 Collocations are groups of words that frequently

occur together. Every language develops

different collocations.
 For example:
 English: strong tea, weak tea
 Italian: strong tea, long tea
 Japanese: dark tea, thin tea
 When you are reading in English, it is very
important to notice collocations and to learn
them together with the individual words. You
will gain fluency and improve comprehension if
you are familiar with common collocations.
 Adjective + noun: key issues, persistent problems, wide
range, further research, current theory, larger context,
detailed references, essential information, prior
knowledge, practical applications, straightforward
approach
 Verb + adverb (or adverb + verb): develop further,
demonstrate conclusively, present effectively, explore
thoroughly, highly appreciate, successfully complete
 Verb + noun: acquire vocabulary, gain awareness, reach a
goal, address the issue, raise the question, develop a
theory, provide a framework, set the scene, clarify the
point
 Phrasal verbs: depend on, relate to, focus on, bring
together, deal with, consist of, respond to, lead to, serve
as, point out
 Prepositional phrases: in that case, in any case, on the
whole, with regard to, in other words
 Idiomatic expressions are a type of English
expressions that have a meaning different
from the meaning of the literal words in
the expression.
 For example: Hold your tongue:
This idiom does not actually mean that you
should stick your fingers in your mouth and
grab a hold of your tongue.
 She was tickled pink by the good news.: Made very happy
 You were hands down the best player on the team. There was no
competition
 I've been feeling pretty down in the dumps lately: Sad or depressed
 I'm feeling sick as a dog!: Very sick
 I've been feeling under the weather: Not well
 Rise and shine!: Wake up and be happy
 Close, but no cigar.: You were very close, but you did not make it.
 I could play outside till the cows come home: For a very long time
 Wow! It's raining cats and dogs out there!: Very hard rain
 That sound is driving me up the wall!: Making me very annoyed
 This assignment is a piece of cake : Very easy
 Although he broke the rules, he was only given a slap on the wrist: A
mild punishment
 Yikes! This shirt costs an arm and a leg: It is extremely expensive.
 No, I was just pulling your leg: Just joking
 It's Greek to me!: I don't understand.
 Keep your chin up: Be happy.
 Some verbs consist of two words – a verb and
a particle (p). These verbs have a number of
patterns:
 Peter came in. (N + V + p)
He took out his diary. (N + V + p + N)
He gave the money back. (N + V + N + p)
 Some verbs are made up of three parts –
a verb and two particles. They have the
pattern:
 N + V + p + p + N:
 His girl friend walked out on him.
She soon caught up with the other runners
Children should look up to their parents.
 Some transitive two part verbs are phrasal verbs. They
have two different patterns.
 N+V+N+p
 She gave the money back
He knocked the vase over
We will be leaving our friends behind
 or
 N+V+p+N
 She gave back the money
He knocked over the vase
We will be leaving behind our friends.
 When the object is a pronoun these verbs always have the
first pattern N + V +N + p:
 She gave it back
He knocked it over
We will be leaving them behind
 come up with = to find or produce: "We need to come up with a solution soon."
 get away with = to escape punishment: "He robbed a bank and got away with it."
 get on to = make contact with someone: "Can you get on to the suppliers and chase
up our order?"
 go in for = to do something because you enjoy it: "I don't really go in for playing
football."
 get round to = to find the time to do something: "I never seem to be able to get
round to tidying up this room!"
 go down with = to become ill: "So many people have gone down with the flu this
year."
 go through with = to do something you promised to do, even though you don't really
want to do it: "She went through with the wedding, even though she had doubts."
 live up to = to do or behave as expected: "She's living up to her reputation as a hard
boss."
 look down on = to behave as if you are superior to others: "He really looks down on
teachers."
 look up to = to admire and respect someone: "She looks up to her father."
 put down to = to think something is caused by a factor: "The failure can be put
down to a lack of preparation."
 put up with = to tolerate: "She puts up with a lot from her husband."
 stand up for = to defend someone or something: "You need to stand up for your
rights!"