20/4/2017 CommonCollocations|EnglishClub

CommonCollocationsEnglishClub.com
Onthispageyoucanfindafewshortlistsofcommoncollocationstogiveyou
moreofanideaaboutthem.Manygoodlearner'sdictionariesshowcollocations
associatedwithspecificwords.Therearealsodictionariesofcollocations,though
thesearemoredifficulttofind.

Verbcollocations

have do make

haveabath dobusiness makeadifference

haveadrink donothing makeamess
haveagoodtime dosomeoneafavour makeamistake
haveahaircut dothecooking makeanoise
haveaholiday dothehousework makeaneffort
haveaproblem dotheshopping makefurniture
havearelationship dothewashingup makemoney
havearest doyourbest makeprogress
havelunch doyourhair makeroom
havesympathy doyourhomework maketrouble

take break catch

takeabreak breakahabit catchaball

takeachance breakaleg catchabus
takealook breakapromise catchachill
takearest breakarecord catchacold
takeaseat breakawindow catchathief
takeataxi breaksomeone'sheart catchfire
takeanexam breaktheice catchsightof
takenotes breakthelaw catchsomeone'sattention
takesomeone'splace breakthenewstosomeone catchsomeone'seye
takesomeone'stemperature breaktherules catchtheflu

pay save keep

payafine saveelectricity keepadiary

payattention saveenergy keepapromise
paybycreditcard savemoney keepasecret
paycash saveone'sstrength keepanappointment
payinterest savesomeoneaseat keepcalm
paysomeoneacompliment savesomeone'slife keepcontrol
paysomeoneavisit savesomethingtoadisk keepintouch
paythebill savespace keepquiet
paytheprice savetime keepsomeone'splace
payyourrespects saveyourselfthetrouble keepthechange

come go get

comeclose goabroad getajob

comecompletewith goastray getashock
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20/4/2017 CommonCollocations|EnglishClub

comedirect gobad getangry

comeearly gobald getdivorced
comefirst gobankrupt getdrunk
comeintoview goblind getfrightened
comelast gocrazy gethome
comelate godark getlost
comeontime godeaf getmarried
comeprepared gofishing getnowhere
comerightback gomad getpermission
comesecond gomissing getpregnant
cometoacompromise goonfoot getready
cometoadecision goonline getstarted
cometoanagreement gooutofbusiness gettheimpression
cometoanend gooverseas getthemessage
cometoastandstill goquiet getthesack
cometotermswith gosailing getupset
cometoatotalof gotowar getwet
comeunderattack goyellow getworried

Miscellaneouscollocations

Time BusinessEnglish Classifiers

bangontime annualturnover aballofstring

deadontime bearinmind
early12thcentury breakoffnegotiations abarofchocolate
freetime ceasetrading
fromdawntilldusk chairameeting abottleofwater
greatdealoftime closeadeal
late20thcentury closeameeting abunchofcarrots
maketimefor cometothepoint
nextfewdays dismissanoffer acubeofsugar
pastfewweeks drawaconclusion
rightontime drawyourattentionto apackofcards
runoutoftime launchanewproduct
savetime layoffstaff apadofpaper
sparetime gobankrupt
spendsometime gointopartnership
takeyourtime makealoss
tellsomeonethetime makeaprofit
timegoesby marketforces
timepasses salesfigures
wastetime takeonstaff

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20/4/2017 AdvancedCollocations|EnglishClub

AdvancedCollocationsEnglishClub.com
Thefurtherinformationonthispagemaybeofinteresttoadvancedstudents
andteachers.

Youshallknowawordbythecompanyitkeeps
JRFirth(Britishlinguist,18901960)

The"father"ofcollocationisusuallyconsideredtobeJ.R.Firth,aBritish
linguistwhodiedin1960.Itwashethatfirstusedtheterm"collocation"inits
linguisticsense.

Somedefinitions:

tocollocate(verb):toappearwithanotherwordmorefrequently
thanbychanceTheword"white"collocateswith"coffee".
collocation(noun):thecombinationoftwoormorewordsmore
frequentlythanbychanceLearningaboutcollocationhelpsusspeak
morefluentEnglish.
acollocation(noun):anexampleofcollocation"Whitecoffee"isa
collocation.

Aneasywaytorememberthemeaningofcollocation:thinkof"co"(together)
and"location"(place)=placetogether,locatetogether,gotogether

Notealso(nonlinguisticsenses):

collocate(verb):placesidebysideorinrelation
collocation(noun):theactionofplacingthingssidebysideorin
position
colocate/colocate(verb):sharealocationorfacilitywithsomeoneor
something

Strongandweakcollocation
Ifwelookdeeperintocollocations,wefindthatnotonlydothewords"go
together"butthereisadegreeofpredictabilityintheirassociation.Generally,
inanycollocation,onewordwill"callup"anotherwordinthemindofanative
speaker.Inotherwords,ifIgiveyouoneword,youcanpredicttheother
word,withvaryingdegreesofsuccess.Thispredictabilityisnot100%,butitis
alwaysmuchhigherthanwithnoncollocates.

Thepredictabilitymaybestrong:forexample"auspicious"collocateswith
veryfewwords,asin:

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auspiciousoccasion
auspiciousmoment
auspiciousevent

Orthepredictabilitymaybeweak:forexample,"circuit"collocateswithmore
than20words,asin:

"circuit"collocatesleftwith "circuit"collocatesrightwith

racing circuit

lecture circuit

talkshow circuit

short circuit

closed circuit

integrated circuit

printed circuit

printed circuit board

circuit board

circuit breaker

circuit training

circuit judge

Lexicalandgrammaticalcollocations
Adistinctionmay,ifwished,bemadebetweenlexicalcollocationsand
grammaticalcollocations.

Alexicalcollocationisatypeofconstructionwhereaverb,noun,adjective
oradverbformsapredictableconnectionwithanotherword,asin:

adverb+adjective:completelysatisfied(NOTdownrightsatisfied)
adjective+noun:excruciatingpain(NOTexcruciatingjoy)
noun+verb:lionsroar(NOTlionsshout)
verb+noun:commitsuicide(NOTundertakesuicide)

Agrammaticalcollocationisatypeofconstructionwhereforexamplea
verboradjectivemustbefollowedbyaparticularpreposition,oranounmust
befollowedbyaparticularformoftheverb,asin:

verb+preposition:dependon(NOTdependof)
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20/4/2017 AdvancedCollocations|EnglishClub

adjective+preposition:afraidof(NOTafraidat)
noun+particularformofverb:strengthtoliftit(notstrengthlifting
it)

WhenisacollocationNOTacollocation?
Theterm"collocation"initslinguisticsenseisrelativelynew(datingfromthe
1950s)andnotalllinguistsagreeonitsdefinition.Infactthereisconsiderable
disagreementandevensomeconfusion.Somelinguiststreatfixedphrasesas
extendedcollocations(asfarasI'mconcerned,notonyourlife,ratheryou
thanme,undertheweather,ifyou'vegotthetime).Otherssuggestthatwhen
asequenceofwordsis100%predictable,andallowsabsolutelynochange
exceptpossiblyintense,itisnothelpfultotreatitasacollocation.Such
sequencestheygenerallytreatasfixedexpressions("primandproper")or
idioms("kickthebucket").

AgooddictionaryofcollocationsistheOxfordCollocationsDictionaryfor
StudentsofEnglish.

TellmewhoyougowithandI'lltellyouwhoyouare.

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