The study examines a linguistic phenomenon of near synonyms investigated by one of the features in a corpus tool of Sketch Engine namely Word Sketch Difference. The feature functions to compare and contrast two words through collocation analysis by presenting their collocates categorized on the basis of grammatical relation. Using the data derived from the English Web Corpus 2013 (enTenTen13), the present research aims to explore near synonyms by observing the usage of the English adjectives Brave: Courageous by employing the analyses of collocation. The study employs a mixed-method design in which quantitative and qualitative analyses are combined. In the quantitative analysis, the frequency of word usage and the significance of collocation are identified. The collocational behaviour and semantic categorization of collocates are then described qualitatively to interpret the degree of semantic similarities occurred between the two adjectives. The result of analysis strongly suggests that word frequency, collocational behaviour, and semantic categorization of collocates can be used as an indicator to examine near synonyms. Furthermore, the feature of Word Sketch Difference in the corpus tool of Sketch Engine can assist not only those who study language, but also teachers of English as a foreign language in explaining the near synonyms based on the big quantity of real language use.
