computer science

Phrasal template

Phrasal template is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Phrasal template rather than just read about it. In short: A phrasal template is a phrase-long collocation that contains one or several empty slots which may be filled by words to produce individual phrases. Description A phrasal template is a phrase-long collocation that contains one or several empty slots which may be filled by words to produce individual phrases.

Key takeaways

Phrasal template belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Phrasal template to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Phrasal template from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A phrasal template is a phrase-long collocation that contains one or several empty slots which may be filled by words to produce individual phrases.

Description A phrasal template is a phrase-long collocation that contains one or several empty slots which may be filled by words to produce individual phrases. Often there are some restrictions on the grammatic category of the words allowed to fill particular slots. Phrasal templates are akin to forms, in which blanks are to be filled with appropriate data. The term phrasal template first appeared in a linguistic study of prosody in 1983 but doesn't appear to have come into common use until the late 1990s. An example is the phrase "common stocks rose <Number> to <Number>", e.g., "common stocks rose 1.72 to 340.36". "Snowclone" was coined in 2004 to describe phrasal templates that "clone" popular clichés. For example, a misquotation of Diana Vreeland's "Pink is the navy blue of India" may have given rise to the template "<color> is the new black", which in turn evolved into "<X> is the new <Y>".

Use The word game Mad Libs makes use of phrasal templates. The notion is used in natural language processing systems and in natural language generation, such as in application-oriented report generators.

See also Computational humor – usage of phrasal templates for generation of jokes by computer Joke cycle Phrase structure rules Phraseme Snowclone The king is dead, long live the king!

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Phrasal template

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Phrasal template claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Phrasal template before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Phrasal template ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Phrasal template

In research: Phrasal template appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Phrasal template in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Phrasal template is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computational linguistics, Grammar frameworks, Syntactic entities, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Phrasal template outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Phrasal template in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Phrasal template means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Phrasal template out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Phrasal template in simple terms?

A phrasal template is a phrase-long collocation that contains one or several empty slots which may be filled by words to produce individual phrases. Description A phrasal template is a phrase-long collocation that contains one or several empty slots which may be filled by words to produce individua…

Why does Phrasal template matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Phrasal template?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Phrasal template.