1.

INTRODUCTION
The aim of the present thesis is to study the differences in meaning between three
verbs,
to repair, to mend and to fix. These words are usually listed in dictionaries as being
synonymous,
although they are sometimes semantically different. These semantic relationships will be
studied in
this thesis, with the help of both printed and online dictionaries and British and American
corpora.
The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part will offer a basic theoretical
background for the features that will be dealt with in the second part. The second part will
comprise of the analysis of the three verbs in monolingual dictionaries, dictionaries of
synonyms
and thesauruses and in the British and American corpora.
Section 2.1 deals with meaning, its definition and problems with defining the meaning
of
words in general. Several types of meaning that were proposed by different authors are also
listed.
The features of sense and reference are also covered in this section.
Section 2.2 presents synonymy as one of the sense relations. The definition of
synonymy
and the problem of true synonymy are dealt with at the beginning of this section. Cognitive
synonymy, being the topic of this thesis, is also dealt with here.
Section 2.3 describes other sense relations in addition to synonymy, namely, it is
antonymy, hyponymy, meronymy, homonymy and polysemy, plesionymy, member-collection
and portion-mass
relations, feature-whole relation and others. Several different authors are cited to cover all the
possible ways in which words can be related semantically.
Section 2.4 offers basic facts about the British National Corpus and the Corpus of
Contemporary American English that will be used for the analysis of the three verbs in the
second
part of this thesis. These corpora are compared here as regards the size, range of years
covered in
them and registers they contain.
Section 2.5 deals with verb as a part of speech. Verb is defined here and several types
of verbs are proposed by different authors listed. The tense and aspect are also dealt with
here.
Section 2.6 gives a definition of collocations and their restrictions. Collocations are
also compared to idioms.
The practical part is also divided into sections:

Section 3.1 is introductory, offering an overall summary of the research, its limitations
and the verbs that will be researched in dictionaries and corpora.
Section 3.2 deals with dictionary definitions of the verbs fix, mend and repair. Both
English and American dictionaries are used for the base of research.
Section 3.3 offers definitions of the three verbs as found in several dictionaries of
synonyms and thesauruses. Both shared meanings and differences are summed up.
Section 3.4 presents etymologies of the three verbs and their comparison.
Section 3.5 represents the analysis of the verbs chosen for this thesis. In order to find
out any slight diversity in practical use of these verbs, both English (The British National
Corpus) and American (The Corpus of Contemporary American English) corpora were used
for the
research. The words collocating with the verbs are divided into categories, in order to find out
whether there are any semantic differences between them and whether they can be used
interchangeably in any context, or whether their use is limited only to some contexts. English
and
American English are compared with the help of the corpora.
The Conclusion will sum up the findings from the Practical part, with the use of
examples
from the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English.
2. THEORETICAL PART
2.1 Meaning
2.1.1 Definition of Meaning
Some of the theories of meaning will be mentioned in this section. In a semantic theory
the meaning is very important, since semantics deals with the meaning of words and
sentences.
However, it is not easy to define the term meaning. As Leech (1974) remarks, the word
meaning
and its corresponding verb to mean are among the most eminently discussable terms in the
English
language [...] (1). Bloomfield (1933: 139) is also concerned with the problem of defining
meaning:
In order to give a scientifically accurate definition of meaning for every form of a language,
we
should have to have a scientifically accurate knowledge of everything in the speakers
world. In
this sense our knowledge is always very limited, since we cannot possibly comprehend
everything
what the people we speak with know. Bloomfield continues that we can define the meaning
of a
speech-form accurately when this meaning has to do with some matter of which we possesses

scientific knowledge. Martin (1985: 58) makes similar conclusions in defining meaning to
those of
Bloomfield: Knowing what someone means is not knowing what speakers have in mind
when they speak
not knowing what associations they make between words and private ideas. Knowing what
someone means
is having a good theory about a speakers public language behaviour. Fromkin (1993: 165)
writes
about semantic defining properties words have unique characteristics which determine
their
being. Using Fromkins example, horseness is included in the meaning of the word
horse. These
semantic properties are also present in some verbs. On page 166 Fromkin concludes that the
meaning
of a word, then, is specified in part by a set of semantic properties.
It is difficult to define meaning because there are many senses to this word. Ogden and
Richards
(1946:186) provide many different definitions of meaning, divided into three groups, A, B
and C.
For the research of the meaning of words, the Groups B and C are important. The Group B
works with
the meaning of a word in dictionary and its connotations the other words annexed to a
word in
the dictionary, the connotation of a word, an essence, [...], the Group C works more with
relations of the word that which is actually related to a sign by a chosen relation, the
mnemic
effects of a stimulus, some other occurrence to which the mnemic effects of any occurrence
are
appropriate [...]. In a similar way to Ogden and Richards, Alston (1964: 10-11) enumerates
different definitions of the term meaning. Then he provides three types of theories of
meaning:
referential, ideational and behavioural: the referential theory identifies the meaning of an
expression with that to which it refers or with the referential connection; the ideational theory
with the ideas with which it is associated and the behavioural theory with the stimuli that
evoke
its utterance and/or the responses that it in turn evokes.
As Alston (1964: 34) notes, when someone says something, they do three actions:
1) Utter a certain sentence (Would you please open the door?)
2) Bring about one or more results of this utterance (get the hearer to open the door, irritate
the hearer, distract someone who is reading)
3) Do something that falls between 1) and 2)
Alston borrows terminology from Austin[1] to call these 1) locutionary act, 2) perlocutionary
act

and 3) illocutionary act. Perlocutionary acts essentially involve the production of some
effect,
whereas an illocutionary act requires a locutionary act as a base (Alston 1964: 36)
Clearly, the word meaning can have many definitions in its broad sense. This thesis will work
only
with meaning in connection with meaning of a word or meaning of a sentence.
2.1.2 Types of Meaning
Kempson (1977:12) sums up the three main ways of explanations of meaning: the
signification of
words, the interpretation of sentences, or what a speaker is intending to convey in acts of
communication. From this we can observe three kinds of meaning that of a word, that of a
sentence and the meaning of a whole conversation. Bloomfield (1933: 151) differentiates
between
narrowed and widened meanings: narrowed meanings are hard to define, because, after all,
every
occurrence of a form is prompted by some one practical situation which need not contain all
the
possibilities of meaning. He illustrates the narrowed meaning on a noun bulb for
gardeners it
is an onion-shaped part of a plant (daffodil bulb), for electricians it is a light bulb. On the
other hand, widened meanings are less common. In general, a cat is the domestic animal, but
now and
then we use the word to include lions, tigers.
Leech (1974) describes seven types of meaning: conceptual, connotative, social, affective,
reflected, collocative and thematic meaning. This thesis will work with the conceptual
meaning,
also known as denotative, cognitive, basic meaning or sense or semantic nucleus, which has
a
complex and sophisticated organization of a kind which may be compared with, and crossrelated to,
similar organization on the syntactic and phonological levels of language (Leech 1974: 11).
Hladk and Rika (2001: 18-25) differentiate six kinds of meaning: conceptual,
connotative,
stylistic (which is in fact the same as Leechs social meaning), reflected, affective and
thematic.
They define the conceptual meaning (in their terms a semantic nucleus) as the most abstract
semantic minimum of a naming unit. It is relatively stable and relatively autonomous; it is a
finite set of discrete features of meaning. Mathesius (1975: 18) also works with the term
semantic
nucleus it makes a part of meaning of a naming unit along with the associations attached
to the
word and what may be called emotional colouring. The semantic nucleus makes a part of
the basic
meaning of a word.

Conceptual or cognitive meaning of the verbs fix, mend and repair will be analysed in the
second
part of the thesis. Definitions of these verbs, as found in dictionaries, will be compared.
2.1.3 Sense and Reference
When describing objects and features around us we also use terms reference or denotation.
These
make different aspects of meaning. Palmer (1981: 29) defines reference as an aspect of
meaning
which deals with the relationship between the linguistic elements, words, sentences, etc.,
and the
non-linguistic world of experience. Sense, on the other hand, is defined as relating to the
complex system of relationships that hold between the linguistic elements themselves (mostly
the
words); it is concerned only with intralinguistic relations. This definition can be simplified,
using the words of Hurford and Heasley (1983: 25): In talking of reference we deal with the
relationships between language and the world; in talking of sense, we deal with relationships
inside the language.
Ogden and Richards (1946: 11) propose the following triangle of relationship between a
thought or
reference, a symbol and a referent:

They state that there is a causal relation between a thought and a symbol. Thus a symbol
symbolises a thought or reference. The relation between a thought and referent can be
either
direct or indirect. A thought refers to a referent. The dashed line in the triangle above
between
symbol and referent represents non-existent direct relation. Symbol and Referent, that is to
say,
are not connected directly [...] but only indirectly round the two sides of the triangle (Ogden
and Richards 1946: 11).

2.2 Synonymy
Synonymy is closely connected with meaning; two words are synonymous, if they share the
same
meaning. It is one of the sense relations, along with homonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, and
other
relations. Synonymy, or as Radford et al. (1999:198) terms entailment of meaning is the
main

topic of this thesis. It is important here to define it and delimitate problems of true or
absolute synonymy.
2.2.1 Definition of Synonymy
Synonymy is defined in various ways by different authors. Jackson (1988:65) states that two
words
are synonyms if they can be used interchangeably in all sentence contexts. But synonyms
can
slightly differ in meaning in various contexts. Peprnk in tekauer (2000: 153) defines
synonyms as
words or phrases with the same or nearly the same meaning. Another definition is provided
Bolinger and Sears (1981: 123): synonyms are close enough to allow the speaker a choice
between
them in a significant number of contexts. The measure of synonymy is replaceability. They
add that
two terms are not synonymous unless one can be used instead of the other. Thus, in their
view,
two synonymous words should be interchangeable in any context.
2.2.2 True versus Near Synonymy
In anomalists view there is a presupposition in languages that one form should have one
meaning,
and when, during the evolution of language, there appears a new word for the same object,
the older
word should disappear. According to Lyons (1968: 405) the ideal [of one form one
meaning] is
probably not realized by any natural language. There surely exist words that have one form
with
different meanings (homonymy, e.g. bank) and one meaning shared by different words
(synonymy, e.g.
big/large).
As perfect or true synonyms are rare or do not exist at all, Taylor (2002: 263) defines near
synonyms: words which are similar in meaning, which tend not to be contrastive, but which
are
distributed differently. Inkpen (2006: 223) also works with the term near-synonyms, words
that
are almost synonyms, but not quite. They are not fully intersubstitutable, but vary in their
shades
of denotation or connotation, or in the components of meaning they emphasize; they may also
vary in
grammatical or collocational constraints. The term near-synonyms can be also found in
Persson
(1989: 1) and Storjohan (2009: 2140). Lyons (1968: 446) terms these loose synonyms, as
opposed to
strict synonyms. Jackson (1988: 66) states two reasons against strict synonymy: the first is

economic, having two words which are totally synonymous, and even more so if there are
large
numbers of such pairs, is a luxury which language can afford to do without. It is not
economical
to have two different words for one object. The other argument against strict synonymy by
Jackson
is called the historical counterpart. Either a differentiation of meaning takes place and one
of
the words begins to be used in contexts from which the other is excluded, perhaps through
semantic
specialisation or one of the words will fall out of use and become obsolete, leaving the
other as
the sole lexeme with that meaning. As was stated above, if there appears a new word for an
object
for which there already exists a word, the older one will gradually disappear, or will refer
only
to some context. Collinson (cited in Harris 1973: 14) enumerates nine possible types of
synonyms:
1) One term is more general and inclusive in its applicability, another is more specific and
exclusive, e.g. refuse/reject
2) One term is more intense than another, e.g. immense/great
3) One term is more highly charged with emotion than another, e.g. louring/threatening
4) One term may imply moral approbation or censure where other is neutral, e.g.
eavesdrop/listen
5) One term is more professional than another, e.g. decease/death
6) One term belongs more to the written language, it is more literary than another, e.g.
passing/death
7) One term is more colloquial than another, e.g. turn down/refuse
8) One term is more local or dialectical than another, e.g. flesher/butcher
9) One term belongs to child-talk, is used by children or in talking to children, e.g.
daddy/father
It is obvious that not all synonyms would go under these categories, e.g. fix/mend/repair, the
verbs researched in the practical part of this thesis, would not match any of the above-cited
criteria, except for 7) or 8) in some cases. A similar list of different kinds of synonyms or
reasons for the existence of synonyms is also provided by Jackson (1988: 68-73). He lists
these
kinds/reasons: dialectical, formal, technical, connotations and euphemisms.
Warren[2] (cited in Persson 1989: 1) differentiates between synonyms and variants.
The

term synonym can be used about lexemes, if they have similar meanings and if they are
interchangeable without affecting meaning in some context or contexts. On the other hand,
the term
variant is used about lexemes which only meet the criteria of the similar meanings. Variants
are
divided by Warren into three types:
-

dialectical: sweets/candy

stylistic: decease/pop off

connotative: lady/woman

Persson (1989: 1) adds, that variants are not regarded as intersubstituable, because they
belong
to different dialects or registers, or express different attitudes or other connotative shades of
meaning.
Another distinction of synonyms is made by Lyons (cited in Partington 1998: 30).
There is
either complete synonymy, or absolute synonymy. Items are said to be completely
synonymous (in
certain range of contexts) if and only if they have the same descriptive, expressive and social
meaning (in the range of contexts in question). On the other hand, absolutely synonymous
are those
items if and only of they have the same distribution and are completely synonymous in all
their
meanings and in all their contexts of occurrence.
2.2.3 Cognitive Synonymy
In the second part of this thesis the cognitive kind of synonymy will be analysed. It is defined
by
Radford et al. (1999: 198): Lexemes L[1] and L[2] are cognitive synonyms if and only if
sentential
context (S) of L[1] entails S(L[2]) and S(L[2]) entails S(L[1]). Partington (1998: 30) makes
this
definition clearer: Two utterances are cognitively synonymous, if they fulfil the same truth
conditions even though a part of the first utterance has been substituted by something else in
the
second. This definition expands that of Radford it permits the change of a part of utterance
while the meaning remains unchanged. The cognitive synonymy works with the cognitive
meaning which
was dealt with in section 2.1 above. Quine (1980: 20) illustrates the cognitive synonymy on
an
example of bachelor and unmarried man: to say that bachelor and unmarried man are
cognitively
synonymous is to say no more nor less than that the statement All and only bachelors are
unmarried

men. is analytic. Analytic statements are defined in Saeed (2009: 96) as those where the
truth
follows from the meaning relations within the sentence, regardless of any relationship with
the
world, as opposed to synthetic statements. On page 32 Quine writes that singular terms
may be
said to be cognitively synonymous when the statement of identity formed by putting =
between them
is analytic. Statements may be said simply to be cognitively synonymous when their
biconditional
(the result of joining them by if and only if) is analytic.
Lyons (1968: 449) notes that some of the factors which influence or determine our choice
between
cognitively synonymous words and expression have nothing to do with sense, reference or
anything
else that might reasonably be called meaning. He illustrates this on several examples from
every-day life:
Many people deliberately refrain from using the same word more than once in the same
utterance, if
they can avoid it. Others choose shorter word in preference to a longer word, a more
everyday
word rather than a learned word, an Anglo-Saxon word instead of a Latin, Greek or
Romance word.
2.3 Other sense relations
In order to differentiate synonymy from other sense relations, the sense relations (or
lexical/meaning relations) will be defined here. As it was mentioned above, the sense of the
word
is looked upon in relation to its intralinguistic existence, as opposed to reference. The sense
relations include synonymy, which was dealt with in the above section, antonymy, hyponymy,
hyperonymy, meronymy and others that will be dealt with below.
2.3.1 Antonymy
Antonymy is the opposite of synonymy. If two words are antonymous, they differ in
meaning
and form and make two different counterparts. These are for example hot/cold, sweet/sour or
quickly/slowly. Saeed (2009: 67) enumerates several types of antonymy:
simple antonyms relation between words such that the negative of one implies the
positive of the other: dead/alive
gradable antonyms relationship between opposites where the positive of one term
does
not necessarily imply the negative of the other: rich/poor

reverses relation is between terms describing movement where one term describes
movement in one direction and the other movement in the opposite direction: come/go
converses terms which describe a relation between two entities from alternative
viewpoints: own/belong to
taxonomic sisters words which are at the same level in a taxonomy:
red/orange/yellow...
2.3.2 Hyponymy
Another sense relation is hyponymy, or meaning inclusion. Hyponym is a word the
meaning
of which is included in another word, called hypernym, or superordinate. Leech (1974: 100)
defines
hyponymy as a relationship between two meanings if one componential formula contains all
the
features present in the other formula. For example: flute - instrument or cat animal. As
Radford
et al. (1999: 195) note, an important property of hyponymy is that it is a one-way relation.
Using the examples above, flute is a kind of instrument, but instrument is not a kind of flute.
2.3.3 Meronymy
Meronymy is another type of sense relations. It is a part-whole relation, for example
finger is a part of hand, hand is a part of arm. As Saeed (2009: 71) mentions, meronyms vary
for
example in how necessary the part is to the whole. Radford et al. (1999: 197) differentiate
meronymy from taxonomy: as we move up the structure (finger hand arm) we encounter
larger
entities, not more general categories.
2.3.4 Homonymy and Polysemy
Homonymy and polysemy are also regarded as sense relations. Klepousniotou (2008:
1534)
differentiates homonymous words from the polysemous as having unrelated and mutually
incompatible
meanings punch may refer to kind of fruit drink or may mean to hit something/someone
with a
closed fist. On the contrary, polysemous words are described as having related or
overlapping
senses lamb refer either to the animal or the kind of meat. But Palmer (1981: 228) raises a
question what related means? As he mentions, two meanings are historically related if they
can
be traced back to the same source, or if the one meaning can be derived from the other. On
the

other hand, two meanings are psychologically related if present-day users of the language
feel
intuitively that they are related, and therefore tend to assume that they are different uses of
the same word.
2.3.5 Plesionymy
Storjohan (2009: 2140) writes about another sense relation plesionymy. Plesionyms
are
defined by her as lexical items, or constructions that designate very similar concepts and at
the
same time exhibit slight meaning differences so that they cannot be considered identical in
meaning. These are rather referred to as near synonyms.
2.3.6 Member-collection and portion-mass relations
Saeed (2009: 71) introduces another two sense relations: member-collection and
portion-mass. The member-collection relationship is between the word for a unit and the
usual word
for a collection of the units. For example: ship fleet, bird flock.
The portion-mass relation is between a mass noun and the usual unit of measurement or
division: drop liquid, sheet paper.
2.3.7 Feature-whole relation
Peprnk in tekauer (2000:165) mentions feature-whole relation, which is close to
part-whole relation. These are for example growth adolescence or fitness-health.
2.3.8 Other word sets
Bolinger and Sears (1981: 128) offer a list of other word sets joined by meaning:
1) Converses: come/go, buy/sell
2) Characteristic object: eat food, read write
3) Cognate object: ask question, run race
4) Characteristic action: heart beat, fire burn
5) Cognate subject, action, object: employer employ employee, donor donate
donation
6) Characteristic quality: water wet, summer warm

7) Symptom and state: smile happiness, smoke fire

8) Co-hyponyms: matter solid/liquid/gas
2.4 British National Corpus and Corpus of Contemporary American English
Basic facts about two corpora which will be used for the analysis in the next part will
be dealt with in this section. The corpus of British English the British National Corpus
(BNC)
with American English Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) will be
compared here
The BNC is a corpus of 100 million words, comprising both of written and spoken
language.
The ratio between written and spoken English is 90:10. It is a monolingual corpus, as
Bournard
(2009) defines it, it deals with modern British English, not other languages used in Britain.
It
is also a synchronic corpus it covers British English of the late twentieth century
(Bournard,
2009). The BNC was collected between the 1970s and 1993. The BNC enables to search
through
different registers: spoken, fiction, magazine, newspaper, non-academic, academic and
miscellaneous.
COCA, on the other hand is much bigger it comprises of 410 million words with 20 million
words
added every year. COCA is younger than BNC; it started in 1990 and is being updated one to
two
times a year. Thus it contains more up-to-date language and many new words. To contrast it
with the
BNC, COCA enables to search only through spoken, fiction, magazine, newspaper and
academic
registers.
Both corpora enable to search the KWIC (key word in context) concordances. As
Sinclair
(1991: 33) writes, the word-form under examination appears in the centre of each line, with
extra
space on either side of it. The concordance is defined by Partington (1998: 9) as a list of
unconnected lines of text, which have been summoned by the concordance program from a
computer
corpus. Sinclair (1991:32) defines the concordance as a collection of the occurrences of a
word-form, each in its own textual environment. This way it is possible to see the word in
connection with other words, to see its collocations and objects it takes and to compare the
use of
different words and determine to what degree they are synonymous. A concordance,
according to
Sinclair (1991: 105) has many of the properties of a natural text, and it is reasonable for the
purposes of statistical analysis to treat each cited line as if it were a sentence, and so to

examine the vocabulary of the concordance.

Collocations and their restrictions can be researched in corpora of individual languages.
Sinclair (2008: 20) defines basic terms in the corpus research. A node is used to refer to an
item
whose collocations we are studying. To use the examples of the present thesis, a node is e.g.
the
verb fix. Sinclair then defines a span as the number of lexical items on each side of a node
that
we consider relevant to the node. Collocates of the verb fix are then found within this span.
While searching for a word in corpus, we actually search for a lemma. Many words
have
more grammatical forms (e.g. fix/fixes/fixed/fixing). Thus a corpus works with lemma, which
is the
basic form of a word and the results will contain all the possible forms of the word.
The research in corpora is a central interest of corpus linguistics. With the help of
corpora, linguists can observe the changes in a language, its use and patterns of meaning
which may
not be present in dictionaries.
2.5 Verbs
Verbs, as a part of speech, will be dealt with in this section. In the beginning, the
verbs will be classified. Then there will be enumerated and described different types of verbs.
2.5.1 Definition of verbs
Verbs are words or phrases denoting either an action or activity. Their basic properties
according to Huddleston (1984: 124) are inflection and functional potential: they have one
or
other of the inflectional properties past tense and present tense and they function as the
ultimate head of the clause. There are two basic tenses in which verbs can occur and six
complex
tenses using auxiliaries. All these tenses can be either active or passive.
Chalker (1984: 76) enumerated different categories which can be determined in verbs:
Firstly, it is time and tense, where time can be past, present or future. Tense is a grammatical
feature. Secondly, it is aspect, either perfective or progressive. Another category is voice.
This
can be either active or passive. Verbs can also be either dynamic or static, depending on
whether
they occur as a single action, are repeated several times, or are seen as in progress (Chalker
1984: 76). The last category is mood, which can be either subjunctive or indicative. Hladk
and
Rika (2001: 75) mention in addition a distinction between regular and irregular verbs.
Moreover,
Joos (1964: 14) writes about distinction between finite verbs and non-finite verbs. The finite

verbs are those that require subject and can take subjects from the list I, we, she, they, or else
a verb that is in all other respects similar but has it instead. The same distinction is also
found in Palmer (1974: 14), but contrary to Joos it refers to the form of verbs. For example
the
lexeme take can appear in forms take, takes, took, taking and taken. Take and takes in I take
coffee and He takes coffee are finite, whereas taken or taking in He has taken coffee and He
was
taking coffee are non-finite. Huddleston and Pullum (1985: 120) differentiate between telic
and
atelic verbs. The telic verbs have an inherent terminal point beyond which they cannot
continue.
The atelic verbs are not limited by any point in the future. Quirk et al. (2008: 53) write about
distinction between intransitive verbs, which are followed by no obligatory element and
occur in
subject-verb types of clauses, transitive verbs that are followed by an object and copular
verbs
which are followed by a subject, complement or an adverbial. Sinclair (1990: 138) explains
transitivity in relation to the clause as a whole, as opposed to those who deal with
transitivity
in terms of the way in which a verb selects object. Thus, verb clauses which have a direct
object are called transitive. In the transitive group of verbs Sinclair assigns reflexive and
delexical verbs. The reflexive verbs are used with reflexive pronouns: She killed herself. The
delexical verbs are used with nouns as their object to indicate simply that someone performs
an
action, not that someone affects or creates something: We had dinner. On the other hand,
intransitive verb clauses do not have a direct object. Ergative verbs belong to this category.
The
ergative verbs are those which can have the same thing as their object, when transitive, or
their
subject, when intransitive: She opened the door. x The door opened. (Sinclair 1990: 138).
2.5.2 Tense and aspect
According to Leech and Svartvik (1975: 65) tense and aspect relate to happening
described by the verb to time in the past, present, or future. On page 400 they define the
tense
as the correspondence between the form of the verb and our concept of time (past, present,
or
future). Aspect is defined here as concerning the manner in which a verbal action is
experienced
or regarded. Saeed (2009: 119) defines aspect as a grammatical system relating to time,
where the
speaker may choose how to describe the internal temporal nature of a situation.
Leech (1971: 18) differentiates four classes of verbs that can occur with progressive
aspect:
1) momentary verbs (nod, hit, jump) these refer to happenings so momentary that it is
difficult

to think of them as having duration, but when used with progressive they denote a series of
events
(He was nodding)
2) transitional event verbs (arrive, die, fall) these verbs denote transition into a state,
used with progressive to indicate an approach to the transition (The train was arriving)
3) activity verbs (drink, eat, play) although these verbs can be used with the Simple Tenses
in
an event sense, they more usually occur with the Progressive (Theyre still eating their
dinner)
4) process verbs (change, grow, mature) process ordinarily has duration (The weather is
changing for the better)
Then he mentions another four classes that cannot occur with progressive aspect, with some
exceptions, depending on the context:
1) verbs of inert perception (feel, hear, see)
2) verbs of inert cognition (believe, forget, hope)
3) state verbs of having and being (be, belong to, contain)
4) verbs of bodily sensation (ache, feel, hurt)
Vendler (1967: 102) and Huddleston and Pullum (2002: 118) offer another classification of
verbs:
they differentiate between states (static) and occurrences (dynamic), which are either
processes
(durative) or achievements (punctual). The processes can either be activities (telic) or
accomplishments (atelic).
Saeed (2009: 121) differentiates five situation types, as he calls them. These
situation types are based on the Vendlers classification mentioned above. The first situation
type
is made of states, which are static and durative (e.g. love, know, believe). The second are
activity verbs, which are durative and atelic (e.g. walk, swim, push a cart). These are also
called
unbounded processes. The accomplishments make the third situation type. Accomplishments
are
durative and telic, they are bounded processes (e.g. run a mile, draw a circle, paint a picture).
Another situation type is made of achievements, which are telic. They are also called point
events
(e.g. recognize, stop, reach the top). The last situation type is made of semelfactives events
that are instantaneous atelic (e.g. cough, knock, flash).
Qian (2000: 53) classified six semantic specifications, based on Wallace Chafe[3]:
-

states verb is accompanied by a noun which is its patient The wood is dry.

