Last active
March 14, 2022 08:52
-
-
Save jeffThompson/b91aeb49abb53408d53cd58f94d4408e to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
A Python function to test if a noun is countable. Too many requests will get you locked out, so use sparingly. EDIT: probably won't work with changes to the NGram viewer; see comments below
This file contains bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters
| # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- | |
| import re, urllib2, json | |
| def countable_noun(thing): | |
| ''' | |
| searches Google NGram to see if a word is a countable/mass noun | |
| returns True if countable, False if not | |
| ex: cats are countable (many cats) | |
| bread is not (much bread) | |
| ''' | |
| # format into url (replace spaces with + for url) | |
| thing = re.sub(' ', '\+', thing) | |
| url = 'https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=many+' + thing + '%2C+much+' + thing + '&year_start=1800&year_end=2000' | |
| response = urllib2.urlopen(url) | |
| html = response.read() | |
| # extract timeseries data from html source | |
| # if an error thrown, it's likely there's no match for the term | |
| thing = re.sub('\+', ' ', thing) | |
| try: | |
| many_data = json.loads(re.search('\{"ngram": "many ' + thing + '".*?\}', html, re.IGNORECASE).group(0))['timeseries'] | |
| many = sum(many_data) / float(len(many_data)) | |
| except: | |
| many = 0.0 | |
| try: | |
| much_data = json.loads(re.search('\{"ngram": "much ' + thing + '".*?\}', html, re.IGNORECASE).group(0))['timeseries'] | |
| much = sum(much_data) / float(len(much_data)) | |
| except: | |
| much = 0.0 | |
| # return True if countable; False if not | |
| if many > much: | |
| return True | |
| return False |
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment
Yes Thanks a lot
@jeffThompson Yes Thanks a lot