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Collocations: What Is Collocation?

Collocation refers to the natural combinations of words in a language. For example, it is common to say "strong wind" but not "strong rain". Choosing the right collocations makes speech and writing sound more natural and precise. Collocations run throughout English and are important for clear communication. Learning collocations involves recognizing common word pairs, learning them in context from reading, and practicing their use. Specialized dictionaries can provide information on typical collocations.

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45 views

Collocations: What Is Collocation?

Collocation refers to the natural combinations of words in a language. For example, it is common to say "strong wind" but not "strong rain". Choosing the right collocations makes speech and writing sound more natural and precise. Collocations run throughout English and are important for clear communication. Learning collocations involves recognizing common word pairs, learning them in context from reading, and practicing their use. Specialized dictionaries can provide information on typical collocations.

Uploaded by

abril iñon rukavina
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Collocations

What is collocation?

Collocation is the way words combine in a language to produce natural sounding speech and
writing. For example, in English you say strong wind but heavy rain. It would not be normal
to say heavy wind or strong rain.

Most collocations can be called ‘word collocations’, that is, these are the precise words that combine with each
other: small fortune cannot be changed to little fortune, even though small and little seem to be synonymous.

Why is collocation important?

Collocation runs through the whole of the English language. No piece of natural spoken or
written English is totally free of collocation. Choosing the right collocation will make your speech and writing
sound much more natural, more native-speaker-like, even when basic intelligibility does not seem to be at issue.
A student who talks about strong rain may make himself or herself understood, but it requires more effort on the
part of the listener and ultimately creates a barrier to communication. Poor collocation in exams is also likely to
lead to lower marks.

But, perhaps even more importantly than this, language that is collocationally rich is also more precise. This is
because most single words in the English language - especially the more common words - embrace a whole
range of meanings, some quite distinct, and some that shade into each other by degrees. The precise meaning
in any context is determined by that context: by the words that surround and combine with the core word - by
collocation. A student who chooses the best collocation will express himself or herself much more clearly and
be able to convey not just a general meaning, but something more precise. Compare, for example, the following
two sentences:

This is a good book and contains a lot of interesting details.

This is a fascinating book and contains a wealth of historical detail.

Both sentences are perfectly ‘correct’ in terms of grammar and vocabulary, but which communicates more?
Clearly, the second, which is also more likely to engage the reader with its better style.

Source: Oxford Collocations Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2009.
Types of combination

Adjective + noun: bright/intense/harsh/strong light


Quantifier + noun (…of): a beam/ray of light

Verb + noun: cast/emit/give/provide/shed light

Noun + verb: light gleams/glows/shines

Noun + noun: a light source

Preposition + noun: by the light of the moon

Noun + preposition: the light from the window

Verb + Adverb: choose carefully

Verb + verb: be free to choose

Verb + preposition: choose between two things

Verb + adjective: make/keep/declare something safe

Adverb + adjective: perfectly/not entirely/environmentally safe

Adjective + preposition: safe from attack

How to learn collocations1

Be aware of collocations, and try to recognize them when you see or hear them.

Treat collocations as single blocks of language. Think of them as individual blocks or chunks, and learn strongly
support, not strongly + support.

When you learn a new word, write down other words that collocate with it (remember rightly, remember distinctly,
remember vaguely, remember vividly).

1
From: <https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/collocations.htm>

Source: Oxford Collocations Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2009.
Read as much as possible. Reading is an excellent way to learn vocabulary and collocations in context and
naturally.

Revise what you learn regularly. Practise using new collocations in context as soon as possible after learning
them.

Learn collocations in groups that work for you. You could learn them by topic (time, number, weather, money,
family) or by a particular word (take action, take a chance, take an exam).

You can find information on collocations in any good learner's dictionary. And you can also find specialized
dictionaries of collocations, for example, Oxford Collocations Dictionary (2nd edition, Oxford University Press,
2009), or http://www.freecollocation.com/.

Source: Oxford Collocations Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2009.

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