta la vista	ITJ
hasta luego	ITJ
haute couture	NN1
haute cuisine	NN1
have nots	NN2
heave ho	NN1		Eg the old "heave ho"
hey presto	ITJ
higgledy piggledy	AJ0		New.
hocus pocus	NN1		New.
hoi polloi	NN0
hoity toity	AJ0		New.
homo sapiens	NN1
hooray henry	NN1		New.
hooray henrys	NN2		New.
hors d'oeuvre	NN1
hors d'oeuvres	NN2
hors de combat	AJ0
hotch potch	NN1		New.
hush hush	AJ0		New.
hysteron proteron	NN1
idée fixe	NN1
ignis fatuus	NN1
in absentia	AV0
in accord with	PRP
in accordance with	PRP
in addition	AV0
in addition to	PRP
in aid of	PRP
in answer to	PRP
in as much as	CJS
in association with	PRP
in back of	PRP
in between	PRP / AV0
in brief	AV0	PRP + AJ0
in camera	AV0
in case	CJS / AV0	PRP + NN1
in case of	PRP
in charge of	PRP
in co-operation with	PRP		New.
in common	AV0	PRP + AJ0
in common with	PRP
in comparison with	PRP
in conjunction with	PRP
in connection with	PRP
in consultation with	PRP
in contact with	PRP
in cooperation with	PRP
in course with	PRP
in defence of	PRP
in defiance of	PRP
in excess of	PRP
in extremis	AV0
in face of	PRP
in favor of	PRP
in favour of	PRP
in flagrante delicto	AV0 / AJ0
in front of	PRP
in full	AV0	PRP + AJ0
in general	AV0	PRP + AJ0/NP0
in keeping with	PRP
in lieu of	PRP
in light of	PRP
in line with	PRP
in loco parentis	AV0 / AJ0
in medias res	AV0
in memoriam	AV0
in need of	PRP
in order	AV0 when followed by "for" or "to" or "that"	PRP + NN1
in part	AV0	PRP + NN1
in particular	AV0	PRP + AJ0
in perpetuum	AV0
in place of	PRP
in possession of	PRP
in private	AV0	PRP + AJ0
in proportion to	PRP
in propria persona	AV0
in public	AV0	PRP + AJ0
in pursuit of	PRP
in quest of	PRP
in receipt of	PRP
in regard to	PRP
in relation to	PRP
in reply to	PRP
in respect of	PRP
in response to	PRP
in return for	PRP
in search of	PRP
in short	AV0	PRP + AJ0
in situ	AV0
in so far as	CJS
in spite of	PRP
in support of	PRP
in terms of	PRP
in that	CJS	PRP/AVP + DT0/CJT
in the light of	PRP	PRP + AT0 + NN1 + PRF
in the main	AV0	PRP + AT0 + NN1
in the order of	AV0	PRP + AT0 + NN1 + PRF	AV0 when followed by quantifying expression
in toto	AV0 / AJ0
in touch with	PRP
in vain	AV0	PRP + AJ0
in view of	PRP
in vino veritas	AV0
in vitro	AJ0 / AV0
in vivo	AJ0 / AV0
inasmuch as	CJS
infra dig	AJ0
infra dignitatem	AJ0
inside out	AV0 / AJ0
insofar as	CJS
insomuch as	CJS
instead of	PRP		⁴
inter alia	AV0
into line with	PRP
ipso facto	AV0
irrespective of	PRP
je ne sais quoi	NN1
joie de vivre	NN1
just about	AV0	AV0 + AVP	Multiword AV0 when followed by quantifying expression
kind of	AV0	NN1 + PRF
know how	NN1	VVB/VVI + AVQ
kung fu	NN1
la dolce vita	NN1
laissez faire	NN1
lasagne verde	NN1
le mot juste	NN1
less than	AV0	DT0/AV0 + CJS	Multiword AV0 when followed by quantifying expression
let 's	VM0
let alone	PRP	VVB/VVD/VVN + AV0
lingua franca	NN0		An error: should be NN1
lo and behold	ITJ
loc cit	AV0
locum tenens	NN1
locus classicus	NN1
long-term wise	AV0
magna carta	NN1
magna cum laude	AJ0 / AV0
magnum opus	NN1
maître d	NN1
maître d'	NN1
maître d'hôtel	NN1
mal de mer	NN1
mardi gras	NN1
matter of fact	NN1 / AJ0
mea culpa	NN1
Médecins sans Frontières	NN0		Misspelling of next
Médicins sans Frontières	NN0
ménage a trois	NN1
mezzo soprano	NN1
modus operandi	NN1
modus vivendi	NN1
more than	AV0	DT0/AV0/AV0 + CJS	Multiword AV0 when followed by quantifying expression
mot juste	NN1
mumbo jumbo	NN1		New.
mutatis mutandis	AV0
near to	PRP	AV0 + TO0	Disambiguation not reliable.
nearer to	PRP	AV0/AJC + TO0/PRP	Disambiguation not reliable.
nearest to	PRP	AV0 + TO0	Disambiguation not reliable.
nem con	AV0
next to	PRP	ORD + TO0
nigh on	AV0
nitty gritty	NN1
no doubt	AV0	AT0 + NN1
no longer	AV0
no matter how	AVQ
no matter what	DTQ
no matter when	AVQ
no matter where	AVQ
no matter which	DTQ
no matter who	PNQ
no matter whom	PNQ
no matter whose	DTQ
no one	PNI	AT0 + CRD
noblesse oblige	NN1
nom de guerre	NN1
nom de plume	NN1
noms de guerre	NN2
noms de plume	NN2