processes a process still involves a relation between a noun and a state The wood
dried.
-

actions the verb express an action He ran.

process-action the verb is a process (involves a change) and action (expresses what
someone does to something) He dried the wood.
state-ambient an all-encompassing state which covers the total environment instead
of
just one object within it Its late.
action-ambient an all-encompassing event which is without reference to some
particular
thing within the environment Its raining.
However, there are verbs that belong to more than one of the categories mentioned above.
Leech
(1971: 5) notes that, for example the verb remember can be both state and event: In
Suddenly I
remembered the letter the verb refers to the act of recall thus it is an event verb, whereas in I
shall remember that moment until I die the verb is a state, because it represents the notion of
having in ones memory.
2.6 Collocations and idioms
It is also important to state some basic facts about collocations, because they are the
focus of this thesis, along with synonymy.
Collocations are defined by Jackson (1988: 96) as combinations of words that have a
certain mutual expectancy. These combinations are not fixed, but the words in them have a
tendency to occur together. The meaning of words sometimes depends on contexts in which
they occur.
This was discussed above in the section 2.1, concerning the collocative meaning as proposed
by
Leech (1974: 20). The collocative meaning, Leech suggests, consists of words which tend to
occur
in its environment. He illustrates this on adjectives pretty and handsome: while pretty girl is
commonly used, handsome girl is not, as opposed to handsome boy.
Although the collocations are not fixed terms, there are some words with a restricted
range. Palmer (1981: 99) writes about three kinds of collocational restrictions:
1) some are based wholly on the meaning of the item as in the unlikely green cow
2) some are based on range a word may be used with a set of words that have some
semantic
features in common; e.g. The rhododendron passed away is unlikely

3) some restrictions are collocational in the strictest sense, involving neither meaning nor
range, as addled with eggs and brains
Collocational restrictions are, though, really rare. Partington (1998: 26) proposes other two
categories: unrestricted and semi-restricted.
Partington (1998: 16) notes that co-occurrence of the items becomes interesting if it seems
to
happen for a purpose, and especially if it is repeated, if there are patterns of collocation.
This is used in corpus analyses in the research of repeating patterns.
Sinclair (1991: 115) differentiates between downward collocations and upward collocations.
He uses
the term downward collocation when a is a node and b is collocate collocation of a with a
less
frequent word b. On the other hand, when b is a node and a is collocate, he terms this
downward
collocation.
Saeed (2009: 60) writes that collocations can undergo a fossilization process until they
become
fixed expressions. He illustrates the fixed expressions on an example of hot and cold
running
water as opposed to cold and hot running water, which is not very common. Another type of
fossilization is an idiom. Palmer (1981: 79) notes that idioms involve collocation of a
special
kind. Saeed (2009: 60) defines idioms as expressions where the individual words have
ceased to
have independent meanings.
3. PRACTICAL PART
3.1 Introduction
In this part, the definitions of the verbs fix, mend, and repair will be described. To define
these
verbs, different dictionaries will be used, both printed and online, and both British and
American
dictionaries. Next, the verbs will be studied for their collocations in the British National
Corpus
(BNC) and the Corpus of Current American English (COCA). In order to find differences
between these
verbs, etymology will also be compared.
In the BNC and COCA, the most numerous collocates of these verbs will be researched.
From the list
of collocates the semantic groups will be made, so as to research the differences of
collocability

between individual verbs and the degree of synonymity and between the British and
American English.
The findings from dictionaries and corpora will be compared and conclusions will be drawn.
The aim of the practical part is to find out whether the verbs can be called absolute
synonyms, or
if they are used in different contexts, with different collocations and objects.
According to categories presented above in the theoretical part by Leech (1971), Vendler
(1967),
Huddleston & Pullum (2002) and Saeed (2002) the verbs in focus fix, mend and repair are
activity
verbs, they are telic and durative. In terms of Qian (2000) these verbs are actions.
Both active and passive voices will be researched in the corpora, as well as progressive
aspect.
The focus of the analysis is on the objects of these verbs, not on their modifiers, so the pattern
verb+noun, where the noun is not in the subject position, will be searched for.
The findings of the corpora analysis will be summed up in tables, containing the collocate in
focus, the verb (fix, mend or repair), number of occurrences in the corpus, example
concordance(s)
from the corpus and citation code. For each of the corpora there will be one table. A
comparison
table of the findings from the both corpora will also be provided, for the sake of clarity.
3.2 Dictionary definitions
In this part, the definitions of individual verbs will be dealt with, using both printed
and online dictionaries. Dictionaries of synonyms will also be used in order to find whether
there
are any differences between verbs described by authors of these dictionaries. It is also
important
to research the etymologies of the verbs, because the differences may have been erased
during the
development of the language. All senses of the verbs, not only those that overlap with other
two
verbs will be mentioned in this section. The sense that is shared by all three verbs is
underlined.
The dictionary definitions are important for the comparison with English and American
corpora. Although there are numerous dictionaries of the English language, for the sake of
this
thesis it is enough to mention only some of them here.
The definitions of the verbs fix, mend and repair are cited from two different printed
dictionaries
(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English LDCE and The Random House Dictionary
of the English
Language RHD) and one online dictionary (Oxford English Dictionary OED).

3.2.1 Dictionary definitions of the verb fix

Definition of fix in LDCE:
fix, v. 1 to fasten firmly (into the stated position): to fix the door open|(fig.) to fix the date
in my mind 2 to agree on; arrange: Weve fixed the date for the wedding (compare Weve
fixed on the
14^th of April). | Theyve fixed the rent at 12.00 (compare Theyve fixed on 12.00). | If
you
want to meet them, I can fix it. | We havent fixed (up) when to leave / where to stay, yet. |
Have
you fixed who is the lead? Theyve fixed to go to Borneo compare fix on (1) 3 to protect
(colours
or photographic film) from the effects of light, by chemical treatment 4 AmE to cook or
prepare
(esp. food or drink) (for someone); put in order: Shes fixing breakfast.| Let me fix you a
drink!|I must fix my face. 5 AmE to repair: I must get the radio fixed compare see to 6 (of
things one can see) to attract (ones attention) 7 (military) to fasten (a bayonet) into position
on ones rifle 8 derog to arrange the result of: to fix the election/the race 9 infml to influence
(someone) wrongly, esp. by bribery: Can the fix the judge? 10 sl to deal with; get even with
(someone): Dont worry! Ill fix George see also fix on, fix up, fix with
Here it can be seen that the LDCE mentions many different senses of the verb fix, but only
the
fifth one is the same as mend and repair. In this dictionary the meaning is also compared to
see
to.
Definition in RHD:
fix, v. fixed or fixt, fix-ing, n. v.t. 1 to repair, mend. 2 to put in order or in good
condition; adjust or arrange: She fixed her hair in a bun. 3 to make fast, firm, or stable. 4 to
pace definitely and more or less permanently: to fix a circus poster to a wall. 5 to settle
definitely; determine: to fix a price. 6 to direct (the eyes, the attention, etc.) steadily: His
eyes were fixed on the distant ship. 7 to attract and hold (the eye, the attention, etc.). 8 to
make set or rigid. 9 to put into the permanent form. 10 to put or place (responsibility, blame,
etc.) on a person. 11 to assign or refer to a definite place, time, etc. 12 to provide or supply
with (something needed or wanted): How are you fixed for money? 13 Informal to arrange or
influence
the outcome or action of, esp. privately or dishonestly: to fix a jury; to fix a game. 14 to get (a
meal); prepare (food): What time shall I fix supper? 15 Informal to put in a condition or
position
to make no further trouble. 16 Informal to get even with; get revenge upon: Ill fix him! 17 to
castrate or spay (an animal, esp. a pet). 18 Chem. a. to make stable in consistency or
condition;
reduce from fluidity or volatility to a more stable state. b. to convert atmospheric nitrogen
into

a useful compound, as a nitrate fertilizer. 19 Photog. to render (an image) permanent by

removing
light-sensitive silver halides. 20 Microscopy to kill, make rigid, and preserve for microscopic
study.
There are obviously more senses of the verb fix in this dictionary than in LDCE. As opposed
to
LDCE, there are 20 different senses. Some of the meanings present in LDCE are here divided
into
several ones. For example the first sense in LDCE, to fasten firmly, can be found in senses 2,
3
and 4 in RHD. Moreover, there are many senses in RHD that are not found in LDCE
(numbers 9, 10, 12,
15, 17, 18 and 20). On the other hand, the senses 7 and 8 in LDCE are not found in RHD.
Definition in OED:
Because of the comprehensiveness of the definitions in OED, here I will mention only those
meanings
that are not obsolete.
fix, v. I. To make firm or stable. 1. a. trans. To fasten, make firm or stable in position; to
place, attach, or insert and secure against displacement. Const. in, on, to. etc d. In immaterial
sense: To attach firmly; to implant securely (principles, etc.). e. To fasten (an imputation,
responsibility, etc.) on a person. f. intr. for refl. To become firmly attached or implanted; to
adhere to. lit. and fig. ? Obs. 2. a. To secure from change, vacillation or wandering; to give
stability or constancy to (the mind, thoughts, affections, purposes). c. To settle immovably
the
purpose or conviction of (a person). Const. to with inf.; also on, for, against. Now only in
pass.
e. Genetics. To establish (a character, or the gene responsible for it) as a permanent property
of
subsequent generations. 3. a. To direct steadily and unwaveringly, fasten, set (one's eyes,
attention, affections, etc.) on, upon b. absol. To concentrate one's attention or mind on. Also
intr. for refl. (said of the eyes, attention, etc.). c. Of an object of vision or thought: To
rivet, attract and hold fast (the eye, the attention, etc.). d. To make (the eyes, features,
etc.) motionless or rigid (as in death). Also intr. for refl. e. To make (a person) motionless
with astonishment or other feeling, to hold spellbound. 4. a. trans. To deprive of volatility or
fluidity. b. intr. for refl. To lose volatility or fluidity; to become firm, rigid, or solidified;
to congeal, set. c. trans. Of a plant or micro-organism: to assimilate (the nitrogen or carbon
dioxide of the atmosphere) by causing it to become combined in a non-gaseous metabolizable
form.
Hence, to cause (an element, esp. nitrogen) to form a compound, whether gaseous or not, as
the
first step in some biological or industrial process. d. To preserve and harden biological
material, esp. before microscopic examination. e. Immunol. To bring about the fixation of
(complement). 5. a. trans. To make (a colour, a drawing, photographic image, etc.) fast or
permanent. c. To give permanent form to (evanescent images). 6. a. To force into or overtake
in a

position from which escape is difficult; to corner, nail. lit. and fig. b. To hold (a person)
engaged or occupied, so as to prevent his leaving the spot. c. to fix (a person) with one's
eyes:
to direct upon him a steady gaze from which he cannot escape. d. Of the eyes: To arrest (an
object
of vision) with the gaze, i.e. to have a steady vision of it. II. To place definitely. 8. a. To
place in a definite and more or less permanent position; to set, station. to fix up: to set up. b.
To place, install (a person, oneself) in a position, with preparations for a stay; in early
military use, to fix (a person) up (colloq.): to put (him) up, provide with quarters. c. To
establish (a person) in a place of residence, a position or office; to take up (one's quarters,
abode); to locate, settle (an industry, etc.) in a certain place. In pass., to be (comfortably or
otherwise) placed or circumstanced. 9. intr. for refl. To settle, take up a position; esp. to
settle permanently, take up one's abode. 10. a. To take up one's position mentally. ?Obs. b. to
fix on or upon: to settle one's choice on or upon; to decide upon, choose, select. c. To decide,
determine to (do something); also const. for with gerund, or with subord. sentence. 11. a. To
appoint or assign the precise position of; to refer (something) to a definite place, time, etc b.
To allocate, determine the incidence of (a responsibility, liability, etc.). Also, to fix (a
person) with costs, liability, etc.: to impose upon him the obligation of meeting or paying
them.
12. To settle definitely; to appoint or assign with precision; to specify or determine. Const. at,
for, to. 13. To settle or determine the form of, give a permanent form to (language or
literature). 14. a. To adjust, make ready for use (arms, instruments, etc.); to arrange in proper
order. b. In wider sense (chiefly U.S. colloq.): To arrange, get ready, put in order; to put to
rights, make tidy, rig up; spec. to prepare (food or drink). Also with off, over, and up and
const. for (doing something). to fix out, to set out, display, adorn, supply, fit out (Cent.); to
fix the table (see quot. 1842^2); to fix one's face, etc.: to put on or rearrange one's make-up,
etc. c. Orig. and chiefly U.S. to fix (a person): to deal with, settle or do for (a person); to
kill (a person). to fix it: to arrange matters. any way you can fix it: whatever you do, contrive
as you may. to fix (another's) flint: to settle or do for him. d. orig. U.S. To make favourable
to one's purposes (Bartlett), to square, usu. by illegal means, esp. bribery. e. To mend,
repair. orig. U.S. f. To castrate, sterilize (an animal). 15. (See quot.) 16. intr. a. To
intend; to arrange, get ready, make preparations, for or to do something. Also with out and up.
U.S. b. (Usually with up.) To put oneself in proper trim; to dress up; to spruce up. c. intr. and
trans. To inject (oneself) with narcotics. (Cf. FIX n. 4.) slang (orig. U.S.).
The OED is obviously the most comprehensive of the three dictionaries. There are all the
senses
from the above-mentioned dictionaries and some more (for example 2e or 6b). The senses are
always
divided into sub-categories.
3.2.2 Dictionary definitions of the verb mend
Definition of mend in LDCE:
mend, v. 1 to repair (a hole, break, fault, etc.) in (something) 2 to repair by sewing: Ill mend
that shirt. 3 to improve (esp. in the phr. mend ones ways). 4 not fml to regain ones health:
Hes
mending nicely. 5 infml esp. dial to build up (a low fire).

There are four different senses of the verb mend in LDCE. Only one of them corresponds to
the other
two verbs.
Definition in RHD:
mend, v. 1 to make something (broken, worn, torn, or otherwise damaged) whole, sound or
usable by
repairing: to mend old clothes; to mend a broken toy. 2 to remove or correct defects or errors
in.
3 to set right; make better; improve: to mend matters. 4 to progress toward recovery, as a sick
person. 5 (of broken bones) to grow back together; knit. 6 to improve, as conditions or affairs.
There are more senses of the verb mend in RHD. However, they can be included in the senses
of the
dictionary above. There are four senses that correspond to fix and repair.
Definition in OED:
mend I. With reference to defects. 1. a. trans. To restore to a complete, sound, or usable
condition (something broken, worn, torn, etc.); to repair or make good (a defective part), fix
{dag} b. trans. To adjust, set right; to snuff (a candle). Obs. (Naut. in later use). c. trans. In
extended use. d. trans. To add fuel to (a fire). Cf. earlier BEET v. {dag} e. trans. colloq. and
Eng. regional. To repair the garments of (a person). Obs. {dag} f. intr. To make repairs. rare
exc. in collocations with intr. senses of make: see MAKE v.^1 1d , 39f. Obs. 2. trans. To
make
amends or reparation for, atone for (a misdeed, an injury). Also intr.: to make reparation. Now
only in the proverb least said soonest mended. 3. a. trans. To rectify, remedy, remove (an
evil);
to correct, put right (a fault, error, etc.); {dag} to alleviate istress) (obs.). See also to mend
matters at Phrases 2. {dag} b. trans. To correct (a mistake, something erroneous). Obs.
{dag}
c. intr. Of a fault: to undergo rectification. Obs. 4. a. trans. To free (a person, character,
habits, etc.) from sin or fault; to improve morally; to reform; (occas.) to cure of (a fault). (a)
In asseverative declarations and oaths (cf. HELP v. 1c). Now chiefly in Sc. and Irish English,
in
the devil (also hell) mend (a person or thing), etc. (b) In other constructions. Now chiefly in
to
mend one's manners (also ways). {dag} b. trans. (refl.). To reform oneself. Obs. c. intr. To
undergo reform or moral improvement; to mend one's ways. Now chiefly Sc. exc. in the
proverb it is
never too late to mend. 5. a. trans. To restore to health, cure, heal. Also in extended use. Now
arch. and regional. b. intr. To regain health; to recover from sickness. Formerly (occas.) with
{dag} of. c. intr. Of a wound, or injury, or an injured part of the body, etc.: to heal. Of a
malady: to abate. Also fig. 6. a. trans. To remove the defects of (a thing); to correct (what is
faulty); to improve by correction or alteration; to emend. Now rare exc. in certain fixed
expressions: see senses Phrases 1, Phrases 2. {dag} b. intr. To become less faulty. Of

conditions: to become less unfavourable, improve. Obs. II. Without distinct reference to
defects:
to make better, ameliorate, improve. {dag} 7. a. trans. To improve in quality; to render more
excellent; to ameliorate (conditions, etc.). b. intr. To grow better in quality, improve. Obs.
Occas. used ironically, as in the proverbial use illustrated in quot. 1546. c. intr. To recover
from, get better of, grow out of. Cf. sense 4c. Obs. 8. trans. To improve upon, surpass, better.
In early use with personal object. Later chiefly colloq.: to produce something better than.
Now
rare. {dag} 9. trans. a. To improve the condition or fortune of. Also refl.: to better oneself,
to make an advantageous change in one's condition. Obs. b. Sc. To profit, advantage (a
person).
Also intr.: to avail. Usu. with impersonal subject, and in negative and interrogative contexts.
Obs. {dag} 10. trans. a. To improve (a person) physically; to cause to thrive. Also intr.: (of a
child) to thrive (cf. sense 7b). Obs. b. Sc. and Irish English (north.). To fatten, cause to gain
weight. Also intr.: (of an animal) to gain weight, grow plump. Obs. {dag} 11. a. trans. To
improve (wages, prices, etc.) by additions. Obs. b. trans. To supplement, make up the
deficiency
of (see also sense 7a). In later use Eng. regional in to mend one's draught: to have another
drink.
Obs. See also to mend one's hand at Phrases 4(b). c. intr. To improve in amount or price.
Obs.
Again, the OED is the most comprehensive of the three dictionaries. There are all the
meanings from
the dictionaries cited above. However, there are many senses not included in LDCE and RHD
(for
example numbers 2 or 4a, not counting the senses that are obsolete).
3.2.3 Dictionary definitions of the verb repair
Definition of repair in LDCE:
repair, v. 1 a to mend (something worn or broken): to repair a broken watch / a road / old
shoes b
(of something broken or worn) to be able to be mended: This is so old it wont repair. 2 fml to
put
right (a wrong, mistake, etc.): How can I repair the wrong I have done her?
Definition in RHD:
repair, v. 1 to restore to a good or sound condition after decay or damage; mend: to repair a
motor. 2 to restore or renew by any process of making good, strengthening, etc.: to repair
ones
health by resting. 3 to remedy; make good; make up for: to repair damage; to repair a
deficiency. 4
to make amends for; compensate: to repair a wrong done.

There are more definitions of the verb repair in RHD than LDCE. In this dictionary, there are
some
extra senses that are not included in RHD (numbers 2 and 4).
Definition in OED:
repair 1. a. trans. To restore (a damaged, worn, or faulty object or structure) to good or proper
condition by replacing or fixing parts; to mend, fix. Also intr. and in extended use. b. trans.
To
rebuild (a city). {dag} c. trans. To put (a country) in order. Obs. rare^ {em} ^1. d. trans.
(refl.) To put oneself in order; esp. to give oneself a neat and tidy appearance, spruce oneself
up. {dag} e. intr. To undergo repairs. Obs. 2. trans. a. To bring or restore (an immaterial
thing) to normal or proper condition, compensating for some form of deterioration or
downturn. Also
occas. intr. b. To restore (a material thing, esp. a body or body part) to good or proper
condition by compensating for waste, decay, exhaustion, etc.; to renew. {dag} c. To revive,
reinvigorate (a person). Obs. 3. a. trans. To heal or cure (a wound, injury, etc.). Also intr.:
(of a wound, injury, etc.) to heal. Also fig. b. trans. To reconstruct (defective or injured body
parts) surgically. c. intr. Of a person: to recuperate, recover. rare. {dag} 4. trans. a. To
adorn, decorate. Also intr. Obs. [The analysis of quot. a1525 is not certain; it is possible that
it could instead show REPAIR n.^2 in an otherwise unrecorded sense ornamentation.] b.
Originally: to maintain by paying for upkeep. Later: to provide or supply with something.
Obs.
{dag} 5. trans. To make up (a sum of money); to bring up to a given amount. Obs. rare^ {em}
^1. 6.
trans. To regain, recover (something lost). Now rare. 7. a. trans. To make amends for (a
wrong or
harm done); to make up or compensate for. b. trans. To remedy, put right (an undesirable
condition
or situation); to rectify, make good (a fault). {dag} c. intr. To make up for a wrong done.
Obs.
rare. {dag} 8. trans. a. To restore (a person or group of people) to a previous state or status;
(esp. in Theol.) to renew spiritually, deliver from sin. Obs. b. To compensate or make amends
to
(a person) for a misfortune or wrong done. Obs. c. To save, deliver from something. Obs.
rare^
{em} ^1. d. refl. To compensate oneself for a loss or outlay. Obs. {dag} 9. trans. To make
exact. Obs. rare^ {em} ^1. {dag} 10. intr. To change oneself for the better; to reform
oneself.
Obs. rare^ {em} ^1.
From the citation above it can be observed that there are many different senses of the verb
repair.
However, many of them are obsolete or rare. Still, it is the most comprehensive definition of
repair of the three dictionaries. All the senses from the above-mentioned dictionaries are
present
here and there are some more senses (numbers 4b, 8c or 8d). But as in RHD, the second sense
from
LDCE (to be able to be mended) is also missing here.

