[hw=“post-.+” & pos=“AJ.”] (3895 matches in the BNC, 118 matches in the BNC-BABY)

[hw=“in.+ible”] (250 matches in the BNC-BABY)

Note that these are not the only possible solutions.

1.

[word=“snowed|snowing” %c] (11 matches in the BNC-BABY)

[word=“snow(ed|ing)” %c] (11 matches in the BNC-BABY)

2.

[word=“s[nl]ow” %c] (343 matches in the BNC-BABY)

[word=“snow|slow” %c] (343 matches in the BNC-BABY)

For longer queries with optional empty slots in between, you can run the risk of matching punctuation in the empty slot. To avoid this, within s is appended at the end of the query to specify that the match must occur within a sentence.

Query for change: [hw=“change”][]{,2}[class=“SUBST”] within s (1170 matches in the BNC-BABY)

Frequency list for change:

54	mind  
22	time  
16	way  
15	policy  
15	subject  
13	attitude  
13	direction  
13	hand  
13	nappy  
12	agent  
12	condition

Query for alter: [hw=“alter”][]{,2}[class=“SUBST”] within s (78 matches in the BNC-BABY)

Frequency list for alter:

4	behaviour  
3	context  
2	child  
2	environment  
2	view  
1	arrival  
1	bath  
1	bunny  
1	cabinet  
1	chain  
1	chemistry  
1	christening  
1	clock  

Continue here: 6c. Working with Concordances