non compos mentis	AJ0
non sequitur	NN1
non sequiturs	NN2
none other	PNI
none the	AV0	PNI + AT0	Multiword AV0 when followed by AJC
none the less	AV0
not withstanding	AV0
nouveau rich	NN1		Allows for misspelling.
nouveau riche	NN1
nouveaux riches	NN2
nouvelle cuisine	NN1
now that	CJS	AV0 + DT0/CJT
o' course	AV0
obiter dictum	NN1
objet d'art	NN1
objets d'art	NN2
of course	AV0	PRF + NN1
off guard	AV0
off of	PRP
oft times	AV0
okey doke	ITJ
okey dokey	ITJ
old fashioned	AJ0
on account of	PRP
on behalf of	PRP
on board	PRP / AV0
on the part of	PRP
on to	PRP	AVP + PRP/TO0
on top of	PRP
once again	AV0
once and for all	AV0
once more	AV0
one 's	CRD	PNI/CRD + POS/VBZ/VHZ
one another	PNX
op cit	AV0
other than	PRP
out front	AV0
out of	PRP	AVP + PRF
out of date	AJ0
out of line with	PRP
out of touch with	PRP
outside of	PRP
over here	AV0
over there	AV0
owing to	PRP
papier mâché	NN1
par excellence	AJ0
pari passu	AV0
pas de deux	NN0
pâté de foie gras	NN1
pax americana	NN1
pax britannica	NN1
pax romana	NN1
per annum	AV0
per capita	AV0 / AJ0
per cent	NN0
per diem	AV0 / AJ0 / NN1
per se	AV0
persona non grata	NN1
personae non gratae	NN2
pertaining to	PRP
petit bourgeois	NN1
petit four	NN1
petit mal	NN1
petite bougeoisie	NN1
petits bourgeois	NN2
pièce de résistance	NN1
pied à terre	NN1
pina colada	NN1
pina coladas	NN2
pince nez	NN0
poco a poco	AV0
point blank	AV0 / AJ0
porte cochère	NN1
post hoc	AV0 / AJ0
post meridiem	AV0
post mortem	NN1 / AJ0
post mortems	NN2
poste restante	NN1 / AV0
pot pourri	NN1
prima donna	NN1
prima donnas	NN2
prima facie	AJ0 / AV0
primus inter pares	NN1
prior to	PRP
pro forma	NN1
pro rata	AV0 / AJ0
pro tem	AV0
provided that	CJS	VVD/VVN + CJT/DT0
providing that	CJS	VVG + DT0
pursuant to	PRP
qui vive	NN1
quid pro quo	NN1
raison d'être	NN1
raisons d'être	NN2
rather than	PRP		⁴
reductio ad absurdum	NN1
relative to	PRP
rigor mortis	NN1
roman à clef	NN1
sang froid	NN1
save for	PRP	VVB/VVI/NN1 + PRP
save that	CJS	VVB/VVI + DT0/CJT
savoir faire	NN1
savoir vivre	NN1
seeing as	CJS
seeing that	CJS	VVG + CJT/DT0
semper fidelis	AJ0
shin bet	NN1
shish kebab	NN1
shish kebabs	NN2
sine die	AV0
sine qua non	NN1
sinn fein	NN1
so 's	AV0 when followed by TO0
so as	AV0 when followed by TO0
so called	AJ0
so long as	CJS	AV0 + AJ0/AV0 + CJS
so much as	AV0	AV0 + DT0/AV0 + CJS
so that	CJS	AV0/CJS + DT0/CJT
some one	PNI
something like	AV0	PNI + PRP
son et lumière	NN1
sort of	AV0	NN1 + PRF
sotto voce	AV0 / AJ0
spaghetti bolognese	NN1
spina bifida	NN1
spot on	AV0 / AJ0	NN1 + PRP
sq feet/metres/etc	NN2
sq ft/m/cm/etc.	NN0
status quo	NN1
straight away	AV0
straight forward	AJ0	AV0 + AV0
sub judice	AV0 / AJ0
sub poena	NN1
sub rosa	AV0 / AJ0
subject to	PRP
subsequent to	PRP
such as	PRP
such that	CJS	DT0 + CJT
sui generis	AJ0
sui juris	AJ0
summa cum laude	AJ0 / AV0
super duper	AJ0
supposing that	CJS	VVG + CJT/DT0
table d'hôte	NN1
tabula rasa	NN1
tai chi	NN1
tai kwan do	NN1
teeny weeny	AJ0		New.
terra firma	NN1
terra incognita	NN1
thanks to	PRP	NN2 + PRP
that is	AV0	DT0/CJT + VBZ
that is to say	AV0
through thick and thin	AV0
time and again	AV0
time and again	AV0
tittle tattle	NN1
to and fro	AV0
topsy turvy	AJ0		New.
tour de force	NN1
tours de force	NN2
tout court	AJ0
tout de suite	AV0
tutti frutti	NN1		New.
ultra vires	AJ0 / AV0
under way	AV0
up front	AJ0 / AV0
up to	PRP / AV0	AVP + PRP/TO0	AV0 when followed by quantifying expression
up to date	AJ0
up to the minute	AJ0
up until	PRP	AVP + PRP/CJS
upside down	AV0 / AJ0
upward of	AV0
upwards of	AV0
vice versa	AV0
vin de table	NN1
vin ordinaire	NN1
vis à vis	PRP
viva voce	NN1 / AJ0 / AV0
void ab initio	AV0
vol au vent	NN1
vols au vent	NN2
volte face	NN1
vox pop	NN1
vox pops	NN2
vox populi	NN1
well being	NN1
well off	AJ0	AV0 + PRP
whether or not	CJS
wiener schnitzel	NN1
wiener schnitzels	NN2
with a view to	PRP
with reference to	PRP
with regard to	PRP
with relation to	PRP
with respect to	PRP

