Try and V construction in English

This is my final project in the Grammar of English Clauses class which I attended when I was doing my master degree at the University of Manchester.

There is an unusual grammar in English in which 'try and V' is considered a single word. Example in a is considered grammatical while those in b-e are ungrammatical. This essay discusses this phenomena by using several corpus analysis.

a.    Let me try and think of an example that isn't confidential.

b.  * I tried and think of an example that isn't confidential.

c.  * I have tried and think of an example that isn't confidential.

d.  * She tries and think(s) of an example that isn't confidential.

e. * I am trying and think(ing) of an example that isn't confidential.

Date of Submission to the University of Manchester: 14 May 2011.

Now the errors corrected