2. Advanced Google

In the previous chapter you learned the basics about using Google a a language learning tool. This chapter will deepen your understanding on how the search options you tried out actually work, and introduce you to other, more advanced possibilities of investigating the English language with Google.

Advanced search options. Search options in Google are not limited to just single words or phrases. The Internet search engine actually offers a wide variety of search possibilities, all of which can be combined for sophisticated and more accurate searches. The phrase search and the wildcard function being the most useful, learn also to make use of the tilde (~) and the AND/NOT/OR functions. Finally, use Google to find definitions and limit your search to specific domains for even greater precision.

A. "The phrase search" and the wildcard *

The phrase search with the quotation marks is useful, when you are interested in phrases and expressions, not just individual words. It is essential when you are trying out prepositional constructions, the way you recently did with "depend on" and "depend of". More importantly, it can help you to try out and verify your own phrasal constructions and strings of text.

Try it yourself!
Let's assume that you are using the expression by the time, but are uncertain of whether you should say by the time when we arrive, by the time of our arrival or by the time we arrive. You can try out these possibilities in Google, more preferably combined with a wildcard.

• "by the time when * arrive"
• "by the time * arrive"
• "by the time of * arrival"

Search tip!
To expand the number of results you obtain, use the wildcard to replace a word that can easily be changed into an other from the same category. Often this is the case with pronouns: the search phrases "*arrive" and "* arrival" leave open the possibilities for "I/you/he/she/
we/they arrive" and "my/your/his/hers/our/their arrival", thus providing you with more samples of the same structure.

The wildcard function also enables you to find collocations, language items that fit the word or expression you intend to use. Let's see how the wildcard works by taking a look at the few examples below. Go to Google and try out searches with the following strings

• "play a * part in"
• "play a * in"
• "play * in"

What's the benefit? To sum it up, a search with the phrase search ("") and wildcards (*) can give you important knowledge on many aspects of the language item you are interested in. First, it enables you to verify the form and use of a language structure. Second, it helps you to build your vocabulary by finding language items that can be used to replace the asterisk in the phrase. Third, by looking at the words that take the place of the wildcard, you can draw general conclusions on language structures. Fourth, like any other Google search, it enables you to see the search phrase in context, the way it is actually used as a part of a real text.

B. Useful AND interesting OR important NOT meaningless ~information

Google also accepts many of the so called Boolean operators that you may find to be useful in many types of information search, not just language learning. For example, by looking up corpus as you perhaps did in the previous chapter, you get a number of hits concerning Corpus Christi, a city in Texas. To eliminate these hits and to focus your search you can

• use the minus sign (-) in front of the unwanted word or phrase: corpus -christi.
• add a plus sign (+) in front of every word you want to be found on the resulting pages: +corpus +linguistic +"language learning" -christi

You can also use the operator OR for a wider range of results. For example, you may want to include both singular and plural forms of a noun into your search, or try a search with synonyms or alternative words. Remember that all the search options can be combined as illustrated below:

• spoken OR oral +language
• text OR writing OR essay
• "(oral OR written) presentation"

The tilde (~) can be used to indicate synonyms and related terms, for example ~course grants you with hits for course, tutorial, classes, training, and ~music directs you to pages about MP3s, records, sound, radio and so forth. With the tilde you may get some interesting results, and it can be practical for enlarging your vocabulary.

C. Definition function: define

Google enables you to find definitions of a concept on the Internet with the help of the string define:X. Providing you with the possible definitions of the search term in English, it gives you concise information about the word and its meaning in different contexts. As a bonus, you'll learn several expressions and structures that are used for defining a concept, such as "x..is a", "x can be defined as.." and "x refers to", among others.

Try it yourself!
Try this out with the following words for useful an sometimes surprising results. You may copy/paste the strings directly from the list below:

• define:happiness
• define:owl
• define:English
• define:expression

D. A limit to a particular domain and Google Scholar

You can also limit your search to a specific domain or type of web pages by using the site-definition function (site:). This can be especially useful if you are looking for information or vocabulary on issues that are widely covered on the Internet.

For example, let's say that you are preparing a presentation on sports, more specifically on football, and that you are supposed to make it less casual and more professional. Searches with sports or football will yield a vast range of search results that are likely not to be of help. But if you try again by limiting your search to a specific domain, such as .edu for educational institutions mainly in the United States, or .ac.edu for educational institutions in Britain, you will be more likely to get the information you want.

This function also helps you to find more appropriate sources of English: the educational institutes usually check the correctness of the language on their sites. Thus the words and language structures used on those domains are more likely to be correct in the traditional sense than those found in blogs, discussion forums and chatrooms. However, the limit to educational sources does not guarantee the correctness of the language in the search results.

Good to know.
If you are interested in focusing your search on scholarly literature and research abstracts, and articles from a variety of disciplines and sources, you may want to switch from ordinary Google to Google Scholar.

Notice also

• Summary of the presented search options can be found in the Corpus Library Print it out notes -section accessed from the main page through the red pen symbol, or here.
• Interested? Learn more about search options from the Google cheatsheet.

Now that you know almost everything about googling, move on to the final chapter of this section to learn why Google is good, but not perfect.