I would like to write an article about using Google for correct
writing, but the basic idea is to look up things that you are unsure of.
Let's suppose I'm wondering whether it is correct to write "to have a
question for someone" or "to have a question to someone". I can easily
answer this question with Google by doing a search on "have a question
to" and "have a question for" (note the quotes).
When I search for "have a question to", Google displays sentences taken
out of the pages which contained the phrase. In the first few results,
I see phrases like "have a question to ask Richard", which is not what
I was interested in. So I change the original query to "have a question
to you" and find 416 pages. I notice that the first few results are
from ESL websites, so they are not reliable.
The search for "have a question for you" returns 28,600 pages.
I conclude that "have a question for someone" is the correct phrase.
Sometimes the results are not so clear, and sometimes I have to
conclude that there are two equally good alternatives. For example,
"time and again" scores 298,000; "time and time again" scores 263,000.
Google is better than grammar books, because the results show REAL
contemporary language, not the opinions of grammarians. I don't like
prescriptive grammar (ie. grammarians telling people how they should
speak) -- I think what is "correct" is what native speakers find
natural.
For example, "different than" is objected to by many prescriptivists.
Many usage and style guides consider it "incorrect". Google returns
1,090,000 pages (often from very reputable and educated sources like
universities and the press). The result for the "correct" option
("different from") is not much higher: 2,720,000. So, for me, both are
correct.
You can verify almost anything (articles, collocations), although you
should make sure to look for sufficiently general phrases (so that you
get enough results). It's no use looking for "I'm reading "The Design
of Everyday Things"". It's much better to look for "I'm reading a book"
Источник: http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2002/176.htm |