Table 3.
Trained and untrained verb sets compared on a number of variables
| Verb Set 1 | Verb Set 2 | Sem Rel (Avg./SD) |
Target sentence | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Freq | Image | Fam | Item | Freq | Image | Fam | Verb set 1 | Verb set 2 | |
| Bake | 12 | 495 | 549 | Fry | 2 | n/a | n/a | 5.54/0.52 | The chef is baking a pie. | The cook is frying eggs. |
| Throw | 42 | 477 | 548 | Kick | 16 | 551 | 563 | 5.18/0.75 | The tennis player is throwing his racquet. | The soccer player is kicking the ball. |
| Sew | 6 | 478 | 517 | Knit | 10 | n/a | n/a | 5.82/0.87 | The tailor is sewing a jacket. | The mother is knitting a sweater. |
| Read | 173 | 499 | 568 | Write | 106 | 548 | 560 | 5.54/1.13 | The student is reading a book. | The policeman is writing a ticket. |
| Fly | 33 | 582 | 537 | Drive | 105 | n/a | n/a | 5.0/0.77 | The pilot is flying an airplane. | The chauffeur is driving a limousine. |
| Measure | 91 | 379 | 555 | Weigh | 4 | 411 | 536 | 5.64/1.21 | The carpenter is measuring the stairs. | The nurse is weighing a baby. |
| Scrub | 9 | n/a | n/a | Wash | 37 | 522 | 632 | 7.0/0.0 | The maid is scrubbing the floor. | The zoo keeper is washing an elephant. |
| Watch | 81 | 525 | 576 | Examine | 33 | 341 | 549 | 5.0/1.41 | The audience is watching the play. | The veterinarian is examining the dog. |
| tow | 1 | 406 | 468 | Push | 37 | 341 | 549 | 4.64/1.80 | The farmer is towing the (horse) trailer. | The gardener is pushing the lawnmower. |
| chop | 3 | 575 | 487 | Slice | 13 | 507 | 540 | 6.0/0.89 | The boy (scout) is chopping wood. | The father is slicing a ham. |
| Deliver | 18 | n/a | n/a | Send | 74 | n/a | n/a | 4.7/1.27 | The mailman is delivering the letter. | The woman is sending a package. |
| Mix | 13 | n/a | n/a | Shake | 17 | n/a | n/a | 6.27/0.65 | The bartender is mixing the drink. | The baby is shaking the rattle. |
| Avg | 45.1 | 490.7 | 533.9 | Avg | 36.3 | 460.1 | 561.3 | 5.53/0.94 | ||
| SD | 55.3 | 67.7 | 36.5 | SD | 38.7 | 93.8 | 32.7 | |||
freq: frequency (range = 0 – 69971); image: imageability (range = 100 – 700); fam: familiarity (range = 100 – 700), n/a: not available, Sem Rel: Semantic relatedness ratings for verb pairs on 1–7 scale.
*
Present progressive form not required.