AMERICAN ENGLISH PHRASES (Collocation – same word with multiple combinations) have have have have have have HAVE a drink *** a good time a problem a relationship with lunch sympathy take take take take take take take take take take take take TAKE a vacation a bath a break a chance a look a rest a seat a taxi an exam notes someone's place a drink*** DO do do do do do do do do do do business nothing someone a favor the cooking the housework the shopping the dishes your best your hair your homework break break break break break break break break break break PAY pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay a fine attention by credit card cash interest someone a compliment someone a visit the bill the price your respects save save save save save save save save save save BREAK a habit a leg a promise a record a window someone's heart the ice the law the news to someone the rules SAVE electricity energy money your strength someone a seat someone's life something to a disk space time yourself the trouble make make make make make make make make make make MAKE a difference a mess a mistake a noise an effort furniture money progress room trouble catch catch catch catch catch catch catch catch catch catch CATCH a ball a bus a chill a cold a thief fire sight of someone's attention someone's eye the flu keep keep keep keep keep keep keep KEEP a diary a promise a secret an appointment in touch quiet the change COME come close come complete with come straight from (school) come early come first come into view come last come late come on time come prepared come right back come in second (race) come to a compromise come to a decision come to an agreement come to an end come to a standstill come to terms with comes to a total of come under attack go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go BE be be be be late scared or frightened lost worried a a a a a a a GO abroad astray bad bald bankrupt blind crazy dark deaf fishing mad on foot online out of business overseas sailing to war CLASSIFIERS ball of string bar of chocolate bottle of water bunch of carrots pack of cards (notecards) deck of cards pad of paper get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get GET a haircut a job angry divorced drunk home lost married permission ready started the impression the message upset wet fired TIME early 12th century free time from dawn till dusk great deal of time late 20th century make time for next few days past few weeks right on time run out of time save time spare time Sample Collocations There are several different types of collocation. Collocations can be adjective + adverb, noun + noun, verb + noun and so on. Below you can see seven main types of collocation in sample sentences. 1. adverb + adjective Invading that country was an utterly stupid thing to do. We entered a richly decorated room. Are you fully aware of the implications of your action? 2. adjective + noun The doctor ordered him to take regular exercise. The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage. He was writhing on the ground in excruciating pain. 3. noun + noun Let's give Mr Jones a round of applause. The ceasefire agreement came into effect at 11am. I'd like to buy two bars of soap please. 4. noun + verb The lion started to roar when it heard the dog barking. Snow was falling as our plane took off. The bomb went off when he started the car engine. 5. verb + noun The prisoner was hanged for committing murder. I always try to do my homework in the morning, after making my bed. He has been asked to give a presentation about his work. 6. verb + expression with preposition We had to return home because we had run out of money. At first her eyes filled with horror, and then she burst into tears. Their behaviour was enough to drive anybody to crime. 7. verb + adverb She placed her keys gently on the table and sat down. Mary whispered softly in John's ear. I vaguely remember that it was growing dark when we left. Name:___________________ Date:___________ EXERCISE I. Choose the word that best completes the phrase: 1. What do you _________ for a living? (do, make) 2. Have you _________ your homework already? (said, done) 3. My sister _________ the grocery shopping. (took, did) 4. Amber _________ badly on her geography test. (said, did) 5. The children ______ a mess in the kitchen. (make, made) 6. Please _______ your bed. (do, make) 7. Can you ________ me a favor? (do, make) 8. Have you _________ a decision yet? (make, made) 9. Please excuse me while I ________ a phone call. (do, make) II. Complete the phrase (may be more than one word) 10. What do you do in your __________ time? 11. We couldn’t finish because we ________ ______ __ time. 12. Can you _______ time for me this weekend? 13. Wear your hat today so you don’t _________ a cold. 14. _____________ an effort to learn something new each day. 15. She was tired and wanted to ____________ a bath. Something of interest: Strong and weak collocation If we look deeper into collocations, we find that not only do the words "go together" but there is a degree of predictability in their association. Generally, in any collocation, one word will "call up" another word in the mind of a native speaker. In other words, if I give you one word, you can predict the other word, with varying degrees of success. This predictability is not 100%, but it is always much higher than with non-collocates. The predictability may be strong: for example "auspicious" collocates with very few words, as in: auspicious occasion auspicious moment auspicious event Or the predictability may be weak: for example, "circuit" collocates with more than 20 words, as in: CIRCUIT racing circuit lecture circuit talk-show circuit short circuit closed circuit integrated circuit printed circuit printed circuit board circuit board circuit breaker circuit training circuit judge ***Great resource: Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English
