Collocations in English Learn English Vocabulary
Hi, I’m Kasia.
Welcome to Oxford Online English!
In this lesson, you can learn about collocations
in English.
But, what are collocations?
Why can’t you say, There was hard traffic
on the way to the centre?
Because of collocation.
Can you say totally exhausted?
Yes, you can,
What about totally freezing?
No, you can’t.
Why not?
Collocation!
Why do you apply for a job, but you apply
to a company?
Can you guess?
Er…
Of course, the answer is ‘collocation.’
But what does this mean?
Collocation means that some words fit together,
and other words don’t.
Look at a sentence you heard before:
There was hard traffic on the way to the centre.
Is this correct or not?
It’s not correct.
If you said this, everybody would understand
what you meant, but native English speakers
would never use the words hard traffic together.
Do you know the correct way to say it?
You could say heavy traffic, bad traffic,
terrible traffic, and there are other possibilities.
What’s the point here?
The point is that some words fit together,
and some words don’t.
There isn’t any logic to it.
This makes collocations difficult.
If you don’t know that heavy traffic is
the correct collocation, it’s hard to guess.
You either know it, or you don’t.
In this lesson, you’ll learn about common
collocations in English, how to learn and
remember collocations, and why you should
focus on collocations as part of your English
study.
You almost certainly know many collocations
in English already.
The most common collocations in English are
with everyday verbs like do, make, get, give,
have, and so on.
Each of these verbs has tens of possible collocations.
Here’s a challenge for you.
You’re going to hear a dialogue.
In the dialogue, there are ten collocations
with these five verbs.
Listen and write down the ten collocations.
Can you do me a favour?
I’ve just got in!
Can’t I have a break for five minutes?
But I have a big problem!
Amanda’s arriving in fifteen minutes, and
my car won’t start.
Can you give me a lift to the station?
Ok, fine.
Give me a minute to get ready.
So, where’s Amanda?
Shouldn’t she be here already?
I think I made a mistake…
Oh?
I got confused and mixed up the dates.
She’s coming tomorrow.
Well, at least you already made the beds.
Can you give me a lift tomorrow?
Please?
Work is busy tomorrow, but I’ll do my best.
How was that?
Could you write down the ten collocations?
If you want, you can go back and listen to
the dialogue a second time.
Here are the ten collocations you heard:
do someone a favour
do (your) best
make a mistake
make the beds
get in
get confused
give someone a lift
give (me) a minute
have a break
have a (big) problem
You can see how common collocations are.
They’re everywhere in spoken English!
All the collocations you saw are based on
verbs.
However, collocations can be based on any
part of speech.
For example, there are adjective-noun collocations,
like a great achievement or a long journey.
There are adverb-adjective collocations, like
terribly hot or extremely significant.
There are noun-noun collocations, like a slice
of cake or a pile of laundry.
There are more.
The point is that collocations are everywhere.
To speak English naturally and fluently, you
need to pay attention to them.
So, what should you do?
The best way to find and learn collocations
is to do regular reading and listening practice
in English.
As you read or listen, pay attention to collocations.
If you’re reading something, you can try
to underline the collocations you find.
Remember that just because you know the words,
it doesn’t mean you know the collocation!
For example, you might see collocations like:
He went bald when he was in his twenties.
It’s a big decision, but we have to do something.
It was a little expensive, but still good
value.
You might think, “I know the words, so there’s
nothing to learn here,” but this could be
a mistake.
Think about the collocation big decision.
If you don’t know the collocation, you might
say something else, like large decision or
heavy decision.
However, these don’t work.
You need to know the collocation: big decision.
The collocation is almost like a separate
word that you need to learn and remember.
Let’s practice!
Look at a short text.
There are ten collocations in the text.
The collocations are of different types.
Can you find the ten collocations?
Pause the video, read the text, and try to
find them.
Start again when you’re ready.
Ready?
Let’s look.
One quick point: maybe some of you have different
answers.
Maybe some of you think there are more than
ten collocations in the text.
You could be right.
There isn’t a clear line between what is
a collocation and what isn’t.
For example, is very patient a collocation?
You could say that it is, or that it isn’t.
It isn’t clear.
Don’t worry about this point.
It doesn’t make any difference to how you
should study and use collocations.
So, now you’ve found ten collocations in
your text.