Multiwords used in BNC1 but omitted from BNC2

Items where one multiword reading has been omitted, but others still apply. 12 items from the table:
1. The former multiword tag PNI used in BNC1 has been replaced by the tags in col.3:

a bit, a good deal, a great deal, a heck of a lot, a hell of a lot, a little bit, a lot, an awful lot

2. The former multiword tag DT0 has been replaced by the tags in col.3.

a little

3. The former multiword tag CJC has been replaced by the multiword tag in col.2.

as well as

4. The former multiword tags CJC/CJS have been replaced by the multiword tag in col.2.

instead of, rather than

Multiwords used in BNC version 1 but omitted from version 2 (ie. treated as combinations of ordinary words). The former multiword tags are given in parentheses, followed by the available tags used in BNC2.

a few	(DT0)	AT0 DT0
a good few	(DT0)	AT0 AJ0 DT0
a good many	(DT0)	AT0 AJ0 DT0
a great many	(DT0)	AT0 AJ0 DT0
as a matter of fact	(AV0)	PRP + AT0 + NN1 + PRF + NN1
as a whole	(AV0)	PRP + AT0 + NN1/AJ0
as far as	(CJS)	AV0 + AV0/AJ0 + CJS
as good as	(CJS)	AV0 + AJ0/AV0 + CJS
but that	(CJS)	CJC + DT0/CJT/AV0
so far as	(CJS)	AV0 + AV0/AJ0 + CJS

Example: as far as: formerly <w CJS>As far as we know. Now: <w AV0>As <w AV0>far <w CJS>as we know.

Date: 17 March 2000