Which term describes lexical chunks that include slots for inserting different words or phrases, as in 'Could you please pass the salt?'

• A. Fixed Expression
• B. Semi-Fixed Expression
• C. Collocation
• D. Word

Answer: (B)

This tests a frame-and-slot pattern in lexical chunks: a fixed skeleton you can fill with different words. In “Could you please pass the salt?” the sentence keeps its polite request frame, but the object in the slot can change. You could swap “the salt” for other items like “the pepper” or “the sugar” and still have a natural sentence. That ability to insert different words or phrases into a stable frame is what makes this a semi-fixed expression. It’s not a fully fixed expression, which wouldn’t allow substitution; it’s not a collocation, which focuses on habitual word pairings rather than a sentence-wide frame with slots.