COLLOCATIONS:

ADVERB + ADJECTIVE COLLOCATION

Match the adverbs to the adjectives:

wildly dull
widely guarded
highly available
deeply skilled
closely convinced
deadly forbidden
entirely moved
strictly exaggerated

1. The lecture was.........................................and I almost went to sleep.

2. The game plan of the winning team remained a.............................secret.
3. She was...........................by all the letters of support she received.
4. The report was published last week and is now.........................................in all leading bookshops.
5. Smoking in the work area is..................................................
6. Osborne quickly gained the reputation of being a.............................................negotiator.
7. The details of the scandal have been ...................................
8. I am not .....................................that we need to make so many workers redundant.

VERB + NOUN COLLOCATION

Choose the correct alternative:

1. She gave him a sharp hit/slap/punch across the face and walked away.
2. She made several gestures/faces/waves to gain the attention of the waiter.
3. Yesterday, the director took an important conclusion/decision/plan regarding payment of part-time staff.
4. This pizza is new. Would you like to give it a try/chew/bite?
5. Could you have a quick glimpse/read/glance at this letter I have written?
6. Do you have any memory/recollection/thought at all of what he said to you?
7. After the operation, he made a remarkable recovery/improvement/progress.
8. Realising I was late, I took a quick suck/gulp/drink of my drink and left.
9. She made me a(n) offer/suggestion/plan I couldn't refuse.
10. What influence /effect/ consequence do you think his resignation will have on the company?
11. As soon as he saw me, he gave me a big grimace/smile/frown and waved the tickets triumphantly in the air.
12. I can't decide now. I need to have a reflection/think/thought.
13. He has no intention/aim/plan of giving you the money back.

Complete the following sentences with a verb in the correct form from the list below. You may need to use some of the
verbs more than once.

take-set-seize-handle-achieve-get-jump-make

1. I know it's difficult to know what to do, but I thing you should .....................a chance and apply for the position.
2. You have certainly .......................your mark as director of the company. Things are running much more smoothly
now than they ever have before.
3. She seems to have............................the crisis very well. She should be congratulated.
4. let's not............................to conclusions. We don't know for sure that Robert is responsible for the mistake.
5. We need to............................a more realistic target. How about aiming for a 30% increase in production by the end of
the year?
6. When he was given the new position, he .........................the opportunity to make a number of radical changes.
7. He may be an unpleasant man to deal with, but he ..........................results.
8. In order for us to ........................our aim, we all need to work a lot harder.
9. The organisation is expanding too quickly. We ought to.....................certain limits to growth, I think.
10. I can't believe I ........................such a mess of that interview.
11. I hope you won't ...........................offence if I say that I think you are wasting your talent in your present job.
12. Dwindling numbers of tourists have meant that our new hotel has............................a considerable financial loss this
year.
- Is the correct word real or genuine in these sentences? Choose the right collocation or both,
if you think they are acceptable.

-The photos of the pyramids are wonderful. One day I would like to see the real/genuine thing.
-He just doesn't live in the real/genuine world.
-This handbag is made of real/genuine leather.
-She is a very real/genuine person. If she promises something, she will do it.
-This home-made champagne is nice, but it is not as good as the real/genuine article.

- Choose one of the words given for each sentence to fill the gaps. In each case only one of
them is the normal collocation. for the underlined word.

-After his death, she went to the hospital to collect his personal affairs/objects/effects/extras.

-He made a rather faint/frail/fragile/feeble attempt at an apology, but it didn't convince anyone.

-George was a formidable/dreadful/forbidding/threatening opponent.

-I began to feel totally/pretty/utterly/blatantly anxious when she didn't arrive.

-She seemed to be vividly/strongly/utterly/heavily bewildered by the answer they gave her.

-A brisk/brusque/brash walk before breakfast is helpful to enforce/sharpen/grow the appetite.

-My aunt bequeathed/bequested/bereaved a sum of money in her will to cancer research.

-That item is widely/wildly/deeply/utterly available in supermarkets.

-You can accede/call/visit the website.

-Eating all these peanuts has spoilt/attacked/lowered my appetite.

-She is a highly/deeply/close/closely skilled lawyer.

-The lecture was deadly/stupidly/deeply dull and I almost went to sleep.

-The details of the scandal have been wildly/widely/deeply/utterly exaggerated.

-I'm not deeply/completely/strictly convinced that we need to make so many workers redundant.

-Smoking in the work area is strictly/entirely/utterly forbidden.

-She was deeply/utterly/completely moved by all the letters she received.

-The recipe was a utterly/completely/closely guarded secret.

-She had a sad/lonely/doleful face expression.