From the dictionary definitions it can be seen that the verb fix has many different senses, and
the
sense shared with mend and repair is not always one of the main senses. Fix is also different
from
the other two verbs in its ability to form the phrasal verb to fix up. Although this phrasal verb
has the same sense as the researched verbs, I will not work with it during searching the
corpora.
From the citations above it is obvious that the OED is the most comprehensive
dictionary
of those mentioned in the thesis. There are many different senses of the verbs, although some
of
them are obsolete or rare. Mostly, there are those senses that are also in LDCE and RHD, but
divided into more sub-categories.
3.3 Definitions in dictionaries of synonyms
In this part I will state the definitions of the verbs fix, mend and repair from the dictionaries
of synonyms. I will work with some of the dictionaries for the sake of illustration and to
compare
the definitions with the findings from the corpora. I will cite the Oxford Thesaurus An A- Z
Dictionary of Synonyms, The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, Cassells Guide to Synonyms and
Related
Words, Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary and Longman Synonym Dictionary. In
case the verb
has more than one meaning, only that which is shared by all three verbs will be stated here.
Definitions in Oxford Thesaurus An A- Z Dictionary of Synonyms:
fix, v. 3 repair, mend, fix up, remedy, rectify, correct, emend, adjust, patch (up), regulate, put
or set to rights, doctor, straighten out: My watch is at the jewellers being fixed.
mend, v. 1 repair, fix, patch (up), rectify, correct, remedy, restore, rehabilitate, heal: When
will you get round to mend the roof?
repair, v. 1 mend, patch (up), renew, put or set right, restore, fix (up), service, put (back) in
or into working order, vamp, revamp, adjust: Can you repair the tear in my trousers? I must
remember to ask the garage to repair the brakes on my car.
In this dictionary of synonyms, all three verbs make entries. In the list of synonyms, there are
always mentioned the other two verbs.
Definitions in The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus:
fix, v. 7 see MEND 2, rel mend, patch, rebuild, repair, amend, emend, revise.
mend, v. 2 to put into good shape or working order again. syn doctor, do up, fix, overhaul,
patch,
rebuild, recondition, reconstruct, repair, revamp, right, rightle, vamp.

repair, v. see MEND

This dictionary has the three verbs as entries as well. Unlike the first dictionary, it devises to
the verb mend, which makes the main entry.
Definitions and commentary in Cassells Guide to Synonyms and Related Words:
repair, v. correct, fix, mend, rectify, remedy, renovate
Repair emphasizes work done on an object that is broken, damaged, or not in proper working
order:
to repair a TV set; to repair shoes; the expense of having an old car repaired. By extension, it
can refer to any effective restorative action: ambassadors who worked to repair the breach in
trade
relations.
Fix is an informal word for the same set of meanings as repair: the time it took him to fix the
flat tyre. But while repair usually suggests a broken object to begin with, fix can apply to
anything that needs attention or has gone awry: fixing curtains for the bare windows; a friend
who
could fix things between the girl and her angry parents.
Mend suggests the repairing of something broken, torn, or worn threadbare: a torn page
mended with
tape; to mend old clothes. But it can go beyond this to suggest a growing together, a knitting
and
healing of injured parts in living things: tying the bent branch in place until it could mend;
splinting the leg until the broken bone began to mend. Thus it may suggest a return to health
and
peace in wider contexts: anxious to mend the rift between the two warring factions within the
new
republic.
The Cassells Guide to Synonyms and Related Words makes repair the main entry. Under it
there are
defined all the three verbs. This dictionary defines the verbs in depth, in connection with each
other. Fix is defined here as an informal word for repair. Mend, according to this dictionary,
has
the most senses of the three verbs (it can collocate with clothes, branch or leg).
Definitions in Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary:
fix, v. 6 a repair, mend <the clock> b restore, cure
mend, v. 1 c to put into good shape or working order again: patch up, repair syn mend, repair,
patch, rebuild mean to put into good order something that has been injured, damaged, or
defective.

mend implies making whole or sound something broken, torn, or injured; repair applies to the
mending of more extensive damage or dilapidation.
repair, v. 1 a to restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken: fix <fix>
syn mend.
This dictionary devises to mend and repair under fix. Under the entry of mend it compares all
the
three verbs.
Definitions in Longman Synonym Dictionary:
fix, v. 5 repair, mend, restore, doctor, fix up; patch, patch up, touch up, renovate, renew;
correct, amend, rectify, remedy, better, ameliorate; adjust, arrange, straighten, place.
mend, v. 1 repair, remedy, fix, fix up, doctor or doctor up, patch up, patch; put back together,
put back in one piece, restore, rehabilitate, make good as new, sew or sew up, stitch, darn,
strengthen, reinforce; cure, heal, restore to health, make well or whole.
repair, v. 1 restore, mend, patch or patch up, put back together, make good as new; service,
fix,
fix up, make improvements on, improve, better, ameliorate, meliorate; amend, emend,
correct,
adjust, align, regulate; recondition, redo, remake, make over, overhaul, rebuild, reconstruct,
remodel, revamp, renovate, renew, redecorate; repaint, touch up, brush up, polish up, clean
up,
spruce up.
The last dictionary of synonyms enumerates all the possible synonyms of the verbs, which
make
separate entries. In all the entries there are the other two verbs mentioned.
All the dictionaries of synonyms list the verbs fix, mend and repair as synonyms. The
Cassells Guide to Synonyms and Related Words shows to be the most comprehensive, with
sample
sentences and comparison of the three verbs. The Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
offers a
deeper comparison as well.
3.4 Etymology of the verbs fix, mend and repair
In order to find the differences between individual verbs, it is important to see their history of
use. In this part I will work with the Oxford English Dictionary, or more precisely with the
section Etymology, available online. I will state here only the first use of the meaning the
three
verbs share.

Etymology of the verb fix:

The verb fix was, according to OED Etymology, first used in the same meaning as mend and
repair in
1762, originally in the American English:
a1762 S. NILES Wars in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1861) II. 401 A number of hands came to fix
our
whale-boats. 1870 MARK TWAIN Sk. New & Old (1875) 20 [I] finally took the watch to
another
watchmaker... He fixed it, and gave it a fresh start. 1947 N. SHUTE Chequer Board iii. 59
They
fixed the vicar's Austin Seven. 1949 F. SARGESON I saw in my Dream 37 Arnold was fixing
his motor
bike.
Mend, on the other hand, is much older it was first used in 1225. It is of Anglo-Norman
origin:
a1225 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 217 On {th} e helde
la {ygh}
e, het ure drihten {th} at me ne sholde none man bitechen bute he were teid to menden
chirche.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 215 Seowi {edh} ant mendi {edh}
chirche cla
{edh} es. a1387 J. TREVISA tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) V. 129 Olde
chirches he
mendede, and new cherches he bulde. c1400 (a1376) LANGLAND Piers Plowman (Trin.
Cambr.) A. III. 51
{Th} ere nis wyndowe ne auter {Th} at I ne shulde make or mende. c1480 (a1400) St. Mark
81 in W. M.
Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 241 {Th} e bochoure wes mendand {th} e scho.
1487 in T.
Gardner Hist. Acct. Dunwich (1754) 153 Payd the Glas-wry {ygh} te for mendyng Seynt
Krysteferys
Wyndown. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Mark i. 19 As they were in the shyppe mendynge their
nettes. 1575
Churchwardens' Accts. Stanford in Antiquary 17 (1888) 171/1 It. for lathing & mending the
churche
howse mounds vd. 1617 F. MORYSON Itinerary I. 186 As if I had been so good a husband,
as to mend my
own clothes. 1687 A. LOVELL tr. J. de Thvenot Trav. into Levant I. 219 Our Rudder broke,
which
being quickly mended again with some Nails, we sailed only with a fore-sail. 1738 Purefoy
Lett.
(1931) I. viii. 191 To mend two Pannells in the back Parlour 0-03-06. 1814 J. AUSTEN
Mansfield Park
III. vii. 148, I wish we could get the bell mended {em} but Betsey is a very handy little
messenger. 1820 KEATS Lett. (1958) II. 262, I have been writing with a vile old pen the
whole

week... The fault is in the Quill: I have mended it. 1863 A. BLOMFIELD Mem. Bp.
Blomfield I. viii.
223 We all sit and mend our pens and talk about the weather. 1878 W. S. JEVONS Polit.
Econ. 29
Hedges and ditches are mended when there is nothing else to do. 1888 Housewife 3 436/2
After
mending the holes, the thin places..should be run thickly backwards and forwards. 1942 W.
FAULKNER
Go down, Moses 168 Sitting in the door of the plantation black-smith shop, where he
sharpened
plow-points and mended tools. 1990 R. SMITH Nemesis ix. 85 The young man rang her
doorbell, grim
and sullen, his plastic schoolboy glasses still mended with adhesive tape.
The verb repair is also of Anglo-Norman origin, first to be used in 1387, later than mend:
a1387 [implied in REPAIRING n.^1 1]. c1425 LYDGATE Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A. 4) IV.
1213
Pallamydes..is to his shippes goon For to considre..Wher nede was..Any of hem to mendyn or
repeire.
a1460 Knyghthode & Bataile (Pembr. Cambr. 243) l. 1700 More esily a thing is al mad newe
In many
cas then is an olde repared. c1475 (a1449) LYDGATE Testament (Harl. 218) 554 in Minor
Poems (1911)
I. 350 As..an artificer repareth a reven cheste. 1523 LD. BERNERS tr. J. Froissart Cronycles
I.
sig. k.iii^v/2, They repayred agayn the castell and mended the walles and gates of the towne.
1560
J. DAUS tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxxj, He repared his nauie and returned to
Constantinople.
1589 R. LANE in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations III. 744 They agreed..that in the night they
should
sende to haue our weares robbed, and also to cause them to bee broken and once being
broken neuer
to bee repayred againe by them. 1600 in House of Gordon (1907) II. 193 [Alexander Gordon]
has
repaired and builded in Lesmoir more sumptuouslie by farr then it was befor. 1617 F.
MORYSON
Itinerary I. 194 The fourth Bridge..being rebuilt or repaired of stone, by King Charles the
sixth.
1667 MILTON Paradise Lost VI. 878 Disburd'nd Heav'n rejoic'd, and soon repaird Her mural
breach.
1747 J. BARKER Ess. Agreem. Anc. & Mod. Physicians iv. 289 A Physician is like..a
Builder, who
undertakes to repair a decayed Pile; he must add what is wanting. 1791 A. RADCLIFFE
Romance of
Forest I. ii. 75 He brought materials for repairing the place, and some furniture. 1820 J.
GIFFORD
Compl. Eng. Lawyer (ed. 5) 418 The law excuses the lessee, unless there is a covenant to
repair and

uphold. 1823 C. LAMB Old China in London Mag. Mar. 270/2 While I was repairing some
of the loose
leaves with paste. 1878 H. JAMES Europeans I. iii. 89 A lot of money..that comes forward
very
quietly for subscriptions to institutions, for repairing tenements, for paying doctor's bills.
1924
J. MOSLEY in B. C. Williams O. Henry Prize Stories (1925) 126 The rack-boned horse
quietly pulled
the swingletree in two, and I found myself without the means to repair. 1951 J. W. VALE
Mod. Auto
Body & Fender Repair xiii. 162 The deck compartment..may be repaired in the same way.
1960 C. DAY
LEWIS Buried Day ii. 37 He had a wheelbarrow to take in for the blacksmith to repair. 2005
Ships
Monthly Oct. 4/2 Both vessels were escorted to Falmouth where Sierra Express was repaired
alongside
at A & P.
From the etymology of the verbs it is clear that the verb fix is the youngest. Repair and mend
are
both of Anglo-Norman origin, although repair was used later than mend in the sense of
restoring
something to a sound, whole or complete condition. The Etymology in EOD states that fix
was
originally used in the sense to fix ones eyes on something this sense is also very
common
nowadays. From the etymological point of view, fix is quite different than the other two verbs

the meaning which the three verbs share, is not the first and basic use of the verb fix.
Moreover,
fix is of American origin, compared to Anglo-Norman origin of mend and repair.
3.5 Corpus analysis
In this section the use of the three verbs will be analysed, with the help of the corpora of
British and American English. For the research, I used these corpora The British National
Corpus
(BNC) and The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). These two corpora will
be compared in
order to find out whether there are any differences between British English and American
English in
the use of these verbs.
First the most numerous collocations with each verb were searched for. In case of fix, mend,
and
repair objects were analysed nouns, both figurative and abstract, which can be fixed,
mended or
repaired. Then each of these lists of collocations was divided logically into semantic
categories.

The collocations within each category were compared, trying to find any common features
that may
help in deciding which verb is the best to use in each category.
Each of the categories is summed up in a table, with the help of model sentences from the
corpora.
Each model sentence is accompanied with the citation code stated in both corpora. The
collocations
in each category are lined up alphabetically. Singular and plural forms are counted separately
in
the tables of BNC and COCA first number before the plus sign is for singular, the other for
plural. In case only plural form is found in the corpus, it is stated in the parenthesis after the
number. For the sake of comparison, all three verbs are mentioned (fix F, mend M, repair
R)
together, although in some cases they do not collocate with the same words.
Only those collocations that have more than one token were taken into account. This means
that
those nouns that appeared at least once in the BNC and once in the COCA at the same time,
or those
that had two tokens in the BNC or two tokens in the COCA. The idioms and collocations of
different
senses than the analysed one are not included in the counting.
The span of each node, within the collocations are analysed, is set to six words.
The analysis will start with searching for number of occurrences of each verb in each corpus.
Below
is Table 0 comparing the results:
Table 0: Number of occurrences of each verb in corpora.
BNC
COCA
fix
4,502
20,374
mend
600
1,327
repair

1,803
7,030
From the Table 0 above it is obvious that COCA contains more texts. When comparing the
verbs with
each other, it can be seen that the most numerous verb is fix. The second is repair and the
third
is mend. It is important, though, to realize that in these total sums of occurrences all the
collocations of other senses and idioms are included.
3.5.1 Category of means of transport
Following is the first table, dealing with collocations in the category of means of transport:
Table 1: Category of means of transport as found in the BNC:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
aircraft
F
1
Forced landings were common, even Charlie Chaplin was seen standing on the sands of
Bologne in the
early 1920s while his pilot fixed the aircraft .
ASJ W_misc
M
--R
5
The retention of the wreckage for detailed scrutiny must not be frustrated because of the
owner's

wish to repair the aircraft and return it to service without delay.

CN2
boat
F
1
I must find him before I sail home, and come to think of it I'll need to fix the boat too!
C87 W_pop_lore
M
4+1
Sammy Meredith will jump at the chance of three months" work. I can't do it, OK? I've got a
boat to
mend .
CCW W_fict_prose
R
4
And how will you repair your boat , Breakspear, or even take her away, if I put your name on
the
Stop List?
CCW W_fict_prose
bicycle
F
--M
1
They are busy at work in the market place, in the fields, caring for the younger children,
fetching
water and fuel, pounding mail maize or mending bicycles , selling goods on the streets, they
pulling rickshaws.
JNG S_meeting

R
--car
F
16+4
Corporal Rose had tried to fix the car but discovered a bent track rod end which was beyond
his
capabilities.
AR8 W_non_ac_polit_law_edu
M
11+3
It'll need about twenty thousand pounds to mend the broken car the driver's wounded pride
may
take a little more work.
K1W W_news_script
R
19+14
They've got to repair daddy's car because it could be dangerous, Grant.
KB3 S_conv
lorry
F
--M
--R
4
John repaired the lorry .

FAC W_ac_soc_science
ship
F
1
Like Frejji, who'll fix the ship better than anyone.
G3G W_fict_prose
M
1
Moreover he was the very fisherman who was mentioned in Our Watering Place as mending a
little ship
for a boy.
H8A W_fict_prose
R
4+4
[...] proves more than just a minor hazard for the astronauts as they race against time to repair
the ship .
F9Y W_misc
shuttle
F
--M
--R
--vehicle
F

--M
---R
3+2
The defendant garage was liable in damages because it took eight weeks to repair a motor
vehicle
when a normally competent garage would have taken about five weeks.
HXD W_ac_polit_law_edu
vessel
F
--M
--R
--Table 2: Category of means of transport as found in COCA:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
aircraft
F
--M

--R
4
The partnership enlisted the help of private-sector executives to help the air base, whose main
mission is to repair military aircraft, operate more efficiently, said retired Maj. Gen. Ron
Smith,
[...]
2003 NEWS Atlanta
boat
F
2+4
Dodge, if this isn't incentive enough to fix that boat, I don't know what is.
2002 FIC
M
1
Where the owls drop the bones of mice and bent seeds of pines, I will be sitting. I will be
mending
your boat.
1991 FIC Ms
R
8+5
Well, as soon as we repair our boat. We'll leave you alone, and the fleet will have no reason to
invade.
1999 FIC Analog
bicycle
F
3+5

If you should fix your bicycle yourself when it breaks down, write A. If you should take it to
a
bicycle repair shop, write E.
2001 MAG ChildLife
M
--R
1+6
The auction raises money for the Sopo Bicycle Cooperative, a nonprofit bike repair shop in
East
Atlanta Village that teaches people how to repair their bicycles and sells cheap repairable
bikes.
2008 NEWS Atlanta
car
F
173+
82
Coquillette, who discovered her love for auto repair after taking a night class to fix her own
car,
has drawn attention from the media for her work converting standard hybrid cars into plug-in
hybrids.
2009 NEWS SanFrancisco
M
1
He moves on, satisfied that someone is mending their car. BEAN approaches the car and
whips out the
fake legs he left there.
1997 FIC Mov:Bean
R
70+32

But if you don't have access to those computer codes, no matter what technology you have,
no matter
how brilliant you are of an auto technician, you still can't repair the car.
2002 SPOK CNN_LiveSun
lorry
F
--M
--R
--ship
F
5+1
The taxpayers have not been given their money back, and of course, the ships haven't been
fixed.
2007 SPOK CBS_Sixty
M
--R
21+7
"Even if we can nurse this creature back to health, I don't see any way that we could help him
repair his ship so that he could go back to his own kind, " Clay said.
1998 FIC Analog
shuttle
F
5

In practice, we have to learn what causes accidents, fix the shuttle, and fly it at least for
another ten or 15 years.
2003 SPOK CNN_KingWknd
M
--R
8
He'd rather have been helping repair the Mars shuttle, not stuck in an office with a bureaucrat
firing pedantic questions at him.
2006 FIC Analog
vehicle
F
7+5
When I said I was calling the police, the male passenger said he could fix my vehicle for
$1,000.
2006 NEWS Atlanta
M
1
It was a society of intimidating and ingenious frugality in which everything was mended -shoes,
clothes, vehicles.
1993 MAG HarpersMag
R
21
A manufacturer may accept your claim and repair the vehicle.
1990 MAG ConsumResrch
Car owners used to be dependable customers, forging a relationship with a service station that
would repair their vehicles as well as fill their tanks [...].

1997 NEWS NewYorkTimes

vessels
F
--M
6
" And what about the divine spark that is in the soul of every living creature? " " God created
me
to be a horse, not to mend His broken vessels. "
1993 FIC Commentary
R
4+6
The next task was to repair and paint the vessels (Anonymous, 1912h). # During July, the
companies
used their own and extra chartered vessels to spread shells on the setting beds.
1996 ACAD MarineFish
Table 3: Comparison table of BNC and COCA for the Category of means of transport:
Vehicles
BNC
COCA
F
M
R
F
M
R
aircraft

1
--5
----4
boat
1
5
4
6
1
13
bicycle
--1
--8
--7
car
20
14
33
265

1
102
lorry
----4
------ship
1
1
8
6
--28
shuttle
------5
--8
vehicle
---

--5
12
1
21
vessels
--------6
10
A slight tendency towards repair can be seen in this category, but other two verbs are
possible,
too, in some cases. The most numerous collocate is car, which has outnumbered all other
collocations by many times in both corpora.
There is a little difference between British and American English while in the BNC the verb
repair has the most examples of the collocation car, in COCA it is the verb fix which
collocates
the most with car. Both numbers are highlighted in the comparison chart above.
The noun lorry was only found in the British corpus, collocating with repair. On the other
hand,
the nouns shuttle and vessels were found only in COCA.
Bicycle in the BNC collocates only with mend, as opposed to COCA, where it was found to
collocate
with the other two verbs, fix and repair.
3.5.2 Category of parts of bodies
The second category is made up by parts of bodies of living organisms. These were
selected as the parts that can be found in a human or animal body that can be fixed, mended
or
repaired.

Table 4: Category of parts of bodies as found in the BNC:

collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
arm
F
--M
--R
1
His consultant was impressed with the speed that the arm was repairing in places.
E9S W_newsp_other_report
body
F
2
She knew her body could be fixed, but she wasn't sure about the important stuff.
CH0 W_fict_prose
M
1+1
She had a unique gift for restoring them to health, and an intuition that led her to free each
into
the wild just when its confidence was regained, its body mended, and its animal fulfilment
clearly
dependent upon the wider world.

AEA W_fict_prose
R
5
The embalmers had used all their skills to repair the body . Queen Margaret muttered
something to
Catesby.
HU0 W_fict_prose
bone
F
--M
1
Your body is capable of many things. It can cope with a cold, fight off a serious illness and
with
time, even mend a broken bone .
CFS W_advert
R
1
Traditionally the damaged bone was either left to repair and replace itself as best it could or
bone was harvested from elsewhere in the body and used to augment the lost bone.
BMK W_non_ac_nat_science
brain
F
--M
--R

--cartilage
F
--M
--R
--cell
F
--M
--R
2 (pl.)
The best and easiest way to ensure that you get a large range of bricks and enough of each
kind of
brick that you need to build and repair your body cells , is to mix the protein foods you take
in
at each meal.
AD0 W_non_ac_medicine
DNA
F
--M
--R

--face
F
--M
2
His face was miraculously mended --; he was given new upper eyelids and a new upper lip --;
but he
was left with very wasted and weakened hands.
GTB W_biography
R
5
18 stitches were needed to repair Aimee Manderson's face .
K1G W_news_script
foot
F
--M
2
" But the foot really is mending ? " " It's fine. Another day or two and I'll be skipping like a
ram on the high hills.
CKF W_fict_prose
R
--hair
F

--M
--R
4
They went straight to the toilets and repaired their makeup and hair .
CR6 W_fict_prose
heart
F
3+1
It took all his willpower and concentration to banish the sound of it, and fix heart and soul on
the celebration of the Mass.
G0M W_fict_prose
M
5
It was about a wife who'd cheated on her husband, she'd left him for his best friend, and now
the
man was on the road trying to mend his broken heart .
C86 W_fict_prose
R
--hip
F
--M
2
His hip 's not mending as quickly as it ought, which makes him very impatient.

GV8 W_fict_prose
R
1
One day she fell and broke her hip : it was repaired in hospital but she remained in some pain
and
was even more precarious on her feet.
FPJ W_ac_soc_science
knee
F
--M
--R
1
He is already missing Hirst, Chris Waddle, John Sheridan and Phil King, who faces several
months on
the sidelines after surgery today to repair damaged knee ligaments.
CH3 W_newsp_tabloid
leg
F
--M
3
"Couldn't Uncle Walter come here till his leg 's mended?" said Philip. "We won't be here,
Philip,"
said his Mum.
ABX W_fict_prose
R

--ligament
F
--M
--R
4 (pl.)
He is already missing Hirst, Chris Waddle, John Sheridan and Phil King, who faces several
months on
the sidelines after surgery today to repair damaged knee ligaments .
CH3 W_newsp_tabloid
muscle
F
--M
--R
--nose
F
2
But doctors fixed his nose and sent him home.
CH6 W_newsp_tabloid
M
---

R
1
There were some valid defences, particularly the poor state of most of the pitches and the
injuries
to Gatting (having returned from getting his nose repaired he promptly had a thumb broken
and
played in only the final Test), but some of the criticisms were very valid, too.
ABR W_misc
shoulder
F
--M
--R
--skin
F
--M
--R
--teeth/tooth
F
1
One Saturday morning she had waited for an hour and a half outside the dentist's where he
had gone
to have a troublesome tooth fixed.

HH9 W_fict_prose
M
--R
1(pl.)
Silver amalgam is still used in teeth in the rear of the mouth, but even then there are aesthetic
considerations favouring the use of tooth-coloured polymer-ceramic composites that are now
routinely used to repair front teeth.
BMK W_non_ac_nat_science
tendon
F
---

M
---

R
1 (pl.)
One feature of tendon repair of which there is no doubt, is that it takes longer than you think
for
tendons to repair well.
KS9 W_pop_lore
tissue
F
--M
---

R
3
Some of that oxygen's used in the processes, together with the proteins to repair damaged
tissue.
FLX S_classroom
vessel
F
--M
--R
2
A Flight Lieutenant underwent surgery to repair a broken blood vessel in the brain.
A67 W_misc
wing
F
--M
4
In France and South Africa, all over the world, the police were looking for him. Had he, too,
mended the broken wings of birds?
H7A W_fict_prose
R
--Table 5: Category of parts of bodies as found in COCA:

collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
arm
F
3+2
Seems to me I knew your family, Henry. Didn't I fix your arm once when you were, oh,
bucked off a
horse?
2005 SPOK NPR_Saturday
M
4
Trainer Bubba Tyer said he expects the bone in Green's right arm to mend earlier than the
ligament
in Lachey's right knee.
1992 NEWS Houston
R
7+2
Doctors told her they had to amputate both her gangrene-infested legs or the infection would
kill
her. She also endured several surgeries to repair her arm and rebuild her face.
2002 SPOK Ind_Oprah
body
F
33
What they hear is you're not OK the way you are, you have to always fix your body, and then
it's

never going to be perfect.

2006 SPOK NBC_Today
M
4
My body began slowly to mend. There were lapses and relapses, of course.
1998 FIC SouthernRev
R
50+8
Now, who could imagine the day when doctors could repair a human body even before birth?
1994 SPOK ABC_20/20
bone
F
2+2
Being gay, the last time I thought about it, seemed to have nothing to do with the ability to
read
a balance book, fix a broken bone, or change a spark plug.
1998 MAG Ms
M
4+11
Inflammation associated with the healing process can cause the nodes to be painful, but after
the
bone has mended the pain often goes away.
2001 MAG ScienceNews
R
7+8
Portis, who was placed on the injured reserve list yesterday after having surgery to repair a
broken bone in his right hand Monday, will undergo additional surgery soon to repair a torn
labrum
in his left shoulder, which was partially dislocated on the opening drive of the preseason.

