What is collocation?

Collocation is when two or more words frequently occur together in a language. These combinations just sound "right" to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations may be unnatural and just sound "wrong". Decide whether the collocations in bold below are possible or not. 1. Dont forget to slide the curtains before you go to bed. 2. I dont know him that well, hes just a casual acquaintance. 3. Kates always immaculately clothed when she goes out. 4. It was a deep cut and he was bleeding greatly. 5. I had a long time to wait so I burnt time by flicking through some old magazines. 6. If Im being brutally honest, then no. It doesnt suit you. 7. I need a day off next week for a job interview, so Im going to drop a sickie. 8. Another strike could spell disaster for the company. 9. Have you seen her kitchen? Its bacterially clean. She must spend hours on it. 10. He didnt show even the tiniest flicker of emotion when I told him the news. 11. I cant believe they have made me redundant. They always said I was a heavily valued member of staff. 12. Ive had a streaming cold for days now. Ive already finished two boxes of tissues.

What is collocation?
Collocation is when two or more words frequently occur together in a language. These combinations just sound "right" to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations may be unnatural and just sound "wrong". Decide whether the collocations in bold below are possible or not. 1. Dont forget to slide the curtains before you go to bed. (draw the curtains = close) 2. I dont know him that well, hes just a casual acquaintance.

3. Kates always immaculately clothed when she goes out. (immaculately dressed) 4. It was a deep cut and he was bleeding greatly. (bleeding profusely) 5. I had a long time to wait so I burnt time by flicking through some old magazines. (killed time) 6. If Im being brutally honest, then, no. It doesnt suit you.

7. I Tuesday off next week for a job interview, so Im going to drop a sickie. (throw a sickie) 8. Another strike could spell disaster for the company.

9. Have you seen her kitchen, its bacterially clean? She must spend hours on it. (spotlessly / immaculately clean) 10. He didnt show even the tiniest flicker of emotion when I told him the news.

11. I cant believe they have made me redundant. They always said I was a heavily valued member of staff. (highly valued) 12. Ive had a streaming cold for days now. Ive already finished two boxes of tissues.

1. Keep your talk short and ................. to avoid delegates getting bored. 2. She won the game fair and .............. despite the opposition complaining to the referee. 3. He was a down and ............ in London before making a fortune in the casino. 4. Weigh up the pros and ............. of living abroad before you take the job. 5. Weve gone into the ins and .......... of the contract and believe there will be no surprises for future employees. 6. He was so nervous before the wedding he was all fingers and ............. and dropped the ring. 7. I like a whiskey now and ............... but beer is usually my first choice. 8. When law and .............. breaks down the country is in serious trouble. 9. You wont get it right straight away, its a case of trial and ............ until you become familiar with it. 10. That meal cost an arm and .................... so I wont go there again. 11. Its very easy to design the website, just drag and ............. your photos and away you go.

12. If you take the back off the gadget the guarantee is automatically null and ............... 13. He was the life and .............. of every party always singing and dancing and telling jokes. 14. Make sure you clean every nook and ............... not forgetting the curtain poles and behind the doors. 15. We had to wait hours for their plane. We were all at sixes and ........ until we knew they were safe. 16. I am not very busy. There are just a few bits and ......... to finish in the office. 17. He put took part body and ................ and was therefore very disappointed that his enthusiasm wasnt rewarded. 18. I havent eaten for a week. Im skin and ........................ 19. I cant tell the police my father is a criminal. Hes my own flesh and ............ so I must protect him. 20. Ive cleaned the loos, hoovered the floor and dusted everywhere. I want it all spick and ............. before you arrive. 21. If you have tenants in your flat you must expect some wear and ........... but not smashed up furniture! 22. I fought tooth and ............ for this job, Im not going to let you waltz in and fire me! 23. It was good to get away from the hustle and ................ of city life and lie on a beach. 24. If you scratch my back Ill scratch yours. Its give and .............. in this place. 25. All the children were found safe and ................. on the beach

