The funny thing about collocations is that very few students give them the credit they deserve.
They are the forgotten speech part. However, we need to be familiar and experienced in them if we want to speak English at any given level.The following information may come in handy for you to get plenty of practice. As you will very often hear me say, “Practice makes perfect”.
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. And whilst all four of these words would be recognized by a learner at pre-intermediate or even elementary level, it takes a greater degree of competence with the language to combine them correctly in productive use. To a native-speaker these combinations are highly predictable; to a learner they are anything but.
Combinations of words in a language can be ranged on a cline from the totally free (see aman/car/book ) to the totally fixed and idiomatic (not see the wood for the trees). This idiom is not only fixed in form, it also has nothing whatever to do with wood or trees. Between these two extremes, there is a whole range of nouns that take the verb see in a way that is neither totally predictable nor totally opaque as to meaning. These run from the fairly "weak" collocation "see a film" (which elementary students learn as a "chunk" without pausing to "reflect" that this is not quite the literal meaning of see) through the"medium strength"see a doctor or the "stronger" collocations of see danger/reason/the point. All these combinations, apart from those at the very extremes of the cline, can be called collocation. And it is combinations such as these (particularly in the "medium-strength" area) that are vital to communicative competence in English.
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. For the student, choosing the right collocation will make his 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 understood, but possibly not without provoking a smile or a correction, which may or may not matter. He will certainly be marked down for it in an exam.
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 sorround and combine with the core word (by collocations). A student who chooses the best collocation will express himself much more clearly and be able to convey not just a general meaning, but something quite precise. Compare, for example, the following two sentences:
This is a good book an d it 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(both about the book under discussion and the person discussing it?)
This is a good book an d it 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(both about the book under discussion and the person discussing it?)
Different kinds of collocations
"The full range of collocation", as well as implying collocations of different strengths also covers all the following types of combination:
adjective + noun: bright / harsh / intense / strong light
quantifier + noun: 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
adverb + verb: choose carefully
verb + verb: be free to choose
verb + preposition: choose between two things
verb + adjective: make / keep / declare sth safe
adverb + adjective: perfectly / not entirely / environmentally safe
adjective + preposition: safe from attack
plus short phrases including the headword: the speed of light, pick and choose, safe and sound
All throughout my teaching career I've heard, on numerous ocassions, students assert that what they hate most is phrasal verbs because they are difficult. Actually, I would rephrase that and point out that what is not easy is to retain them in your memory. Not to worry! A useful piece of advice is to never learn any new phrasal verb till you have used and made sure that the old ones are already part of your active knowledge.
You will also find a reference book that may come in handy, though you're invited to use whichever you like best.
What are phrasal verbs?
Phrasal verbs are idiomatic combination of a verb and adverb, or a verb and preposition (or verb with both adverb and preposition). They cause difficulties for students of English because of their meaning and grammar.
Many verbs in English can be used together with an adverb or preposition, and are straightforward for the student to use and understand, as in, for example:
The girl walked along the road. (verb + preposition)
You could just as easily say:
The girl walked down the road. (verb + preposition)
Combinations of verb and adverb can also be easily understood:
He opened the door and looked inside. (verb + adverb)
He entered the room and sat down. (verb + adverb)
Often, however, a verbal combination (verb + adverb or verb + preposition) can have not only its normal meaning but can also mean something different. The combination of hold and up, for example, can be used with a normal meaning:
Hold up your right hand and repeat these words after me.
But it can also have a completely different meaning, 'to stop by force in order to rob', as in:
The criminals held up the train and stole all the passengers' money
Here the meaning of the expression cannot be guessed from the verb alone; it is an example of a phrasal verb. In some dictionaries, phrasal verbs (idiomatic combinations) are marked with a *sign. Hold up, then, has both a normal and an idiomatic meaning, and is shown in the dictionary like this:
hold up v adv
1 to raise (something): Hold up your right hand and repeat these words after me.
*2 to stop (a vehicle) by force in order to rob it: The criminals held up the train and stole all the passengers' money.
There are three types of phrasal verb:
(a) verb + adverb (marked v adv), as in:
The old lady was taken in (= deceived) by the salesman
(b) verb + preposition (marked v prep), as in:
She set about (= started) making a new dress
(c) verb + adverb + preposition (marked v adv prep), as in:
I can't put up with (= bear or suffer) him - he's always complaining
Please click on the blue caption below where you will find a document with exercises on phrasal verbs (advanced ) and a pp presentation on the same point.
Classification of verbs
vi: Verbs belonging to this category are normally inseparable, though sometimes adverbs may come between the verb and the particle, e.g. "The procession passed by " / "The procession passed slowly by".
vt sep: If the object of a verb belonging to this category is a noun, then the particle may precede or follow the noun, e.g. "The man took off his hat" or "The man took his hat off". However, if the object is a pronoun (e.g. it, him, us) then the particle must follow it: "The man took it off".
vt sep*: Verbs belonging to this category must always be separated, regardless of whether the object is a noun or a pronoun, e.g. "The sooner we get this job over the better" and "The sooner we get it over the better".
vt insep: Verbs belonging to this category must always be inseparable, that is to say the particle(s) must follow the verb immediately, regardless of whether the object is a noun or a pronoun, e.g. "The police are looking into the case" / "The police are looking into it" and "I look forward to meeting John" / "I look forward to meeting him".
What is an idiom?
An idiom is a fixed group of words with a special different meaning from the meanings of the separate words. So, to spill the beans is not at all connected with beans: it means "to tell something that is secret".