What Are Collocations?

Quick food? Do a test? Wrong and right?

Do any of those sound strange to you? If they do, then you already understand the importance of collocations. We use them every day, even if we don't realize it. Also, whenever they are not used correctly, you will probably notice. That's why it's important for our students to understand them as well. So let's take a look at collocations and some ways to present them in our lessons.

What are they?

Collocations are basically groups of two or more words that often go together. The ideas they represent can be expressed with other words, but the importance of collocations is that they simply sound natural together. Take a look at the following examples:

Quick food / Fast food

Do a test / Take a test

For both of the pairs, there is nothing technically wrong with the first examples. However, they don’t sound quite “right” to a native speaker. The collocations in the second examples are much more natural and would be understood by the listener right away.

Additionally, even if the words are the same, the order they come in can also change how natural they sound. If someone tells you their new job has a good "life-work balance," you will understand, but "work-life balance" would sound better. And what if someone asked you to pass the "pepper and salt"? Most native speakers would agree that "salt and pepper" is the "right" way to say it.

Why are they important?

As we've seen above, one of the biggest benefits of collocations is that they make speech sound more natural. Therefore, they are important to learn for all English speakers — not only students preparing for exams, but also for those who just want to speak more fluently in everyday conversations.

Another benefit is that they can help improve vocabulary. Even if they don't use many higher-level words on their own, remembering the combination of words gives students a chance to use them in their daily speech more often. This also reduces the need to overuse simpler words, such as “very” and “nice.” For example, someone "very rich" can become "filthy rich," and instead of just being "happy" with a meal, someone can instead be "completely satisfied" with it. Learning collocations will give students many more ways to express themselves.

Ways to teach collocations

Collocations may seem scary to students at first, especially because there are no general rules for when and how to use them. But the good news is that they likely already use many of them without realizing it. Once you point out some very common examples — like the ones mentioned in the beginning of this article — they will realize that it isn't quite as difficult as they may have thought.

You can start by introducing some of the many types of collocations. For example:

Adverb + adjective

Slightly late

Soaking wet

Adverb + verb

Briefly mention

Seriously consider

Adjective + noun

Bestselling book

Bright future

Noun + noun

Trial lesson

Pros and cons

Verb + adverb

Listen carefully

Study hard

Instead of trying to memorize everything, encourage your students to focus on only a few types until they can comfortably use them in their conversations. Phrasal verbs are great for this — you can recommend that they focus on one word, for example "make," and learn all of the words that are frequently used with it (e.g., "make friends," "make up," "make an effort").

Another good tip is for them to memorize these terms as groups of words instead of individually. For example, it will be much easier to remember "pros and cons" and "soaking wet" as a set, or words that are often used together. When they are used to hearing and using these collocations, it will be easier for them to understand the words separately.

Time to wrap up

Collocations are essential for fluent, natural English. They may seem scary to students at first, but eventually they will start to recognize them in the books they read, the materials they use and the conversations they have each day. Learning to use them well will improve their vocabulary, give them more fluency, and help them sound more like a native speaker.