English language learners are often challenged by collocations and tend to avoid using them. Using collocations is a key indicator of competency and fluency in a language. Speaking without collocations is like talking without idioms or phrasal verbs. The message may be conveyed, but your word choice will sound awkward or unnatural.
What is a Collocation when broken down into parts?
Teachers haven’t focused much on collocations because they’re not a part of the language structure related to grammar, phonology or writing. They are words that when put together sound natural and have meaning specific to a language. This meaning would not be true if the words appeared as single units. ESL speakers at the advanced level should learn a few basic collocations to demonstrate and fluency and expression. Some examples include:
make lunch [NOT cook the lunch]
do the laundry [NOT wash the clothes]
take a break [NOT get free time]
strong coffee [NOT heavy coffee]
mild-mannered [NOT soft person]
bitterly cold [NOT big ice weather]
Individually, each word means something other than its whole.
Note: There may be no rules for collocations but there are a few patterns they follow. Word patterns and grammatical patterns.
Collocations have three parts or perspectives: co occurrence; construction; and expression.
Co-occurrence is the number of times a phrase appears in a language. High co-occurrence is an indicator of relevance. If a word family is used over a decade it is considered a collocation of the language.
Construction is the relationship between a phrase and a word pattern. A word pattern refers to how a keyword is presented in relation to other words in the phrase. For example
| Word Pattern | Result |
| verb + noun | make dinner |
| adverb + adjective | incredibly beautiful |
Expression is the practical level of a phrase or the words. An expression is not quite a phrase in value but closer to a sub-phrase.
Key Features of Collocations to Remember
Collocations do not have rules. Unlike grammar which has rules, collocations are built around word meaning. Words are grouped together and as a unit, through extensive use and the passage of time become a standard of the language.
Collocations are Formed with Words and Grammatical Patterns
The collocations discussed here combine light verbs and nouns and adjectives. Light verbs have little meaning on their own. In the realm of collocating words, they verbs form a predicate with a phrase that has a noun.
After being used in the language so often that if one word is substituted by another, it sounds awkward or unnatural to native speakers. Two very commonly used light verbs are ‘make’ and and ‘do’.
It might help to understand the difference between.
Make is Used for Actions of Choice
We use make for expressing the end result of an action like a cake, an engine, a kite. Use make for actions that create or produce something, and for actions of choice, make lunch.
Make + noun for something made that was not made before.
activities, creating things, producing things
make dinner
make a cake
make a kite
plans and decisions
make arrangements
make plans
make contact
make do
Do is Used for Actions, Obligations, and Repetitive Tasks
We use do for actions that focus on the process more than the end result
do your bed
do your homework
do your chores
do the laundry
do my hair
Business
do business with ‘It was nice doing business with you.’
do a good job – to perform and complete an assignment to the best of your ability
do good – to follow an honorable path to act honorably
do paperwork – complete the administrative tasks associated to a project or activity
do your job – to fulfill your work obligations and not interfere
do the math – perform the calculation until you get the answer
Do you have questions about collocations? Contact Penny at 781.385.0231.