| It is widely recognized that there are at least 3000 multi-word verbs in English and native speakers frequently use most of them. However, multi-word verbs are complex and problematic for EFL learners. The present study is corpus-driven and intends to explore the patterns of multi-word verbs produced by Chinese EFL learners in comparison to native speakers.In the process of data collection, a learner corpus (CLEC) and a native corpus (BNC) were employed to provide raw data in the form of Key Word in Context (KWIC) for each multi-word verb concerned in this study. Several Foxpro programs were compiled to fulfill searching and calculation tasks. Besides, Contrastive interlanguage analysis (CIA) approach was adopted for data analysis.Through comparison, the striking patterns of multi-word verbs used by Chinese EFL learners are revealed in terms of total frequency and type number. As a whole, Chinese learners tend to underuse multi-word verb, compared to native speakers. To make the results more rigorous, Chi-square tests were carried out at the 5 per cent significant level with the aid of SPSS package. The values of Chi-square tests indicate that the MWVs between two corpora are significantly different in terms of total frequency and type number. In addition, both intralingual and interlingual errors committed by Chinese learners in using multi-word verbs have been identified and analyzed. Finally, it is concluded that the strategies of language transfer, and avoidance are preferred by Chinese learners in the production of multi-word verbs.
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