Answer key

1. Short and sweet 2. Fair and square 3. down and out 4. pros and cons 5. ins and outs 6. fingers and thumbs 7. now and then 8. law and order 9. trial and error 10. an arm and a leg 11.drag and drop 12. null and void 13. the life and soul 14. nook and cranny 15. sixes and sevens 16. bits and pieces 17. body and soul 18. skin and bone

19. flesh and blood 20. spick and span 21. wear and tear 22. tooth and nail 23. hustle and bustle 24. give and take 25. safe and sound

1. Keep your talk ................ ................. to avoid delegates getting bored. 2. She won the game ............................ despite the opposition complaining to the referee. 3. He was a ............................in London before making a fortune in the casino. 4. Weigh up the ....................... of living abroad before you take the job. 5. Weve gone into the ....................... .......... of the contract and believe there will be no surprises for future employees. 6. He was so nervous before the wedding he was all .......................... and dropped the ring. 7. I like a whiskey .................. ............... but beer is usually my first choice. 8. When ................................. breaks down the country is in serious trouble.

9. You wont get it right straight away, its a case of ................. ............ until you become familiar with it. 10. That meal cost ....................... .................... so I w ont go there again. 11. Its very easy to design the website, just ...................... ............. your photos and away you go. 12. If you take the back off the gadget the guarantee is automatically ........................................ 13. He was the ........................ .............. of every party always singing and dancing and telling jokes. 14. Make sure you clean every ................................... not forgetting the curtain poles and behind the doors. 15. We had to wait hours for their plane. We were all at ........................ ........ until we knew they were safe. 16. I am not very busy. There are just a few ..................... ......... to finish in the office. 17. He put took part ................. ................ and was therefore very disappointed that his enthusiasm wasnt rewarded. 18. I havent eaten for a week. Im ....................... ........................ 19. I cant tell the police my father is a criminal. Hes my own ................... ............ so I must protect him. 20. Ive cleaned the loos, hoovered the floor and dusted everywhere. I want it all ....................... ............. before you arrive. 21. If you have tenants in your flat you must expect some .......................... but not smashed up furniture! 22. I fought ......................... ............ for this job, Im not going to let you waltz in and fire me! 23. It was good to get away from the ........................... of city life and lie on a beach.

24. If you scratch my back Ill scratch yours. Its ................... .............. in this place. 25. All the children were found ................................. on the beach
Sian Tezel Lake School 2013

Short and Fair and down and pros and ins and fingers and now and law and

sweet square out cons outs thumbs then order

trial and an arm and drag and null and the life and nook and sixes and bits and body and skin and flesh and

error a leg drop void soul cranny sevens pieces soul bone blood

spick and wear and tooth and hustle and give and safe and

span tear nail bustle take sound

Whats the opposite of ?

1. light blue 2. a light suitcase 3. deep red 4. deep water 5. a hard job 6. a hard bed 7. tough meat 8. a tough exam 9. strong cheese 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. strong coffee tight jeans a tight person rough sea rough texture

http://www.just-the-word.com/

Collocation grid
MONEY TIME PATIENCE RESPECT

Win Waste Spend Save (up) Run out of Raise Put Make Lose Lend Invest Inherit Earn Deposit Borrow

on on

on on on with

for

for in in onfor on to in in from in from

Try recording more vocabulary like this. Look back through your notes and create your own grids from the words you have written down. Use it to record verbs and prepositions too

More ways of storing vocabulary in interesting and memorable ways.

These are especially good for collocation Decide what the missing word in the circle is:

hand text guide note mark

Draw the arrows pointing in the collate with correct direction Add more words that

case

shop shelf

make

bad teacher laboratory body trouble student language foreign computer first the bed

a mess

make

a phone call

Teaching Collocation

New Cutting Edge Pre-Intermediate (A2) 1. Check the contents page. Does it appear to teach collocations? 2. Find examples in the book. Are they taught in a meaningful context? 3. Are the activities personalised or able to be? 4. Are they useful and relevant? 5. Is the language recycled? 6. Does the resource book cover collocation?

