presentation word collocations

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Collocations with presentation

These are words often used in combination with presentation .

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

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Hippocratic oath

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a promise made by people when they become doctors to do everything possible to help their patients and to have high moral standards in their work

Sitting on the fence (Newspaper idioms)

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Elevate Your Presentations: Mastering English Presentation Words and Phrases

The art of delivering a compelling presentation lies in the finesse of your language skills. It’s about crafting resonating sentences, choosing captivating words, and initiating a dialogue that piques curiosity. One must know how to maneuver through this landscape, from setting the scene with a powerful introduction to concluding with a thought-provoking statement. That’s where this guide comes in. It will give you key presentation sentences, phrases, and words to help elevate your communication skills.

Presentation Starting Phrases

In the realm of presentations, first impressions matter tremendously. Your opening words set the stage for the rest of your discourse, establishing the tone and drawing in your audience. The right choice of phrases can create a compelling introduction that commands attention and sparks interest. Here, we will explore a selection of presentation-starting words and phrases to help you set a strong foundation:

• I’d like to start by…
• Today, I’m here to discuss…
• Let’s begin with a look at…
• Good morning/afternoon/evening, my name is…
• It’s a pleasure to be here today to talk about…
• Let’s dive straight into…
• I would like to kick off with…
• Firstly, let’s consider…
• Have you ever wondered about…
• Thank you for joining me as we explore…
• Today’s focus will be on…
• Let’s set the stage by discussing…
• The topic at hand today is…
• To start, let’s examine…
• I want to begin by highlighting…

Crafting an engaging opening with the presentation starting words, is akin to opening the first page of a riveting novel. These phrases serve as a doorway, inviting your audience into the fascinating narrative you are about to share.

Setting the Scene: Key Presentation Phrases

Now that you have your audience’s attention, the next crucial step is to set the scene. It involves using key phrases to keep your audience engaged, clarify, and effectively communicate your main points. A well-set scene guides the audience through your presentation, helping them understand your narrative and easily follow your arguments. Let’s look at some essential phrases that can help you accomplish it:

• Moving on to the next point, we see...
• Delving deeper into this topic, we find...
• An important aspect to consider is...
• It leads us to the question of...
• Another critical point to remember is...
• To illustrate this point, let me share...
• On the other hand, we also have...
• Furthermore, it’s critical to note that...
• Let’s take a moment to examine...
• As an example, let’s look at...
• The evidence suggests that...
• Contrary to popular belief...
• It’s also worth noting that...
• Digging into this further, we discover...
• Expanding on this idea, we can see...
• Turning our attention to...
• The data indicate that...
• To clarify, let’s consider...
• To highlight this, let’s review...
• Putting this into perspective, we can infer...

These phrases help establish your narrative, maintain audience interest, and structure your arguments. They serve as signposts, guiding your audience through the presentation and facilitating understanding and engagement.

Transitioning Gracefully: Phrases for Presentation Flow

Transitioning between points or sections in your presentation is like steering a ship through water. Smooth navigation keeps your audience aboard, maintaining their interest and comprehension. Seamless transitions contribute to a coherent and compelling narrative, preventing abrupt jumps or confusing shifts in your discourse. The following phrases are powerful tools that can ensure your transitions are smooth and effective:

• Moving forward, let’s consider...
• With that said, let’s turn our attention to...
• Now that we’ve discussed X, let’s explore Y...
• Building upon this idea, we can see that...
• Transitioning to our next point, we find...
• Shifting gears, let’s examine...
• Let’s now pivot to discussing...
• Following this line of thought...
• Linking back to our earlier point...
• Let’s segue into our next topic...
• It brings us neatly to our next point...
• To bridge this with our next topic...
• In the same vein, let’s look at...
• Drawing a parallel to our previous point...
• Expanding the scope of our discussion, let’s move to...
• Having established that, we can now consider...
• Correlating this with our next point...
• Let’s transition now to a related idea...
• With this in mind, let’s proceed to...
• Steering our discussion in a new direction, let’s delve into...

These phrases connect threads, linking your ideas and ensuring your presentation flows smoothly. They give your audience cues, signaling that you’re moving from one idea or point to the next, making your discourse easy to follow.

Concluding Your Presentation in English

The conclusion is your final opportunity to leave a lasting impression on your audience. It’s a chance to wrap up your arguments, restate your main points, and leave your audience with a clear and compelling message to ponder. Here are some phrases that can assist you in crafting a memorable conclusion:

• To sum up our discussion today...
• In conclusion, we can say that...
• Wrapping up, the key takeaways from our talk are...
• As we come to an end, let’s revisit the main points...
• Bringing our discussion to a close, we find...
• In the light of our discussion, we can infer...
• To synthesize the main points of our discourse...
• To recap the primary themes of our presentation...
• As we conclude, let’s reflect on...
• Drawing our discussion to a close, the principal conclusions are...
• As our dialogue comes to an end, the core insights are...
• In wrapping up, it’s essential to remember...
• Summarizing our journey today, we can say...
• As we bring this presentation to a close, let’s remember...
• Coming to an end, our central message is...

These phrases help you consolidate your arguments, summarize your main points, and end on a high note. A well-structured conclusion ensures your audience understands your presentation, its key messages, and its implications.

Polished Presentation Vocabulary

Apart from structured sentences and transitional phrases, the vocabulary you use can add a touch of sophistication. An expanded lexicon enriches your language and enhances your ability to express complex ideas with clarity and precision. Let’s explore a list of presentation words that can add depth and dimension:

• Elucidate  -   make something clear, explain.
• Pivotal  -   of crucial importance in relation to the development or success of something else.
• Insights  -   an accurate and deep understanding.
• Nuanced  -   characterized by subtle distinctions or variations.
• Leverage  -   use something to maximum advantage.
• Perspective  -   a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something.
• Synthesize  -   combine   into a coherent whole.
• Salient  -   most noticeable or important.
• Correlation  -   a mutual relationship or connection between two or more things.
• Framework  -   a basic structure underlying a system or concept.
• Paradigm  - a typical example or pattern of something.
• Repercussions  -   an unintended consequence of an event or action.
• Contemplate  -   look thoughtfully for a long time.
• Manifestation - an event, action, or object that embodies something.
• Escalate  -   increase rapidly.
• Inherent  -   existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute.
• Validate  -   check or prove the validity or accuracy of.
• Consolidate  -   make something physically more solid.
• Compelling  -   evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way.
• Delineate  -   describe or portray something precisely.

These words add a layer of sophistication to your presentation, conveying your thoughts and ideas more precisely. They expand your expressive capacity and lend an authoritative and professional tone to your speech. By integrating these words into your presentation, you can deliver your message with clarity and depth, engaging your audience more effectively.

The Corporate Edge: Navigating the Nuances of Business English Presentations

In the corporate world, effective communication is the linchpin of success. It’s an art that lies at the heart of all business interactions, from high-stakes meetings to persuasive pitches. And when it comes to delivering such a presentation, the task becomes even more critical. The business English presentation phrases you use, how you present your points, and the overall language command play a significant role in conveying your message effectively.

Presenting in a business setting often involves explaining complex ideas, discussing financial matters, and persuading potential clients or stakeholders. Here, the language must be precise, the tone - professional, and the content - structured. Unlike informal or academic ones, business presentations carry a certain degree of formality and specific jargon that sets them apart. However,  business English idioms and expressions can help soften the formality, adding a touch of personality to your language. 

Navigating the labyrinth of  business English also involves acknowledging the importance of research and planning. A well-researched presentation reflects your dedication, expertise, and credibility. It shows you respect your audience’s time and are prepared to deliver value. It’s not just about memorizing facts and figures; it’s about understanding your topic thoroughly and answering queries convincingly.

Another characteristic of business presentations lies in their persuasive nature. Often, they are geared toward persuading clients, investors, or team members toward a particular course of action. Consequently, using persuasive techniques such as presenting benefits, sharing testimonials, or demonstrating success stories becomes prevalent. You’re not just providing information; you’re trying to influence decisions and drive action.

An essential but often overlooked aspect of business presentations is the importance of a strong opening and closing. The opening is your chance to grab the audience’s attention and make them invested in your talk, so knowing how to start a business presentation is essential. Conversely, the closing is your final shot at reinforcing your message and making a lasting impression.

Finally, business presentations often involve handling criticism or skepticism, especially when proposing new ideas or challenging existing norms. Here, your ability to accept feedback gracefully, address concerns effectively, and maintain your composure can significantly impact the outcome.

Learn Vocabulary for Presentations with Promova

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As we conclude, it’s clear that effective presentations in English rely on various linguistic elements. A strong beginning, transitions, and a powerful conclusion, all while using precise vocabulary, are critical. The ability to craft compelling sentences and phrases, set the scene effectively, and transition smoothly between ideas are essential for a successful presentation. And the correct vocabulary can add depth and dimension to your discourse while conveying professionalism.

What role does body language play in presentations?

Body language can significantly impact how your message is perceived. Effective use of gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions can amplify your points, show enthusiasm, and engage the audience. Conversely, negative body language can detract from your message.

How important is it to know your audience before a presentation?

Knowing your audience is crucial. It informs the level of detail you need to include, the words and phrases you use, the examples you choose, and even the humor you might incorporate. Tailoring your presentation to your audience’s knowledge and interests can significantly enhance its effectiveness.

What if I make a mistake during my presentation?

Everyone makes mistakes. If you stumble during your presentation, take a moment, compose yourself, and move on. Don’t let a minor error disrupt your flow. Remember, the audience is there to listen to your ideas, not critique your performance.

