English collocations examples in sentences

English collocations – how words are put together

DEFINITION:
Collocation is a sequence of words that often occur together, because they sound correct and natural. Similar combination of words describing the same thing or situation might sound unnatural or even funny.

What could be the result?
As a result, it may have a negative impact on your confidence to speak English. Therefore good knowledge of English collocations and phrases is very mportant. It will help you speak more fluently with higher confidence and your English will sound much more natural.

Collocations examples – correct and incorrect:

	heavy rain -> correct
	strong rain -> incorrect

	run fast -> correct
	run quick -> incorrrect

	fast food -> correct
	speed food -> incorrect

	do the homework -> correct
	make the homework -> incorrrect

	fight hard -> correct
	fight tough -> incorrect

	well done -> correct
	good done -> incorrrect

Collocation types with examples

There are several forms of collocations in English language. The most common types along with some examples are described in the following table:

verb + noun	catch a bus, make a call, do a homework, take a photo, pay attention
verb + adverb	regret deeply, disagree strongly, deny completely, accuse falsely
adjective + noun	heavy rain, strong supporter, fast car, quick shower, big surprise
adverb + adjective	bitterly angry, deeply concerned, widely acceptable, highly appreciated
noun + noun	round of drinks, sense of humor, smell of success, bar of soap

This is a short video that explains some of the most common verb + noun collocations.

Collocations versus phrasal verbs / idioms

Unlike phrasal verbs or idioms, collocations can be quite easily understood. That makes them a little bit easier to learn. However, the best way to learn them quickly and correctly is to read a lot of examples.

Here are some useful tips for your self-study:
1. in any situation, try to be aware of any collocation you hear or read
2. if you notice a collocation, write it down or associate it with a situation (context)
3. organize your list by words or by topic

Remember, it is very likely that you will have to memorize some English collocations. It will be the same process as learning new words. In other cases, though, the collocation may come naturally and you will understand and learn it by reading and listening.

Therefore it’s strongly advisable (another nice example of adverb + adjective collocation) that you read a lot of news articles where you can learn many collocations from daily life.

Our 2-step method:

In order to help you to understand correctly when somebody uses a collocation in a speech or conversation, we have created a concept based on examples from movies.

As you probably know, you can hear lots of collocations in American movies and TV shows. In fact, they are really frequently used in spoken English.

The method is very simple, yet very effective.

STEP 1. Listen to collocations in short video samples in real-life situations

duty calls

get lost

These are the examples of some of them, which you will certainly hear in many conversations with English speakers on a daily basis.
So the best way to master them is to learn them in context in real sentences. And I am pretty sure that the best context is your favorite movie or TV show 🙂

STEP 2. Practice them in short exercises

If teacher in a school smokes a cigarette, he is ______ a bad example for his students.

setting

bringing

giving

putting

Collocations sample

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More collocations exercises »

More examples of sentences with English collocations

1. John was complaining bitterly about the poor attitudes of his staff.
2. Don’t judge him too harshly. You don’t know all the details.
3. Could you please do me a favor and stop smoking?
4. The proposed Enbridge pipeline poses a massive threat to pristine areas across central B.C.

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Collocations | Idioms | Phrasal verbs | Words

