What is a Collocation?

Collocations are words that are frequently placed together. So, a collocation in English is a group of two or more words that are often found together either in English speech or English writing.

This is important, because whilst there are other words available that certainly make sense, collocations are the words that are most often used together. To understand which words go together most often in English is to really show your mastery of the language by highlighting how you are aware of the words that fit best together, because it is used in that way more often than not. There are different types of collocations though, so we’ll take a look at some examples of these to better understand what a collocation really is.

Some typical collocation examples are “pay attention”, “fast food”, “make an effort”, and “powerful engine”.

Collocations make it easier to avoid overused or ambiguous words like “very”, “nice”, or “beautiful”, by using a pair of words that fits the context better and has a more precise meaning. Using collocations will help your English sound naturally like a native speaker.

Collocation Examples

Examples of collocations with take, get, do, make, go…

• He had intended to take a holiday in New York.
• He wanted to see if he could get a job with us.
• I might take a lesson from you.
• My goals were to go back to school and get a degree.
• I’ll take a look at the website and let you know what I think. 
• He was beginning to get angry.
• Couldn’t you do a favour and leave me alone?
• She should make a right choice.
• Could you do a report for me?
• We are to make a contract for a supply of raw silk with the company.
• I like to do homework.
• We need to make a deal for this project.
• The company is about to go bankrupt.