Are there some resources with more phrases for presentations?

Indeed, many resources are available if you’re seeking to delve deeper into the world of presentation phrases.  The Cambridge Dictionary and  Merriam-Webster Dictionary offer many valuable collocations, from simple expressions to sophisticated vocabulary.

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A completely new type of dictionary with word collocation that helps students and advanced learners effectively study, write and speak natural-sounding English . This online dictionary is very helpful for the education of the IELTS, TOEFL test.

• Collocations/collocation - common word combinations such as 'bright idea' or 'talk freely' - are the essential building blocks of natural-sounding English. The dictionary contains over 150,000 collocations for nearly 9,000 headwords.
• The dictionary shows words commonly used in combination with each headword: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions, common phrases.
• The collocation dictionary is based on 100 million word British National Corpus.
• Over 50,000 examples show how the collocation/collocations are used in context, with grammar and register information where helpful.
• The clear page layout groups collocations according to part of speech and meaning, and helps users pinpoint speedily the headword, sense and collocation they need.
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Home » 100 Collocations List in English with Examples

100 Collocations List in English with Examples

Are you looking to enhance your English language skills? Understanding and using 100 collocation examples can be the key to sounding more fluent and natural in your conversations and writing. Collocations are word combinations that frequently occur together, and they play a significant role in how we express ourselves in everyday communication. In this blog post, we’ll explore a collocations list that provides you with a wide range of word combinations, all with clear examples to help you grasp their usage. Whether you’re a language learner, a professional seeking to improve your business communication, or simply someone who wants to sound more native-like, this blog post will be your guide to mastering 100 collocations examples . Let’s dive in and uncover the fascinating world of these essential linguistic pairs.

Collocations are combinations of words that frequently occur together in a language, and they can be categorized into several types based on the nature of the relationship between the words. Here are some common types of collocations:

Adjective-Noun Collocations: Examples: heavy rain, bright sunshine, strong coffee

Noun-Noun Collocations: Examples: business partner, coffee table, toothbrush holder

Verb-Noun Collocations: Examples: take a shower, make a decision, break a record

Adverb-Adjective Collocations: Examples: extremely hot, incredibly fast, quite interesting

Verb-Adverb Collocations: Examples: run quickly, speak softly, study diligently

Verb-Preposition Collocations: Examples: look at, listen to, care for

Adjective-Preposition Collocations: Examples: afraid of, interested in, famous for

Noun-Preposition Collocations: Examples: aware of, similar to, good at

Verb-Object Collocations: Examples: take notes, give advice, make friends

Verb-Adjective Collocations: Examples: run late, feel tired, become angry

Noun-Verb Collocations: Examples: an offer appeared, an opportunity arose

Noun-Adjective Collocations: Examples : a happy family, a busy street, a red car

Noun-Verb-Object Collocations: Examples: take a look at, have a chat with, make a decision about

Verb-Adverbial Phrase Collocations: Examples: go for a walk, wait with bated breath, fall in love

Verb-Preposition-Object Collocations: Examples : believe in (e.g., believe in yourself), depend on (e.g., depend on your support), listen to (e.g., listen to music)

Adjective-Noun-Preposition Collocations: Examples: afraid of heights, interested in science, famous for its cuisine

Noun-Adjective-Preposition Collocations: Examples: a person of interest, an event of historical significance

Noun-Adjective-Noun Collocations: Examples: a cup of hot coffee, a bowl of delicious soup

Noun-Noun-Preposition Collocations: Examples: a city with a population of, a company in the field of

Verb-Adjective-Preposition Collocations: Examples: run out of time, be interested in science, fall in love with

collocations List in English

Collocations with Examples

Make a decision Example: I need to make a decision about which college to attend.

Take a break Example: Let’s take a break and grab a cup of coffee.

Give advice Example: She always gives good advice when I’m feeling down.

Keep a promise Example: It’s important to keep your promises to build trust.

Break the news Example: She had to break the news to her parents about the accident.

Catch someone’s eye Example: The bright colors of the painting caught my eye .

Do your best Example: I’ll do my best to finish the project on time.

Pay attention Example: Please pay attention to the instructions before starting.

Take a look Example: Can you take a look at this document and provide feedback?

Keep a secret Example: I can always trust her to keep my secrets .

Meet a deadline Example: We need to work efficiently to meet the deadline .

Break a record Example: The athlete broke the world record for the 100m sprint.

Make an effort Example: She made a significant effort to improve her skills.

Lose your temper Example: He rarely loses his temper , even in stressful situations.

Have a chat Example: Let’s sit down and have a chat over a cup of tea.

Take a risk Example: Entrepreneurship involves taking calculated risks .

Keep the peace Example: Diplomats work to keep the peace between nations.

Catch a cold Example: I caught a cold after being out in the rain.

Give a presentation Example: She gave an excellent presentation at the conference.

Break a promise Example: It’s not a good idea to break a promise to your friends.

Do the dishes Example: I’ll cook dinner, and you can do the dishes afterward.

Pay a compliment Example: She paid him a sincere compliment on his new haircut.

Take notes Example: It’s important to take good notes during lectures.

Make a reservation Example: I called to make a reservation at the restaurant.

Keep a diary Example: Keeping a diary helps me remember important events.

Meet someone’s expectations Example: I hope my work will meet the company’s expectations .

Break the ice Example: To ease the tension, she tried to break the ice with a joke.

Do your homework Example: I can’t go out with you tonight; I need to do my homework .

Pay a visit Example: I’m planning to pay a visit to my grandmother this weekend.

Take a shower Example: After the workout, I’ll take a quick shower .

Keep a distance Example: It’s important to keep a safe distance in a crowded place.

Make an exception Example: We don’t usually allow pets, but we can make an exception for you.

Give a speech Example: The mayor will give a speech at the town hall meeting.

Take a chance Example: Sometimes, you need to take a chance to achieve your goals.

Keep in mind Example: When traveling, it’s important to keep safety in mind .

Break a habit Example: It’s hard to break a bad habit , but it can be done with effort.

Do research Example: Scientists do extensive research to make discoveries.

Pay the bill Example: It’s polite to pay the bill after a meal at a restaurant.

Meet a requirement Example: To graduate, you must meet the academic requirements .

Give a hand Example: Can you give me a hand with moving this heavy furniture?

Take a stand Example: It’s important to take a stand on important social issues.

Keep an eye on Example: Parents need to keep an eye on their children in public places.

Break a rule Example: If you break a rule in this school, there are consequences.

Make a suggestion Example: Please make a suggestion on how to improve our project.

Lose track of time Example: When I’m reading a good book, I often lose track of time .

Have a meal Example: Let’s have a meal together and catch up.

Take a deep breath Example: When stressed, it helps to take a deep breath to calm down.

Give it a try Example: You won’t know if you like it until you give it a try .

Keep your word Example: Always keep your word to maintain trust in relationships.

Meet a challenge Example: We need to work together to meet the challenge ahead.

Break the cycle Example: Breaking the cycle of poverty is a long-term goal.

Do your duty Example: Soldiers are trained to do their duty in times of war.

Pay the price Example: If you don’t study, you’ll pay the price on the exam.

Make a difference Example: Volunteers can make a difference in their communities.

Take a seat Example: Please take a seat while we wait for the doctor.

Give a warning Example: The lifeguard gave a warning about the strong currents.

Keep the secret Example: It’s important to keep the secret until the surprise party.

Meet a goal Example: The team worked hard to meet their sales goals .

Break the news Example: The journalist was the first to break the news of the election results.

Do business Example: They do business with clients from around the world.

Pay attention Example: To learn, you must pay close attention in class.

Take a turn Example: It’s your turn to make a decision .

Have a look Example: Let’s have a look at the new fashion collection.

Give an example Example: Can you give an example of how this works?

Keep a record Example: It’s essential to keep a record of your expenses.

Meet a deadline Example: We need to work late to meet the project deadline .

Break the silence Example: He decided to break the silence by speaking up.

Make an announcement Example: The company will make an announcement at the conference.

Take a photo Example: Let’s take a photo to capture this moment.

Give permission Example: Can you give me permission to access your files?

Keep the balance Example: It’s important to keep the balance in your life.

Do the shopping Example: I need to do the shopping for groceries today.

Pay a visit Example: I’ll pay a visit to my friend who’s in the hospital.

Take a step Example: Sometimes, you have to take a step outside your comfort zone.

Give a smile Example: She gave a warm smile to everyone in the room.

Keep the faith Example: During difficult times, it’s essential to keep the faith .

Meet expectations Example: We aim to meet customer expectations .

Break a sweat Example: To stay healthy, you should break a sweat regularly.

Make a request Example: I’d like to make a request for some time off.

Take a chance Example: Don’t be afraid to take a chance and try something new.

Give a gift Example: She gave a thoughtful gift for my birthday.

Keep a straight face Example: It’s hard to keep a straight face during a comedy show.

Do your best Example: In the competition, always aim to do your best .

Pay the rent Example: Make sure to pay the rent on time each month.

Take a breath Example: It’s important to take a deep breath when you’re stressed.

Give a speech Example: The president will give a speech at the ceremony.

Keep in touch Example: We need to keep in touch even though we live far apart.

Meet a friend Example: I’m planning to meet a friend for lunch.

Break a leg Example: The actors wished each other luck by saying “break a leg.”

Make a plan Example: Let’s make a plan for the upcoming road trip.

Take a holiday Example:

I’m exhausted; I need to take a holiday soon.

