a bit more on the "believe" pattern

One can do somewhat better than the somewhat generic pattern I provided as the default. For instance, for a corpus with POS tags, try:
VP < (__ < /^believe/) < (S < (/^NP/ !< -NONE-) < (VP|AUX < (__ < to)))
The "(__ < blah)" part is an idiom for "`blah' with any POS tag".

For a corpus without POS tags, the pattern is simpler:

VP < /^believe/ < (S < (/^NP/ !< /[*]/|T) < (VP|AUX < to))
If you're searching a Treebank II corpus without POS tags, the pattern can even simpler:
VP < /^believe/ < (S < (/^NP/ !< /[*]/) < (VP < to))
Of course, since this pattern is trying to get a moderately complicated construction, it will always be somewhat complicated. Please see the long documentation for information about the components involved.
robertm@unagi.cis.upenn.edu
Last modified: Thu Jan 9 12:52:52 1997