2006 NEWS WashingtonPost

brain
F
6+1
We can fix the brain, and we're learning more and more with each passing week and each
passing
month exactly how true that is.
2002 SPOK CBS_48Hours
Imagine: an endless supply of young neurons to fix damaged brains, cardiac cells to repair
damaged
hearts, or pancreatic cells to create insulin for people with diabetes.
2005 MAG Smithsonian
M
--R
6+2
" Coco, " the Colorado toddler said, uttering her nickname for the first time. Those two
syllables
marked a milestone in stem-cell therapy, helping prove that infusing a baby with its own stem
cells
can repair a brain ravaged by cerebral palsy.
2008 NEWS Denver
cartilage
F
--M
--R
20

The Western was your first win since last year's surgery to repair torn cartilage in your right
wrist.
2005 MAG GolfMag
cell
F
--M
--R
21 (pl.)
You need some LDL in order to survive -- it helps produce sex hormones and build and repair
cells,
including brain tissue, while triglycerides transport energy throughout the body.
2005 MAG MensHealth
DNA
F
1
The cell's DNA is not fixed the way a normal cell's is.
2004 MAG Fortune
M
--R
27
Everybody gets two copies of normal BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes. When they function
properly, they
repair damaged DNA.
2008 NEWS Houston

face
F
5
Unfortunately, the doctors just couldn't do anything to fix your face! He cackles as he heads
for
the door.
2005 FIC Mov:FantasticFour
M
4
Sidur's shattered face was slow to mend.
1994 MAG Smithsonian
R
8
He underwent more than 70 operations to repair his face.
1990 MAG Newsweek
foot
F
1
We're going to see the nice man who's going to help get your foot fixed, and then you can run
around and jump and... oh, play soccer.
2004 FIC Bk:Islands
M
--R
4
Forward Larry Stewart (surgery to repair broken right foot) is on the injured list

1994 NEWS USAToday

hair
F
--M
--R
2
Then make the most of your time in the steam; thanks to the combo of skin-softening heat
and
cleansing water, it's the perfect opportunity to unclog pores, repair damaged hair, and take
care
of a host of other crucial beauty chores.
2009 MAG Cosmopolitan
heart
F
10+4
I pretty much laid it out:' This is a bad deal, but let's follow it. We'll fix the heart, and we'll
deal with the tumor,' " Sutton says.
2008 MAG People
M
10+4
But first, a new way to mend a broken heart. Doctors have shown, for the first time in a
controlled
study, that they can inject stem cells into the hearts of patients suffering from heart failure,
and these adult stem cells taken from the patients' own bone marrow will, in effect,
regenerate the
heart tissue and significantly improve heart function.
2004 SPOK NPR_Science
R

23+8
She underwent a successful operation to repair her heart, and Levin was gratified to watch her
first-born blossom rapidly into a healthy, happy baby.
2005 MAG TodaysParent
One day, heart patients may be able to use their own skin cells to repair their hearts, using a
new
type of stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS).
2009 MAG SatEvenPost
hip
F
3+1
" I sent him roses, " she laughs. " I send everybody yellow roses, it's my way of saying thank
you.
And he did fix my hip. "
1994 FIC Bk:NorthMontana
M
5
They haven't got the balls to admit her hip won't ever mend, but they'll take my money to cut
on
her again, if I let them.
1994 FIC ArkansasRev
R
3
He had one about 12 years ago, according to family spokesman Chapin Day. Oddly enough,
in 2005
another well-known Bay Area broadcaster, sports announcer Bill King, also died following
surgery to
repair his artificial hip.
2007 NEWS SanFrancisco
knee

F
6+2
Just once, Robby had remembered the dreary city apartment near the hospital where the
doctors were
trying to fix daddy's knee.
1994 FIC SatEvenPost
M
3 (pl.)
Blue bonder: Millard Judy's laser mends sheep's knees.
1998 MAG TechReview
R
6+1
One was a patient referred to him, Alan Minvielle of Aptos, Calif., who almost died of
gangrene
after an earlier operation to repair an injured knee.
2002 NEWS NewYorkTimes
leg
F
9+2
Well, you just lie quiet and I'll fix your leg. Here, that's all right. Everything OK? Fine.
1992 SPOK CNN_King
M
5
I just wanted to hide out when we got here, But six weeks ago, I saw a boy hit by a car and I
went
out and helped mend his leg. And his mother knew what I was doing.
1996 FIC FantasySciFi
R

7+3
At the hospital, doctors worked to repair his leg and replenish his blood supply.
2002 NEWS CSMonitor
ligament
F
1
Partial tears can often be treated without surgery. But the decision to fix a severed ligament
surgically depends on several factors: # Is the person young and/or very active? If so, he or
she
will need the stability provided by the ACL. # Will the knee instability put the person at risk
of
meniscal damage?
1990 MAG Prevention
M
--R
18+10
Redshirt freshman offensive guard Vincent Dinkins underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a
torn
medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
1991 NEWS Atlanta
muscle
F
3
Had hip surgery in' 98 to fix a muscle pulling away from his pelvis.
2000 NEWS USAToday
M
2

Use cherries to mend muscle # Recover from hefting 200 pounds of iron by lifting 12 ounces
of
cherry juice.
2006 MAG MensHealth
R
2+9
The method, which is strikingly straightforward and easy to perform, centers on injecting
portions
of a patient's blood directly into the injured area, which catalyzes the body's instincts to repair
muscle, bone and other tissue.
2009 NEWS NewYorkTimes
nose
F
21
Nikos Spanakos has a bad back and still has operations to fix his nose, oft-broken in his
boxing
days.
2008 NEWS NewYorkTimes
M
--R
5+1
I will send other assemblers to repair his damaged nose and face.
2002 FIC Analog
shoulder
F
1+1
There's that crooked finger, and the scar from where doctors fixed a dislocated shoulder.
1997 NEWS Denver

M
--R
8+1
Utah quarterback BRIAN JOHNSON, offensive MVP of the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl, is
throwing pain-free
after off-season surgery to repair his right shoulder, which he separated in the first game of'
07.
2008 MAG SportsIll
skin
F
1
" How will you fix her skin? " he asks. " I can bleach it.
2001 FIC Bk:FigEater
M
2
He had helped heal burn victims of all ages, mended their skin, disguised their scars, but
never
one with burns of such magnitude.
2002 FIC LiteraryRev
R
9
Meanwhile, skin-smoothing vitamin A goes the distance to repair skin in the long run.
2009 MAG Redbook
teeth/tooth
F
8+36

Surely she's got dental insurance. Why doesn't she fix that tooth?
2004 FIC Bk:GoodGrief
He has lost 25-30 pounds from a body that had no fat to spare and is eager for a dentist to fix
two
front teeth that were pushed up into his gum.
2001 NEWS Atlanta
M
1
In the morning, her two attendants, the engineer and fireman, came with the blacksmith to
mend her
broken tooth.
1997 MAG ChildLife
R
1+2
He turned slightly and smiled in response. The ragged tooth had been repaired.
1993 FIC AntiochRev
Los Medicos Voladores, a 26-year-old volunteer organization based in Los Gatos, flies
volunteer
health care professionals to Mexico at least once a month to repair broken teeth, give exams,
dispense medicines and fix serious wounds that would otherwise remain untended.
2000 NEWS SanFrancisco
tendon
F
--M
--R
17+3
Glavine, placed on the disabled list Friday with a torn flexor tendon in his left elbow, plans to

have surgery to repair the tendon.

2008 NEWS AssocPress
tissue
F
--M
1 (passive) + 1
He was 20 years old at the time and spent much of 1983 in rehab waiting for bones and tissue
and
mind to mend.
2007 MAG OutdoorLife
That pathway is what makes the laser so useful in treating patients with eye disorders; the
pupil
acts as a natural window through which laser beams can enter to mend tissues deep within the
eye.
1990 MAG ConsumResrch
R
20+6
Immune cells secrete proteins called cytokines (shown as red dots in this simplified drawing)
that
trigger inflammatory responses to eradicate infectious agents and repair damaged tissue.
2008 MAG ScienceNews
vessel
F
1 (pl.)
Radiant Medical of Redwood City, Calif. and Alsius Corp. of Irvine, Calif. - plan studies on
victims of strokes and cardiac arrest, as well as on patients whose brain circulation must be
stopped temporarily so doctors can fix broken blood vessels inside their heads.
2000 NEWS AssocPress
M

--R
1+2
Others think there is more evidence that the stem cells repair blood vessels and flow damaged
by a
stroke, bringing crucial blood that in turn repairs brain tissue.
2008 NEWS Denver
wing
F
3
Papa had promised Caitlyn that a surgeon might fix the dove's broken wing, and she had
prayed all
the way from the collective that God would allow it.
2008 FIC Bk:BrokenAngel
M
3
One mends the wing of a bird so that it can fly away.
1997 ACAD HospitalTopic
R
--Table 6: Comparison table of the BNC and COCA for the category of parts of bodies:
Parts of body
BNC
COCA
F
M

R
F
M
R
arm
----1
5
4
9
body
2
2
5
33
4
58
bone
--1
1
4
15
15

brain
------7
--8
cartilage
----------20
cell
----2
----21
DNA
-------

1
--27
face
--2
5
5
4
8
foot
--2
--1
--4
hair
----4
----2
heart

4
5
--14
14
31
hip
--2
1
4
5
3
knee
----1
8
3
7
leg
--3
--11

5
10
ligament
----4
1
--28
muscle
------3
2
11
nose
2
--1
21
--6
shoulder
---

----2
--9
skin
------1
2
9
teeth/tooth
1
--1
44
1
3
tendon
----1
-----

20
tissue
----3
--2
26
vessel
----2
1
--3
wing
--4
--3
3
--This semantic group does not show any significant preference to one of the verbs. But,
following from the comparison chart above, there are some differences between BNC and
COCA.
The noun DNA was found only in COCA, collocating with verbs fix only in one case
and

repair with 27 tokens.

There is a difference between BNC and COCA in case of the noun foot. In BNC, it
collocates only with the verb mend, whereas in COCA it is possible both with fix and repair.
In the case of the object heart, the BNC shows that only fix and mend are possible to
use. On the contrary, in COCA, the verb repair represents the most tokens of the three verbs.
In case of the collocate leg, only mend is possible in BNC. All three verbs are possible
in COCA, fix with the most hits and repair being second in sequence.
The nouns muscle, shoulder and skin were found only in COCA, collocating with all
three
verbs (except for shoulder, which collocates only with fix and repair).
Body and tooth represent the most frequent collocates in COCA for the verb fix. Body
also
collocates with repair in COCA, being the most numerous object in this semantic group with
58
tokens.
Concerning the nouns cell and tissue, there is also another sense when collocating with
fix. In this case, fix means to use chemical solution for preserving or researching the reaction
of
the cells or tissue. This sense is obviously not synonymous to that of mend and repair, so it
had
to be counted out of the tokens.
3.5.3 Category of problems, defects and malfunctions
Following is a chart of the category of actual problems, defects and malfunctions that
are to be set right or remedied:
Table 7: Category of problems, defects and malfunctions as found in the BNC:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
breach
F
---

M
1
In reality, however, such expectations were entirely unfounded, for by now neither Henry nor
Thomas
Cromwell had any great desire to mend the breach , or at least not on terms that would
undermine
the newly promulgated royal supremacy.
CLM W_non_ac_humanities_arts
R
1
As long as they conformed outwardly, they were fairly safe, for Elizabeth and her ministers
had to
tread carefully to repair the breaches of confidence in the Tudor monarchy that Mary's
policies had
opened.
CB6 W_non_ac_humanities_arts
bug
F
2 (pl.)
This means that you do not have to exit the editor, compile the program, run the program,
then
reload the editor to fix any bugs .
HAC W_pop_lore
M
--R
--crack
F
---

M
2 (pl.)
Your job, however, is to mend any plausible cracks you observe --; to do a better survey,
measuring
and controlling important new variables --; not to walk away from the edifice declaring it to
be a
hazard.
B16 W_ac_soc_science
R
9 (pl.)
Roll out pastry and line tin. Press into corners and repair any cracks . Chill for 10 mins.
C8B W_pop_lore
damage
F
1
Even if he had been able to fix the damage , Manville had no desire to drive through the
streets of
Washington with the slogan "Fuck U Honkies" sprayed in bright red aerosol paint on the iceblue
hood of the Ford.
CDA W_fict_prose
M
7
Western economic pressure may be creating mental ill-health in the Third World; and Western
"hi-tech" psychiatric methods are so inappropriate in this context that they may be doing little
to
mend the damage .
HH3 W_non_ac_polit_law_edu
R
144+4

Only then can we begin to repair the damage caused since the Tories came to power.
HLU S_speech_scripted
defect
F
--M
--R
1+1
To repair the defect, first use a sharp knife to make two cuts at right angles across the blister.
AM5 W_instructional
fault
F
2+1
Peace be to Lieutenant Denholm but he's a civilian electronics specialist who's come out to
fix
some abstruse electronic fault that only he can fix.
CKC W_fict_prose
M
1
But the road is a public road, and I don't see why men with a nice yellow telephone van
shouldn't
dig a hole in it -- they're always digging holes in roads, to mend faults , or put in new lines, or
something
H0D W_fict_prose
R
2+6

Corporal T, the REME technician, is dragged out of bed to repair a minor fault on the
Wheelbarrow.
A77 W_non_ac_soc_science
flaw
F
--M
--R
--fracture
F
--M
--R
2 (pl.)
My job is to treat cancer, repair fractures or control disease.
A17 W_pop_lore
hole
F
1+1
"I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in'
CBU W_commerce
M
4+1

Mrs Wood was mending a hole in Linda's school dress.

GV3 W_fict_prose
R
3+3
A foot has been put through the loft floor and now a hole needs to be repaired in a lath and
plaster bedroom ceiling.
CCY W_instructional
injury
F
1
Mansell said that recent bone surgery on his left foot to fix a lingering injury was sore
occasionally, but should not prove a hindrance.
K5J W_newsp_other_social
M
1
But the injury can't be mended and vets say she'll have to be put down.
K1L W_news_script
R
1+2
As it oozes from the wound, it solidifies and so repairs the injury .
F9F W_non_ac_nat_science
leak
F
2+3
A serious leak. She battled for weeks to get the compound manager to fix the leak.
ABS W_pop_lore

M
1 (pl.)
Examples include cutting through rusty screws and bolts on things like gutters, and mending
plumbing leaks.
AM5 W_instructional
R
2+3
Archway stations late last night. Greasy turkey A DRIVER called out the AA to repair an oil
leak
after he hit a frozen turkey lying in the road.
CBF W_newsp_other_report
mess
F
--M
--R
1
It'll be easier to clean the whole lot off than to try to repair the mess .
HJC W_fict_prose
mistake
F
--M
--R

--pothole
F
--M
1
[]when you consider that the reason that the potholes don't get mended is because
government
legislation has it that we have to actually []
KN3 S_meeting
R
1
[---]it's the second page, third up from the bottom, we promise to repair potholes that are
considered dangerous []
KN3 S_meeting
problem
F
14+10
We judge ourselves by the time from call-out to getting the problem fixed which is an
average of 63
minutes," he said.
K2K W_newsp_other_commerce
M
--R
1+1
When this happens, it is vital that the conflict be resolved and that broken or strained
relationships which may have given rise to the problem be repaired .

FPY W_religion
puncture
F
1
When the best man cleared his throat and announced that he was going to fix the puncture he
had
before leaving, all Moran's children followed him out to the road and stood around as he got
levers
and patches and solution.
A6N W_fict_prose
M
2+2
He knew how to change the washer on a tap, and make pastry, and mend a bicycle puncture.
AC4 W_fict_prose
R
3
That episode made me quickly learn how to repair a puncture and from that time on I always
carried
a repair outfit.
B22 W_biography
ravage
F
--M
--R
5 (pl.)
Dressed in silk and ablaze with jewellery, apparently to prove that Donna's inheritance was
no

myth, Mavis Bricknell stumbled off towards the toilet room at the dome car's entrance saying
she
must repair the ravages to her face, and presently she came back, screaming loudly.
BP9 W_fict_prose
rift
F
--M
1
A visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, last weekend by Strobe Talbott, America's
ambassador-at-large to the former Soviet countries, brought hope that the rift could be
mended.
CRA W_pop_lore
R
2
The conference also provided an opportunity for Australia and Fiji to repair the rift in their
bilateral relations which dated from the two military coups in Fiji in 1987.
HLM W_non_ac_polit_law_edu
tear
F
--M
1+1
As Gabriel took his seat at the top of the pageant, hidden by a wooden cloud, Garvey robed
himself
down below in the Mason's wedding robe, and Izzie emerged from nowhere to mend the tear
in the
shoulder-seam.
HTN W_fict_prose
R

2
It might even be, she thought hopefully, that a strip of sticky paper would come out with the
stamps, so that she could repair the tear in the envelope!
B0B W_fict_prose
wound
F
--M
1 (pl.)
People all over the Gulf wanted to support the uprising and build hospitals and clinics to
mend the
wounds of the Palestinians.
FRL W_ac_soc_science
R
1 (pl.)
[...] it absorbs the digestion products of the old cuticle, repairs wounds and differentiates in
such a way as to determine the surface patterns of the insect.
EVW W_ac_nat_science
Table 8: Category of problems, defects and malfunctions as found in COCA:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
breach
F
2

The Corps of Engineers and the state national guard have been working around the clock with
the
local officials and they've built the levee -- they've fixed the levee breach and they've built the
levee up higher than it was over the weekend.
1993 SPOK CBS_Morning
M
1
The King already bids the breach be mended; And you well know that I, who feel your grief,
Will
spare no pains to bring your heart relief.
2009 FIC The Hudson Review
R
10+1
And WWL-TVs reporter, Lucy Bustamante (ph), was up in a chopper this afternoon, reported
that from
noon to 4 when she was circling around the area, she saw no efforts to repair the breach even
late
this afternoon.
2005 SPOK MSNBC_Carlson
bug
F
9+31
Testing of Qwest's operational systems for ease of use by competitors is now six weeks
behind
schedule after a delay to fix a bug in the system.
2001 NEWS Denver
M
--R
1

You're a big company, and you've already spent $ 50 million (to repair the millennium bug).
1999 NEWS USAToday
crack
F
5+1
A dozen years had passed, and the Spartans still hadn't fixed a crack in the ceiling.
2001 NEWS Houston
He looked at the ceiling where the landlord still hadn't fixed the cracks, and he sank down
deep
inside himself and wished Carl would go home.
1995 FIC VirginiaQRev
M
1
He's fat, not overweight like Jacob's father but pasty-fat, his skin puffy, pale, every breath
comes hard, and when he sits he has to draw himself down slowly into the leather library
chair that
looks as if it finished its best days 50 years ago. Someone has mended a crack with duct tape.
2003 FIC Commentary
R
5+15
I did not do much on it, but I do know that it is well made. The crack can be repaired. " " It
certainly will be. We will hold a meeting about this tomorrow.
2004 FIC ChildDigest
It all seems quite amazing-until I remind myself of the small fortune spent on my own,
modest,
inner city campus to keep the grounds crew planting bulbs, trimming bushes, reseeding the
lawns and
repairing recurrent cracks in the concrete of the main plaza.
1998 ACAD AmerStudies
damage

F
40+5
And it would cost them another $ 1700 on top of what they'd already paid to fix the hidden
damage.
1998 SPOK NBC_Dateline
M
7
If a rift occurs, you must travel back in time to mend the damage and its effects on the future.
1994 MAG Compute
R
606+
19
The implications of this redevelopment project stretch far beyond Fairfax County, as suburbs
and
exurbs across the country look for ways to repair the damage from five decades of outward,
rather
than upward, expansion.
2009 MAG Time
[...], which should produce an absolute minimum of pollution and aim to repair
environmental
damages of the past.
2007 ACAD TechTeacher
defect
F
3+11
The doctors had thought she would do better if they fixed the defect in her heart.
1994 FIC Bk:RockingBabies
M
---

R
10+15
For cases of simple pneumocephalus, decompression is rarely performed since the
intracranial air is
gradually reabsorbed after the skull base defect has been repaired.
2008 ACAD EarNoseThroat
fault
F
2+3
Fix every fault in your game in as little as three days at the nation's top learning centers, the
ultimate stops for expert advice, state-of-the-art technology, personalized attention and--lest
we
forget--a lot of fun.
2008 MAG GolfMag
M
1 (pl.)
Can I mend these faults and supply these Defects?
1996 ACAD SocialHistory
R
--flaw
F
9+29
The insecurity you're dealing with may be more psychological, but for many, it seems simpler
to fix
the external flaw than confront the internal issues.
2006 MAG Cosmopolitan
M

5+2
The stain of the sin of the Tree was marked on every man born of woman; and since he could
not
cleanse himself of this stain, his hands were incapable of mending the divine primeval flaw.
1993 FIC Commentary
R
7 (pl.)
Within the new corporate structure, he bore a heavy responsibility: to repair the flaws of
industry
by means of a new type of ethical administrative leadership characterized by a more sensitive
social vision.
2001 ACAD AmerStudies
fracture
F
2+2
You can't fix a fracture quickly!
1998 MAG Bicycling
M
3 (pl.)
They had the power to reduce swellings and mend fractures through placing a large, coiled,
wrought-iron bracelet in the shape of a python onto the wounded limb.
2008 ACAD AfricanArts
R
7+5
You see, this is the nail that we put in-the orthopedic surgeon, just to repair the fracture that
is here.
2004 SPOK CNN_Presents
hole
F

16+22
It was summer, trucks were coming to the grain elevator, and my brother and I had gone up to
the
roof to fix a hole.
1995 FIC Triquarterly
M
3+6
Well, mend the hole in your pants " before you actually fill their pocket with dimes and
quarters.
1990 SPOK ABC_Brinkley
R
27+17
The story recounts surgeons' efforts to repair a hole in a 12-year-old girl's heart.
1994 MAG Omni
injury
F
2
But they can't take away the pain you'll experience until the injury is fixed.
2009 FIC Analog
M
--R
19+19
He ran his hand over her face. " I broke her nose trying to keep her from killing me. " " Will
she
live with that injury?
2009 FIC Analog

leak
F
26+14
I'd been working in vain for years to fix a leak in the corner of the living room that dripped
whenever a strong rain blew in from the east, and the balcony floor was beginning to get a
little
spongy in one place I'd soon have to fix.
2006 FIC Bk:SecondSight
M
1 (pl.)
When an earthquake hit the San Diego area, Softub was saved not only by a staff of dedicated
workers but also by the company's division in Columbus, Ohio, which continued to take
orders while
the Chatsworth office mended leaks in clients' tubs.
1994 MAG Inc.
R
22+14
It's difficult, if not impossible, to repair a leak without draining the pond.
1992 MAG MotherEarth
mess
F
24+1
We will have to do exceptional things, as we have done already, to fix this mess.
2009 SPOK ABC_ThisWeek
M
--R
2

Look for him to repair that mess over the summer.

2006 NEWS SanFrancisco
mistake
F
13+32
They thought that someone else had stolen their portion of glory, and that if they could fix
that
mistake all of the bad things they had done would be erased and their lives would be healed.
2010 FIC Bk:EveningsEmpire
M
--R
3 (pl.)
Tina Hesman Saey One possible way to demethylate DNA takes advantage of a system that
repairs
mistakes.
2008 MAG ScienceNews
pothole
F
3+9
[]given the press rare tours of the mayor's suite in City Hall; pledged to fix every pothole in
the city; dealt with the backlash of dismissing 60 employees []
2002 NEWS Atlanta
M
--R
2 (pl.)
In all of fiscal 2009, the county repaired 756 potholes, Shelton said.

2010 NEWS AJC

problem
F
845+
640
Oh, the problem is definitely fixable, but do you know what? This problem will never be
fixed if
you just tinker on the margin.
2009 SPOK NPR_TellMore
M
3
Those drastic funding problems were slowly mended with the rise of state income taxes in the
1910s
and state sales taxes in the 1930s, both of which gave the states new revenue streams to tap.
1996 MAG WashMonth
R
20+37
The graphs at right show the percentage of ranges bought new between 2000 and 2006 that
were ever
repaired or had a serious problem that was not repaired.
2007 MAG ConsumRep
puncture
F
1+1
The backpacker's old standby, duct tape, will temporarily fix a puncture but will inevitably
leak
during the course of the night.
1997 MAG Backpacker
M

--R
1
This includes blowouts caused by impacts, nonrepairable sidewall damage (sidewall
punctures should
never be repaired), cuts, snags, or any puncture in the tread that is too large to repair.
1991 MAG ConsumResrch
ravage
F
--M
--R
1 (pl.)
Now there are an increasing number of products-as well as new technologies-to repair the
ravages of
time.
2001 MAG GoodHouse
rift
F
--M
10+4
And I think if we ever were conscious of the need to mend the rift between races, it came in
those
late' 60s and into the' 70s.
1998 SPOK NPR_Saturday
R

4+2
After recruiting new prayer-leaders, Kauder set about to repair the biggest social rift in the
village of Pomquet.
2002 ACAD AmerStudies
tear
F
3 (pl-)
So many ways to fish it. Rub on a little fresh silicone to fix the tears from fish teeth. I call
them Siliclones.
1995 MAG OutdoorLife
M
7+6
The tear had been mended, but the ball had acquired a lopsided bounce if it landed on the
patched
place.
2000 MAG ChildLife
R
10+10
Lawrence Taylor underwent surgery to repair the tear in his Achilles' tendon and doctors said
the
New York Giants linebacker might be able to begin running in four months.
1992 NEWS AssocPress
wound
F
1+2
He fought to live long enough to fix the wound in my soul caused by his absence.
2007 FIC TribalCollege
M

9 (pl.)
For the past five years, a team of psychologists, African traditional healers, and art therapists
have worked to mend the emotional wounds of about 150 former soldiers who live among
grass huts and
banana trees on remote Josina Machel Island.
1999 NEWS CSMonitor
R
5+6
The idea that a monument can somehow repair a wound is passe in these circles.
2001 NEWS CSMonitor
Table 9: Comparison table of the BNC and COCA for the Category of problems, defects and
malfunctions:
Problems, defects and malfunctions
BNC
COCA
F
M
R
F
M
R
breach
--1
1
2

1
11
bug
2
----40
--1
crack
--2
9
6
1
20
damage
1
7
148
45
7
625
defect
---

--2
14
--25
fault
3
1
8
5
1
--flaw
------38
7
7
fracture
----2
4
3

12
hole
2
5
6
38
9
44
injury
1
1
3
2
--38
leak
5
1
5
40
1
36
mess
-----

1
25
--2
mistake
------45
--3
pothole
--1
1
12
--2
problem
24
--2
1485
3
57

puncture
1
4
3
2
--1
ravage
----5
----1
rift
--1
2
--14
6
tear
--2
2

3
13
20
wound
--1
1
3
9
11
Quite strong preference towards both fix and repair can be observed in this semantic
category. Mend is represented by only a few tokens, in contrast with other two verbs.
In the case of the noun bug the difference between British and American corpora is
obvious. As it is of American origin, there are more tokens in COCA for the verb fix 40, in
comparison with BNC with 2 tokens.
In the case of damage, we can see that repair has the most tokens of the three verbs,
although the corpora shows that mend and fix have also occurred in texts.
With the noun defect we can observe a difference between the individual corpora.
While in
BNC it was found only collocating with repair with 2 tokens, in COCA it collocates both with
fix
and repair.
Another interesting situation is with the object flaw. It does not have any tokens in BNC,
while in
COCA all the verbs are represented, with fix having the most tokens.
A difference between the corpora can also be seen in the noun fault. In BNC it has most
hits with repair. On the other hand, in COCA it does not collocate with repair at all.
A difference between British and American English can be observed in case of noun
mess.
Whereas in BNC it was found only in one case collocating with repair, in COCA it had 25
hits with
fix and 2 hits with repair. Thus in British English it collocates only with repair (if we can
reason from one token) and in COCA it strongly prefers the verb fix.