LIST OF COLLOCATIONS WITH MEANINGS

(117 terms)
give a warm welcome (to someone)	to welcome someone with applause
pay attention	to listen carefully and trying to understand the subject matter
needles to say	when something is known and can be taken for granted, of course
say hi	form of greeting
side note	extra piece of information
take it slow	to do something slowly
Behave yourself	to behave decently
move forward	the next step in a process
bring to the boil	to reach the state when water boils
take a nap	to have a quick, short sleep
self-esteem	feeling good about own personality
chem analysis	chemical analysis
snow-capped	covered with snow
do one’s best	to do the maximum
As you were!	Military command meaning that soldier may return to normal posture
sexual ardour	sexual passion
cruise ship	large ship for pleasure voyages
jumper cables	cables to help start the car engine when an auto battery is low
on your own	to be solely responsible for something
cop-watch	watching whether police is not approaching
flax seeds	seeds of a flax plant
out of nowhere	when something appears suddenly and unexpectedly
whipped cream	cream mixed using a whisk or mixer
all around	all over the place
play somebody against somebody	to make someone to have a conflict with someone else
get to know each other	know other person better
at stake	amount or value which can be won or lost
take turns	when two or more people alternate in doing something
beat downs	physical attacks
take a look	to have a look
criminal charges	formal accusation that somebody has commited a crime
do a favor	to help with something
unspoken agreement	agreement without saying any words
come easy	happen easily
high tide	rise of a sea level
time zone	geographical zone with specific time
happen to notice	to see accidentally
induction day	first day when somebody starts in an organization
sealed container	container with a firm cover
human being	human (man or woman)
straight up	directly
raise an objection (to someone or something)	to disagree or to protest against someone or something
never mind	it does not matter
cake recipe	step by step process for preparing a cake
to be on sale	when something is for sale at a discount price
brain damage	injury to brain
to be better off	to be in a better position than before
full time	working full hours (not part-time)
soul mate	person with strong emotional connection
in my time	during my life
The best is yet to come	the best experience is still to come
all over	everywhere
long-distance relationship	relationship when partners are living far from each other
stay put	stay where you are
retread tires	to replace worn out material on tires
get going	to move, to start moving
tax evasion	not paying taxes
come as a surprise	to make someone feel surprised
go for something	to start doing something
take chances	to go into risk
take something the wrong way	to misunderstand or misinterpret something
without consent	without agreement or approval from other person
takeout food	food in plastic container for eating later
take a chance	to risk
snow squall	heavy snow precipitation
flat tires	tires with no air
to get something looked at	to get something checked (by a doctor)
split x ways	to divide into x parts
I am sorry about your loss	phrase used at funerals to express condolences
consolation prize	a small prize given to someone who lost in a competition
put (something) in action	to turn theory into action
on purpose	to do something deliberately with an intention to do it
fancy dinner	dinner in an expensive restaurant
hard wood	floor made of wood
for a while	certain amount of time
long-distance call	phone call between two distant cities or countries
get straight	to make things clear
no offence	without intention to offend somebody
no offense	without intention to offend somebody
seat is taken	seat is not vacant, seat is unavailable
out of reach	unreachable, inaccessible
senior year	final year in high school
in vain	without sense, pointless
pick pockets	to steal personal belongings of tourists from pockets
tartar sauce	mayonnaise with chopped pickles
well-groomed	very well maintained person with regard to dress and appearance
to stay between us	keep a secret, not to tell to anybody else
by the way	incidentally
freshly prepared	recently prepared fresh food
fall asleep	start sleeping
fall asleep	to start sleeping
middle of nowhere	far from a civilization
couple of weeks away	in a few weeks
This is so us!	This is typical for us!
so to speak	when you try to get an attention to a choice of words (if metaphoric phrase is used)
keep a promise	to do what was promised
rib of beef	meat from a rib section of beef
meal to go	takeout food, food in plastic container
tell him I said hi	to give greetings
take a while	to take some amount of time
evade responsibility	to run away from responsibility
take a loan	to borrow some amount of money
crooked as a politician	corrupted as politician
jet lag	conditions of sleep problem when travelling
best man	friend of the bridegroom at the wedding
first mate	the first officer on a ship after captain
find (someone) attractive	to think that someone is attractive
to have a point	to be right about something, to provide a good description of a situation
nasty freak	pervert person
clam chowder	thick soup with clams (seafood)
take eye off something	to look in the different direction
to taste good	to have a good taste
file (tax) returns	to submit taxes to authorities
to be of service	to offer service
make fun of somebody	make jokes about somebody, to mock
make (something) happen	accomplish or achieve something, not just talking but actually doing it
all of a sudden	suddenly, unexpectedly

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