Give a nod Example: He gave a nod of approval to the proposal.

Keep the promise Example: Always keep your promises to maintain trust.

Do a favor Example: Can you do me a favor and pick up my mail?

Pay the penalty Example: If you violate the rules, you’ll have to pay the penalty .

Make a suggestion Example: I’d like to make a suggestion for our next project.

Take a risk Example: Starting a business involves taking a big risk .

Give an opinion Example: He gave his honest opinion about the movie.

Keep the secret Example: I trust her to keep my secrets .

Meet a stranger Example: She was nervous to meet a stranger at the party.

Break the chain – Example: We need to break the chain of addiction.

Make a reservation – Example: I called to make a reservation at the hotel.

Give directions – Example: He gave clear directions to the lost tourist.

Take a stand – Example: It’s time to take a stand against injustice.

Keep the pace – Example: To complete the marathon, you must keep the pace .

Do the right thing – Example: It’s essential to always do the right thing .

Pay attention – Example: Students need to pay attention in class to learn.

Take a chance – Example: She decided to take a chance on her dream job.

Give a hand – Example: Can you give me a hand moving this heavy box?

Keep the change –

Example: You can keep the change from the coffee purchase.

Meet a deadline – Example: We’re working hard to meet the project deadline .

Break the mold – Example: This new technology will break the mold in the industry.

Make a wish – Example: On your birthday, you can make a wish before blowing out the candles.

Take a hike – Example: When he insulted her, she told him to take a hike .

Give a performance – Example: The band gave an incredible performance last night.

Keep the faith – Example: During tough times, it’s important to keep the faith .

Do a favor – Example: Can you do me a favor and pick up my kids from school?

Pay the price – Example: Neglecting your health may result in having to pay the price later.

Make an effort – Example: She always makes an effort to help others.

Take a shower – Example: After the workout, I need to take a quick shower

Get Collocations

• get permission
• get the picture
• get started
• get divorced
• get excited

Do Collocations

• do your hair
• do some work
• do someone a favor
• do something right
• do something wrong
• do the dishes
• do your best
• do an exercise

Make Collocations

• make a point
• make a promise
• make a profit
• make progress
• make breakfast
• make the bed
• make trouble
• make furniture
• make a noise
• make a mess

Break Collocations

• break a promise
• break the law
• break the rules
• break a neck
• break a glass
• break a record
• break a leg
• break the ice

Catch Collocations

• catch a ball
• catch a cold
• catch a chill
• catch the flu
• catch one’s breath
• catch someone’s eye
• catch a thief
• catch some rays
• catch a glimpse

Come Collocations

• come to an agreement
• come on time
• come in last
• come into view
• come in first
• come second

Save Collocations

• save someone’s life
• save one’s strength
• save something to a disk
• save someone a seat
• save energy
• Save something
• Save a short
• Save a penalty

keep Collocations

• Keep up the good work
• keep in touch
• keep track of
• keep tabs on
• keep in mind
• keep something at bay
• keep someone
• keep someone’s place
• keep someone posted
• keep your job

Pay Collocations

• pay attention
• pay interest
• pay a visit
• pay a compliment
• pay someone a visit
• pay by credit card

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Collocation

What is a collocation.

Table of Contents

Examples of Collocation

Types of collocation, why understanding collocation is important.

Have, Take, and Make

• have a baby, have breakfast, have fun, have a headache, have an illness, have a good time
• take advice, take a bath, take medicine, take a picture, take a shower, take your time
• make breakfast, make a cake, make a mistake, make some tea, make a wish
• If you want to sound like a native speaker, you must recognize and learn the collocations.

This page was written by Craig Shrives .

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Oxford dictionary

A completely new type of dictionary with word collocation that helps students and advanced learners effectively study, write and speak natural-sounding English. This online dictionary is very helpful for the education of the IELTS, TOEFL test.

Level:Upper-Intermediate to Advanced

Key features:of oxford dictionary online.

• Collocations/collocation - common word combinations such as 'bright idea' or 'talk freely' - are the essential building blocks of natural-sounding English. The dictionary contains over 150,000 collocations for nearly 9,000 headwords.
• The dictionary shows words commonly used in combination with each headword: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions, common phrases.
• The collocation dictionary is based on 100 million word British National Corpus.
• Over 50,000 examples show how the collocation/collocations are used in context, with grammar and register information where helpful.
• The clear page layout groups collocations according to part of speech and meaning, and helps users pinpoint speedily the headword, sense and collocation they need.
• Excellent communication skills, most notably a demonstrated ability to solicit and address creative and design feedback

Online OXFORD Collocation Dictionary of English

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• Transcription

Collocation: essentials

What is collocation?

Simply put: the juxtaposition of words with other words with a frequency greater than chance Another definition is the tendency in all languages for certain words to co-occur

To explain.  Some words are primed to occur with other words and the term for this lexical priming as it is called, is collocation. A key term to understand is synonymy which just refers to the fact that two or more words may have approximately the same meaning such as heavy, weighty and hefty which can all be used to describe a stone .  We can say, too that:     It's a weighty responsibility     It's a hefty responsibility or     It's a is heavy responsibility without changing the sense of the phrase very much. However, we do not speak of a weighty rain shower or of having a hefty head when we are tired, even though the adjectives carry a very similar meaning.  We can say, therefore, that all three words collocate with the word responsibility but not with the phrase rain shower .

Some are easy, aren't they?

• It's reasonable to guess that you had torrential rain but waterfall seems possible, too.
• Words or phrases which collocate with carriage are less predictable but there is a limited range including gun, horse drawn, hac k ney, railway, open-top and possibly a few more.
• Words such as high have a much greater collocational range and it's impossible to predict what you might have put in the gap – velocity, wall, chair, horse, price, tree?   The list of possibilities is long but not infinite and does not include child, dog, book, paper and thousands more.  Because the word can have more than one meaning, other collocates are possible such as life, finance and literature .
• There are far more words which can't naturally follow air-conditioning than can.  The most obvious choice is probably unit but system, plant and duct , are possibilities, of course.  It's a fair bet that you did not select piece, arrangement, workshop and many more which could in some circumstances be synonyms of unit, system and plant but which simply do not collocate naturally with the noun phrase.
• to and fro, the black sheep of the family and an open and shut case are widely understood clichés.  Native speakers know thousands of these chunks and deploy them almost as single words (lexemes, technically) to save thinking time.  The only word with collocates with and fro is to in English so this is an example of a very powerful collocation called a fixed idiom.
• The adjective towering can only be used to describe certain nouns.  It's not possible to say what you thought of but the list won't be very long: inferno, rage, mountain range, wall, column, arch and giant are all possibilities but happiness, joy, mouse, cream cake, keyboard and many thousands of other nouns are simply not possible.
• flock of will only be followed by a very restricted range of other items (all nouns) such as sheep, birds, starlings etc.  Saying a flock of lions is absurd and a flock of school children is unusual but possible if you want to conjure a particular image in the hearer's mind.  (In fact, many authors deliberately use unusual combinations of words to jolt the reader.)  The term, by the way, is called an assemblage noun and there are a number of common ones in English which only collocate with certain nouns including gang, shoal, herd, pack etc.

The most obvious problem for learners of the language is the sheer unpredictability of many collocations which, for a native speaker, are ingrained in the memory.  We cannot guess that, for example:     *heavy fog     *short face     *make the washing     *do the bed     *lose a train are all forbidden in favour of dense, long, do, make and miss respectively.

We can, however, help learners to acquire more natural language by making them aware of common collocation from an early stage and that, of course, means that we need to know a bit more about them than our learners.  That's what this short guide is for.

Naturally, some collocations are stronger than others, as we saw above.  The nature of collocation can be illustrated like this:

Note the overlaps.  There is probably no principled way in which we can always distinguish, e.g., a strong collocation from an idiom or a binomial although it is easy enough to identify examples of one or the other.

If you want to know more about idioms and binomials, see the guide to idiomaticity in the in-service section of this site, linked below.

Collocations can also be classified by word class.  This is often a useful way to limit one's focus in the classroom and help learners to identify collocations of a particular sort so they are, for example, only trying to notice particular combinations of words, not all combinations. At lower levels, the most important combinations are probably adjective + noun and verb + noun as these are very frequent and frequently variable across languages.

You can test yourself to make sure you can recognise stronger and weaker collocation of these six types by clicking here . We may, incidentally, disagree about some of the matches in that test because concepts of strength vary between people.

Collocation does not work equally in both directions.  For example:

The number of nouns which can combine with the adjective heavy is huge and will include:     weight, car, man, breathing, metal, plate, computer, stone, table, brick, key, ashtray and almost every other noun which is not in itself associated with something light, such as feather or bubble .  The number of possible nouns runs into many thousands. However, if we take any of these nouns, it is easy to see that the number of adjectives which can be used to modify them is much smaller than the number of nouns which can be modified by heavy . For example, the noun rain can be modified by heavy but it is clear that the number of other adjectives we can use with this noun is limited and it is almost possible to produce a complete list confined to:

You may be able to think of a few others but the list is clearly not anything like as long as the list of nouns which can be described as heavy . Equally, as we saw above, the adjective torrential can only be used with a small number of nouns and it is possible to come up with a list of fifteen:

and it is quite possible that not all native speakers of English would accept all those as natural combinations.

Other sorts of collocation work the same way so, for example, the list of nouns which can be the object of the verb make is very long but the list of verbs which can use bed as the object is very much shorter.

