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In this lesson, you can learn about collocations in English.
Why can’t you say, There was hard traffic on the way to the centre?
Can you say totally exhausted?
Why do you apply for a job, but you apply to a company?
Er…
Of course, the answer is ‘collocation.’
Collocation means that some words fit together, and other words don’t.
Look at a sentence you heard before:
There was hard traffic on the way to the centre.
If you said this, everybody would understand what you meant, but native English speakers
would never use the words hard traffic together.
Do you know the correct way to say it?
You could say heavy traffic, bad traffic, terrible traffic, and there are other possibilities.
The point is that some words fit together, and some words don’t.
This makes collocations difficult.
If you don’t know that heavy traffic is the correct collocation, it’s hard to guess.
You either know it, or you don’t.
In this lesson, you’ll learn about common collocations in English, how to learn and
remember collocations, and why you should focus on collocations as part of your English
You almost certainly know many collocations in English already.
The most common collocations in English are with everyday verbs like do, make, get, give,
Each of these verbs has tens of possible collocations.
You’re going to hear a dialogue.
In the dialogue, there are ten collocations with these five verbs.
Listen and write down the ten collocations.
Can’t I have a break for five minutes?
Amanda’s arriving in fifteen minutes, and my car won’t start.
Can you give me a lift to the station?
Give me a minute to get ready.
Shouldn’t she be here already?
Oh?
I got confused and mixed up the dates.
Well, at least you already made the beds.
Can you give me a lift tomorrow?
Work is busy tomorrow, but I’ll do my best.
Could you write down the ten collocations?
If you want, you can go back and listen to the dialogue a second time.
Here are the ten collocations you heard:
do someone a favour do (your) best
give someone a lift give (me) a minute
have a break have a (big) problem
You can see how common collocations are.
They’re everywhere in spoken English!
All the collocations you saw are based on verbs.
However, collocations can be based on any part of speech.
For example, there are adjective-noun collocations, like a great achievement or a long journey.
There are adverb-adjective collocations, like terribly hot or extremely significant.
There are noun-noun collocations, like a slice of cake or a pile of laundry.
The point is that collocations are everywhere.
To speak English naturally and fluently, you need to pay attention to them.
The best way to find and learn collocations is to do regular reading and listening practice
As you read or listen, pay attention to collocations.
If you’re reading something, you can try to underline the collocations you find.
Remember that just because you know the words, it doesn’t mean you know the collocation!
For example, you might see collocations like:
He went bald when he was in his twenties.
It’s a big decision, but we have to do something.
It was a little expensive, but still good value.
You might think, “I know the words, so there’s nothing to learn here,” but this could be
Think about the collocation big decision.
If you don’t know the collocation, you might say something else, like large decision or
You need to know the collocation: big decision.
The collocation is almost like a separate word that you need to learn and remember.
There are ten collocations in the text.
The collocations are of different types.
Can you find the ten collocations?
Pause the video, read the text, and try to find them.
Start again when you’re ready.
One quick point: maybe some of you have different answers.
Maybe some of you think there are more than ten collocations in the text.
There isn’t a clear line between what is a collocation and what isn’t.
For example, is very patient a collocation?
You could say that it is, or that it isn’t.
It doesn’t make any difference to how you should study and use collocations.
So, now you’ve found ten collocations in your text.
You could find more collocations using a dictionary.
For example, there are two collocations in the text with the word friend: become friends
and one of my closest friends.
Use your favourite dictionary, preferably a monolingual dictionary.
Look up the word friend, and write down two more collocations.
Pause the video and do it now!
There are many, many possible answers, but maybe you wrote down something like:
make friends (with someone) a good friend
(your) best friend Or: a true friend
In the text, you saw the collocation demanding job.
Pause the video, look up demanding in your dictionary, and write down two more possible
a demanding person a demanding period
Again, there are other possibilities.
So, when you’re reading or listening in English, try to notice the collocations you
You can then use your dictionary to look up related collocations.
However, you’ll very quickly have a lot of collocations!
How can you remember them all?
Learning and remembering collocations is the same as learning any other vocabulary.
One: Learn vocabulary from real-life sources, for example from reading articles, listening
to songs, or having conversations with your friends.
Don’t learn vocabulary by making big lists of words from the dictionary.
Two: learn and review vocabulary in full sentences.
If you want to remember the collocation keep in touch with someone, don’t just write
down the phrase; write down a full sentence which is meaningful for you.
For example: I use Whatsapp to keep in touch with my friends overseas.
Three: you need a system to review vocabulary regularly.
The best way to do this is to use a flashcard app like Quizlet or Anki.
Finally, like any vocabulary, you need to use it, otherwise it won’t stick in your
head.
Here’s one suggestion: when you learn collocations, put them in groups by topic.
For example, collocations to describe a person, collocations to describe a city, collocations
to talk about relationships, and so on.
When you have ten or more collocations in a group, write a short text, and try to use
all of the collocations as you write.
For example, if you’ve found ten collocations to describe a city, you could write a short
paragraph about your hometown using the collocations you’ve learned.
It might look something like this:
Athens is a sprawling city with a rich history.
The old centre is full of steep, narrow streets and archaeological monuments.
It has a lively atmosphere, especially at night.
You can get around by metro, which is useful because traffic jams are a constant problem.
You can easily find tasty local food in the centre, although touristy places can be overpriced.
There’s very little street crime, so you don’t have to worry about safety, although
you should look out for pickpockets in the metro.
This can be challenging, but it’s worth making the effort.
By using the collocations you learn to write something which is true for you, you’ll
be able to remember them more easily.
Finally, let’s see how collocations can be the key to increasing your English vocabulary.
Often, students tell us things like:
I need more vocabulary to speak English.
I can’t find the right words when I’m speaking.
Or: I need to learn more vocabulary for my IELTS exam.
Or: I want to learn academic vocabulary to express my ideas clearly.
What if we told you that you could improve your vocabulary massively, without even learning
What?
It’s not about how many words you know; it’s about how you use those words.
Remember earlier, you saw the collocation big decision?
Probably, all of you know the words big and decision, but we’re guessing not all of
you knew the collocation big decision.
Most of the collocations in this lesson are probably similar.
The individual words might not be new, but the combination is.
You’ve seen around thirty to forty different collocations in this lesson.
Actually, you’ve seen many more, but we’ve highlighted that many.
This is a tiny, tiny proportion of the collocations we could have shown you.
Collocations are everywhere, and many of them use words you’re already familiar with.
So here’s our final piece of advice: spend more time learning collocations.
Don’t just learn single words; learn combinations and phrases with them.
Learn collocations using the vocabulary you have.
Follow the steps in this lesson: find collocations by reading or listening, use good vocabulary
learning practices, and use collocations by writing short texts on different topics.
This way, you can learn to use the vocabulary you already know to express a wider range
You’ll be able to talk more fluently and naturally, and express yourself more clearly.
Here’s a question for you: have you found any weird, funny, interesting or really illogical
Please share them in the comments!
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