Collocations in English – The Key to Natural-Sounding English
Collocations are words that often go together in English. Using collocations correctly makes your speech and writing sound more natural and fluent. In this article, we’ll cover common collocations with different verbs and nouns, along with examples to help you understand how to use them.
What Are Collocations?
A collocation is a combination of words that native speakers often use together. These words sound “right” when used together, while other combinations may sound unnatural.
- Correct: Make a decision
- Incorrect: Do a decision
- Correct: Take a shower
- Incorrect: Do a shower
Learning collocations helps you sound more like a native speaker and improves your fluency.
Collocations with MAKE
- Make a decision → I need to make a decision about my future.
- Make progress → She is making progress in her English studies.
- Make money → He makes a lot of money from his business.
- Make an effort → You need to make an effort to improve.
- Make a mistake → I made a mistake in my homework.
- Make a phone call → I need to make a phone call now.
- Make a plan → Let’s make a plan for the weekend.
- Make a joke → He made a joke and everyone laughed.
- Make a wish → Close your eyes and make a wish!
- Make a promise → She made a promise to help her friend.
Collocations with DO
- Do homework → I always do my homework after school.
- Do a favor → Can you do me a favor?
- Do business → They do business with international companies.
- Do exercise → She does exercise every morning.
- Do the dishes → I need to do the dishes after dinner.
- Do the laundry → He does the laundry once a week.
- Do research → Scientists do research on new medicines.
- Do your best → Just do your best, and don’t worry.
- Do well → He did well in his exam.
- Do a job → She did a great job organizing the event.
Collocations with TAKE
- Take a break → Let’s take a break before continuing.
- Take a photo → She took a photo of the sunset.
- Take a seat → Please take a seat while you wait.
- Take a shower → I always take a shower in the morning.
- Take responsibility → He took responsibility for his actions.
- Take part in → She took part in the competition.
- Take care of → I take care of my little brother.
- Take notes → You should take notes during the lecture.
- Take a risk → He took a risk and started his own company.
- Take a deep breath → Before you speak, take a deep breath.
Collocations with GET
- Get ready → I need to get ready for work.
- Get dressed → She got dressed quickly.
- Get a job → He got a new job last week.
- Get lost → We got lost on our way to the hotel.
- Get home → I usually get home at 6 PM.
- Get married → They got married last summer.
- Get angry → He got angry when he lost the game.
- Get a cold → She got a cold last week.
- Get better → I hope you get better soon.
- Get permission → You need to get permission before using it.
Collocations with COME
- Come early → Try to come early to the meeting.
- Come prepared → She always comes prepared to class.
- Come true → My dream finally came true!
- Come to a decision → We need to come to a decision soon.
- Come first → Family always comes first.
- Come back → He came back from vacation yesterday.
- Come in handy → This tool will come in handy later.
- Come to an agreement → We finally came to an agreement.
- Come closer → Come closer, I have something to tell you.
- Come with me → Come with me, I’ll show you the way.
Collocations with GO
- Go shopping → We went shopping at the mall.
- Go for a walk → Let’s go for a walk in the park.
- Go missing → My keys went missing yesterday.
- Go crazy → The crowd went crazy at the concert.
- Go abroad → She wants to go abroad next year.
- Go home → I need to go home now.
- Go to bed → He went to bed early.
- Go to work → I go to work at 8 AM.
- Go to school → Kids go to school five days a week.
- Go wrong → Something went wrong with my order.
Collocations with HAVE
- Have a good time → We had a good time at the party.
- Have lunch → Let’s have lunch together.
- Have fun → Have fun on your trip!
- Have a break → I need to have a break after work.
- Have an idea → I have an idea for the project.
- Have a headache → She has a headache today.
- Have a conversation → We had a great conversation.
- Have a problem → Do you have a problem with this?
- Have an argument → They had an argument last night.
- Have a chance → You still have a chance to win.
Collocations with GIVE
- Give advice → She gave me advice on studying.
- Give a speech → The president gave a speech.
- Give a hand → Can you give me a hand with this?
- Give permission → They gave me permission to leave early.
- Give someone a call → Give me a call when you arrive.
- Give information → He gave useful information.
- Give an example → Can you give an example?
- Give a gift → She gave me a gift for my birthday.
- Give a smile → She gave a smile and walked away.
- Give an opinion → He gave his opinion on the matter.
Collocations with BREAK
- Break a record → She broke a record in the marathon.
- Break the law → He was arrested for breaking the law.
- Break a habit → It’s hard to break a habit.
- Break a promise → Don’t break your promise to me.
- Break the news → He broke the news to his parents.
- Break someone’s heart → She broke his heart when she left.
- Break into tears → He broke into tears after hearing the sad news.
- Break the silence → Someone coughed to break the silence.
- Break even → The company only broke even this year.
- Break free → He tried to break free from the crowd.
Collocations with CATCH
- Catch a cold → I caught a cold last week.
- Catch a bus → Hurry up, or we won’t catch the bus!
- Catch fire → The house caught fire last night.
- Catch someone’s attention → His speech caught everyone’s attention.
- Catch a thief → The police caught the thief.