There is a classroom implication that we need to focus on collocations which are limited, not on those which are so numerous that they can't be taught.

Collocations are very helpful for learning vocabulary.  In particular, medium and strong collocations are encountered frequently, can often be used a single chunk, without the need to think too much and make a learner's production seem much more authentic. Many learners are also very keen to learn idioms in English and, providing we focus on common ones which are usable in many different settings (i.e., avoiding things like raining cats and dogs which nobody uses), they, too, can form part of our teaching.

There are some things to consider:

Here are some examples of exercise types you could use in collocation teaching

Odd-one out:

Word grids.   Students work with dictionaries and/or a text to put a X in the right boxes:

Matchers.  Students draw the lines and end up with something like this:

Gap fills.   Students work together to see what can naturally go in the gaps:

We …………… the …………… path up the mountain until we …………… the summit. The view was quite …………… and we …………… for over an hour just …………… it.

Selections.  Students choose the right collocations:

The tasteless / foul / bright hotel was in a dirty / unclean / polluted alley. The receptionist was so abusive / cruel / spiteful that we felt undesirable / unwelcome / objectionable from the outset.

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A Guide to Collocations: Combine Words to Enrich Vocabulary

This article covers the following areas –

What is a collocation, why are collocations important, 50 common english collocations with meaning & example sentences, tips to master collocations, final words.

Hey there, fellow word enthusiast! I remember the days when I’d trip over my words, trying to sound smart but ending up sounding, well, a bit awkward. Can you relate? Thankfully, I stumbled upon the magic of collocations, which made all the difference. So, if you want to enrich your vocabulary and sound more natural, this guide is for you. Let’s dive in!

Collocation refers to the habitual juxtaposition of words that typically occur together in a language. To master collocations, one should actively listen, read regularly, practice using them, and engage in conversations with native speakers. Regular exposure and repetition are key.

If you are searching for an effective English language vocabulary builder, try Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary (Amazon Link) . This time-tested classic has helped millions achieve mastery of English and improve their communication skills in business, the classroom, and in life.

Continue reading for a deeper dive into the world of collocations and to equip yourself with practical tips, insightful examples, and effective strategies. This comprehensive guide is tailored to enhance your linguistic prowess and fluency.

Do you know how certain things in life seem to belong together? Think about it – Batman and Robin, Netflix and chill, mornings and coffee. These pairings feel natural to us, just right. It’s like there’s an invisible string tying them together. What if I told you that the world of language has its own set of inseparable partners? Enter the world of collocations!

A collocation is a combination of words frequently appearing together, exhibiting a natural co-occurrence in language. These pairs or groups of words, such as ‘heavy rain’ or ‘make a decision,’ are used by native speakers for precise, fluent expression. Understanding collocations enhances linguistic proficiency and comprehension.

Collocations are to language what peanut butter is to jelly. They’re the duo that gives depth and authenticity to our conversations. They help our words not just to sound right but feel right. And if you’ve ever found yourself in a situation where you used a technically correct word pairing but got puzzled looks anyway, chances are you stumbled upon the reason why understanding collocations is crucial.

Ready to dive into this fascinating aspect of language? Let’s uncover the magic behind these unique word combinations.

You’ve probably guessed by now, but to lay it out in simple terms, collocations are words that frequently go together. They’re like that dynamic duo I discussed earlier – peanut butter and jelly. You could be adventurous and slap some peanut butter with pickles, but most people would scrunch their nose at that combo.

The same goes for phrases like “make a decision.” It just rolls off the tongue better than “do a decision.” It’s not so much about following grammar’s strict playbook; it’s more about what sounds familiar and right based on the countless times we’ve heard these words paired together.

Imagine this: you’re putting together an outfit for a special occasion. You could wear those bright yellow shorts with a polka-dot tie and mismatched socks. Technically, they’re all clothing items. But would they harmonize and make you look dapper? Probably not. In the world of language, collocations are our fashion-matching guide. They help us pick out words that look and sound fabulous together, ensuring our conversations are both fluent and stylish.

Collocations are crucial for language proficiency, enhancing naturalness and fluency in speech and writing. They help understand nuanced meanings, improve comprehension, and facilitate effective communication. Mastery of collocations is key to sounding like a native speaker.

If you’ve ever wondered why some word pairings just “fit” while others seem “off,” you’ll understand the importance of collocations. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of why these word partners are the unsung heroes of eloquent communication!

You might think, “Why the fuss over which words go together? Isn’t communication all about being understood?” Well, yes and no. While the primary goal is understanding, how we come across makes a massive difference. Let’s explore the significance of collocations in our daily conversations.

1. To Sound More Natural

Think back to the last time you learned a new language or even a new phrase. Did it sound a bit…robotic? That’s where collocations swoop in to save the day. They give your sentences a touch of authenticity. Using words that naturally go hand in hand allows your conversations to flow more fluidly. It’s the difference between sounding like you’re reading off a script and chatting casually with a friend.

Mastering collocations is essential for sounding natural in a language. It allows speakers to use correct word combinations, mimicking native fluency and enhancing conversational and written eloquence.

For example, Saying “do a mistake” might get your point across, but “make a mistake” is what most native speakers would naturally say. Spot the difference?

2. To Boost Understanding

Imagine reading a book and stumbling upon a weird word combo. It slows you down, right? Familiar word pairs, or collocations, act as little cognitive shortcuts. They’re like road signs guiding our comprehension. When we encounter well-known word combinations, our brains don’t need to work overtime. We instantly grasp the meaning.

Collocations boost linguistic understanding by familiarizing learners with common word pairings, aiding in quicker comprehension and interpretation of nuances in different contexts.

Quick Tip: Want to test this out? Try reading a paragraph full of odd word combinations and then one with standard collocations. Notice the difference in comprehension speed?

3. To Enrich Vocabulary

Let’s be honest; nobody likes sounding like a broken record. Repetition can be dull. Collocations are your ticket to a richer vocabulary. They introduce you to diverse ways of expressing similar ideas, making your language vibrant and more nuanced.

Collocations enrich vocabulary by broadening the range of expressions available, enabling more precise and varied communication. They are fundamental in transitioning from basic to advanced language proficiency.

Consider: Instead of always saying “very good,” why not try “highly beneficial” or “extremely useful” depending on the context? Variety is, after all, the spice of life (and language)!

Collocations are more than just word pairs; they’re the essence of fluent, natural communication. They’re those cozy, well-worn paths our words love to tread. Embracing them is like giving your language a makeover – more stylish, more efficient, and definitely more captivating. So, the next time you’re about to pair up words, think of collocations as your personal word stylists, ensuring you’re always at the top of your linguistic game!

Imagine you’re in a kitchen, playing around with ingredients. Some combos sing together, like tomato and basil, while others… well, let’s say they’re an acquired taste. The world of language isn’t all that different! Some words pair up to make delightful, memorable phrases that stick in our minds and roll off our tongues. These, my friend, are collocations.

Collocations are the superstar duos of the English language, the words that have joined forces repeatedly until they feel “right” together. And knowing them? That’s like having the secret recipe to sounding like a native speaker. Before diving into this linguistic feast, let’s whet our appetites with some classic collocations that you’ve probably heard or used but might not have recognized. Ready to spice up your vocabulary?

You already have a taste above, but let’s dig deeper. Here’s an array of common collocations to make your language flavorful:

