Common Collocations
Some words just go together — we make a decision but do homework, and rain is heavy, never strong. Collocations aren't logical; they're conventional. Learn the five patterns that cover most of them.
Choose a pattern. A context.
Five collocation patterns, three everyday contexts — 15 combinations, all real collocations. Watch which word is fixed by convention, not logic.
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The five patterns — with examples
Most English collocations fall into one of these five shapes. The word class stays the same; which specific word fills the slot is fixed by convention.
1. Verb + Noun
The trap: make and do both translate as “do” in many languages, but English keeps them strictly separate by noun — do homework, never make homework.
2. Adjective + Noun
The trap: weather intensity almost always takes heavy (heavy rain, heavy snow), while opinions and forces take strong (strong argument, strong wind) — the two rarely swap.
3. Adverb + Adjective
The trap: extreme adjectives (fantastic, essential, certain) pair with absolutely or totally, not very — “very fantastic” sounds distinctly non-native.
4. Noun + Noun
The trap: the first noun functions like an adjective and can never move — job security is fixed word order, not security job.
5. Noun + Preposition
The trap: there's no rule that predicts the preposition — confidence in, never confidence of. Learn each noun+preposition pair as a fixed unit.
Common pitfalls
Practice & score yourself
Ten questions — five multiple choice, five gap-fill. Instant scoring and a short explanation for every answer.
The one rule to remember
Collocations are conventional, not logical — you can't derive them from grammar rules or translate them word-for-word. When you learn a new noun or adjective, learn its partner words alongside it: not just “rain” but heavy rain; not just “confidence” but confidence in.