- Catch your breath → Take a moment to catch your breath.
- Catch up on work → I need to catch up on work this weekend.
- Catch a glimpse → I caught a glimpse of the celebrity.
- Catch someone off guard → The surprise question caught him off guard.
- Catch a flight → We need to leave early to catch our flight.
Collocations with PAY
- Pay attention → Please pay attention to the teacher.
- Pay a visit → I’ll pay my grandparents a visit this weekend.
- Pay the bill → Let me pay the bill for dinner.
- Pay a fine → He had to pay a fine for speeding.
- Pay someone a compliment → She paid me a nice compliment.
- Pay respect → They paid their respects at the funeral.
- Pay in cash → I prefer to pay in cash.
- Pay by card → Can I pay by card here?
- Pay a price → He paid a high price for his mistakes.
- Pay a debt → He finally paid off his debt.
Collocations with HOLD
- Hold a meeting → We will hold a meeting tomorrow.
- Hold your breath → Hold your breath and dive in!
- Hold hands → They held hands while walking.
- Hold a conversation → She can hold a conversation in Spanish.
- Hold a grudge → He still holds a grudge against me.
- Hold the line → Please hold the line while I check.
- Hold your tongue → Sometimes it’s best to hold your tongue.
- Hold someone accountable → The manager held him accountable for the mistake.
- Hold true → This rule holds true in most cases.
- Hold your ground → He held his ground in the argument.
Collocations with KEEP
- Keep a secret → Can you keep a secret?
- Keep in touch → Let’s keep in touch after graduation.
- Keep an eye on → Please keep an eye on my bag.
- Keep your word → Always keep your word.
- Keep a promise → He always keeps his promises.
- Keep calm → Keep calm and don’t panic.
- Keep the change → The waiter said, “Keep the change.”
- Keep a diary → I keep a diary to write my thoughts.
- Keep track of → It’s hard to keep track of my expenses.
- Keep your distance → Keep your distance from wild animals.
Collocations with FIND
- Find a job → He’s trying to find a job.
- Find the answer → I need to find the answer quickly.
- Find your way → She finally found her way home.
- Find it difficult → I find it difficult to understand math.
- Find a solution → We must find a solution soon.
- Find time → I need to find time to study.
- Find a balance → It’s hard to find a balance between work and life.
- Find out the truth → He finally found out the truth.
- Find inspiration → She finds inspiration in nature.
- Find a replacement → We need to find a replacement for him.
Collocations with LOSE
- Lose weight → He wants to lose weight before summer.
- Lose a game → We lost the game yesterday.
- Lose a job → He lost his job last month.
- Lose your way → I lost my way in the new city.
- Lose a friend → I lost a good friend over an argument.
- Lose your mind → If I hear that song again, I’ll lose my mind!
- Lose patience → The teacher lost her patience with the students.
- Lose interest → He lost interest in the project.
- Lose your voice → She lost her voice after shouting.
- Lose a bet → He lost the bet and had to buy dinner.
Collocations with SET
- Set a goal → He set a goal to run a marathon.
- Set an alarm → I always set my alarm for 7 AM.
- Set a record → She set a new record in swimming.
- Set a date → They set a date for their wedding.
- Set a good example → Parents should set a good example for their kids.
- Set the table → Can you set the table for dinner?
- Set the rules → The teacher set the rules on the first day.
- Set fire to → He accidentally set fire to the papers.
- Set a trap → The police set a trap for the criminals.
- Set priorities → You need to set your priorities in life.
Collocations with RUN
- Run a business → He runs a small business.
- Run a race → She ran a 10K race last week.
- Run out of → We ran out of milk.
- Run late → I’m running late for my meeting.
- Run a test → The doctors ran some tests on him.
- Run a campaign → They ran a campaign for better schools.
- Run smoothly → Everything ran smoothly at the event.
- Run into trouble → We ran into trouble on the trip.
- Run a risk → You run a risk by investing in that.
- Run for office → He’s running for office next year.
English Collocations Quiz
Test your knowledge of collocations! Choose the correct word to complete each sentence.
- Can you ____ me a hand with these boxes?
- a) Take
- b) Give
- c) Do
- I need to ____ a decision about my job.
- a) Do
- b) Take
- c) Make
- We always ____ shopping on Saturdays.
- a) Do
- b) Go
- c) Have
- He ____ a great job on the project.
- a) Did
- b) Made
- c) Took
- She ____ a promise to help her friend.
- a) Took
- b) Gave
- c) Made
- They ____ their respects at the funeral.
- a) Paid
- b) Gave
- c) Took
- We need to ____ a meeting to discuss the problem.
- a) Make
- b) Hold
- c) Do
- He ____ his voice after shouting too much.
- a) Lost
- b) Broke
- c) Set
- She always ____ notes during class.
- a) Keeps
- b) Takes
- c) Finds
- He ____ an alarm to wake up early.
-
- a) Set
- b) Made
- c) Did
Quiz Answers
- b) Give
- c) Make
- b) Go
- a) Did
- c) Made
- a) Paid
- b) Hold
- a) Lost
- b) Takes
- a) Set