• Bitterly cold : Extremely cold weather. Example sentence: It was bitterly cold when I stepped outside this morning.
• Broad daylight : Fully lit, often unexpectedly so. Example sentence: The theft happened in broad daylight on the main street.
• Deep in thought : Very focused on thinking or contemplating. Example sentence: He didn’t hear the doorbell because he thought deeply.
• Blazing sun : Intense and hot sunshine. Example sentence: They hiked for hours under the blazing sun.
• Close call : A narrowly avoided accident or mishap. Example sentence: The cyclist had a close call with a speeding car.
• Break a habit : To quit a regular behavior or routine. Example sentence: It’s tough, but I’m trying to break the habit of smoking.
• Catch someone’s attention : To grab someone’s interest or focus. Example sentence: The sudden movement in the corner of the room caught her attention.
• Flat broke : Having no money. Example sentence: After buying all my textbooks, I’m flat broke.
• Full of beans : Energetic and lively. Example sentence: Even after a long day, the kids are still full of beans.
• Cry over spilled milk : Wasting time being upset over past events. Example sentence: There’s no point crying over spilled milk; we must focus on the future.
• Jump to conclusions : Deciding without having all the facts. Example sentence: Don’t jump to conclusions before hearing her side of the story.
• Keep an eye on : Watch or monitor something or someone. Example sentence: Can you keep an eye on the soup while I answer the door?
• Lose track of time : Forget the current time because you’re engrossed in something. Example sentence: I was reading and completely lost track of time.
• Miss the boat : Lose an opportunity. Example sentence: If we don’t act fast, we might miss the boat on this deal.
• On thin ice : In a precarious or risky situation. Example sentence: Continually coming late to meetings means you’re skating on thin ice.
• Piece of cake : Something very easy. Example sentence: The test was a piece of cake for her.
• Sit tight : Wait patiently. Example sentence: I know you’re eager, but sit tight, and your turn will come.
• Strong coffee : Very potent coffee. Example sentence: I need a strong coffee to wake me up today.
• Throw in the towel : Give up. Example sentence: After hours of trying, he threw in the towel and called for help.
• Under the weather: Feeling ill. Example sentence: I think I’ll stay in today; I feel under the weather.
• Waste of time : A futile activity. Example sentence: Arguing with him is a waste of time; he never changes his mind.
• Break the ice : Start a conversation to dispel awkwardness. Example sentence: She told a joke to break the ice at the beginning of the presentation.
• Call it a day : Stop working for the day. Example sentence: It’s getting late; let’s call it a day.
• Cut corners : Take shortcuts, often at the expense of quality. Example sentence: If we cut corners on this project, it might affect the final product.
• Get the ball rolling : Start a process or an activity. Example sentence: Let’s get the ball rolling by brainstorming some ideas.
• Hit the books : Start studying. Example sentence: I have exams next week, so I need to hit the books.
• In the nick of time : Just at the last possible moment. Example sentence: He managed to catch the bus in the nick of time.
• Last straw : The final problem or inconvenience that causes one to lose patience. Example sentence: Forgetting our anniversary was the last straw; I can’t be with him anymore.
• Make up your mind : Make a decision. Example sentence: We don’t have all day. Can you make up your mind?
• Out of the blue : Unexpectedly. Example sentence: After years of silence, she called me out of the blue.
• Read between the lines : To understand a deeper or hidden meaning in something said or written. Example sentence: The letter seemed cheerful, but reading between the lines, you could sense her loneliness.
• See eye to eye : To agree on something. Example sentence: We don’t always see eye to eye but respect each other’s opinions.
• Take it easy : Relax or calm down. Example sentence: You’ve been working hard all week; take it easy this weekend.
• Up in the air : Uncertain or unsure about something. Example sentence: Our holiday plans are still up in the air due to the unpredictable weather.
• Walk on eggshells : Be extremely cautious about one’s words or actions. Example sentence: After the argument, I felt like I had to walk on eggshells around him.
• Bite the bullet : Face a difficult situation head-on. Example sentence: I really didn’t want to see the dentist, but I knew I had to bite the bullet.
• Cost an arm and a leg : Very expensive. Example sentence: That handbag must have cost her an arm and a leg.
• Draw the line : Set a clear boundary about what is acceptable. Example sentence: I can tolerate a lot, but I draw the line at dishonesty.
• Hit the nail on the head : Describe exactly what is causing a situation or problem. Example sentence: When she said I was avoiding the issue, she hit the nail on the head.
• In hot water : In trouble. Example sentence: If you don’t finish that report on time, you’ll be in hot water with the boss.
• Jump the gun : Act before the appropriate or opportune time. Example sentence: I think he jumped the gun by announcing it before the deal was finalized.
• Kill two birds with one stone : Achieving two objectives with a single action. Example sentence: I killed two birds with one stone by going to the post office on my way to the supermarket .
• Let the cat out of the bag : Reveal a secret. Example sentence: He accidentally let the cat out of the bag about their surprise party.
• Once in a blue moon : Very rarely. Example sentence: She visits that part of the town once in a blue moon.
• Pull someone’s leg : Joking or teasing someone. Example sentence: I’m just pulling your leg; I remember our anniversary.
• Running out of steam: Losing energy or enthusiasm during an activity. Example sentence: I started cleaning the garage but ran out of steam halfway through.
• Steal the show : Attract all the attention. Example sentence: Her stunning performance stole the show.
• Take with a grain of salt : Not taking something too seriously or skeptically. Example sentence: I’d take his advice with a grain of salt; he’s not exactly an expert.
• Through thick and thin : In both good and bad times. Example sentence: We’ve been best friends for 20 years, supporting each other through thick and thin.
• Burning the midnight oil : Working late into the night. Example sentence: I had to burn the midnight oil to finish the project on time.

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Okay, so you’ve grasped what collocations are and why they’re the peanut butter to our conversational jelly (see what I did there?). But now comes the golden question: How do you get these excellent word pairs to roll off your tongue like a native speaker? It’s one thing to recognize them, but another ball game to use them effortlessly. Well, fear not! I’ve got some tried and tested tricks up my sleeve to help you master the art of collocations.

1. Listen Actively

Have you ever heard of the saying, “Listen more, talk less”? This is where it applies big time. Our world is filled with auditory treasures, each more golden than the last. Whether you’re watching a TV series, grooving to the latest hits, or indulging in a riveting podcast episode about llamas, collocations are lurking around every corner.

Example : You’re watching a rom-com, and the lead says, “I’ve fallen head over heels for him.” There you go! That’s a collocation.

The key is to tune in and catch these gems. When you hear a phrase that sounds harmonious and fits, chances are, it’s a collocation. Make a note of it. Create a list. Before you know it, you’ll have a collection to sprinkle into your chats.

2. Read Regularly

Let’s dive into the literary world. Authors, journalists, and bloggers don’t just throw words on paper (or screens). They weave them, often collocating to make their prose more natural and relatable.

When you’re reading and stumble upon a phrase that seems familiar yet impactful, highlight it. Maybe you read in a magazine, “The company took drastic measures to tackle the issue.” There’s another collocation for you!

Dedicate a notebook for these collocational finds, or use sticky notes. Over time, not only will your vocabulary be enriched, but you’ll also get an intuitive feel for which words naturally buddy up.

3. Practice

Remember when you were learning to ride a bike? The first few tries might’ve been shaky, but eventually, with enough practice, you were zipping around like a pro. Collocations work similarly. At first, using them might feel a tad forced. But sprinkle them here and there in your conversations, writings, or even while talking to yourself (we all do it!).

For instance, instead of saying, “It’s cold,” on a chilly day, try, “It’s bitterly cold .” Or if you’ve had a close encounter with missing a bus, say, “That was a close call .” The more you play around with them, the more ingrained they become.

4. Engage in Conversations

One of the best ways to get comfortable with anything is to immerse yourself in it. Strike up conversations with native speakers if possible. Not only will you be exposed to new collocations, but you’ll also get a sense of which ones are used most frequently. And if you’re feeling brave, ask them to point out when you nail a collocation or when something sounds a bit off. Feedback can be golden!

5. Flashcards

Who said flashcards were just for school? Create a set dedicated to collocations. On one side, jot down the collocation, and on the other, its meaning and an example. Shuffle them and test yourself. It’s a fun and effective way to reinforce what you’ve learned.

By following these tips, collocations will soon fall into your daily language naturally and effortlessly. Embrace the journey, enjoy the learning process, and remember, every great conversationalist started somewhere!

Collocations, the subtle pairings within our language, bring depth, authenticity, and a touch of nativeness to our conversations. The unsung heroes make our sentences resonate and feel just right.

By understanding their essence and employing the strategies laid out in this guide, you not only elevate your linguistic skills but also bridge the gap between basic comprehension and true fluency. As with any skill, mastering collocations demands dedication, practice, and immersion.

But with every effort, you edge closer to sounding like a native, making every conversation richer and more engaging. So, keep listening, keep reading, and let the magic of language unfold.

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Niaj A A Khan

Niaj A A Khan is an ESL Instructor with over 8 years of experience in teaching & developing resources at different universities and institutes. Mr. Khan is also a passionate writer working on his first book, "Learn English at Ease."

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Using the Oxford Collocations Dictionary

What is collocation.

Collocation is the way words combine in a language to produce natural-sounding speech and writing. For example, in English you say strong wind but heavy rain . It would not be normal to say heavy wind or strong rain . And whilst all four of these words would be recognized by a learner at pre-intermediate or even elementary level, it takes a greater degree of competence with the language to combine them correctly in productive use.

Why is collocation important?

Collocation runs through the whole of the English language. No piece of natural spoken or written English is totally free of collocation. For the student, choosing the right collocation will make his or her speech and writing sound much more natural, more native-speaker-like, even when basic intelligibility does not seem to be at issue. A student who talks about strong rain may make himself or herself understood, but it requires more effort on the part of the listener and ultimately creates a barrier to communication. Poor collocation in exams is also likely to lead to lower marks.

But, perhaps even more importantly than this, language that is collocationally rich is also more precise. This is because most single words in the English language – especially the more common words – embrace a whole range of meanings, some quite distinct, and some that shade into each other by degrees. The precise meaning in any context is determined by that context: by the words that surround and combine with the core word – by collocation. A student who chooses the best collocation will express himself or herself much more clearly and be able to convey not just a general meaning, but something more precise. Compare, for example, the following two sentences:

This is a good book and contains a lot of interesting details.

This is a fascinating book and contains a wealth of historical detail.

Both sentences are perfectly ‘correct’ in terms of grammar and vocabulary, but which communicates more? Clearly, the second, which is also more likely to engage the reader with its better style.

Why use a Collocations Dictionary?

A normal dictionary, whether monolingual or bilingual, splits up meaning into individual words; it has a lot of power in dissecting the meaning of a text. Its power is more limited when it comes to constructing texts. Good learners’ dictionaries give as much help as they can with usage, with grammar patterns clearly explained, register labels and example sentences showing words in context. Modern dictionaries are increasingly giving attention to collocation. But they are still hampered by trying to provide a whole range of information about any word besides its collocations. A collocational dictionary doesn’t have to generalize to the same extent: it covers the entire language (or a large part of it!) on a word by word, collocation by collocation basis. It manages this by not attempting to account for every possible utterance, only for what is most typical.

By covering the language systematically from A-Z, a collocations dictionary allows students to build up their own collocational competence on a ‘need-to-know’ basis, starting from the words they already know – or know in part.

Which collocations are included in this dictionary?

