Collocation of Common Verbs

The verbs, get, come, go, and take, have some very specific collocations, particularly in idiomatic expressions.

e.g. After several weeks of classes, her English was clearly getting better.
e.g. He went to sleep right away.

Complete the expressions by inserting the verbs, come, go, get, and take, into the blanks.

_________ for a swim __________ a break __________ rid of something __________ some sleep

_________ into view __________ revenge __________ crazy __________ a seat

__________ ready __________ shopping __________ to a decision __________ missing

__________ bankrupt __________ hot __________ your time __________ to an end

FOLLOW UP: Make sentences using the expressions from the box above.
astray business (x2) clean cover impression hands handy
life lost old quiet smoothly terms time unstuck

Place the words in the box above into the appropriate gaps below.
1. I am starting to get _________. I cannot move as fast as I used to and my memory is dreadful.

2. It takes a very long _________ to walk from one end of the UK to the other end.

3. We both read the map but still managed to go _________ and get completely _________.

4. Napoleon was a brilliant tactician but he finally came _________ at Waterloo.

5. I got the _________ that she was angry, so I left her alone.

6. Outside the room we could hear laughter and conversation, but everything went _________ when we
walked in.

7. The party was very boring to begin with but it soon came to _________ with the Spanish arrived.

8. If this company doesn’t start making more money very soon we are going to go out of _________.

9. The police warned my father not to take the law into his own _________.

10. It was a few years before he finally came to _________ with the loss of his business and the divorce.

11. The meeting was very short but productive. Everybody got straight down to _________ as soon as they had
sat down.

12. He was going to find out that I was the one responsible so I thought it would be better to come _________
and tell him all about it.

13. It was raining heavily by this time and we had to take _________ in a shop doorway.

14. The meeting went _________ and we achieved all of our objectives.

15. The extra money I got from my boss really came in _________. We were able to pay for our holiday with it.