Another difference between the two corpora can be seen in the noun mistake. In BNC it
does not collocate with any of the three verbs. In COCA, on the other hand, it collocates with
repair (with 3 tokens) and with fix it has even 45 tokens.
Problem shows a very strong preference for the use of the verb fix. Mend and repair
here
are represented only by a fraction, in BNC mend does not collocate with problem at all.
The noun puncture also shows different preferences in the two corpora. In BNC the
most
collocations are found with the verb mend, but other two verbs are also represented. In
COCA it was
found only collocating with fix and repair. The verb mend was not found as collocating at all.
3.5.4 Category of parts of clothing and fabric
Another category is made up by collocations of parts of clothing and fabric:
Table 10: Category of parts of clothing and fabrics as found in the BNC:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
boots
F
--M
5 (pl.)
In the room afterwards he'd wondered why Amanda didn't bother about the holes in her tights
or the
fact that her boots needed mending
HDC W_fict_prose
R
3 (pl.)

Hari nodded, she was glad of the trade, orders had dropped off lately and now she no longer
had the
boots of Edward Morris to repair , she was finding work hard to come by.
CKD W_fict_prose
clothes
F
--M
14
Lizaveta once mended his clothes : when we puzzle over the chance-induced actuality of her
murder
being so largely left to speak for itself we are creating a false problem by the inertness of our
own metaphor.
A18 W_ac_humanities_arts
R
1
He married a girl who was with a firm who repaired old clothes .
B24 W_non_ac_soc_science
clothing
F
--M
2
This is a shortening of "not fit to be a patch on" (ie you wouldn't try to mend an expensive
item
of clothing with an inferior bit of material).
CBC W_newsp_other_social
R

--coat
F
--M
--R
--curtains
F
--M
--R
--dress
F
--M
--R
1
Why then attempt to patch up an old overall as if one were repairing a sumptuous evening
dress?
EBS W_pop_lore
fabric

F
--M
--R
2+1
We needed a new propeller, windshield, wing struts, rudder and other parts to repair the fabric
.
BNV W_pop_lore
garment
F
--M
1
The " May " refers to hawthorn blossom rather than the month, and " clout " is derived from
the Old
English word " klut " meaning a piece of cloth, particularly a patch used to mend a garment .
CBC W_newsp_other_social
R

jacket
F
--M
1

Zylpha washing clothes in the beck, old Katie mending a torn jacket, Jake dismantling two
old
bicycles and trying to make one good one out of the spare parts, and Rosie, the little
riddle-me-ree girl, splashing naked in the water.
ACK W_fict_prose
R
1
Seated by the window was Nancy, repairing Sikes' old jacket.
FRK W_fict_prose
linen
F
--M
1
And yet Raskolnikov's greater enormity is that having forgotten to bolt the door after killing
the
money-lender he is surprised by her half-sister, the woman who mends linen and has mended
his in
her time, apparently always pregnant, through simplicity, [...]
A18 W_ac_humanities_arts
R
--pants
F
--M
--R
---

shirt
F
--M
--R
--shoes
F
--M
12 (pl.)
Because he had he used to have a big open fire there and all the kids would be sitting round it
keeping warm while he was mending the shoes.
HML S_interview_oral_history
R
2+
11
Not only does she repair shoes as good as any man, but she fights for her rights, too.
CKD W_fict_prose
socks
F
--M
2 (pl.)

She read and read and read while her aunt mended the socks of her husband and brothers or
sewed
innumerable buttons on their shirts.
FRC W_fict_prose
R
--stockings
F
--M
3 (pl.)
And Miss Temple, please make sure the girls" stockings are mended more carefully. Some of
them have
a lot of holes.
FR6 W_fict_prose
R
--trouser
F
--M
1
Nigel decided to take up jogging again in the grounds and got Flora to lend him a sewing kit
to
mend his trousers .
AC3 W_fict_prose
R
---

zipper
F
--M
--R
--Table 11: Category of parts of clothing and fabrics as found in COCA:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
boots
F
1 (pl.)
Besides, many repair shops don't carry the tools to fix boots with this design.
1997 MAG Backpacker
M
2
[...], a ruined arm, one pair of checkered pants, the equivalent of ninety-three marks, and a
pair
of boots mended with copper wire, [...]
2003 FIC KenyonRev
R
3 (pl.)

Boots can be shined and repaired, keys made, jewelry melted and transformed into something
new.
2003 NEWS Houston
clothes
F
--M
30
Gordon wisely said nothing. Although the rider's clothes were mended and patched, the bridle
held
medallions of silver and the saddle was carved with ornate flowers.
2008 FIC Bk:EnglishHorses
R
4
Men and women from eleven sample households in Santa Cruz and Palomas make or repair
clothes on
home sewing machines, [...]
1997 ACAD Ethnology
clothing
F
--M
5
My mother sat up for a long time with Kurbantach, the two of them mending old clothing and
talking
about something in low voices.
1996 FIC WorldLitToday
R
4

Our furnace burned wood we collected from the farm, and my mother made and repaired our
clothing
using a Singer sewing machine powered by a foot pedal.
2009 MAG America
coat
F
--M
2
And we have to get your coat mended, too.
2001 FIC NewYorker
R
--curtain
F
1
" Can you fix the curtain in the parlor? It's falling off. "
2007 FIC BkSF:ForeverBlue
M
1
Then the cloud passed. Light returned, revealing a greasy fingerprint on the edge of the
screen, a
fissure of thread where one of the curtains had been mended.
2001 FIC SouthwestRev
R
--dress

F
--M
7+1
Now, hundreds of tourists a year pay the monks a small entrance fee to see the catacombs'
occupants, but family members no longer visit, and there's no one to mend a torn dress or
reset a
dislocated jaw.
2003 ACAD Archaeology
R
2
The dress could be repaired far more easily than the skinned hands and knees that had been
almost
daily occurrences since they'd left the train.
2009 FIC Bk:PaperRoses
fabric
F
--M
1
The flag itself was a tattered web of translucent gossamer the color of parchment, with
patches of
brown and scarlet where the fragile fabric had been mended in centuries past.
1991 FIC BkSF:Adept
R
2
While family members repaired tattered fabric, Bourgeois saw the bonds that knit them
together
unravel.

1993 NEWS CSMonitor

garment
F
--M
2+3
McMichael told Ailey to mend the garment immediately or she would hit her, and before
Alley could
respond, McMichael slapped her face.
2009 ACAD GeorgiaHisQ
R
1
Wardrobe assistant Jesli Banks repairs a garment. Hairstylist Johnny Wright styles model
Tonya
Dolphin's hair.
2007 MAG Ebony
jacket
F
---

M
1
Meanwhile, Elspeth tended her rose geraniums and mended the jacket of a suit well-made in
the first
place, of wool and silk.
1991 FIC VirginiaQRev
R
---

linen
F
--M
2
They also resembled aged cloth, reminding her of her family's trove of patched and mended
linens
when she was a child.
1996 MAG AmericanCraft
R
--pants
F
4
She sat down to rest. Poor Papa, she thought. I'll fix those pants so he can wear them
tomorrow.
2010 FIC Bk:PapasNewPants
M
3
He mended pants, darned socks, and plastered his picture window so densely in sale apparel
that you
could barely see inside the store.
2001 FIC Yankee
R
1
His ripped pants have been temporarily repaired with big pieces of masking tape.
1993 FIC Mov:FatalInstinct
shirt

F
--M
7+4
His valet, Harper, looked up from the shirt he was mending.
2006 FIC Bk:ShesNoPrincess
R
--shoes
F
5 (pl.)
Will's going fishing in the Adirondacks. I've got to get my shoes fixed on 82nd and
Amsterdam. I
could come by your place after if you like.
1992 FIC Commentary
M
5 (pl.)
Mostly, they are watching television, or mending shoes, or eating dinner.
1996 FIC MassachRev
R
1+16
Nate Caudell tried on the shoes Kelly had repaired. He walked a few steps, smiled broadly.
1992 FIC BkSF:GunsSouth
socks
F
---

M
2 (pl.)
She was not impressed. By that point, she would spend part of the day sitting up in bed,
mending my
father's socks and moaning, " Agatha, whatever are we going to do? "
2006 FIC FantasySciFi
R
--stockings
F
--M
5 (pl.)
From then on, the daughters would be mending their own black lisle stockings.
2005 FIC America
R
--trousers
F
--M
2
Still he was glad, and, when he looked at his trousers that she'd mended, he shook his head
and
smiled.
2007 FIC NewEnglandRev
R

--zipper
F
2
She had been planning to fix the zipper for me on my book bag.
2005 FIC LiteraryRev
M
--R
7 (pl.)
Tents: perform general sewing repairs, such as fixing holes and patching bug net; repair or
replace
zippers.
1997 MAG Backpacker
Table 12: Comparison table of the BNC and COCA for the Category of parts of clothing and
fabric:
Parts of clothing and fabric
BNC
COCA
F
M
R
F
M
R
boots

--5
3
1
2
3
clothes
--14
1
--30
4
clothing
--2
----5
4
coat
---------

2
--curtains
------1
1
--dress
----1
--8
2
fabric
----3
--1
2
garment
---

1
----5
1
jacket
--1
1
--1
--linen
--1
----2
--pants
------4
3

1
shirt
--------11
--shoes
--12
13
5
5
17
socks
--2
----2
--stockings
--3

----5
--trousers
--1
----2
--zipper
------2
--7
A tendency toward use of the verb mend can be observed within this category. Fix has no
collocates
in BNC in this category and only a few in COCA. Of course, fix does collocate with parts of
clothing, but in a different sense in these cases fix mostly refers to adjusting, modifying and
neatening. I have not included this sense in the research. Repair is also represented by a
portion
of objects, except for shoes in both BNC and COCA and zipper in COCA. This could be due
to
different techniques and processes used in repairing shoes and zippers than in mending parts
of
clothing.
The most numerous collocate in this category is clothes, collocating with mend in both
corpora. It

also collocates with repair, but has less hits in this case. Shirt is also frequent, but only in
COCA. In BNC it is not represented at all.
An interesting case is found in the nouns coat, curtains, pants and zipper. In BNC these were
not
found at all, whereas in COCA they collocate at least with one of the verbs.
Another difference between the corpora can be found in the noun dress. In BNC it collocates
only
with repair in one case. In COCA, on the other hand, it has most hits with mend, and it is also
possible with repair.
3.5.5 Category of linear objects
Following chart is for a category of linear objects, both abstract and concrete. Some of them
are
also covered in the next category of Parts of building and Construction (for example bridge or
road), but they are included in both categories for the sake of stating the difference between
the
three verbs.
Table 13: Category of linear objects as found in the BNC:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
bridge
F
--M
1+2
There was much hilarity at this and requests to mend the bridge .
ACK W_fict_prose
R
9+4

The Jacobites in fact opted for Crossford, where they repaired the bridge , and on 1 December
marched on to Macclesfield.
BNB W_non_ac_humanities_arts
cable
F
--M
2
"I've been far too busy to look for one of those," Rain said. "I tried you at home earlier --;
hasn't anyone mended your cable yet?"
GV2 W_fict_prose
R
2
The modern purpose-built vessel which operates from Southampton, is used to lay and repair
subsea
cable .
K9N W_misc
chain
F
2+1
Through the window he could see Barry still fixing his chain . Philip pushed the bell in the
cage
with his finger.
ABX W_fict_prose
M
3
She'd thought Harry was wonderful because he was able to mend her bicycle chain ; make
bows and
arrows and catapults; shin up trees to collect birds' eggs for her collection; find dormice nests,

badger setts and squirrel dreys.

FS1 W_fict_prose
R
--footpath
F
1+1
Yes. they can't just say we're going to repair the footpath.
JA5 S_meeting
M

gutter
F
2 (pl.)
The terrible prospect rears its ugly head of having to mow the lawn, fix the gutters, creosote
the
garden shed and push the Saturday-morning supermarket trolley.
FT9 W_pop_lore
M
--R
3+1
A leaking gutter , for instance, can be repaired quickly and at a small cost, but if the leak

remains unnoticed, water could seriously damage the fabric, resulting in expensive repairs for
the
future.
CG5 W_instructional
hedge
F
--M
1
I would rather mend hedges & follow the plough, than write another.
B0R W_biography
R
1
The Rev Young in his History of Whitby (1817) found that the use of this garth was " not
easy to
ascertain ", but thought the " horn " referred to the fact that the tenants who had to repair the
hedge were summoned by the blowing of a horn.
BPK W_non_ac_soc_science
highway
F
--M
--R
2
Swiss highways would not be repaired without them, or snow or city garbage removed.
CAK W_non_ac_polit_law_edu
line

F
2+1
That looks like the answer," commented Iris as Melissa pulled up. "Fix one line , foul up two
more
and then take a tea-break!
HNJ W_fict_prose
M
3
If I had some weight near to the crust I could mend the line without pulling it off course.
B0P W_misc
R
3+4
VANDALISED fencing along a rail line in Darlington is to be repaired .
K55 W_newsp_other_report
path
F
--M
1
The river, suddenly materalizing, would have poured straight down into the streets, flooding
everything, including the prison. Something had already been done to mend its path of
devastation.
HGS W_fict_prose
R
1+2
LANDLORD -- duty to repair path . release 021v king-v-south northamptonshire district
council.tlr
3-12-91 ca. despite no implied obligation on a landlord to maintain land []

HB3 W_misc
pipe
F
5+3
What is an easy way to fix a burst pipe ? One neat solution is to use what is known as a "slip"
coupling.
AM5 W_instructional
M
2+1
If the cooling system sprang a leak pilots had to land and mend the pipe with chewing gum
and
insulation tape.
ASJ W_misc
R
8
Scores of firemen spent four hours after the explosion trying to repair a fractured gas pipe in
the
middle of High Street.
HJ4 W_newsp_other_report
road
F
--M
1+2
To ensure that the crisis of February could never be repeated, Ptain employed the equivalent
of
more than a whole division of men permanently mending the road .
K91 W_non_ac_humanities_arts

R
7+5
I saw tank traps and great banks of boulder clay where the road had been repaired in makeshift
fashion after the last perilous night of violent north-easterlies.
F9H W_misc
seam
F
--M
--R
--strand
F
--M
--R
--track
F
2
The board can be made up in 25mm (1in) thick softwood to a length fractionally longer than
the
curtain track, to allow access to fix the track and hang the curtains.
GUB W_misc

M
--R
3
When this happened the traffic was held up for three of four days whilst the track was
repaired .
AMN W_non_ac_humanities_arts
Table 14: Category of linear objects as found in COCA:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
bridge
F
12+13
I was as surprised as anyone when I got the call that the bridge was going to be fixed.
2010 SPOK Fox_Hannity
M
--R
18+36
Army Corps engineers estimated that it would cost some $5 million and take less than five
months to
string the pipelines across the bridge once it was repaired.
2006 NEWS NewYorkTimes
cable

F
8+2
That's how many times we had to call to get the cable TV fixed, the phone connected and
even to get
a bottle of water delivered.
2001 NEWS Chicago
M
1
The office on the mainland had promised that the cable under the water would be mended on
the
following day.
1999 FIC ChildLife
R
2+2
On the night of March 20, Diaz was watching mechanics repair a burned-out cable on his
tank when
Tomahawk cruise missiles soared overhead.
2003 NEWS Atlanta
chain
F
7+2
I'm pretty good about carrying tools-I'm always fixing someone's chain.
2001 MAG Bicycling
M
1
I found them again, and a jeweler mended the chain.
1992 FIC Bk:StarTrekNext
R

2
Further complicating matters, Wal-Mart must repair a chain whose sales peaked a decade ago.
2003 NEWS NewYorkTimes
footpath
F
--M
--R
--gutter
F
2+2
I could hear water dripping through, and all I could think about was what my mother had
said-how my
father would have known how to fix the gutter and would have done so already.
2005 FIC VirginiaQRev
M
--R
1
(pl.)
What it is: Streets, transportation and public works system facilities bonds of $99.8 million
for
repairing streets and/ or increasing road capacity; improving multimodal accessibility;
repairing
sound walls; repairing and/or replacing curbs and gutters; improving transit stop connections,
street- # scapes and upgrading medians; and building a Cherry Creek Solid Waste facility.

2007 NEWS Denver

hedge
F
--M
--R
--highway
F
2+1
They've been fixing this highway since I was a child.
2003 FIC SmallAxe
M
---

R
3+
12
Former rebel fighters are now helping repair the west coast highway, driving for international
aid
workers and working for the government reconstruction agency.
2005 NEWS WashingtonPost
line
F
12+19

He came over to make indecent advances. In his spare time, he fixed the telephone line.
2002 FIC Bk:ScandalousSummer
M
8
But because the line is now lying across the currents, it's necessary to mend the line to
eliminate
drag introduced as the currents tug against the belly of the line.
1992 MAG FieldStream
R
10+22
Contractors are repairing a sewer line in the area.
2009 NEWS Atlanta
path
F
5
As a result, I see multitudes of golfers twisting their bodies around, trying to fix a path that
doesn't need fixing rather than concentrating on what they really need.
1996 MAG GolfMag
M
---R
1+2
Three workers were busy painting upstairs and downstairs; another was repairing the front
path.
1996 NEWS SanFrancisco
pipe
F

11+13
The bloated, corrupt state bureaucracy meant Argentines had to wait months to connect a
telephone
line or fix a leaky water pipe.
1999 NEWS NewYorkTimes
M
1
He was Sam Rover frantically mending a burst steam pipe on a riverboat.
1991 MAG Smithsonian
R
4+6
A year later, Grady had a heart attack while repairing a pipe in the water company yard and
died.
1995 NEWS SanFrancisco
road
F
12+32
Cars fitted with pothole detectors could send a message that says " fix this road now.
2006 MAG PopMech
M
1+1
Since he would come back, then she must wait for him there by the mountain, maintaining
everything
just as it was, the road cleared and mended, the walls in good repair, the houses kept intact.
1995 FIC Bk:HarmonyFlesh
R
6+
32

The road is being repaired from Catete to Luanda, where Angola's main port is located.
2010 NEWS AP
seam
F
2
He was fixing a seam, a simple matter, but he gave it all his concentration.
1990 NEWS WashingtonPost
M
2+2
She began sewing. First she mended the seam.
1996 FIC WorldLitToday
R
2 (pl.)
She looked the coat over carefully, repaired two seams in the lining, put it over her arm, went
to
the furrier and laid it on the counter.
2009 FIC Bk:Coat
strand
F
3
How to fix a strand of broken holiday lights: Roll strand of lights into a ball.
2001 MAG Esquire
M
--R
---

track
F
2+1
Amtrack says it has fixed the track where last week's terrorist derailment occurred.
1995 NEWS CSMonitor
M
1
[...] but was certain he mended tracks from coast to coast, from pole to pole, wherever he was
needed.
1993 FIC Ploughshares
R
5+5
Railroad officials estimate it will take at least three months to repair track and bridges.
1995 NEWS NewYorkTimes
Table 15: Comparison table of the BNC and COCA for the Category of linear objects:
Linear objects
BNC
COCA
F
M
R
F
M
R
bridge

--3
13
25
--54
cable
--2
2
10
1
4
chain
3
3
--9
1
2
footpath
2
-------

----gutter
2
--4
4
--1
hedge
--1
1
------highway
----2
3
--15
line
3

3
7
31
8
32
path
--1
3
5
--3
pipe
8
3
8
24
1
10
road
--3
12
44
2

38
seam
------2
4
2
strand
------3
----track
2
--3
3
1
10
The most numerous collocation is made by the noun bridge. It has 54 hits with the verb
repair in COCA and is most numerous collocate with repair in BNC as well. Another
numerous
collocation in COCA is found in road, in this case collocating with fix, having 44 hits. It is
also

numerously represented with repair. On the other hand, in BNC it does not collocate with fix
at
all.
A difference between BNC and COCA can be observed in the case of cable. In BNC it
collocates with mend and repair, but in COCA it has most hits with fix, and it is also possible
with mend and repair.
Another difference between British and American English can be seen in nouns
footpath and
hedge. In COCA they were not found at all, but in BNC footpath collocates with fix and
hedge with
both mend and repair. On the contrary, seam and strand were found only in COCA.
There was another word collocating with mend ways. But as this is an idiom (to
mend
ones ways) it was not counted among the collocations.
3.5.6 Category of parts of buildings and construction
This category deals with parts of buildings and construction. In this category I have
included both objects found inside the building and outside, as well as more abstract nouns
like
premises or property.
Table 16: Category of Parts of buildings and construction as found in the BNC:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
bank
F
--M
--R
1

In Rooke's Case' commissioners of sewers had repaired a river bank and taxed R for the
whole amount
despite the fact that other landowners had benefited from the work.
GU6 W_ac_polit_law_edu
bedroom
F
--M
--R
--bridge
F
--M
1+2
There was much hilarity at this and requests to mend the bridge .
ACK W_fict_prose
R
9+4
The Jacobites in fact opted for Crossford, where they repaired the bridge , and on 1 December
marched on to Macclesfield.
BNB W_non_ac_humanities_arts
building
F
---

M
--R
8+11
The idea's to repair the building to its unfinished state [...]
K1J W_news_script
ceiling
F
--M
--R
1+1
Experts worked for three days to repair the ceiling.
CH1 W_newsp_tabloid
church
F
--M
1
Well, he not only refuses his tithes but seems to have a source of wealth which enables him to
distribute alms, to mend the church as well as have it painted and refurbished.
H9C W_fict_prose
R
8+2
St Colmcille's Church is still being repaired after an arson attack, and Mass was held in the

adjoining parochial hall, which was packed to overflowing.

K2N W_newsp_other_report
dam
F
--M
--R
--door
F
9
Frankie went to fetch nails and hammer from Dad's tool box so he could fix the door before
Mum
returned and explanations were necessary.
CDM W_biography
M
4
I was trying to mend a broken door in the floor of the stage.
FS3 W_fict_prose
R
2+1
I repaired the steel door years ago, loosening the rusted hinges and straightening the guides
for
the bolt.
HWC W_fict_prose
fence

F
--M
4
They tugged at the wire. "Will we mend the fence ?" said Lee. Philip nodded.
ABX W_fict_prose
R
10+2
When the Pack met the following week the broken fence had been repaired and the
DANGER notice
repainted in vivid red, so that no one could miss seeing it.
B0B W_fict_prose
fencing
F
1
Gates which are flush with adjoining fencing can be fixed with a strap hinge.
CCY W_instructional
M
--R
4
A BR spokeswoman said the fencing would be repaired as quickly as possible.
K55 W_newsp_other_report
floor
F
---

M
--R
--gutter
F
2 (pl.)
The terrible prospect rears its ugly head of having to mow the lawn, fix the gutters, creosote
the
garden shed and push the Saturday-morning supermarket trolley.
FT9 W_pop_lore
M
--R
3+1
A leaking gutter , for instance, can be repaired quickly and at a small cost, but if the leak
remains unnoticed, water could seriously damage the fabric, resulting in expensive repairs for
the
future.
CG5 W_instructional
hall
F
--M
--R
1
Local youngsters have formed themselves into an action group in Ness and have repaired and

redecorated the community hall, sponsored a Job Creation project for further improvements
to the
kitchen facilities and environs, formed a local band, organised a sponsored clean up,
established
representation within the Community Association and plan to develop a workshop attached to
the
hall.
ALE W_non_ac_polit_law_edu
home
F
--M
--R
4+4
The Daniels believe it'll cost them thousands to clean and repair their home.
K23 W_news_script
house
F
3
"You will fix this house , Um Yusef?" the Sheikha asked as we sat in the family majlis, the
small
children tumbling over her lap like puppies, pushing themselves up for kisses, or simply
basking on
the warmth of her body.
CDX W_biography
M
2
Sir George would be a lot richer. He could mend that house .
APR W_fict_prose

R
7+5
When people employ a builder to repair their house , they will probably want to agree a price
beforehand.
J15 W_commerce
levees
F
--M
--R
--lift
F
1
How is the lift fixed ? The tracks are usually fixed to the wall with special types of fixings.
A0J W_misc
M
1+1
But being able to mend the lift does not get you to the top in merchant banking.
BMB W_commerce
R
1
If, for example, a hotelier contracts with a lift company to repair the lift of the hotel, and
thereafter the lift malfunctions and causes injury to a guest, will the hotel or the lift company
be liable to the guest?
FAU W_ac_polit_law_edu

premises
F
--M
--R
5
A, the landlord, having (by conduct) told B, his tenant, "You need not fulfil your contractual
duty
to repair the premises within six months of the notice I have given you," could not forfeit the
lease (that is, terminate the contract) on the ground that B had broken his contract.
H81 W_ac_polit_law_edu
property
F
2+1
If two persons agree that the price of property should be fixed by a valuer on whom they
agree, and
he gives that valuation honestly and in good faith, they are bound by it.
J6Y W_ac_polit_law_edu
M
--R
7
Where the landlord has undertaken obligations to repair or decorate the demised property , he
has
an implied right to enter the demised property for that purpose
J6R W_ac_polit_law_edu
road

F
--M
1+2
To ensure that the crisis of February could never be repeated, Ptain employed the equivalent
of
more than a whole division of men permanently mending the road .
K91 W_non_ac_humanities_arts
R
7+5
I saw tank traps and great banks of boulder clay where the road had been repaired in makeshift
fashion after [...]
F9H W_misc
roof
F
4
He felt guilty at not returning to his own church but hoped that his few parishioners would
understand. Had Simon the tiler fixed the roof ?
H98 W_fict_prose
M
7
She'd need a fire. Could she mend the roof ? No, not alone.
APW W_fict_prose
R
11+3
We-ell, they're forecasting heavy rain," Simon pointed out, "but if I had a key to the cottage I
could go in and fix up some temporary weatherproofing until the roof can be properly
repaired .