The approach taken to this question was pragmatic, rather than theoretical. The questions asked were: is this a typical use of language? Might a student of English want to express this idea? Would they look up this entry to find out how? The aim was to give the full range of collocation – from the fairly weak ( see a movie , an enjoyable experience , extremely complicated ), through the medium-strength ( see a doctor , direct equivalent , highly intelligent ) to the strongest and most restricted ( see reason , burning ambition , blindingly obvious ) – for around 9,000 headwords.

Totally free combinations are excluded and so, for the most part, are idioms. Exceptions to this rule are idioms that are only partly idiomatic. An idiom like not see the wood for the trees has nothing to do with wood or trees, and is therefore excluded; but drive a hard bargain is very much about bargaining, even if the expression as a whole can be considered to be idiomatic.

Typical use of language

The first question (Is this a typical use of language?) required that all the collocations be drawn from reliable data. The main source used was the Oxford English Corpus. A corpus is a collection of texts of written or spoken language stored in electronic form. It provides us with the evidence of how language is used in real situations, which we use as the basis for our dictionary entries. The Oxford English Corpus is a database of almost two billion words of text in English taken from up-to-date sources from around the world, ensuring that we have the most accurate information about word behaviour possible.

By analysing the corpus and using special software, we can see words in context and find out how they combine with other words. Compilers of the dictionary were able to check how frequently any given combination occurred, in how many (and what kind of) sources, and in what particular contexts. The corpus also helped in the preparation of example sentences, most of which were based on the authentic texts included in the corpus, with minor modifications to make them more accessible (but without, of course, altering any collocations).

A productive dictionary

The second question asked (Might a student of English want to express this idea?) led to a focus on current English: language that students not only need to understand but can be expected to reproduce. Consideration was given to the kind of texts that students might wish to write. Primary attention was given to what might be called ‘moderately formal language’ – the language of essay and report writing, and formal letters – treating all subjects – business, science, history, sport, etc. at the level of the educated non-specialist. In addition, the dictionary includes some of the most important collocations from some specialist areas, such as law, medicine, politics, current affairs and sport; collocations from fiction, particularly useful in treating more personal subjects such as feelings and relationships; and informal collocations and those very frequent in spoken language and Internet communication (blogs, emails, etc.). Technical, informal and journalistic uses are labelled as such.

Looking up a collocation in the dictionary

Types of combination.

The dictionary covers the following types of word combination:

Noun entries:

• adjective + noun: bright/harsh/intense/strong light
• quantifier + noun (... of): a beam/ray of light
• verb + noun: cast/emit/give/provide/shed light
• noun + verb: light gleams/glows/shines
• noun + noun: a light source
• preposition + noun: by the light of the moon
• noun + preposition: the light from the window

Verb entries:

• adverb + verb: choose carefully
• verb + verb: be free to choose
• verb + preposition: choose between two things

Adjective entries:

• verb + adjective: make/keep/declare sth safe
• adverb + adjective: perfectly/not entirely/environmentally safe
• adjective + preposition: safe from attack

In addition, short phrases including the headword are included: the speed of light , pick and choose , safe and sound .

Sets of words

Most of the collocations in the dictionary can be called ‘word collocations’, that is, these are the precise words that combine with each other: small fortune cannot be changed to little fortune , even though small and little would seem to be synonymous. There is another area of collocation that might be called ‘category collocation’, where a word can combine with any word from a readily definable set. This set may be quite large, but its members are predictable, because they are all words for nationalities, or measurements of time, for example. At the entry for walk , one of the groups of collocates is given as three-minute , five minutes’ , etc.: the ‘etc.’ is to indicate that any number may be substituted for ‘three’ or ‘five’ in these expressions. At the entry for passport , the collocates given include Canadian , Mexican , Swiss , etc., indicating that any nationality may be used with passport .

With adjectives, often a wide range of modifying adverbs can be used. To indicate that the adjective can be used with a full range of modifiers, the adverbs section gives extremely , fairly , very , etc. The main modifiers which are used in this way are:

Quite is used especially in British English, but is also used in American English, where the meaning is similar to ‘very’. Somewhat is used especially in American English. Rather is used in British English more than in American English. Pretty is mainly used informally in both British and American English.

Another group of modifiers is indicated by a little , slightly , etc.:

A bit is often informal and is used especially in British English.

Defined sets

It also happens that certain sets of words share all or most of their collocations. This is particularly true of very strictly defined sets such as days of the week, months and points of the compass, but it also applies to slightly less rigid, but still limited sets such as currencies, weights and measures, and meals. In order to show how these collocations are shared by a number of headwords, the dictionary includes usage notes, each treating the collocations of a particular set. A full list of the usage notes and where they may be found is given here .

The 9,000 headwords include most of the commonest words in the language that upper-intermediate students will already know, plus some words that they will start to encounter as they move to a more advanced level of English. Some very common words – such as the verbs make and do – do not merit entries of their own. This is because these verbs have no real collocates of their own. They themselves are the collocates of lots of nouns, and appear in the entries for those nouns. There are also Study pages addressing this notorious area of difficulty.

How to use this dictionary

This dictionary is intended for productive use, most typically for help with writing. The collocations in each entry are divided according to part of speech; within each part of speech section they are grouped according to meaning or category. For example, at the entry for pollution , avoid , eliminate and prevent are roughly synonymous, as are combat , control , fight and tackle , and so on. The groups are arranged in an order that tries to be as intuitive as possible: in this case from the ‘strongest’ form of action ( avoid / eliminate / prevent ) to the ‘mildest’ ( monitor ). Many collocate groups have illustrative examples showing one or more of the collocations in context.

Because this is a type of dictionary that may be totally new to many students, it is recommended that users familiarize themselves with how the dictionary works by working through some of the exercises in the Study pages . The first of these aims to show the overall concept of the dictionary by looking at a single entry ( idea ) in some detail. The next few exercises take users systematically through the different sections of the entries for nouns, verbs and adjectives. Two pages of exercises get students thinking about the common verbs make , do , have , give and take ; and the remaining exercises range across the whole dictionary, testing collocations linked to various themes, including politics, jobs and money.

British and American English

The dictionary includes the most frequent and useful British and American collocates for the 9,000 British and American headwords. Where appropriate, headwords, meanings and collocations are labelled to show that they are used only, or especially, in one variety of English or the other. The labels used are:

• North American English
• British English
• especially North American English
• especially British English

The labels especially North American English and especially British English indicate that the headword or collocation is used especially in that variety. It may be used in the other variety, but is significantly less frequent. Other collocations may be more frequently used to express the same idea, or it may have a special meaning in one variety but not in the other.

For example, the headword pavement is labelled British English . All the collocates given at this entry are also therefore to be understood as British English. A cross-reference to sidewalk indicates the American equivalent of the headword.

A word may be labelled as British English or American English, but may include some collocations which are actually found in both varieties. An example is the entry shop , which is labelled especially British English . Gift shop , pet shop and souvenir shop , however, are used in American English as well as British English, so these are labelled British English, North American English .

These labels always refer to the preceding collocate only. The labels all British English , all North American English , etc. and both British English , both North American English , etc. indicate that all or both of the collocations in that group are British English or American English.

Example sentences may also be followed by a British English or North American English label where that particular usage is more restricted than the collocate itself is.

Where a collocate has different spellings in British and American English it is given as a slashed alternative: colour/color .

Some collocations are used far more frequently in British or American English simply because they refer to institutions that are particular to the UK or the US. High schools are found in the US, not normally in the UK; but the term may be used in British English to refer to this type of US school. Collocates like this are labelled in the UK or in the US . Collocates referring to particular sports, etc. that are more popular in one country than another are labelled in cricket , in baseball , etc., but are not given a geographical label.

Other information in this dictionary

The focus of this dictionary is very much on collocation. In order to make the collocational information as comprehensive and accessible as possible, non-collocational information has largely been excluded. Definitions of headwords are given only insofar as they are necessary to distinguish different senses of the same word, when they have different collocations and need to be treated separately. These are not full definitions, but rather ‘sense discriminators’, just detailed enough to allow the senses to be distinguished.

Formal and informal

Register information (whether a word is formal or informal) is given when any pair of words in combination takes on a different register from the two words separately. Examples would be do drugs (informal) – though neither do nor drugs is informal in itself – or hear a lecture (formal) . Collocations are also labelled if they belong to a particular field of language such as law or medicine. For a full list of the usage labels used in our dictionaries, see here . In addition to these labels, more specific usage restrictions such as in football or used in journalism are given in brackets.

Figurative use

The most frequent usage label used in the dictionary is figurative . It is a feature of English that when the meaning of a word is extended and used in a non-literal sense, the collocations of the literal sense are often carried over: that is, both literal and figurative meanings of a word may share collocations. The dictionary indicates where this is so: for example, at way , the collocation lose is given, followed by the examples: She lost her way in the fog and This project seems to have lost its way (figurative) . This shows that lose your way can be used in both a literal and a figurative way. With strong collocations that are slightly idiomatic, a short explanation of the meaning may be given. For example, at bargain , the phrase drive a hard bargain has the gloss (= force somebody to agree to the arrangement that is best for you) .

Special pages

The dictionary also includes ten Special pages on different topics such as business, meetings and sport. These pull together collocations from the different topics and can be used as the basis for topic work in class, or for brainstorming vocabulary for an essay, for example. A full list of Special pages is given here .

It is hoped that this dictionary will be of use not only to students of English of upper-intermediate level and above, but also to teachers (both non-native speaker and native-speaker teachers, looking for ways to present collocations to their students), translators, academics, business people, and all who wish to write fluent and idiomatic English. The whole dictionary has been designed to be accessible, and (we hope) enjoyable to use.