You could find more collocations using a dictionary.
For example, there are two collocations in
the text with the word friend: become friends
and one of my closest friends.
Can you find two more?
Use your favourite dictionary, preferably
a monolingual dictionary.
Look up the word friend, and write down two
more collocations.
Pause the video and do it now!
Ready?
What did you get?
There are many, many possible answers, but
maybe you wrote down something like:
make friends (with someone)
a good friend
(your) best friend
Or: a true friend
Let’s do one more.
In the text, you saw the collocation demanding
job.
What else can be demanding?
Pause the video, look up demanding in your
dictionary, and write down two more possible
collocations.
Ready?
What did you get this time?
Here are three suggestions:
a demanding person
a demanding period
a demanding situation
Again, there are other possibilities.
So, when you’re reading or listening in
English, try to notice the collocations you
see or hear.
You can then use your dictionary to look up
related collocations.
However, you’ll very quickly have a lot
of collocations!
How can you remember them all?
Learning and remembering collocations is the
same as learning any other vocabulary.
That means you should:
One: Learn vocabulary from real-life sources,
for example from reading articles, listening
to songs, or having conversations with your
friends.
Don’t learn vocabulary by making big lists
of words from the dictionary.
Two: learn and review vocabulary in full sentences.
If you want to remember the collocation keep
in touch with someone, don’t just write
down the phrase; write down a full sentence
which is meaningful for you.
For example: I use Whatsapp to keep in touch
with my friends overseas.
Three: you need a system to review vocabulary
regularly.
The best way to do this is to use a flashcard
app like Quizlet or Anki.
Finally, like any vocabulary, you need to
use it, otherwise it won’t stick in your
head.
How can you do that?
Here’s one suggestion: when you learn collocations,
put them in groups by topic.
For example, collocations to describe a person,
collocations to describe a city, collocations
to talk about relationships, and so on.
When you have ten or more collocations in
a group, write a short text, and try to use
all of the collocations as you write.
For example, if you’ve found ten collocations
to describe a city, you could write a short
paragraph about your hometown using the collocations
you’ve learned.
It might look something like this:
Athens is a sprawling city with a rich history.
The old centre is full of steep, narrow streets
and archaeological monuments.
It has a lively atmosphere, especially at
night.
You can get around by metro, which is useful
because traffic jams are a constant problem.
You can easily find tasty local food in the
centre, although touristy places can be overpriced.
There’s very little street crime, so you
don’t have to worry about safety, although
you should look out for pickpockets in the
metro.
This can be challenging, but it’s worth
making the effort.
By using the collocations you learn to write
something which is true for you, you’ll
be able to remember them more easily.
Finally, let’s see how collocations can
be the key to increasing your English vocabulary.
Often, students tell us things like:
I need more vocabulary to speak English.
I can’t find the right words when I’m
speaking.
Or: I need to learn more vocabulary for my
IELTS exam.
Or: I want to learn academic vocabulary to
express my ideas clearly.
What if we told you that you could improve
your vocabulary massively, without even learning
any new words?
What?
How can that be?
It’s not about how many words you know;
it’s about how you use those words.
Remember earlier, you saw the collocation
big decision?
Probably, all of you know the words big and
decision, but we’re guessing not all of
you knew the collocation big decision.
Most of the collocations in this lesson are
probably similar.
The individual words might not be new, but
the combination is.
You’ve seen around thirty to forty different
collocations in this lesson.
Actually, you’ve seen many more, but we’ve
highlighted that many.
This is a tiny, tiny proportion of the collocations
we could have shown you.
Collocations are everywhere, and many of them
use words you’re already familiar with.
So here’s our final piece of advice: spend
more time learning collocations.
Don’t just learn single words; learn combinations
and phrases with them.
Learn collocations using the vocabulary you
have.
Follow the steps in this lesson: find collocations
by reading or listening, use good vocabulary
learning practices, and use collocations by
writing short texts on different topics.
This way, you can learn to use the vocabulary
you already know to express a wider range
of ideas.
You’ll be able to talk more fluently and
naturally, and express yourself more clearly.
Here’s a question for you: have you found
any weird, funny, interesting or really illogical
English collocations?
Please share them in the comments!
Don’t forget to check out our website for
more free English lessons: Oxford Online English
dot com.
Thanks for watching!
See you next time!