HA7 W_fict_prose
room
F
--M
--R
2+2
This solution works particularly well in houses which have evolved over several centuries,
where it
is possible to repair a wing at a time, selling the houses as they near completion and recycling
the investment.
AR9 W_non_ac_humanities_arts
school
F
--M
--R
1+6
The troops, officially involved in a US&dollar;2,500,000 civic action programme to repair a
local
school and to install a sewage system and water treatment plants, were accused of being an
advance
guard of a stepped-up US policy to eradicate the growing of coca, the raw material of
cocaine, in
the region; in the absence of a viable market substitute, thousands of local peasant families
depended on the crop for a livelihood.
HLN W_non_ac_polit_law_edu
shed

F
--M
1 (pl.)
By late summer, the nousts and the sheds had been mended in Orkney, and there were keels
in them,
waiting for the harvest to finish.
HRC W_fict_prose
R
3+1
So he'd been to the doctors about few weeks ago and he'd been repairing his shed , said there
was
water coming in and he went to he said oh you've pulled a ligament or something he said, it'll
take
weeks for it to clear up but anyhow he went back again about a fortnight ago.
KD8 S_conv
step
F
--M
--R
5 (pl.)
Sir Hans also helped with maintenance; he gave the Society 100 to repair the steps to the
river
and was certainly instrumental in gaining another 100 from the College of Physicians.
ALU W_misc
street
F

--M
--R
--structure
F
--M
--R
4
Albert is under a statutory obligation to repair the structure .
HXV W_ac_polit_law_edu
tower
F
--M
--R
3+1
They refused a request for a 5,000 grant to repair the 70ft church tower in North Ormesby.
K4W W_newsp_other_report
wall
F

--M
3
As soon as the wall was mended, another truck's brakes would fail.
C86 W_fict_prose
R
15+4
It's taken a year for this window to be repaired and replaced.
K23 W_news_script
window
F
2
They took it out and sort of temporarily fixed it in so that they could get this out at the funeral
and then he had to go back later and fix the window in.
K6T S_interview_oral_history
M
1+2
Ludo makes him feel smart. "You punks mended that window yet?" I ask with a grin.
J13 W_fict_prose
R
3+4
It's taken a year for this window to be repaired and replaced.
K23 W_news_script
wing
F

--M
--R
2+2
This solution works particularly well in houses which have evolved over several centuries,
where it
is possible to repair a wing at a time, selling the houses as they near completion and recycling
the investment.
AR9 W_non_ac_humanities_arts
Table 17: Category of Parts of buildings and construction as found in COCA:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
bank
F
3+6
I am still waiting for details about how we are going to fix the bank.
2009 SPOK NBC_Today
M
--R
--bedroom

F
3
They may not go on a vacation, but they certainly will fix their bedroom.
2001 SPOK Fox_Cavuto
M
--R
--bridge
F
12+13
I was as surprised as anyone when I got the call that the bridge was going to be fixed.
2010 SPOK Fox_Hannity
M
--R
18+36
Army Corps engineers estimated that it would cost some $5 million and take less than five
months to
string the pipelines across the bridge once it was repaired.
2006 NEWS NewYorkTimes
building
F
6+12
He said locks will be placed on all building doors, the front gate lock will be repaired, the
roof
on Greene's building will be fixed, and a billboard will be placed out front to attract attention
to improvements at the property.

2006 NEWS Houston

M
--R
5+26
He had a devil of a time getting the building repaired, with nearly every man in Rapidan gone
to
war.
2008 FIC The Hudson Review
ceiling
F
5+1
Instead of sculpting a tomb, Julius now wanted him to fix a ceiling.
2008 SPOK ABC_20/20
M
--R
--church
F
--M
--R
--dam

F
3
This award, however, indicates that the jury did not take seriously the plaintiffs' charges that
they had lost $3,000 during the three days they went without water or that it would cost $500
to
fix the dam.
1992 ACAD Environment
M
5+1
Making the best ofa bad situation, they start mending the dam in the hope that the stream
nearby
will flood the pond bed and give them enough water for swimming.
2002 MAG ChildLife
R
3+11
Southwood Corp., current owner of the lake, is under orders from the state to repair the dam
or
breach it by July 7 because the structure endangers a downstream homeowner.
1997 NEWS Atlanta
door
F
12+5
When a policeman came back to fix the front door, Mary says she felt sure she had found a
sympathetic ear as she told him about the drug activities in the apartment.
1991 NEWS CSMonitor
M
1 (pl.)
Some of the walls have been rebuilt and the broken doors have been mended, but I could still
see
the ubiquitous pockmarks from rocket fire all around.

2003 ACAD Archaeology

R
7+1
She talks about how the two boarders say grace before meals and each have a Bible, and how
they
repaired a door in the house.
1995 NEWS SanFrancisco
fence
F
11+4
Go on, leave me alone. I'll fix the damn fence. It's not like I hurt anybody.
2010 FIC Bk:ThenCameEvening
M
22
I can shoot a gun, ride a horse and mend a fence as well as any guy.
2007 MAG OutdoorLife
R
13+13
The fence was repaired and the race went on with fans filling up the prized seats where the
debris
had rained only minutes earlier.
2006 NEWS AssocPress
fencing
F
--M
---

R
--floor
F
8+3
" They had to get that floor fixed and sealed in a hurry, " Pong observed.
2009 ACAD EnvironHealth
M
---

R
1+2
He expressed his astonishment at the death of McQuade, helped Thi Kim finish cleaning up,
and
repaired his floor.
1997 MAG Atlantic
gutter
F
2+2
I could hear water dripping through, and all I could think about was what my mother had
said-how my
father would have known how to fix the gutter and would have done so already.
2005 FIC VirginiaQRev
M
--R
1(pl.)

What it is: Streets, transportation and public works system facilities bonds of $99.8 million
for
repairing streets and/ or increasing road capacity; improving multimodal accessibility;
repairing
sound walls; repairing and/or replacing curbs and gutters; improving transit stop connections,
street- # scapes and upgrading medians; and building a Cherry Creek Solid Waste facility.
2007 NEWS Denver
hall
F
--M
--R
1
Christ Church in 1750 disposed of five hundred pounds worth of old plate " for the Hall to be
repaired and beautified.
2004 MAG Antiques
home
F
4+6
Antonio Alves, a 35-year-old farmer and carpen ter-we spoke as he carved a 15 -foot log
canoe-said
he was arrested this year for chopping down a tree to fix his mother's home in Quara Quara.
2009 MAG MotherJones
M
--R
9+23

Wick said the development company sent a crew to repair the home with more than just paint,
and she
was told random people passing by came over to offer money toward us.
2009 NEWS Houston
house
F
123+6
My sister and I have inherited his house. I've come to fix the house up and sell it.
2006 FIC BkSF:ProphetYonwood
M
2
Mending the house was a vast undertaking. Until recently, my grandfather had been involved
in a
feud over Five Queen's Road.
1995 FIC KenyonRev
R
16+13
But Williford's disability income and his girlfriend's casino job were verifiable, a contractor
estimated the house could be repaired for $33,000, and the appraiser sounded no alarms,
Yoswa said.
2006 NEWS Denver
levees
F
1+6
An area of land the size of Manhattan turns to water in south Louisiana every year even
without
hurricanes. You can't just fix the levees in New Orleans.
2005 SPOK MSNBC_MeetPress
M

--R
1+26
City officials do not know if the levee will be repaired.
1993 ACAD Environment
lift
F
--M
--R
1
Jacques Michaud was only renting the park, but he used his own money to replace the broken
windows
and repair the lift.
2004 FIC New Yorker
premises
F
--M
--R
--property
F
2 (pl.)

And no matter what their credit scores were, and so they can't buy more properties, they can't
fix
the properties they own.
2008 SPOK NPR_TalkNation
M
--R
5+2
Health officials expect the tetanus threat to increase when the flood waters recede and people
start to clean up and repair their property, the typical time for injuries in the wake of natural
disasters.
1993 NEWS WashingtonPost
road
F
12+32
Cars fitted with pothole detectors could send a message that says " fix this road now.
2006 MAG PopMech
M
1+1
Since he would come back, then she must wait for him there by the mountain, maintaining
everything
just as it was, the road cleared and mended, the walls in good repair, the houses kept intact.
1995 FIC Bk:HarmonyFlesh
R
6+32
The road is being repaired from Catete to Luanda, where Angola's main port is located.
2010 NEWS AP
roof

F
43+6
With a decent severance package, he bought a Chevrolet convertible and drove to California
to help
his brother fix a roof.
2010 NEWS Denver
M
1
Emerging at the rent house, she found the grass mowed there, the roof mended, and the truck
leaving
with the broken-off limb.
1998 FIC SouthwestRev
R
29+5
Among them were plans to renovate swimming pools, straighten headstones at a cemetery
and repair
the roof on a fast food franchise on a military base.
2009 NEWS AJC
room
F
--M
--R
--school
F
4+29

However, that only works if there's somebody in that troubled neighbourhood who can gather
the
resources to fix the bad school or create a new one from its ashes.
2001 MAG TodaysParent
M
--R
5+14
Alamosa would repair its high school, damaged by fire a decade ago.
2008 NEWS Denver
shed
F
--M
--R
1+1
Outside, they tended the gardens, repaired the old garden shed, and trimmed and shaped the
boxwoods.
1996 MAG SouthernLiv
step
F
2
Change the furnace filter next door, weed the perennial beds, fix the basement step, pack my
clothes...
2000 FIC Bk:NewSong
M

--R
2 (pl.)
He told me that he was repairing the steps, and that he was barring the door from below so
that I
wouldn't fall to my death in a moment of forgetfulness.
2008 FIC Analog
street
F
6 (pl.)
Has first big victory as Atlanta voters overwhelmingly approve a $150 million bond issue he
backs
to fix streets, bridges, sewers and parks.
2006 NEWS Atlanta
M
--R
6 (pl.)
Atlanta's Public Works Department has 700 employees, just 13 workers are assigned to
repairing the
city's streets
2010 NEWS AJC
structure
F
2
Virtually nothing had been done -- or could be done -- to fix the industrial structure after the
waste of so much capital.
1993 ACAD IntlAffairs
M

--R
3+6
To the townspeople, some of whom may have assisted those contracted to repair or rebuild
the
structure, the lighthouse is the same lighthouse that has stood since before the days of the
Revolution, performing the same function.
1999 FIC AntiochRev
tower
F
1 (pl.)
The space shuttle's landing, " he says, " which means my cell-phone service should be better,
because they fixed the towers up there.
2007 MAG RollingStone
M
--R
4+1
Troops in Bagram worked to repair the control tower, now just a teetering shell with blownout
windows and broken instruments.
2001 MAG USNWR
wall
F
--M
3+4
He'd tell her how he was rethatching the barn or mending a wall.

1993 FIC SouthernRev

R
13+7
The wall was impossible to repair without looking as if it had been patched.
2008 MAG TodaysParent
window
F
11+12
If you don't commit to this plan which is this $14 billion, costs of the Big Dig in Boston, or
two
weeks of spending Iraq, you shouldn't fix a single window in New Orleans.
2005 SPOK MSNBC_MeetPress
M
2
Paint the walls, mend the windows -- Lee's smart with a hammer; she says she's worked,
painting
rooms up North.
1991 FIC SouthernRev
R
4+11
She'd thrown an old blanket over the backseat to shield anyone from missed slivers of glass
until
the window could be repaired and the car thoroughly cleaned.
2009 FIC Bk:KissDarkness
wing
F
--M

1
Tichenor and Thorp spent some three years applying chemical peels to the lingerie-colored
surfaces,
mending a remodeled wing and repairing the courtyard.
2000 MAG TownCountry
R
3+2
There's still no money to heat the complex through Bosnia's bitter winters, or to repair the
empty
prehistory wing.
2006 ACAD Archaeology
Table 18: Comparison table of the BNC and COCA for the Category of parts of buildings and
construction:
Parts of building and construction
BNC
COCA
F
M
R
F
M
R
bank
----1
9

----bedroom
------3
----bridge
--3
13
25
--54
building
----19
18
--31
ceiling
---

--2
6
----church
--1
10
------dam
------3
6
14
door
9
4
3
17
1

8
fence
--4
12
15
22
26
fencing
1
--4
------floor
------11
--3
gutter
2
---

4
4
--1
hall
----1
----1
home
----8
10
--32
house
3
2
12
129
2
29

levees
------7
--27
lift
1
2
1
----1
premises
----5
------property
3
--7

2
--7
road
--3
12
44
2
38
roof
4
7
14
49
1
34
room
----4
------school

----7
33
--19
shed
--1
4
----2
step
----5
2
--2
street
------6

--6
structure
----4
2
--9
tower
----4
1
--5
wall
--3
19
--7
20
window
2

3
7
23
2
15
wing
----4
--1
5
In this category we can see a strong difference between the corpora whereas in BNC
the
preference is for repair in most of the nouns, in COCA it is both fix and repair that prevail in
the collocations.
The most numerous collocation is made by the noun house, having 129 hits with fix in
COCA. In BNC, the most numerous collocates are building and wall, both with 19 hits with
repair.
A difference between the corpora is illustrated in the nouns church, fencing, premises
and room. These are present only in BNC, not in COCA. On the contrary, the nouns bedroom,
dam,
floor, levees and street are found only in COCA, with a strong preference toward fix and / or
repair.
An interesting situation we can see is in the noun road. In BNC it has most hits with
repair, then with mend. It is not possible at all with the verb fix. But in COCA, on the other
hand, it has most hits with fix and then with repair. It is also possible to use it with mend.
Quite similar case as the above one is the noun school. Whereas in BNC it collocates
only
with repair, in COCA it has most hits with fix and it is also collocable with repair.
In this category an idiom to mend fences (with) was found among the tokens in the

corpora. This idiom has not got the same sense as fix and repair. Thus it had to be taken out
from
the list of tokens.
3.5.7 Category of machines
This category deals with machines either mechanical or electrical equipment.
Table 19: Category of machines as found in the BNC:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
air-conditioning
F
--M
2
When they'd first re-entered the apartment the place had been crawling with a crowd of men
who were
mending the air-conditioning, installing a computer and modem to a fresh telephone line, and
plugging in the dreaded fax machine.
JXX W_fict_prose
R
--boiler
F
2+1
There is a story about an old man who was called in by a factory to fix their ancient boiler ,
which had ground to a halt.

CKS W_non_ac_polit_law_edu
M
--R
1+1
The boilers are being repaired . Full power soon.
H7F W_fict_prose
camera
F
1
Mary felt that it was too much of an intervention, operators and technicians floating around
trying
to get mikes here and that it was distracting... she decided it might be more useful to try and
fix
the camera .
HNW W_ac_soc_science
M
--R
--clock
F
--M
1+2
Between school hours he earned money cleaning and mending clocks and watches for a local
clock-maker.

GTH W_biography
R
3+3
From a single room in Kingston-upon-Thames which he rented and where he lived with llya,
he
repaired watches and clocks .
CJT W_fict_prose
computer
F
--M
--R
1
If you work for a large company, with plenty of in-house techies to repair a computer if it
goes
wrong, or you are competent -- and confident -- enough to fix it yourself, then you could be
justified in buying cheap and taking a risk.
CTX W_pop_lore
engine
F
1+1
In this study the difference between conditions was that in the neutral set of slides the father
was a car mechanic seen fixing an engine , while in the arousal version the father was a
surgeon
operating on a badly injured patient.
HPM W_ac_soc_science
M
---

R
1+2
He successfully repaired the engine and could not resist the chance of seeing Brooklands, the
centre of British Aviation.
J1B W_misc
machine
F
5+1
His reward for helping to fix the broken-down Time Machine is to travel to a time of his
choice.
CC6 W_misc
M
2
The women were segregated from the male workers in the factory, and the remaining skilled
jobs -cutting the cloth and mending the machines -- were retained by the men, despite the
willingness of
some of the women to learn these skills.
F9S W_ac_soc_science
R
6+4
He had originally intended to polish up the wood and sell it for five shillings, but when he
was
fortunate enough to obtain the gramophone he realised he should repair the machine and
install it
in the cabinet.
EA5 W_fict_prose
machinery
F
3

At first, the machinery was fixed, standing within the barn.

A79 W_misc
M
--R
4
He has to repair all of the machinery but this seems impossible since his workmates have
borrowed
his tools.
HAC W_pop_lore
motor
F
--M
--R
2
The defendant garage was liable in damages because it took eight weeks to repair a motor
vehicle
when a normally competent garage would have taken about five weeks.
HXD W_ac_polit_law_edu
phone
F
2
It proved impossible to get British Telecom round to fix the phone until Thursday afternoon.
HTR W_fict_prose
M

--R
--pump
F
1
How should a submersible pump be fixed?
A16 W_instructional
M
--R
2+1
Technicians spent yesterday repairing the faulty pump for last night's performance.
AKV W_newsp_brdsht_nat_misc
radio
F
--M
2
Please would you come back to my flat to mend my faulty radio ?
CAT W_pop_lore
R
--telephone
F

--M
1
Then it mended the telephone. The Store nomes needed electricity.
HTH W_fict_prose
R
1 (pl.)
Telephone Repairs Mr. Dunn To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will
indicate
the nature and range of discussions he has had with OFTEL on the length of time customers
have had
to wait to have their telephones repaired
HHV W_hansard
telescope
F
--M
--R
--TV
F
--M
--R
1

I took my TV to be repaired and the shop asked for a 35 deposit which I paid.
C9X W_pop_lore
watch
F
2
I must get my watch fixed .
HWL W_fict_prose
M
1+1
She once mended my watch when it went wrong
J2F W_fict_prose
R
3+3
Saturday, early afternoon, he'd gone into the city to get his watch repaired and returned about
five o'clock.
HA2 W_fict_prose
Table 20: Category of machines as found in COCA:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
air-conditioning
F
1

Instead, it's the porter who keeps the pool and property clean, the housekeeper who keeps the
laundry and party rooms clean and the maintenance technician who will fix a broken airconditioning
unit at 2 a.m., Shasteen said.
1997 NEWS Houston
M
--R
--boiler
F
2+1
The Hovs had come to fix the boiler and were just leaving.
2010 FIC Bk:DearMoney
M
--R
1+1
In later cases, more than one boiler was placed beside the cylinder, allowing uninterrupted
operation while a boiler was being repaired.
2003 ACAD MechanicalEng
camera
F
--M
--R

2+1
Company employees arranged to meet the family on the road and repair the camera.
1997 NEWS AssocPress
clock
F
7+4
And in any case there wouldn't be much point in knowing how to fix a modern electric clock,
even a
cheap one, since a teenager could grow old waiting for it to break.
1997 MAG Newsweek
M
--R
4+6
I'd like to get the clock repaired. It was Grandmother's.
1992 FIC SouthernRev
computer
F
28+15
Bill said ruefully " Can you fix the transit computer? Can your friends? "
2010 FIC Analog Science Fiction & Fact
M
--R
12+14
Perhaps you know exactly how to repair the faulty computer, but the system is located
hundreds or

thousands of miles away, in a college dorm room or at a relative's home.

2005 MAG PCWorld
engine
F
24
+10
Eight days passed before we finally got the part Michael Jackson needed to fix the engine.
2006 FIC VirginiaQRev
M
--R
9+13
By evening time, Harvey repaired the engine and we were on our way.
2006 FIC MassachRev
machine
F
27
+14
" Was it grounded? " was the first thing Poli asked when they called him in the dead of night
to
fix the machine.
2010 FIC Bk:TipDay
M
--R
6+14

Who would bother learning how to repair a machine that would not break down in their
lifetime?
2007 FIC Analog
machinery
F
1
Parts are scarce, however, and there are fewer and fewer steamboatmen around who know
how to fix
the machinery.
1991 MAG Smithsonian
M
--R
16
John Graham, finance professor at Duke and director of the survey, says businesses are
finding ways
to repair existing machinery and buildings rather than replace equipment or move.
2008 NEWS USAToday
motor
F
2
The most painful part was that they were all good people who still knew how to get their
hands
dirty and fix a motor, prepare a casserole and teach a Sunday school lesson, and in their
business
lives they could balance a million-dollar budget.
2010 MAG ChristCentury
M
--R

2+2
In her 1930 debut, Nancy Drew drives a convertible, pilots a speedboat, fixes a sprained
ankle,
repairs a motor, quotes Archimedes and finds a missing will in an old clock.
1991 MAG Smithsonian
phone
F
10+3
The plumber goes, the policeman goes, the people who fix your phone and the guy who
coaches the
softball team, " says Warner
2004 NEWS USAToday
M
--R
4+2
That morning, Daniel spent 40 minutes making calls to try to get the phone repaired.
2009 NEWS WashingtonPost
pump
F
10+2
I'll fix the damn oven soon as I fix the damn fuel pump!
2009 FIC Bk:AussieRules
M
--R
2+3

Oh, no -- listen, you don't just roll over and do nothing but repair the water pump.
2003 SPOK NPR_Daybreak
radio
F
9+1
I tell him, " I'll fix the radio. Don't worry. "
2009 FIC Bk:LarkTermite
M
--R
4+5
I learned how much she had spent on dry-cleaning her clothes, on her cats' flea baths, and on
having her car radio repaired.
1994 MAG HarpersMag
telephone
F
--M
--R
--telescope
F
4+1
Well, my mom's in outer space and she's fixing a telescope.'

