Understanding Collocations Made Easy

What is a Collocation?

English can sometimes feel overwhelming with so many words to learn, but understanding collocations can simplify things a lot. Collocations are groups of words that commonly go together, and using them can greatly improve your English. They’re widely used in both speaking and writing, so knowing them will help you communicate in a way that’s both natural and grammatically correct.

What Exactly is a Collocation?

A collocation is simply a pair or group of words that are often found together in English. While you could use other words that might make sense, collocations are the ones most commonly paired. Mastering these word combinations shows a deeper understanding of English, as it demonstrates your knowledge of the most natural-sounding word pairings.

For example, instead of saying “very good,” you might say “excellent” or “highly recommended” as part of a collocation. Using these pairs helps your English sound more like that of a native speaker.

Examples of Common Collocations

Here are some typical collocations using the verbs “take,” “get,” “do,” “make,” and “go”:

• He planned to take a holiday in New York.
• She hopes to get a job with our company.
• I might take a lesson from you.
• My goals are to go back to school and get a degree.
• I’ll take a look at the website and give you feedback.
• He started to get angry.
• Could you do me a favor and leave me alone?
• She needs to make the right choice.
• Could you do a report for me?
• We need to make a contract with the company.
• I like to do homework in the evening.
• We should make a deal for this project.
• The company is about to go bankrupt.

Types of Collocations

English has many collocations, but they generally fit into these categories. This guide won’t cover every single collocation, but later we’ll show you how to find more on your own. For now, take a look at these different types of collocations.

Adverbs and Adjectives

When describing something, we use specific word combinations called collocations. Even though you might use different words, in English, we tend to stick to certain phrases.

For example, we say “happily married” to describe a joyful marriage. While “joyfully married” makes sense, it sounds unusual to native English speakers because “happily married” is the common phrase they expect.

Here are a few more examples of these common adverb-adjective pairs: fully aware, happily married, highly controversial, highly effective, highly probable, and highly profitable.

Adjectives and Nouns

When we use an adjective and a noun together in English, we often pair words that sound right together. This is called a “collocation.” For example:

• Major problem: If something goes wrong, we say we have a “major problem.” Using “major” with “solution” sounds strange because “major solution” isn’t a common pairing.

Common adjective-noun collocations

• Internal injury
• Internal organ
• Irreparable damage
• Joint account
• Just cause
• Key issue
• Key role

These combinations are familiar because they are commonly used together in English.

Nouns and Verbs

When using a verb with a noun, some combinations are more common than others. These common pairings are called collocations, and they sound natural because we’re used to hearing them together.

For example, we say “lions roar” when describing the sound a lion makes, especially when it’s angry or fighting. While you could say “lions shout” or “bears roar,” these phrases are less common and might sound unusual.

Verb and Noun Combinations

These are phrases where a verb comes first and a noun comes second. Some of these combinations sound more natural together:

• Booming economy – If you want to describe a country’s economy as doing very well right now, you can say it has a ‘booming economy.’ While ‘flourishing economy’ is correct, it’s less commonly used, so people might not understand it as quickly. Our goal in writing or speaking is to be clear and easily understood.

Here are more examples of verb and noun combinations: go on a date, go on a picnic, go on foot, have a fight, have a fit, have a game, keep quiet, keep records.

Verbs and Expressions with Prepositions

This topic can be a bit tricky, but it’s all about describing how something happened in more detail. Instead of just saying someone was ‘scared,’ you can use a combination of verbs and prepositions to give a fuller picture.

For example, “filled with horror” means someone was scared, using the verb ‘filled’ and the preposition ‘with’ to show their fear. You wouldn’t say someone was ‘filled with nervousness’ if you meant they were worried.

Here are some common verb and preposition combinations: allow for, apologize for, ask for, object to, pray to, prefer to, etc.

Verbs and Adverbs

When we talk about verbs and adverbs together, we’re describing how an action is done, but without using prepositions. Here are a few examples to make it clearer:

• Cry hysterically: If someone is extremely upset, they might “cry hysterically.” You wouldn’t usually say someone “cries frantically” or “smiles hysterically” because these combinations aren’t common.

Examples of verb and adverb combinations

• Go far
• Go first
• Go upstairs
• Guess correctly
• Hit hard
• Judge harshly
• Know well

Noun and Noun

When nouns are paired together often, they form what’s called a collocation. For example:

• Sense of pride: This means someone feels proud of another person. If you replace “pride” with a different noun, like “shame,” it sounds odd. We don’t usually say “sense of shame” in the same way, even though it might make sense.

Examples of noun and noun collocations

• Core values
• Corporate finance
• Cottage industry
• Creation science
• Credit bureau
• Credit union