Collocations

What is a collocation.

A collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations just sound "right" to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations may be unnatural and just sound "wrong". Look at these examples:

Why learn collocations?

• Your language will be more natural and more easily understood.
• You will have alternative and richer ways of expressing yourself.
• It is easier for our brains to remember and use language in chunks or blocks rather than as single words.

How to learn collocations

• Be aware of collocations, and try to recognize them when you see or hear them.
• Treat collocations as single blocks of language. Think of them as individual blocks or chunks, and learn strongly support , not strongly + support.
• When you learn a new word, write down other words that collocate with it ( remember rightly , remember distinctly , remember vaguely , remember vividly ).
• Read as much as possible. Reading is an excellent way to learn vocabulary and collocations in context and naturally.
• Revise what you learn regularly. Practise using new collocations in context as soon as possible after learning them.
• Learn collocations in groups that work for you. You could learn them by topic (time, number, weather, money, family) or by a particular word ( take action , take a chance , take an exam ).
• You can find information on collocations in any good learner's dictionary. And you can also find specialized dictionaries of collocations.

Tell me who you go with and I'll tell you who you are Saying

Types of collocation

There are several different types of collocation made from combinations of verb, noun, adjective etc. Some of the most common types are:

• adverb + adjective: completely satisfied (NOT downright satisfied)
• adjective + noun: excruciating pain (NOT excruciating joy )
• noun + noun: a surge of anger (NOT a rush of anger)
• noun + verb: lions roar (NOT lions shout )
• verb + noun: commit suicide (NOT undertake suicide)
• verb + expression with preposition: burst into tears (NOT blow up in tears)
• verb + adverb: wave frantically (NOT wave feverishly )

Sample Collocations

There are several different types of collocation. Collocations can be adjective + adverb, noun + noun, verb + noun and so on. Below you can see seven main types of collocation in sample sentences.

1. adverb + adjective

• Invading that country was an utterly stupid thing to do.
• We entered a richly decorated room.
• Are you fully aware of the implications of your action?

2. adjective + noun

• The doctor ordered him to take regular exercise .
• The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage .
• He was writhing on the ground in excruciating pain .

3. noun + noun

• Let's give Mr Jones a round of applause .
• The ceasefire agreement came into effect at 11am.
• I'd like to buy two bars of soap please.

4. noun + verb

• The lion started to roar when it heard the dog barking .
• Snow was falling as our plane took off .
• The bomb went off when he started the car engine.

5. verb + noun

• The prisoner was hanged for committing murder .
• I always try to do my homework in the morning, after making my bed .
• He has been asked to give a presentation about his work.

6. verb + expression with preposition

• We had to return home because we had run out of money .
• At first her eyes filled with horror , and then she burst into tears .
• Their behaviour was enough to drive anybody to crime .

7. verb + adverb

• She placed her keys gently on the table and sat down.
• Mary whispered softly in John's ear.
• I vaguely remember that it was growing dark when we left.

See also Collocations with MAKE and DO by level

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Collocation in English

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DO for general activity When we talk about a general activity but do not say what it is, we can use DO:  I want to do something.  What are you doing.

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Collocation

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What Are Collocations?

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• 14th June 2022

Even if you haven’t heard of collocations, we’d bet our bottom dollar that you use them all the time!

Collocations are predictable combinations of words. They’re expected to come together easily and sound familiar to the listener or reader when they’re used.

They can be made up of two or more words, and those words can come from any word class (e.g., nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives).

Those who are learning English as a second language might find that, once they reach a certain level of proficiency, their progress comes to a halt. Learning how to properly use collocations can be a great way to pick up the pace again.

Examples of collocations:

To take a risk

To close a deal

To get the sack

To strongly agree/disagree

To make a big decision

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These are examples of words that can be used together, but a small change to how they’re said can make them sound misplaced in a sentence, especially to a native speaker of English – even if it technically makes sense.

For example, if you say that you did a risk or performed a risk , it sounds unnatural.

You could say that you have a large decision to make, which is correct. But a native English speaker would be more likely to say that they have a big decision to make.

Similarly, you could say that you’re eating quick food when you order from McDonald’s, but a native English speaker would almost always say they’re eating fast food .

If you’re learning English and want to improve your vocabulary, getting familiar with the collocations in the language is a great place to start. They can help your language sound more natural, and you might find it easier to express yourself.

So, How do You Learn Collocations?

With so many collocations out there, it can be difficult to know where to start.

The best way to learn English collocations is to read as much as you can and talk to English-speaking people as much as possible. By doing this, you’ll notice collocations that come up naturally.

Note them down and try to remember them. You could try categorizing them by topic to help you keep track of them (e.g., food, weather, business, money).

Over time, you may start using collocations yourself without even noticing!

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What is a collocation?

Hello lovely students! Today I’m going to be going over collocations with you. Collocations are two or more words that fit perfectly together when spoken or written.

Are you ready to find out more about them?

Let’s get started.

Collocation meaning and what they consist of

The word collocation has two definitions in the Cambridge Dictionary. The first is that collocations are words or phrases that sound natural when put with another word or phrase. The second is that they’re a combination of words formed when two or more words are frequently used together in a way that sounds natural.

Take the phrase fast food.

Fast is an adjective/adverb and food is a noun. Fast has lots of synonyms, including quick and speedy . Yet, saying quick food or speedy food sounds wrong, doesn’t it?

Food also has synonyms such as sustenance or fare . Again saying fast fare or fast sustenance doesn’t sound correct.

This is precisely what is meant by a collocation.

Collocations are made up of adverbs, adjectives, nouns, prepositions and verbs. Find out more about them below.

Why are collocations in English important?

It is vital to learn collocations because they enable you to sound more natural when you speak in English. Also, collocations are helpful to revise as they are like ready-made phrases in your head that do not have to be put together every time you speak. They save time.

For example, imagine you want to say something and a collocation is needed. If you know the collocation, you can say it immediately without thinking about it, as it fits perfectly like a puzzle.

Collocations also help learners to speak more idiomatically. Advanced speakers, whether they be native English speakers or non-native English speakers, use them frequently, meaning they are beneficial to know if you want to go up a level in English.

Collocation types and examples

There are lots of collocation types in English. However, I want to tell you about these five combinations that are used most commonly. I’ve written common collocations and their examples in each section. Take a look at them below.

1) Adverb + adjective collocations

2) adjective + noun collocations, 3) noun + noun collocations, 4) verb + noun collocations, 5) verb + preposition collocations, is that everything.

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Related Papers

مجلة آداب الفراهيدي

Yusra M O H A M M E D Salman

The notion of collocation in English very simply means; words that always go together forming habitual combinations in a variety of linguistic contexts. These multi-word chunks are spontaneously and naturally combined in the minds of native speakers of English. But for the foreign learners of this language, they pose a big problem, and this demands a great deal of attention and awareness on the part of all those concerned, namely textbooks writers, teachers and learners. It is very important, in the first place, for all concerned with this phenomenon, to shed light on its characteristic features that shape its existence in the language. To achieve this goal the writer has attempted, to direct the attention of course-books writers teachers and those interested in the field, to those features in a way that helps them in the selection, presentation and teaching of the language material, and how to make it suitable for teaching–learning situations. This helps all those concerned with this notion to have a full characterization of it from different perspectives. Key words: collocation, precise, creative, arbitrary, semantically distinctive, fluency trigger, indivisible, metaphorical, predictable, unpredictable

Tanju Deveci

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Yousuf Jazoli

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In this article I examine the collocational behaviour of groups of semantically related verbs (e.g., head, run, manage) and nouns (e.g., issue, factor, aspect) from the domain of business English. The results of this corpus‐based study show that much of the collocational behaviour exhibited by these lexical items can be explained by examining some of the linguistic features and processes which influence the way collocations are formed. These include the semantics of the individual items themselves, the use of metaphor, semantic prosody, and the tendency for many of the selected items to be part of larger phraseological units. I show that it is possible to explain many of these collocations by considering the linguistic features and processes which have influenced the way they have been formed. My contention is that, if the learner is encouraged to look for an explanation, it makes the process of learning collocations more memorable.

Dongkwang Shin

welly ardiansyah

A language requires some certain ways of putting their words together to get some ideas across. These words have some relationship and bond that may escape the attentions of some EFL learners who rely merely upon grammatical skills and vocabulary to build sentences. It is true that grammatical structure connects all the words together to convey the meaning, but there is more to it than meet the eyes when ‘naturalness’ is also our concern. At times, the influence of one’s mother tongue over one’s diction in a foreign language is responsible for the production of unnatural expressions in that foreign language. Once this problem comes to surface, a better look at word pairing-habit in that foreign language should be a priority in which case collocations are the stars on the stage, worthy of our most attention.

This study separately examined a 10,000,000 token spoken corpus and a 10,000,000 token written corpus to find the most frequent, grammatically well-formed English collocations. In the top fifty items found in each corpus, only fifteen occurred in both lists. The top fifty spoken collocations occurred much more frequently than the written collocations. Only three items, of course, as well and as well as, were non-compositional. All the rest were clearly compositional. Over sixty of the most frequent collocations were frequent enough to get into the top 1,000 words of English. The article concludes with putting emphasis on the importance of teaching and learning spoken collocations.

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Azam Mokhtari

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Collocations

Jul 13, 2012

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Collocations. Definition Of Collocation (wrt Corpus Literature).

