When learning a second language, you may come across the puzzling term “collocation”. Cambridge English Dictionary defines a collocation as “a word or phrase that is often used with another word or phrase, in a way that sounds correct to people who have spoken the language all their lives, but might not be expected from the meaning”.
There are many different types of collocations in English, some of which are listed below:*
- adverb + adjective: blissfully ignorant
- adjective + noun: troubling times
- noun + noun: cup of tea
- noun + verb: cat purrs
- verb + noun: do homework
If we replace one word in each of the above collocations, we see that the new phrases don’t really sound “natural” in English:
- joyfully ignorant
- worrisome times
- glass of tea
- fish purrs
- make homework
Based on this, we can see that collocations are crucial for learners of a second language to get to grips with, as using them correctly can make your language sound more natural and idiomatic. So, if you want to find out more about collocations and maybe even learn some new ones, check out these videos:
* Some examples are taken from Hurray Edutech
Leave a Reply