Inside Out Upper- New English File Intermediate Advanced (C1) (B2)

Teaching Collocation

English Plus Book 1 (A1) 1. Check the contents page. Does it appear to teach collocations? 2. Find examples in the book. Are they taught in a meaningful context? 3. Are the activities personalised or able to be? 4. Are they useful, relevant and fun? 5. Is the

Solutions Elementary (A2)

Project 3 (B1)

language recycled? 6. Does the resource book cover collocation?

Daves disasterous life

got worse got divorced got angry got fed up

got depressed

got fired

got nervous

got an email

got into trouble

got killed

got sleepy

got into a fight

got shot

got a new job

got drunk

got old

got careless

got pregnant

got evicted

got into debt

got sick

got into an argument

got away with it got addicted to

got lonely

got caught

got arrested

got too big for his boots

got his car repaired

got a warning

got home

got into an accident

got a written warning

got the opportunity to

got a new car

got a huge bill

Teaching Collocation

Food
Which nouns form strong word partnerships with all the words in the lines below? Try to find the partners yourself, and then check to see if you have used words from the list at the bottom of the page.

1. salad chicken cheese freshly-made club 2. rare medium well-done rump fillet 3. mixed green side fruit potato 4. delicious light heavy three-course evening 5. light full-bodied robust fruity complex 6. dry medium sweet crisp fruity 7. Indian fast plain spicy rich 8. traditional Thai vegetarian fish trendy fold food meal white wine red wine
restaurant steak salad

 Edited for the Lake School of English 2006

Here are some common idiomatic collocations. English speakers love to use them to bring their language to life! Match the intensifier on the left with the adjective on the right.

bone

stiff

dog

idle

red

cheap

freezing

tired

raving

clear

crystal

hot

bored

mad

dirt

sick

brand

asleep

wide

cold

pitch

open

fast

black

worried

new

Fill in the gaps using the idiomatic intensifiers you have learned.

1. I had to wait at the airport for six hours! I was _________________. There was nothing to do even the duty-free was closed.

2. Thank goodness you phoned. Ive been ________________________ about you! 3. I didnt hear the phone. I mustve been _________________. 4. Oh no! Ive spilt my wine on my __________________ silk shirt. 5. My son wont get out of bed in the morning. Hes ____________!

6. After a long hard day at work, I was _____________________, so I went home and put my feet up. 7. Dont leave the door _______________________ theres a draught and its ________________________ in here! 8. The electricity went off again last night and until I found a candle, it was ___________________. 9. Having a lovely time here in Turkey the water is ___________________ and Ive been snorkelling. 10. What do you think of this jacket? Quite nice, isnt it? I got it in the market. It was __________________. 11. Dont touch the plates. Theyre _________________! Here use this cloth instead. 12. 13. Steve must be ___________________ to wear his England football shirt in Glasgow!

blind bone brand crystal dead dead dead dirt fast sound paper pitch razor rock stark stone wide
Sian Tezel Lake School

lucky dry asleep drunk new thin cheap clear easy right asleep awake black deaf sharp hard naked

1. I could hear the entire conversation in the next room. The walls were .................................................. 2. He drank 8 vodkas last night and was ............................................ by midnight. He woke up in an unfamiliar room in the morning ................................. he wasnt even wearing his socks! 3.These kids have no difficulty understanding new concepts. They are ............................... 4. He could have been killed by that falling rock. He is ....................... to be alive. 5. I worked until 11.30 pm. I went to bed and was ............................... by midnight and didnt hear the phone ring. 6. She felt sleepy but went swimming anyway as the water was ............................. and enticing. After a second she was ........................... and refreshed and ready for action. 7. The power was cut off. We were in the ............................... darkness for thirty seconds before the generator kicked in. 8. Although this chair seems ............................... compared to the expensive ones you have seen it would be ........................... to break, look how thin the wood is. 9. Waiter, this bread is not fresh it is ............................. I almost broke my teeth on it! 10. "Why is this pot plant dying?" "Feel the soil in the pot. It's Water it well and it should come back to life