SN4 ""

No	Pattern	Freq
1	[conj] it [was/were] years	8
2	it [was/were] [adj] years	167
3	it [was/were] [num] years	135
4	it [was/were] [det] years	30
5	it [was/were] ten years	18
6	it [was/were] ten years	18
7	it [was/were] many years	15
8	it [was/were] many years	15
9	it [was/were] two years	14
10	it [was/were] two years	14
11	it [was/were] three years	13
12	it [was/were] three years	13
13	it [was/were] some years	9
14	it [was/were] four years	9
15	it [was/were] some years	9
16	it [was/were] four years	9
17	it [was/were] five years	8
18	it [was/were] five years	8
19	it [was/were] 10 years	7
20	it [was/were] 10 years	7
21	it [was/were] six years	6
22	it [was/were] six years	6
23	it [was/were] several years	5
24	it [was/were] seven years	5
25	it [was/were] several years	5
26	it [was/were] thirty years	5
27	it [was/were] seven years	5
28	it [was/were] thirty years	5
29	it [was/were] years [adv]	16
30	it [was/were] years [adv]	16