1993 SPOK CBS_Morning

M
--R
22
Janna completed her freshman year at the University of Miami, and both Jerry and Janna
were recendy
at Cape Canaveral to witness the space shutde launch of Dr. John Grunsfeld, who, alongwith
several
crewmates, successfully repaired the Hubble telescope!
2010 MAG TechReview
TV
F
12+3
Just come here and see if you can fix the TV.
2003 FIC LitCavalcade
M
--R
1+3
Smith in Chapel Hill, N.C., wanted to get his 18-year-old portable black-and-white TV
repaired.
1998 NEWS USAToday
watch
F
1+5
[] provide insight into the most subtle bits of science or history, write poetry or tell jokes,
and, suitably equipped with the right end-effectors (arms and such), fix a watch or cook a
souffle

[]
1991 MAG Omni
M
--R
5+3
A man finds himself in a strange town needing his watch repaired.
2007 NEWS Chicago
Table 21: Comparison table of the BNC and COCA for the Category of machines:
Machines
BNC
COCA
F
M
R
F
M
R
air-conditioning
--2
--1
-----

boiler
3
--2
3
--2
camera
1
--------3
clock
--3
6
11
--10
computer
----1

43
--26
engine
2
--3
34
--22
machine
6
2
10
41
--20
machinery
3
--4
1
--16
motor

----2
2
--4
phone
2
----13
--6
pump
1
--3
12
--5
radio
--2
--10

--9
telephone
--1
1
------telescope
------5
--22
TV
----1
15
--4
watch
2

2
6
6
--8
This category tends towards the verbs fix and repair. The verb mend has least hits in
BNC, in COCA it does not collocate with any of the nouns.
We can observe the difference between the corpora concerning the most numerous
collocations. In COCA, the most numerous collocate is computer, collocating both with fix
and
repair. In BNC, on the other hand, the most numerous is machine, collocating with repair, fix
and
mend, respectively.
Another difference between the British and American English is found in the noun
telephone. In BNC it collocates with the verbs mend and repair. In COCA it was not found at
all. An
opposite situation is seen in the case of noun telescope. In BNC it is not collocating with any
of
the three verbs, in COCA it collocates with fix and repair. The difference can be seen also in
the
noun TV. In BNC it only collocates with repair in one case. But in COCA it has more hits
with fix
than with repair.
3.5.8 Category of concrete objects
This category consists of concrete objects that cannot be included into the other categories, or
parts of these objects. The noun leg has appeared in the category of body parts above, here it
is
in the sense of part of a chair or a table.
Table 22: Category of concrete objects as found in the BNC:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus

Citation code
book
F
5 (pl.)
The Greek government turned to Goldman Sachs, paying the firm $300 million to fix the
books.
2010 ACAD AmerScholar
M
2+1
Up on the beach, Abo, his paddle captain, was mending a book with duct tape, while Dixie,
who would
be rowing their third boat, was assembling their picnic dinner.
2009 FIC Bk:HeartCanyon
R
3
Most notably we had a grant from the last Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities,
a
matching grant for $15,000 to deacidify and repair a number of books from our gardenhistory
collection.
1991 MAG Horticulture
brakes
F
1 (pl.)
I fixed the brakes again while Faith prepared the flight-plan.
BNV W_pop_lore
M
--R

1 (pl.)
We refuelled, repaired the brakes and emptied some sand out of the aircraft, and the next day
we
checked the aircraft and weather and did some minor maintenance, returning to the hotel at
3.30 pm.
BNV W_pop_lore
chair
F
--M
2+1
To think of it another way, if you were asked to mend a broken chair you would not use every
tool
you had just for the sake of showing that you had them.
FU3 W_misc
R
2
He could be content sitting cross-legged, weeding a flower bed, or repairing a broken chair .
EVH W_biography
equipment
F
11
Parnell promised to fix the equipment.
2009 NEWS USAToday
M
--R

--fuse
F
1
Seems the purestrains can't pilot a ship, can't fire a gun, can't fix a fuse .
CM4 W_fict_prose
M
1
Here are one or two activities as starting suggestions (you will think of many more): making
bread
-- painting the ceiling -- bathing the dog -- writing a letter -- mending a fuse -- changing a
lightbulb.
C9R W_non_ac_medicine
R
--furniture
F
--M
2
The lights were replaced and all the broken furniture was mended.
CCV W_non_ac_polit_law_edu
R
2
He made great play of all the tasks in the Casa Guidi he had been left to do --; furniture to
repair , decorations to see to --; [...]
ADS W_fict_prose

gear
F
--M
--R
--goods
F
--M
--R
1
Add to this the fact that we are for the most part a manually unskilled population that doesn't
know how to darn socks, rewire a lamp, or refinish a table, much less put a roof back on a
house,
and the tendency to replace rather than repair damaged goods becomes even greater.
2006 ACAD Archaeology
image
F
--M
--R
--infrastructure

F
--M
--R
3
Urban life depends upon an invisible stratum of people who repair the city's infrastructure
while
all the rest are abed.
B24 W_non_ac_soc_science
leg
F
1+2
I think you should try to get a table up there, or at least fix a leg on that one.
CK9 W_fict_prose
M
--R
--light
F
11+6
" Got to fix this light, man. "
ADA W_fict_prose
M
---

R
2+2
But CSX did not inform the police officer that a maintenance worker had repaired the light
while
the officer was busy conducting his investigation.
2004 NEWS NewYorkTimes
net
F
--M
8
They sat at their windows or in their small front gardens, making and mending nets and
dyeing
saffron the cloth for the coloured sails that were traditional on Elling craft.
AEA W_fict_prose
R
1
Drop nets can also be bought or made yourself from netting available to repair prawn nets .
C95 W_pop_lore
part
F
--M
--R
--piece

F
2+1
Fraser and Azhar experimented to see how the feedforward net reacted when they fixed a
piece of
metal weighing 450 grammes onto the gripper.
FNR W_ac_tech_engin
M
1
He can mend pieces , or advise on what to do.
A70 W_pop_lore
R
--pot
F
--M
1
Fishermen would repair to the woods to cut hazel and withies to make or mend their pots ,
then set
out in their small boats to their chosen
B0G W_non_ac_humanities_arts
R
--product
F
1 (pl.)
Amplification products were fixed to nitrocellulose filters and alleles detected using the

following probes with washing in 6xSSC at the stated temperature: []

CRM W_non_ac_nat_science
M
--R
2+1
A National Consumer Council opinion poll this year found 98 per cent thought it important
that
consumers should have a legal right to demand a replacement or refund if a product can not
be
repaired reasonably quickly.
A9F W_newsp_brdsht_nat_report
painting
F
--M
--R
--table
F
--M
--R
1
Senior staff tried to resolve the problem through a combination of individual counselling
sessions

and by eliciting his help in a long-term project to repair the pool tables .
FPJ W_ac_soc_science
tap
F
1 (pl.)
[]Hampshire and Sussex have been asked to turn off the tap when brushing their teeth, take
showers
not baths, and to fix dripping taps to save water.
AKY W_newsp_brdsht_nat_misc
M
1+1
If you're likely to be tackling full-scale plumbing installation work rather than just mending
the
occasional dripping tap , it will pay you to collect some specialist hand tools.
AM5 W_instructional
R
1 (pl.)
Don't wash under a running tap. Repair dripping hot taps.
A0Y W_non_ac_soc_science
thing
F
3+17
I don't have to pay well over a hundred quid to get the thing fixed again.
K6V S_speech_unscripted
M
1+6
The first former's stared at her in surprise, they knew she never mended any thing if she could
help it.

KCD S_conv
R
6
I was brought up to be mechanical, to make and repair things .
K5C W_newsp_other_social
wheel
F
2+1
The family had to wait about two days for the wheel to be fixed.
ANJ W_biography
M
1+2
When everyone else had gone, Gabriel helped Lucie to mend the cart's wheel .
HTN W_fict_prose
R
4
The defendants had repaired the wheel shortly before the accident and were held to be
manufacturers.
HXV W_ac_polit_law_edu
world
F
--M
2
You know I can't leave dear Shelley. He means to mend the world, but he needs me to mend
his

clothes...
HGS W_fict_prose
R
1
Active life is a condition of existence in time, translating the love of God into actions that
will
repair the fallen inner world of the psyche and the external world of society.
HY6 W_ac_humanities_arts
Table 23: Category of concrete objects as found in COCA:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
book
F
1+5
He fixed the log book? Setback. Big setback.
1992 FIC Mov:FewGoodMen
M
2
Up on the beach, Abo, his paddle captain, was mending a book with duct tape, while Dixie,
who would
be rowing their third boat, was assembling their picnic dinner.
2009 FIC Bk:HeartCanyon
R
2 (pl.)

Kyle, who works for the National Library Bindery, will offer one-on- one advice about
preservation,
what a bindery will do to repair books, and how much it will cost.
1999 NEWS Atlanta
brakes
F
6 (pl.)
You normally say, well, go ahead and fix the brakes because you don't want to risk your life
driving an unsafe car.
2005 SPOK CNN_Dolans
M
--R
2 (pl.)
Bent pedals, rear derailleurs, chainrings, and brakes can be repaired by straightening or
replacing
parts.
1996 MAG Bicycling
chair
F
8
I'll fix your chair. " // She rose and took a step toward the edge of the terrace.
2008 FIC Bk:WorldBeforeHer
M
2
I appreciate your sorrow, but that won't mend my chair.
1998 FIC LitCavalcade

R
2 (pl.)
The people who repair the chairs were let go a few years ago.
2006 FIC Triquarterly
equipment
F
14
He was as comfortable in the gunner's seat of an armored vehicle as he was fixing
communication
equipment.
2006 FIC Triquarterly
M
--R
49
When Food and Drug Administration inspectors visited Peanut Corp. of America's plant here
in late
2001, they noticed peanut-processing equipment had been improperly repaired with duct or
cellophane
tape.
2009 NEWS USAToday
fuse
F
1+1
" Oh, good, the fundraiser is here! " " Will you please fix that fuse!
2004 FIC SouthernRev
M
---

R
--furniture
F
--M
1
He looked around at the pleasant attic with its rafters festooned with strings of fragrant
apples,
onions, and red peppers; at the leathercovered trunks, and piles of furniture waiting to be
mended.
1998 MAG ChildLife
R
5
The couple had repaired the furniture, dusted off the old books and reframed and displayed a
few
photos that were overlooked by Edie (who usually saved everything).
2009 MAG TownCountry
gear
F
--M
--R
13
Organize, clean, and repair gear within a day of returning from one trip so it's prepped for the
next.
2008 MAG Backpacker

goods
F
--M
--R
2
Add to this the fact that we are for the most part a manually unskilled population that doesn't
know how to darn socks, rewire a lamp, or refinish a table, much less put a roof back on a
house,
and the tendency to replace rather than repair damaged goods becomes even greater.
2006 ACAD Archaeology
image
F
2
RAWs are output from a camera before any automatic adjustments have corrected hue and
tone. They
fix the image in its purest, unaltered state.
2005 MAG PopScience
M
--R
--infrastructure
F
8
And so, I guess, a municipal water manager - that is one thing to investigate and it may be
worth
the monetary investment to go ahead and try and fix this infrastructure which is going to be

costly, but in the long-run, is going to A, save water, and B, you're going have a better water
accessibility during a drought situation.
2007 SPOK NPR_TalkNation
M
1
At the Eudora Welty Library, Jamil outlined in whispered Urdu how Jackson's population was
small
and seventy percent black, its infrastructure always being mended, its tax base vanished.
2005 FIC SouthwestRev
R
34+1
How in God's name does he think we're going to repair this nation's infrastructure, stay
competitive, give safety to our people, improve our quality of lives?
2010 SPOK ABC_ThisWeek
leg
F
9+2
He'll fix your leg. He can fix most anything.
2007 ACAD LiteraryRev
M
6
But six weeks ago, I saw a boy hit by a car and I went out and helped mend his leg.
1996 FIC FantasySciFi
R
6+4
But yes, there are internal fixation devices such as screws and some heavy almost like
stainless
steel rods that can be used to repair the leg and to try to transfer the weight bearing away
from

the damaged areas to allow it to heal as best as possible.

2006 SPOK CNN_LiveSun
light
F
17+8
The Girl was left by the engineer and fireman, who went up front to fix a light.
2004 FIC Storyworks
M
--R
2+2
But CSX did not inform the police officer that a maintenance worker had repaired the light
while
the officer was busy conducting his investigation.
2004 NEWS NewYorkTimes
net
F
2+2
A man saw some fishermen fixing their nets one day and took some with him to create a new
goal.
1995 NEWS Denver
M
5+5
A fisherman mends a glimmering net, a big porpoise is jumping in the sea
1996 SPOK NPR_ATC
R
2

An old man patching an aluminum boat and another old man repairing a fishing net in back
of his
house
2000 FIC Storyworks
painting
F
--M
--R
4+1
She promised herself she'd take the time to repair the painting before she hung it in the new
house.
2009 FIC Bk:Insight
part
F
--M
--R
6+17
Because Anseth's hydrogels are versatile -- hypothetically any number of protein growth
factors can
be mixed in -- she envisions gels that can repair almost any part of the body.
2009 MAG Esquire
piece
F

6+1
The famous De fixes a piece of cardboard for his daughter to slide in her candle so the wax
will
not drip on her clothes.
2007 FIC MichiganQRev
M
3+2
When they reached the house, they found the front door open and an old woman sitting in the
doorway
mending a piece of lace.
2009 FIC Analog
R
2+2
Instead of repairing the piece, the city removed the bolts that kept the sculpture in place and
put
it in storage, where it has remained.
2000 MAG AmerArtist
pot
F

M
1+2
After a few hours of failing to mend the pot, I took it round to the Pratts shoppe.
2010 FIC Bk:RealMartianChronicles
R
1+7
I remember accompanying my grandfather to the blacksmith's shop, a shed just a few blocks
off the
square, to have a pot repaired.

1999 ACAD AmerScholar

product
F
4+6
With the LH, they've not only fixed the product, they've fixed the process.
1992 NEWS USAToday
M
--R
1+8
So thrift stores may offer a cheap way to repair a product.
2005 MAG PCWorld
table
F
3
The maker, Bernard Orth, " fixed this table for present of my wife and she is a good wife, 25
Jan
1859.
2004 MAG AmHeritage
M
--R
1 (pl.)
It takes money to pump out the privies, repair the picnic tables, pick up the trash and protect
hiking trails from erosion.
1997 NEWS Denver

tap
F
2
In household settings, water priced below cost provides little incentive to fix leaky taps or
install low-flow fixtures, [...].
2003 ACAD Environment
M
--R
1
But when I married Peter, I knew I wasn't getting somebody who could repair a leaky tap.
1999 FIC NewEnglandRev
thing
F
93
+476
I could have fixed the whole thing myself in my basement.
2010 MAG TechReview
M
10 (pl.)
She believed they had the ability to mend things.
2008 FIC GoodHouse
R
5+24
The oldest man in the world could not make head or tail of the time of day by such a watch,
and so
I went again to have the thing repaired.

1994 FIC SatEvenPost

wheel
F
14+7
Our friend Mr. Ledbetter is at the black-smith's getting a wagon wheel fixed.
2008 FIC Bk:FrontierCourtship
M
--R
3
Together he and the boy repaired the wheel while the woman cooked supper.
1992 FIC Bk:IAmClay
world
F
38
Let's strive to fix the world as best we can.
2008 SPOK NPR_TellMore
M
1
Pranks can provide sudden jolts of awareness or catharsis, but we shouldn't expect them to
both
mock and mend the world.
2009 MAG MotherJones
R
15
Tikkun olam means to heal or repair the world, one person at a time.

2005 ACAD IndepSchool

Table 24: Comparison table of the BNC and COCA for the Category of concrete objects:
Concrete objects
BNC
COCA
F
M
R
F
M
R
book
5
3
3
6
2
2
brake
1
--1
6
--2

chair
--3
2
8
2
2
equipment
11
----14
--49
furniture
--2
2
--1
5
fuse
1
1
---

2
----gear
----------13
goods
----1
----2
image
------2
----infrastructure

----3
8
1
35
leg
3
----11
6
10
light
17
--4
25
--4
net
--8
1
4

10
2
painting
----------5
part
----------23
piece
3
1
--7
5
4
pot
---

1
----3
8
product
1
--3
10
--9
table
----1
3
--1
tap
1
2
1
2
---

1
thing
20
7
6
569
10
29
wheel
3
3
4
21
--3
world
--2
1
38
1
15
This category shows a slight tendency toward repair, but fix and mend are also present,
they are not as numerous, though.
In BNC the most frequent collocating noun is thing, second is light. In COCA it is
thing

as well, which has outnumbered the other nouns by a large number.

A difference between the corpora can be seen in the nouns gear, image, painting and
part.
These are present only in COCA, but not in BNC.
An interesting difference between British and American English can be found in the
case
of the noun chair. Whereas in BNC it collocates only with mend and repair, in COCA the
most
numerous collocating verb is fix, and the other two verbs are also represented.
A similar case as the above one is with the noun equipment. In BNC it only collocates
with fix, but in COCA it has most hits with repair, and is also possible to use with fix.
Another difference between the corpora is in the noun leg. In BNC it appears only with
the verb fix, but in COCA it is possible with all the three verbs, fix and repair being the most
numerous.
3.5.9 Category of abstract objects
This category consists of abstract nouns. Some of the nouns have already appeared in
the
above category (for example image or net), but here they are in the abstract sense.
Table 25: Category of abstract objects as found in the BNC:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
business
F
--M
--R
---

economy
F
--M
--R
--effort
F
--M
--R
--family
F
--M
--R
--image
F
1
You will have your own body image fixed in your mind.

AD0 W_non_ac_medicine
M
3
If intercepted, it may mend the image of us that the aliens would have deduced from our
television
shows.
2001 MAG NaturalHist
R
26
A new national security policy that would repair our image in the world, they promised real
change
because remember - - remember, you're here.
2010 SPOK Fox_Beck
marriage
F
---

M
3
The unit was reopened yesterday. Jagger and Jerry in secret weekend bid to mend marriage
CH6 W_newsp_tabloid
R
1
He told viewers he longed get back with Maggie, 36, and repair their broken marriage .
CEN W_newsp_other_report
matter
F

--M
4
But matters are mended with the arrival of the crates -- antiques that epitomised an antique
land,
brief monuments to the old Angola.
A05 W_ac_humanities_arts
R
--mind
F
--M
--R
--net
F
--M
--R
--omission
F
---

M
--R
4+1
[] Bingham er did say specifically that he wasn't pursuing er the matter of er audit, it wasn't
his responsibility er the government should certainly have repaired that omission by pursuing
it
themselves, by inquiring er into er what went wrong.
JSF S_Parliament
program
F
--M
--R
--relations
F
--M
--R
6
Rabin's commitment to peace process and unity Rabin outlined his future government's
policies at a
press conference on June 24, promising to move immediately to promote the peace process,
repair
Israel's relations with the USA, and halt large-scale government investment in settlements.

HLL W_non_ac_polit_law_edu
relationship
F
1+2
The neck is the focus of special attention, at times competing with the head with which its
relationship is never securely fixed, always open to negotiation.
HAD W_misc
M
2
But where there is resistance to change and unwillingness to mend the troubled relationship
on
behalf of just one partner, understandably the chances of improvement are meagre, and final
breakdown, if not inevitable, is certainly threatened.
CGE W_religion
R
--reputation
F
--M
--R
--rift
F
--M

1
A visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, last weekend by Strobe Talbott, America's
ambassador-at-large to the former Soviet countries, brought hope that the rift could be
mended.
CRA W_pop_lore
R
5
After recruiting new prayer-leaders, Kauder set about to repair the biggest social rift in the
village of Pomquet.
2002 ACAD AmerStudies
situation
F
1
It's a situation that can be fixed and I believe we'll be much faster, " said the three-times
Indycar champion
K5J W_newsp_other_social
M
3
We'll have to see if we can mend the situation .
HH1 W_fict_prose
R
--soul
F
--M
---

R
--system
F
--M
--R
1+2
The lives of others, I believe, are not mere management problems, their despairs are not
simply
amenable to technical solutions which " repair the system as it is "; they are cries for radical
solutions, solutions which go to the root of the problem: the structures of society which gnaw
away
at their lives, their self-worth.
GUR W_ac_polit_law_edu
work
F
2
You use me when it suits you, you get me to fix your dirty work
FPB W_fict_prose
M
--R
4
I was worried why am I bleeding the system after I've done the radiators and changed them,
you know
repair the pipe work.
KCL S_conv

Table 26: Category of abstract objects as found in COCA:

collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
business
F
7+2
The idea is to offer executives and their teams quick ways to fix their business.
2003 MAG Fortune
M
1
Can the CEO of a corporate giant help him mend his business before it splits at the seams?
2005 SPOK CNN_Turn
R
2
Now, Zelnick, who was hired as part of a shareholder revolt, must repair the company's
business -and its reputation.
2007 NEWS USAToday
economy
F
116
And we want to continue to work with him to help fix this economy.

2009 SPOK NBC_MeetPress

M
3
The economy continues to mend gradually, and retail sales have gained momentum since last
spring.
1992 NEWS Atlanta
R
7
I look forward to being part of the president-elect's team, which believes that we must repair
the
economy and put us on a path forward towards sustainable energy.
2008 SPOK Fox_News
effort
F
--M
--R
2
The schematic shows battle damage and repair efforts.
1994 FIC Mov:StarTrek08
family
F
8+4
I imagined that the African American women who rang the doorbell on Friday mornings,
prepared to
sweep, mop, and vacuum, would, like Beulah, fix my broken family and make everything
okay.

1999 ACAD ReVision

M
---

R
2
Seeley felt a moment's sadness for Leonard and for his brother's dream of repairing a family
that
was broken from the start.
2008 FIC Bk:PatentLie
image
F
14
" I told the guys before the season we had to fix our image, " says Weber.
2009 MAG SportsIll
M
3
Several events combined to propel BRING forward and mend its image. Lane County, of
which Eugene is
the seat, opened its Glenwood Central Receiving Station, affectionately known as " the dump,
" in
1976.
2000 ACAD BioCycle
R
26
Now the big question today is was it real or is this just an attempt to repair his shattered
image.
2010 SPOK CBS_Early
marriage

F
13+1
Headnote Once again, you've resolved to lose weight, fix your marriage, or get out of debt.
2007 MAG GoodHouse
M
4+1
Last month, he reportedly offered to leave the Navy and break off with a woman he had dated
casually if Sarah would agree to mend the marriage.
1996 MAG People
R
8+1
If everything you say is true and you haven't overstated your husband's bad behavior out of
exhaustion or frustration, the real question is why you would want to repair your marriage
2010 MAG Redbook
matter
F
--M
1
But that did in nowise mend the matter, or at all soften the hard heart of the learned
gentleman
with the copy of Blackstone.
2009 FIC Bk:HERMANMELVILLE
R
--mind
F

--M
2
He was 20 years old at the time and spent much of 1983 in rehab waiting for bones and tissue
and
mind to mend.
2007 MAG OutdoorLife
R
4
You have to repair the mind, the body, the soul, so you provide program components that
address all
aspects of a person, " says Dooley.
2005 NEWS CSMonitor
net
F
3
Well, the problem is -- and we want to serve those people, and we, of course, want to fix the
safety net.
2010 SPOK PBS_NewsHour
M
---

R
2+5
Until the safety net has been repaired, it will be up to social workers to mobilize
neighborhoods'
informal resources to promote working parents' health and well-being.
2007 ACAD HealthSocialW

omission
F
1 (pl.)
The omissions were to be fixed after the treaty was ratified.
1992 ACAD ForeignAffairs
M
--R
1 (pl.)
Accordingly, in March 1991 Democratic Congressman Sam Gibbons (an active partisan of
CBI-2)
introduced in the House of Representatives a bill -- a putative CBI-3 -- designed to repair
both
these omissions from the previous legislation.
1992 ACAD InterAmStud
program
F
14
Politicians " don't have the guts to fix " the program, Boyd says, although " triage has to be
performed.
2009 NEWS
USA
M
--R
4+3
Why have the nation's leaders been debating for more than twenty years how to repair the
program
without reaching any consensus?

2005 ACAD SocSciRev

relations
F
1+4
And they don't try to step in and fix the relationship, step in and fix the relation between you
and Paris?
2005 SPOK CNN_King
M
21
Exchange programs are not the only way to mend relations between the US and Muslim
countries, but
they are an important one, " Beiser says.
2008 NEWS CSMonitor
R
37 (pl.)
At its most basic, Putin's attempt to repair relations with the West reflects the fact that Russia
badly needs foreign cash.
2010 MAG Newsweek
relationship
F
10+2
And they don't try to step in and fix the relationship, step in and fix the relation between you
and Paris?
2005 SPOK CNN_King
M
10+7
We have to repair, to mend the relationship between the two countries.

2003 SPOK CNN_Q&A

R
38+16
So, I think a good start has been made to repair the relationship that has been damaged in
recent
months, but I think there is a long way to go to have the kind of strong partnership that is
needed
that can produce results on the ground.
2010 SPOK PBS_NewsHour
reputation
F
2
And the new president is going to have to fix the reputation that we've left with the rest of the
world.
2008 SPOK NBC_MeetPress
M
1
The episodes unraveled an effort by Allen to mend a reputation for racial insensitivity that has
pursued him through his steady rise from Palos Verdes to college athlete, lawyer, state
legislator,
governor and, in 2000, U.S. senator.
2006 NEWS WashingtonPost
R
9
Can Thailand's reputation be repaired?
2010 MAG Newsweek
rift
F
---

M
10
It is a symbolic move that's been approved by the McCain camp in an effort to mend the rift
with
staunch Hillary Clinton supporters.
2008 SPOK Fox_Election
R
4
After recruiting new prayer-leaders, Kauder set about to repair the biggest social rift in the
village of Pomquet.
2002 ACAD AmerStudies
situation
F
43
France will probably have to step in and try to figure out a way to fix the Greek situation.
2010 SPOK Fox_Baier
M
--R
9+1
As they marched toward Lexington Green, he thought about whether he needed to go back to
repair the
situation with her.
2009 FIC FantasySciFi
soul
F
2
If I'm going to fix your soul, I need it nice and still.

2002 FIC FantasySciFi

M
2
It was a journey he insisted at the time, not to mend his tattered soul but to simply keep
moving.
2006 SPOK NPR_Sunday
R
1 (pl.)
[...]I asked him how long before they would be able to live together, looked around at a
village in
which every building had been destroyed and said, We will repair our buildings long before
we
repair our souls.
1999 SPOK NPR:TalkNation
system
F
272+40
Maybe that's where we should start looking to fix the system, because that's a change we can
all
agree on and we can change it today.
2010 SPOK Fox_Beck
M
2
Everyone here has long been aware of the need to mend this broken system.
2006 NEWS AssocPress
R
89+26
An Irish telecom DigiCell (ph) is working to repair Haiti's phone system.

2010 SPOK Fox_Baier

work
F
--M
--R
--Table 27: Comparison table of the BNC and COCA for the Category of abstract objects:
Abstract objects
BNC
COCA
F
M
R
F
M
R
business
------9
1
2

economy
------116
3
7
effort
----------2
family
------12
--2
image
1
3
26

14
3
26
marriage
--3
1
14
5
9
matter
--4
----1
--mind
--------2
4
net

------3
--7
omission
----5
1
--1
program/me
------14
--7
relations
----6
5

21
37
relationship
3
2
--12
17
54
reputation
------2
1
9
rift
--1
5
--10
4
soul
---

----2
2
1
situation
1
3
--43
--10
system
----3
312
2
115
work
2
---------

--This category shows a significant difference between the corpora. In BNC there are
only
few tokens, except the noun image, which collocates with repair, having 26 hits. A lot of the
nouns
that have at least one collocating verb in COCA do not collocate with any of the verbs in
BNC.
These are business, economy, effort, family, mind, net, program/me, reputation and soul.
COCA, on the other hand, offers some of the most numerous collocations of the whole
research of the three verbs. The noun system is the most numerous collocate in this category
with
312 hits with fix and 115 hits with repair. Another numerous collocate is economy with 116
hits
with fix.
An interesting difference between British and American English can be seen in the
noun
relationship. In COCA it is most numerously represented collocating with repair and other
two verbs
are possible too. In BNC, on the other hand, it is not possible to use it with repair at all.
There are two words collocating with mend which were not included into counting
manners
and matters. These are idioms (to mend ones manners and to mend matters) that do not share
the
same sense as the verbs fix and repair, so they are not counted with in the research.
3.5.10 Category of locations
This category deals with locations and places that can be fixed, mended or repaired.
Table 28: Category of locations as found in the BNC:
collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
area
F

1
Although, in theory perhaps, it may be possible for Parliament to set up a tribunal which has
full
and autonomous powers to fix its own area of operation, that has, so far, not been done in this
country.
ASB W_ac_polit_law_edu
M
--R
3+3
The Fao area was repaired to the extent that it was possible for loading to be resumed at a
restored Mina al-Bakr terminal.
HRE W_non_ac_humanities_arts
centre
F
2
The man from Horsley Road had fixed the music centre .
GUM W_fict_prose
M
--R
4
Darlington council must decide by mid-March which of the companies bidding for the
contract to
repair the leisure centre will do the work.
K54 W_newsp_other_social
city
F

1
I'm not here to fix the city , rather to take the work that has already been done onto the next
stage.
K32 W_newsp_other_sports
M
--R
3
Not only did he build and restore churches and monasteries, but also he repaired the city
walls; he
corresponded with Caesarius of Clermont about laying underground water-pipes, and he was
responsible for severing road-communications with the south to prevent the spread of plague.
HY0 W_ac_humanities_arts
country
F
1 (pl.)
Klaus announced on March 22 that the government had decided to cancel Czechoslovakia's
multilateral
agreements with the CMEA (COMECON) under which the exchange rates between the
crown and the
currencies of the other CMEA countries were fixed by joint arrangement
HKS W_non_ac_polit_law_edu
M
--R
--place
F
3+1

She'd fixed the place where he'd been, stooped to pick up her baggage, and gone after him,
not
doubting that it was he.
CRE W_fict_prose
M
--R
--state
F
2
The first difference is simply that we are allowed to specify less in the way of " conditions or
data " in order to fix the state .
EW6 W_non_ac_nat_science
M
--R
--town
F
--M
--R
--Table 29: Category of locations as found in COCA:

collocate
verb
number of occurrences
Model sentence from corpus
Citation code
area
F
5+4
Well, does that mean there was brain damage originally maybe some place in early life that,
you
know, caused the damage and then brought on the depression, and now you're going to
regrow and fix
that damaged area?
2003 SPOK NPR_TalkNation
M
---

R
8+3
This healing occurs when healthy cells of the mucosal lining multiply and migrate to repair
the
wounded area.
2008 MAG TotalHealth
center
F
--M
---

R
--city
F
29
Florence, of visual idioms within an explosively prolific culture of image production tends to
fix
that city and its fifteenth-century inhabitants at the heart of this transformation.
2008 ACAD ArtBulletin
M
---

R
6
Why is it, four years after Katrina, were still fighting with the federal government for money
to
repair our devastated city?
2009 SPOK PBS_NewsHour
country
F
12
Let's balance the budget. Let's fix the country. That's what they are saying.
2009 SPOK Fox_Hannity
M
1
Laney as a symbol of bipartisanship, stressing throughout his 11-minute address his desire to
mend
the country.

