lexical verb + THE USE OF – English Grammar Profiler

Here are examples of verbs that suggest ability (or lack of) + the noun phrase ‘the use of’:

So how have we enabled the use of goats as a reliable form of currency?

TED

In that service, he actually lost the use of his legs, he‘s paralyzed and he uses marijuana for pain management.

TED

In the English Vocabulary Profile:

the use of sth = C2 permission to use something, or the ability to use something

We are interested in finding which verbs might suggest modal meanings such as ‘permission’ or ‘ability’ before the phrase ‘the use of’.

A search in the COCA corpus for:

_VV (lexical verbs up to 4 spaces to the left of  “the use of“:

1 INCLUDE 251

2 REQUIRE 235

3 INVOLVES 227

4 REQUIRES 197 5 ENCOURAGE 189

6 ALLOW 186

7 ASSOCIATED 158

8 BAN 143

In fact, the UN has called on governments to ban the use of solitary for more than 15 days.

TED

9 PROMOTE 141
10 PROHIBIT 140

11 REDUCE 135 12 PIONEERED 117 13 LIMIT 117

14 INVOLVE 115

15 SUPPORTS 111 16 BANNED 110 17 AUTHORIZING 106 18 AUTHORIZE 106 19 PERMIT 103 20 JUSTIFY 101 21 AUTHORIZED 98 22 APPROVED 98 23 RESTRICT 97

24 ALLOWS 94

25 INVOLVING 91

26 OPPOSED 89 27 PROMOTING 87

28 SUPPORTING 83

29 EXPAND 82

30 PROHIBITS 80
31 BANNING 72

32 TRAINED 72

33 REQUIRING 71 34 ADVOCATE 71 35 ENCOURAGING 71 36 ALLOWING 69 37 ENCOURAGES 67 38 RECOMMEND 67 39 PROHIBITING 64

40 PROHIBITED 64

41 ELIMINATE 63

42 RECOMMENDED 63
43 ADVOCATED 62

44 GOVERNING 62 45 ACHIEVED 62

46 EXAMINED 62

47 RESTRICTING 58
48 DISCOURAGE 57

49 REGULATE 57

50 OPPOSE 55

ETC.

— 51 INVESTIGATED 55 52 REDUCING 54 53 LIMITING 53 54 ADVOCATING 52 55 FACILITATE 52 56 INVESTIGATING 47 57 EXPLORE 47 58 MAXIMIZE 46 59 INVESTIGATE 46 60 ENHANCED 45 61 EXAMINE 44 62 PROMOTES 43 63 RECOMMENDS 43 64 RESTRICTED 43 65 ENCOURAGED 43 66 REFERS 42 67 APPROVE 41 68 RESULTING 40 69 DEMONSTRATE 38 70 PERMITS 37 71 EXPANDING 37 72 REJECT 36 73 ACCOMPLISHED 36 74 EXPLORING 34 75 DEFENDED 33 76 FACILITATED 32 77 AVOIDING 31 78 JUSTIFIED 30 79 PROMOTED 30 80 CONDONE 29 81 PRECLUDE 29 82 ENDORSE 29 83 MINIMIZE 29 84 DEMONSTRATES 29 85 OBJECTED 28 86 REGULATING 28 87 INCORPORATE 28 88 EXPLORED 28 89 FAVORED 28 90 EXAMINING 28 91 ELIMINATING 27 92 RELATING 27 93 JUSTIFIES 26 94 PERMITTING 26 95 ARISING 26 96 EVALUATED 26 97 PREVENTING 26 98 RENOUNCE 25 99 ILLUSTRATE 25

100 PERMITTED 25