ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the profound impact corpus linguistics has had on our understanding of grammar. It has changed the traditional conceptualisation of grammar as a simple correct/incorrect dichotomy to a more probabilistic phenomenon that requires understanding patterns in grammar choices. In this chapter, the most common types of patterns in corpus-based studies of grammar are reviewed. Grammar features are associated with vocabulary (lexico-grammar); other grammar features; discourse-level factors, such as information structure or rhetorical structure; the context of the situation (audience, purpose, social and regional variables); and many of these factors simultaneously. The chapter also describes studies of speech, especially conversation, whose grammar can differ greatly from codified, written grammar. The chapter concludes by reviewing some of the most recent developments and challenges for corpus-based grammar studies, including the move to incorporate more contextualised interpretation, such as combining corpus analysis and critical discourse analysis, and the challenges of studying multi-modal corpora.