2000 NEWS SanFrancisco

R
9+1
If Iraq has billions in U.S. banks, as reported on NBC News, why are we spending billions to
repair
their country?
2008 NEWS Denver
place
F
14+1
Embarrassed and therefore angry, I started bullying her, barking orders and blaming her when
after
an hour we still had a creature of the night darting around our living room, executing that
hideous
mid-air hover like treading water in space as its sonar fixed his place in the room.
2007 FIC LiteraryRev
M
1 (pl.)
I'm going to have to clean thoroughly, give a coat of varnish to the wooden staircase and put
in
order all Lunula's dresses, iron them and mend the places where the silk has been torn by the
passage of time.
1993 FIC WomenLanguage
R
7+2
EVER SINCE THE AUSCHWITZ memorial and museum first opened to the public, in 1947,
workers have
repaired and rebuilt the place.
2010 MAG Smithsonian
state
F

4
I mean, it's incredible about state's rights and he's tired of the government coming in and
telling
the states exactly how to fix their state.
2009 SPOK Fox_Beck
M
--R
--town
F
1 (pl.)
Strikingly, the U.S. grid fixed more inland towns than the DLC system, and for longer,
because its
reach away from initial settlement was greater.
2006 ACAD GeographRev
M
--R
--Table 30: Comparison table of the BNC and COCA for the Category of location:
Location
BNC
COCA
F
M

R
F
M
R
area
1
--6
9
--11
centre/center
2
--4
------city
1
--3
29
--6

country
1
----12
1
10
place
4
----15
1
9
state
2
----4
----town
-------

1
----This category shows a tendency toward fix. Mend is not collocating with any of the
nouns
in BNC and with only a few in COCA.
The most numerous collocate in BNC is area with 6 hits, collocating with repair. In
COCA
it is city with 29 hits, collocating with fix.
4 CONCLUSION
The aim of this thesis was to compare the usage of the verbs fix, mend and repair. In
order to find differences between the verbs, their collocating words were divided into ten
categories. These categories have shown tendencies of the collocating words towards one (or
more)
of the verbs.
The thesis was divided into two main parts theoretical and practical. Basic theoretical
background, based on different authors, was dealt with in the first part.
Section 2.1 dealt with meaning and problems with defining it. Several types of
meaning
were listed. The notion of sense and reference were also described.
Section 2.2 presented synonymy as one of the sense relations. Synonymy was defined
here.
True or absolute synonymy was contrasted to near or loose synonymy. Attention was also
focused on
cognitive synonymy.
Section 2.3 enumerated different kinds of sense relations, to contrast them with
synonymy
which was dealt with in the previous section. Antonymy, hyponymy, meronymy, homonymy
and polysemy,
plesionymy, member-collection and portion-mass relations, feature-whole relation and other
word set
were described.
Section 2.4 offered basic facts about the corpora used in the practical part the
British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American Corpus.
Section 2.5 described verbs as a part of speech with special attention to tense and
aspect.

The last section of the theoretical part dealt with collocations and their restrictions
and contrasted them with idioms.
Section 3.1 provided general introduction to the practical part. Verbs fix, mend and
repair are classified in correlation with information from the theoretical part. The limitations
of
the research are mentioned in this section.
Section 3.2 listed definitions of the three verbs from two printed dictionaries
Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English and The Random House Dictionary of the English
Language and
one online dictionary Oxford English Dictionary Online. The findings from dictionaries
were
compared. They showed that the definitions in OED were the most comprehensive. The verbs
of course
share the meaning in which they are synonymous. But each of them have also meaning(s) that
are not
shared by the other two verbs.
Fix differs from the other two verbs in the following senses, as defined in LDCE:
-

to fasten firmly

to agree on, arrange

to protect from the effects of light by chemical treatment

to cook or prepare

to attract (ones attention)

to fasten (a bayonet)

to arrange the result of

to influence someone wrongly

to deal with , get even with

Additional definitions from RHD:

-

to put in order or in good condition

to pace definitely and more or less permanently

to direct (the eyes, the attention) steadily

to make set or rigid

to put or place (responsibility, blame) on a person

to provide or supply with

to put in condition or position to make no further trouble

to castrate or spay

to make stable in consistency or condition

to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a useful compound

to kill, make rigid, and preserve for microscopic study

Some more definitions found in OED:

-

to establish as a permanent property of subsequent generations (genetics)

to hold a person engaged or occupied, so as to prevent his leaving the spot

Mend differs from the other two verbs in the following senses according to LDCE and RHD:
-

to improve

to regain ones health

to build up (a low fire)

Additional senses from OED:

-

to make amends or reparation for, atone for

to free from sin or fault

to profit, advantage

to fatten, cause to gain weight

Repair differs in the following senses, as found in LDCE:

-

to be able to be mended

Additional senses in RHD:

-

to make amends for, to compensate

Other senses in OED:

-

to rebuild (a city)

to regain, recover (something lost)

The verbs mend and repair share the sense to reconstruct (defective or injured body parts)
surgically (OED).
Section 3.3 dealt with definitions of the verbs found in dictionaries of synonyms and
thesauruses: Oxford Thesaurus An A- Z Dictionary of Synonyms, The Merriam-Webster
Thesaurus,
Cassells Guide to Synonyms and Related Words, Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
and
Longman Synonym Dictionary. All the dictionaries of synonyms and thesauruses list the
verbs fix,
mend and repair as being synonymous.
Section 3.4 compared etymologies of the verbs, as found in Oxford English Dictionary
in
section Etymology. From the etymology of the verbs in section 3.4 it was found out that the
oldest
verb is mend, which was first used in literature in 1225. Fix is the youngest of the verbs, first
used in 1762 in the same sense as mend and repair.
Section 3.5 comprised of the actual corpus analysis and was divided into ten
subsections.
The findings from the corpora were divided into ten semantic categories, each category was
dealt
with in each subsection.
Subsection 3.5.1 presented the Category of means of transport. The corpora showed a slight
tendency
towards repair, but the other two words were also found as possible.
The following subsection dealt with the Category of parts of bodies, either of people or
animals.
No preference was shown in this category, but differences between BNC and COCA were
found.
The Category of problems, defects and malfunctions was analysed in the subsection 3.5.3.
Quite
strong tendency towards fix and repair was observed in this category.
Subsection 3.5.4 dealt with the Category of parts of clothing and fabrics. A strong preference
for
the verb mend was shown by the corpora.
Subsection 3.5.5 analysed the Category of linear objects. This category has not shown any
tendency
towards one of the verbs. However, differences between BNC and COCA were observed.
Subsection 3.5.6 dealt with the Category of parts of buildings and construction. Differences
between the British and American English were found in this category.

The Category of machines is analysed in subsection 3.5.7. A tendency towards the verbs fix
and
repair was observed in this category.
Subsection 3.5.8 dealt with the Category of concrete objects, where a slight tendency toward
repair
was found, but fix and mend were also present in the corpora.
Subsection 3.5.9 analysed the Category of abstract objects. The research showed a significant
difference between the corpora.
The last subsection analyses the Category of locations and shows a tendency towards the verb
fix.
Several problems occurred during the research. One of them is the different size of the
British and American corpora. The American corpus, COCA, is much larger than the British
one. Thus
in comparing the corpora this fact has to be taken in consideration.
Another problem was with phrasal verbs and idioms. Idioms or phrasal verbs were
found
during the research in both dictionaries and corpora. Fix appeared as part of phrasal verbs (fix
up
and fix on/upon) or collocations (fix cell/tissue in a solution) that have different senses from
mend and repair. Mend appeared as part of idioms to mend (ones) fences, to mend matters
and to
mend ones manners. In case of the verb repair, there were no phrasal verbs found,
collocations of
different sense or idioms during the research of the corpora.
To sum up, the corpora have not shown big differences in the use of the verbs, although
some slight nuances can be observed:
1) When a word is collocating with repair, it is also possible with fix (but not always
vice-versa) this was shown in the following categories:
The Category of means of transport:
Corporal Rose had tried to fix the car but discovered a bent track rod end which was beyond
his
capabilities.
(BNC)
They've got to repair daddy's car because it could be dangerous,
Grant.
(BNC)
Coquillette, who discovered her love for auto repair after taking a night class to fix her own
car,

has drawn attention from the media for her work converting standard hybrid cars into plug-in
hybrids.
(COCA)
But if you don't have access to those computer codes, no matter what technology you have,
no matter
how brilliant you are of an auto technician, you still can't repair the
car.
(COCA)
Forced landings were common, even Charlie Chaplin was seen standing on the sands of
Bologne in the
early 1920s while his pilot fixed the aircraft .
(BNC)
The retention of the wreckage for detailed scrutiny must not be frustrated because of the
owner's
wish to repair the aircraft and return it to service without delay.
(BNC)
The partnership enlisted the help of private-sector executives to help the air base, whose main
mission is to repair military aircraft, operate more efficiently, said retired Maj. Gen. Ron
Smith,
[...]
(COCA)
On the examples above it is obvious that car can be used both with fix and repair. On the
other
hand, aircraft is in BNC possible with fix and repair, while in COCA it is possible only with
repair, not with fix.
The Category of problems, defects and malfunctions:
Even if he had been able to fix the damage ,
(BNC)
Only then can we begin to repair the damage caused since the Tories came to power.
(BNC)
And it would cost them another $ 1700 on top of what they'd already paid to fix the hidden
damage.
(COCA)
The implications of this redevelopment project stretch far beyond Fairfax County, as suburbs
and
exurbs across the country look for ways to repair the damage from five decades of outward,
rather
than upward,

expansion.
(COCA)
As long as they conformed outwardly, they were fairly safe, for Elizabeth and her ministers
had to
tread carefully to repair the breaches of confidence in the Tudor monarchy that Mary's
policies had
opened.
(BNC)
The Corps of Engineers and the state national guard have been working around the clock with
the
local officials and they've built the levee -- they've fixed the levee breach and they've built the
levee up higher than it was over the
weekend.
(COCA)
And WWL-TVs reporter, Lucy Bustamante (ph), was up in a chopper this afternoon, reported
that from
noon to 4 when she was circling around the area, she saw no efforts to repair the breach even
late
this afternoon.
(COCA)
Examples above illustrate that damage is in both BNC and COCA possible with fix and
repair, while
breach is possible only with repair in BNC. In COCA, breach is possible both with fix and
repair.
Category of machines:
In this study the difference between conditions was that in the neutral set of slides the father
was a car mechanic seen fixing an engine , while in the arousal version the father was a
surgeon
operating on a badly injured
patient.
(BNC)
He successfully repaired the engine and could not resist the chance of seeing Brooklands, the
centre of British Aviation.
(BNC)
The defendant garage was liable in damages because it took eight weeks to repair a motor
vehicle
when a normally competent garage would have taken about five
weeks.
(BNC)
Company employees arranged to meet the family on the road and repair the camera.
(COCA)

Examples above show that engine is possible with both fix and repair in BNC and COCA.
Motor and
camera, on the other hand, are possible only with repair in both corpora.
Category of concrete objects:
The Greek government turned to Goldman Sachs, paying the firm $300 million to fix the
books.
(BNC)
Most notably we had a grant from the last Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities,
a
matching grant for $15,000 to deacidify and repair a number of books from our gardenhistory
collection.
(BNC)
He fixed the log book? Setback. Big
setback.

(COCA)

Kyle, who works for the National Library Bindery, will offer one-on- one advice about
preservation,
what a bindery will do to repair books, and how much it will
cost.
(COCA)
He could be content sitting cross-legged, weeding a flower bed, or repairing a broken chair .
(BNC)
Organize, clean, and repair gear within a day of returning from one trip so it's prepped for the
next.
(COCA)
The above examples illustrate that book is possible both with fix and repair. On the other
hand,
chair and gear are only possible with repair in the corpora.
2) Mechanical defects and malfunctions usually collocate with fix or repair. This can be
observed
especially in the following categories:
Category of means of transport
I must find him before I sail home, and come to think of it I'll need to fix the boat too! (BNC)

Like Frejji, who'll fix the ship better than

anyone.

(BNC)

And how will you repair your boat , Breakspear, or even take her away, if I put your name on
the
Stop List?
(BNC)
[...] proves more than just a minor hazard for the astronauts as they race against time to repair
the ship .
(BNC)
Dodge, if this isn't incentive enough to fix that boat, I don't know what
is.
(COCA)
If you should fix your bicycle yourself when it breaks down, write A. If you should take it to
a
bicycle repair shop, write E.
(COCA)
Well, as soon as we repair our boat. We'll leave you alone, and the fleet will have no reason to
invade. (COCA)
The auction raises money for the Sopo Bicycle Cooperative, a nonprofit bike repair shop in
East
Atlanta Village that teaches people how to repair their bicycles and sells cheap repairable
bikes.
(COCA)
These examples illustrate that boat, ship and bicycle can be used with both fix and repair. It
has
to be noted, though, that boat and ship can also be used with mend in the BNC.
Category of machines:
There is a story about an old man who was called in by a factory to fix their ancient boiler ,
which had ground to a halt.
(BNC)
At first, the machinery was fixed, standing within the
barn.
(BNC)
The boilers are being repaired . Full power
soon.

(BNC)

He has to repair all of the machinery but this seems impossible since his workmates have
borrowed

his tools.

(BNC)

The Hovs had come to fix the boiler and were just
leaving.
(COCA)
Parts are scarce, however, and there are fewer and fewer steamboatmen around who know
how to fix
the machinery.
(COCA)
In later cases, more than one boiler was placed beside the cylinder, allowing uninterrupted
operation while a boiler was being
repaired.
(COCA)
John Graham, finance professor at Duke and director of the survey, says businesses are
finding ways
to repair existing machinery and buildings rather than replace equipment or
move.
(COCA)
On the examples from the corpora it is shown that boiler and machinery can be used with
both fix
and repair in the BNC and COCA.
3) Parts of clothing and fabrics collocate with the verb mend. This can be observed on the
Category of parts of clothing and fabrics, illustrated on the following examples from the
corpora:
Lizaveta once mended his clothes : when we puzzle over the chance-induced actuality of her
murder
being so largely left to speak for itself we are creating a false problem by the inertness of our
own metaphor.
(BNC)
Gordon wisely said nothing. Although the rider's clothes were mended and patched, the bridle
held
medallions of silver and the saddle was carved with ornate
flowers.
(COCA)
And we have to get your coat mended,
too.

(COCA)

Now, hundreds of tourists a year pay the monks a small entrance fee to see the catacombs'
occupants, but family members no longer visit, and there's no one to mend a torn dress or
reset a
dislocated
jaw.
(COCA)
His valet, Harper, looked up from the shirt he was
mending.
(COCA)

4) There are differences between British and American English in the following categories:
Category of parts of bodies:
Collocates brain, DNA, muscle, shoulder and skin were found only in COCA and not in the
BNC.
Foot in the BNC collocates only with the verb mend, whereas in COCA it was found
collocating both
with fix and repair. It is illustrated on the examples below:
" But the foot really is mending ? " " It's fine. Another day or two and I'll be skipping like a
ram on the high hills.
(BNC)
We're going to see the nice man who's going to help get your foot fixed, and then you can run
around and jump and... oh, play
soccer.
(COCA)
Forward Larry Stewart (surgery to repair broken right foot) is on the injured
list
(COCA)
Heart collocates with both fix and mend in the BNC, while in COCA it is possible with all the
three
verbs with repair having the most tokens:
It took all his willpower and concentration to banish the sound of it, and fix heart and soul on
the celebration of the Mass.
(BNC)
It was about a wife who'd cheated on her husband, she'd left him for his best friend, and now
the
man was on the road trying to mend his broken heart
.
(BNC)
I pretty much laid it out:' This is a bad deal, but let's follow it. We'll fix the heart, and we'll
deal with the tumor,' " Sutton says.
(COCA)
But first, a new way to mend a broken heart. Doctors have shown, for the first time in a
controlled
study, that they can inject stem cells into the hearts of patients suffering from heart failure,
and these adult stem cells taken from the patients' own bone marrow will, in effect,
regenerate the
heart tissue and significantly improve heart
function.
(COCA)

One day, heart patients may be able to use their own skin cells to repair their hearts, using a
new
type of stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells
(iPS).
(COCA)
Leg only collocates with mend in the BNC. All three verbs are possible in COCA, though:
"Couldn't Uncle Walter come here till his leg 's mended?" said Philip. "We won't be here,
Philip,"
said his Mum.
(BNC)
Well, you just lie quiet and I'll fix your leg. Here, that's all right. Everything OK? Fine.
(COCA)
I just wanted to hide out when we got here, But six weeks ago, I saw a boy hit by a car and I
went
out and helped mend his leg. And his mother knew what I was
doing.
(COCA)
At the hospital, doctors worked to repair his leg and replenish his blood
supply.
(COCA)

Category of linear objects:

Collocates hedge and footpath were found only in BNC, while seam and strand were found
only in
COCA.
Cable collocates with mend and repair in the BNC, and it is possible with all three verbs in
COCA:
"I've been far too busy to look for one of those," Rain said. "I tried you at home earlier --;
hasn't anyone mended your cable yet?"
(BNC)
The modern purpose-built vessel which operates from Southampton, is used to lay and repair
subsea
cable .
(BNC)
That's how many times we had to call to get the cable TV fixed, the phone connected and
even to get
a bottle of water delivered.
(COCA)
The office on the mainland had promised that the cable under the water would be mended on
the

following day.
(COCA)
On the night of March 20, Diaz was watching mechanics repair a burned-out cable on his
tank when
Tomahawk cruise missiles soared
overhead.
(COCA)
Category of parts of buildings and construction:
Collocates church, fencing, premises and room were found only in the BNC, while bedroom,
dam, floor
and levees are found only in COCA.
Road collocates with mend and repair in the BNC, whereas in COCA it is possible with all
three
verbs, fix having the most tokens:
To ensure that the crisis of February could never be repeated, Ptain employed the equivalent
of
more than a whole division of men permanently mending the road .
(BNC)
I saw tank traps and great banks of boulder clay where the road had been repaired in makeshift
fashion after [...]
(BNC)
Cars fitted with pothole detectors could send a message that says " fix this road
now.
(COCA)
Since he would come back, then she must wait for him there by the mountain, maintaining
everything
just as it was, the road cleared and mended, the walls in good repair, the houses kept intact.
(COCA)
The road is being repaired from Catete to Luanda, where Angola's main port is located.
(COCA)
School collocates only with repair in the BNC, while it has numerous tokens with fix and
repair in
COCA:
The troops, officially involved in a US&dollar;2,500,000 civic action programme to repair a
local
school and to install a sewage system and water treatment plants, were accused of being an
advance

guard of a stepped-up US policy to eradicate the growing of coca, the raw material of
cocaine, in
the region; in the absence of a viable market substitute, thousands of local peasant families
depended on the crop for a
livelihood.
(BNC)
However, that only works if there's somebody in that troubled neighbourhood who can gather
the
resources to fix the bad school or create a new one from its ashes.
(COCA)
Alamosa would repair its high school, damaged by fire a decade
ago.
(COCA)
Category of abstract objects
Work was found only in the BNC, while business, economy, effort, family, mind, net,
program,
reputation and soul were found only in COCA.
Relationship collocates with fix and mend in the BNC, while in COCA it was found to
collocate with
all three verbs:
The neck is the focus of special attention, at times competing with the head with which its
relationship is never securely fixed, always open to
negotiation.
(BNC)
But where there is resistance to change and unwillingness to mend the troubled relationship
on
behalf of just one partner, understandably the chances of improvement are meagre, and final
breakdown, if not inevitable, is certainly
threatened.
(BNC)
And they don't try to step in and fix the relationship, step in and fix the relation between you
and Paris?
(COCA)
We have to repair, to mend the relationship between the two
countries.
(COCA)
So, I think a good start has been made to repair the relationship that has been damaged in
recent
months, but I think there is a long way to go to have the kind of strong partnership that is
needed
that can produce results on the
ground.
(COCA)

The analysis of the verbs fix, mend and repair showed that there are only very little
differences between the uses of these verbs. They definitely are not absolute synonyms,
because
they are not interchangeable in all contexts. But when comparing the individual uses with
collocations, it can be said that these verbs are cognitively synonymous the sense of e.g.
mend
the bridge and repair the bridge remain unchanged. Of course, there are some exceptions, as
was
shown in the summary above.
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Rsum
The aim of the present thesis is to research and compare meanings of three verbs fix,
mend and repair. These are usually considered as synonyms. The thesis is divided into two
parts,
theoretical and practical. The first part offers a theoretical background for the actual research
in the second part. Meaning, sense relations focused on synonymy, verbs and collocations are
described here, as well as the two corpora used in the practical part for the research of usage
of
the verbs the British National Corpus and Corpus of Contemporary American English. The
second
part presents the research of the meaning and usage of the three verbs. It compares the
definitions
of these verbs in monolingual dictionaries and dictionaries of synonyms and thesauruses. It
also
deals with etymology of these verbs. The usage of the three verbs is researched in the British
National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English. With the help of the
corpora, the
British and American English are compared. In order to find any differences between the
verbs, the
collocating words were divided into ten semantic groups: Category of means of transport,
Category
of parts of bodies, Category of problems, defects and malfunctions, Category of parts of
clothing
and fabrics, Category of linear objects, Category of parts of buildings and construction,
Category

of machines, Category of concrete objects, Category of abstract objects and Category of

locations.
Within each category the collocations were compared and analysed to what degree the verbs
are
synonymous and whether they can be used in any context, or their use is restricted to only
some
contexts.
Keywords: synonymy, collocation, verb, corpus
Resum
Clem tto diplomov prce je porovnn vznam tech anglickch sloves fix, mend
a
repair. Tato slovesa jsou obvykle povaovna za synonyma. Prce je rozdlena do dvou st,
teoretick a praktick. Prvn st tvo teoretick zklad pro vlastn vzkum v sti druh. V
tto
sti je popsn vznam, synonymie a ostatn smantick vztahy, slovesa, kolokace, stejn
jako
korpusy, kter slouily jako zklad pro vzkum vybranch sloves Britsk nrodn korpus
(British
National Corpus) a Korpus souasn americk anglitiny (Corpus of Contemporary American
English).
Druh st zkoum vznamy a pouit vybranch sloves. Srovnv definice v
monolingvlnch
slovncch i ve slovncch synonym. Srovnv tak vznamy sloves v etymologickch
slovncch.
Pouit slov bylo zkoumno a porovnvno za pomoci korpus British National Corpus a
Corpus of
Contemporary American English. Kolokujc slova byla rozdlena do deseti smantickch
kategori
podle rozdlnost v uit tchto t sloves: Kategorie dopravnch prostedk, Kategorie st
tla,
Kategorie zvad a chyb, Kategorie st odv a ltek, Kategorie linernch pedmt,
Kategorie
st budov a staveb, Kategorie stroj a pstroj, Kategorie konkrtnch pedmt, Kategorie
abstraktnch objekt a Kategorie lokac. Slova kolokujc s vybranmi slovesy byla
porovnna, aby
bylo mon zjistit, do jak mry jsou slovesa synonymn a zda mohou bt pouity v kadm
kontextu.
Klov slova: synonyma, kolokace, sloveso, korpus
________________________________
[1] Austin, John (1962) How to Do Things With Words. London: OUP.
[2] Warren, B. (1988) Semantics: Word Meaning. In Johannesson, N.L. (ed) (1988)

[3] Chafe, Wallace, L. (1970) Meaning and the Structure of Language. Chicago: University of
Chicago
Press.