{"id":2318,"date":"2021-05-25T22:06:35","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T21:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.englishforums.com\/blog\/?p=2318"},"modified":"2021-05-25T22:06:35","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T21:06:35","slug":"7-main-types-of-collocations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/7-main-types-of-collocations\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Main Types of Collocations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simply put, collocations are words that usually go together in English. Sometimes, a phrase can be grammatically correct, but won\u2019t sound right to a native speaker. For example, although \u2019big rain\u2019 is easy to understand and follows proper grammar, these two words are not compatible in English. The correct ways would be \u2019heavy rain\u2019, \u2019rain cats and dogs\u2019, \u2019pouring rain\u2019 etc.<\/span>
\nCollocations are sometimes <\/span>strong<\/b> (whisk an egg) and sometimes <\/span>weak<\/b> (straight hair, straight line), meaning that the verb \u2019whisk\u2019 can be combined only with \u2019egg\u2019, while the word \u2019straight\u2019 can be used with many nouns.<\/span>
\nLet\u2019s take a look at seven main categories of collocations with examples.<\/span>
\n 
\n#1 adverb+adjective<\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe test was <\/span>ridiculously easy<\/b>.<\/span>
\nShe sometimes buys <\/span>fast food<\/b> when she is out.<\/span>
\nI\u2019m <\/span>completely sure<\/b> it will turn out right in the end.<\/span>
\n 
\n#2 adjective+noun<\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nI need <\/span>strong coffee<\/b> to start my day.<\/span>
\nThey have a very <\/span>close relationship<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>
\nIt\u2019s only a <\/span>rough estimate<\/b>.<\/span>
\n 
\n#3 noun+noun<\/b>
\nLet\u2019s play some <\/span>board games<\/b> tonight!<\/span>
\nWhat are your <\/span>office hours<\/b>?<\/span>
\nHe\u2019s always been into <\/span>action movies<\/b>.<\/span>
\n 
\n#4 noun+verb\u00a0<\/b>
\nCats purr<\/b> when they are satisfied.<\/span>
\nMy <\/span>alarm goes off<\/b> at 7 am.<\/span>
\nThe <\/span>snow<\/b> was falling<\/b> the whole day.<\/span>
\n 
\n#5 verb+noun<\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nBlow the candle<\/b> and <\/span>make a wish<\/b>!<\/span>
\nHe usually <\/span>takes a nap<\/b> when he returns from work.<\/span>
\nHave you <\/span>done<\/b> your <\/span>homework<\/b>?<\/span>
\n 
\n#6 verb+expression with a preposition<\/b>
\nWe\u2019re <\/span>running out of our time, <\/b>so let\u2019s wrap it up.<\/span>
\nShe <\/span>swelled with pride<\/b> when she heard her daughter praised.<\/span>
\nThat company <\/span>has gone out of business<\/b>.<\/span>
\n 
\n#7 verb+adverb<\/b>
\nI\u2019ve seen that movie, but I <\/span>vaguely remember<\/b> it now.<\/span>
\nCan you <\/span>speak <\/b>more <\/span>loudly<\/b>, please?<\/span>
\nThey <\/span>welcomed<\/b> us <\/span>warmly<\/b> when we arrived, which put us at ease.<\/span>
\n 
\nHere are some more examples of common English collocations:<\/span>
\n-make the bed<\/span>
\n-sincerely appreciate<\/span>
\n-whisper softly<\/span>
\n-take a chance<\/span>
\n-keep a promise<\/span>
\n-crystal clear<\/span>
\n-dress code<\/span>
\n-save money<\/span>
\n-curly hair<\/span>
\nIt\u2019s important to notice collocations every time we read something in English. Using a good dictionary such as:<\/span> https:\/\/www.freecollocation.com\/<\/span><\/a> will also be helpful.\u00a0 A good technique is to always try to memorize the whole phrases, not separate words. After all, that is how our brain works. It is far easier for it to remember phrases than individual words. Being aware of collocations and learning them is an excellent start to having a more natural and richer way of expressing ourselves. For our goal to become native-like speakers that is certainly very important. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simply put, collocations are words that usually go together in English. Sometimes, a phrase can be grammatically correct, but won\u2019t sound right to a native … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_generate-full-width-content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[288,292,304],"tags":[211],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}