SN4 ""

No	Pattern	Freq
1	[conj] they were [prep] the [noun]	216
2	[subord] they were [prep] the [noun]	169
3	as they were [prep] the [noun]	49
4	as they were [prep] the [noun]	49
5	[adv] they were [prep] the [noun]	44
6	[adv] they were [prep] the [noun]	38
7	[verb] they were [prep] the [noun]	29
8	if they were [prep] the [noun]	26
9	if they were [prep] the [noun]	26
10	when they were [prep] the [noun]	24
11	[noun] they were [prep] the [noun]	24
12	[coord] they were [prep] the [noun]	24
13	when they were [prep] the [noun]	24
14	that they were [prep] the [noun]	23
15	[that] they were [prep] the [noun]	23
16	that they were [prep] the [noun]	23
17	and they were [prep] the [noun]	18
18	[noun sg] they were [prep] the [noun]	18
19	and they were [prep] the [noun]	18
20	than they were [prep] the [noun]	17
21	[vb past] they were [prep] the [noun]	17
22	than they were [prep] the [noun]	17
23	while they were [prep] the [noun]	14
24	once they were [prep] the [noun]	14
25	while they were [prep] the [noun]	14
26	once they were [prep] the [noun]	14
27	[adj] they were [prep] the [noun]	10
28	because they were [prep] the [noun]	9
29	because they were [prep] the [noun]	9
30	then they were [prep] the [noun]	8