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• valid collocation
• smadja et al
• likelihood ratios

Presentation Transcript

Definition Of Collocation (wrt Corpus Literature) • A collocation is defined as a sequence of two or more consecutive words, that has characteristics of a syntactic and semantic unit, and whose exact and unambiguous meaning or connotation cannot be derived directly from the meaning or connotation of its components. [Chouekra, 1988]

Word Collocations • Collocation • Firth: “word is characterized by the company it keeps”; collocations of a given word are statements of the habitual or customary places of that word. • non-compositionality of meaning • cannot be derived directly from its parts (heavy rain) • non-substitutability in context • for parts (make a decision) • non-modifiability (& non-transformability) • kick the yellow bucket; take exceptions to

Collocations • Collocations are not necessarily adjacent • Collocations cannot be directly translated into other languages.

Example Classes • Names • Technical Terms • “Light” Verb Constructions • Phrasal verbs • Noun Phrases

Linguistic Subclasses of Collocations • Light verbs: verbs with little semantic content like make, take, do • Terminological Expressions: concepts and objects in technical domains (e.g., hard drive) • Idioms: fixed phrases • kick the bucket, birds-of-a-feather, run for office • Proper names: difficult to recognize even with lists • Tuesday (person’s name), May, Winston Churchill, IBM, Inc. • Numerical expressions • containing “ordinary” words • Monday Oct 04 1999, two thousand seven hundred fifty • Verb particle constructions or Phrasal Verbs • Separable parts: • look up, take off, tell off

Collocation Detection Techniques • Selection of Collocations by Frequency • Selection of Collocation based on Mean and Variance of the distance between focal word and collocating word. • Hypothesis Testing • Pointwise Mutual Information

Frequency • Technique: • Count the number of times a bigram co-occurs • Extract top counts and report them as candidates • Results: • Corpus: New York Times • August – November, 1990 • Extremely un-interesting

Frequency with Tag Filters Technique • Technique: • Count the number of times a bigram co-occurs • Tag candidates for POS • Pass all candidates through POS filter, considering only ones matching filter • Extract top counts and report them as candidates

Frequency with Tag Filters Results

Mean and Variance (Smadja et al., 1993) • Frequency-based search works well for fixed phrases. However, many collocations consist of two words in more flexible (although regular) relationships. For example, • Knock and door may not occur at a fixed distance from each other • One method of detecting these flexible relationships uses the mean and variance of the offset (signed distance) between the two words in the corpus.

Mean, Sample Variance, and Standard Deviation

Example: Knock and Door • She knocked on his door. • They knocked at the door. • 100 women knocked on the big red door. • A man knocked on the metal front door. • Average offset between knock and door: (3 + 3 + 5 + 5)/ 4 = 4 • Variance: ((3-4)2 + (3-4)2 + (5-4)2 + (5-4)2 )/(4-1) = 4/3=1.15

Mean and Variance • Technique (bigram at distance) • Produce all possible pairs in a window • Consider all pairs in window as candidates • Keep data about distance of one word from another • Count the number of time each candidate occurs • Measures: • Mean: average offset (possibly negative) • Whether two words are related to each other • Variance: s(offset) • Variability in position of two words

Mean and Variance Illustration • Candidate Generation example: • Window: 3 • Used to find collocations with long-distance relationships

Mean and Variance Collocations

Hypothesis Testing: Overview • Two (or more) words co-occur a lot • Is a candidate a true collocation, or a (not-at-all-interesting) phantom?

The t test Intuition • Intuition: • Compute chance occurrence and ensure observed is significantly higher • Take several permutations of the words in the corpus • How more frequent is the set of all possible permutations than what is observed? • Assumptions: • H0 is the null hypothesis (words occur independently) • P(w1, w2) = P(w1) P(w2) • Distribution is “normal”

The t test Formula • Measures: • x = bigram count • m = H0 = P(w1) P(w2) • s2 = bigram count (since p ~ p[1 – p]) • N = total number of bigrams • Result: • Number to look up in a table • Degree of confidence that collocation is not created by chance • a = the confidence (%) with which one can reject H0

The t test Sample Findings

The t test Criticism • Words are not normally distributed • Can reject valid collocation • Not good on sparse data

c2 Intuition • Pearson’s chi-square test • Intuition • Compare observed frequencies to expected frequencies for independence • Assumptions • If sample is not small, the distribution is not normal

c2 General Formula • Measures: • Eij = Expected count of the bigram • Oij = Observed count of the bigram • Result • A number to look up in a table (like the t test) • Degree of confidence (a) with which H0

c2 Bigram Method and Formula • Technique for Bigrams: • Arrange the bigrams in a 2x2 table with counts for each • Formula • Oij: i = column; j = row

c2 Sample Findings • Comparing corpora • Machine Translation • Comparison of (English) “cow” and (French) “vache” gives a • c2 = 456400 • Similarity of two corpora

c2 Criticism • Not good for small datasets

Likelihood Ratios Within a Single Corpus (Dunning, 1993) • Likelihood ratios are more appropriate for sparse data than the Chi-Square test. In addition, they are easier to interpret than the Chi-Square statistic. • In applying the likelihood ratio test to collocation discovery, use the following two alternative explanations for the occurrence frequency of a bigram w1 w2: • H1: The occurrence of w2 is independent of the previous occurrence of w1: P(w2 | w1) = P(w2 | w1 ) = p • H2: The occurrence of w2 is dependent of the previous occurrence of w1: p1 = P(w2 | w1)  P(w2 | w1) = p2

Likelihood Ratios Within a Single Corpus • Use the MLE for probabilities for p, p1, and p2 and assume the binomial distribution: • Under H1: P(w2 | w1) = c2/N, P(w2 | w1) = c2/N • Under H2: P(w2 | w1) = c12/ c1= p1, P(w2 | w1) = (c2-c12)/(N-c1) = p2 • Under H1: b(c12; c1, p) gives c12 out of c1 bigrams are w1w2 and b(c2-c12; N-c1, p) gives c2- c12 out of N-c1 bigrams are w1w2 • Under H2: b(c12; c1, p1) gives c12 out of c1 bigrams are w1w2 and b(c2-c12; N-c1, p2) gives c2- c12 out of N-c1 bigrams are w1w2

Likelihood Ratios Within a Single Corpus • The likelihood of H1 • L(H1) = b(c12; c1, p)b(c2-c12; N-c1, p) (likelihood of independence) • The likelihood of H2 • L(H2) = b(c12; c1, p1)b(c2- c12; N-c1, p2) (likelihood of dependence) • The log of likelihood ratio • log  = log [L(H1)/ L(H2)] = log b(..) + log b(..) – log b(..) –log b(..) • The quantity –2 log  is asymptotically 2 distributed, so we can test for significance.

[Pointwise] Mutual Information (I) • Intuition: • Given a collocation (w1, w2) and an observation of w1 • I(w1; w2) indicates how more likely it is to see w2 • The same measure also works in reverse (observe w2) • Assumptions: • Data is not sparse

Mutual Information Formula • Measures: • P(w1) = unigram prob. • P(w1w2) = bigram prob. • P (w2|w1) = probability of w2 given we see w1 • Result: • Number indicating increased confidence that we will see w2 after w1

Mutual Information Criticism • A better measure of the independence of two words rather than the dependence of one word on another • Horrible on [read: misidentifies] sparse data

Applications • Collocations are useful in: • Comparison of Corpora • Parsing • New Topic Detection • Computational Lexicography • Natural Language Generation • Machine Translation

Comparison of Corpora • Compare corpora to determine: • Document clustering (for information retrieval) • Plagiarism • Comparison techniques: • Competing hypotheses: • Documents are dependent • Documents are independent • Compare hypotheses using l, etc.

Parsing • When parsing, we may get more accurate data by treating a collocation as a unit (rather than individual words) • Example: [ hand to hand ] is a unit in: (S (NP They) (VP engaged (PP in hand) (PP to (NP hand combat))))

New Topic Detection • When new topics are reported, the count of collocations associated with those topics increases • When topics become old, the count drops

Computational Lexicography • As new multi-word expressions become part of the language, they can be detected • Existing collocations can be acquired • Can also be used for cultural identification • Examples: • My friend got an A in his class • My friend took an A in his class • My friend made an A in his class • My friend earned an A in his class

Natural Language Generation • Problem: • Given two (or more) possible productions, which is more feasible? • Productions usually involve synonyms or near-synonyms • Languages generally favour one production

Machine Translation • Collocation-complete problem? • Must find all used collocations • Must parse collocation as a unit • Must translate collocation as a unit • In target language production, must select among many plausible alternatives

Thanks! • Questions?

Statistical Inference: n-gram Model over Sparse Data

Statistical inference • Statistical inference consists of taking some data (generated in accordance with some unknown probability distribution) and then making some inferences about its distribution.

Language Models • Predict the next word, given the previous words (this sort of task is often referred to as a shannon game) • A language model can take the context into account. • Determine probability of different sequences by examining training corpus • Applications: • OCR / Speech recognition – resolve ambiguity • Spelling correction • Machine translation etc

Statistical Estimators • Example: Corpus: five Jane Austen novels N = 617,091 words, V = 14,585 unique words Task: predict the next word of the trigram “inferior to ___” from test data, Persuasion: “[In person, she was] inferior to both [sisters.]” • Given the observed training data … • How do you develop a model (probability distribution) to predict future events?

The Perfect Language Model • Sequence of word forms • Notation: W = (w1,w2,w3,...,wn) • The big (modeling) question is what is p(W)? • Well, we know (Bayes/chain rule): p(W) = p(w1,w2,w3,...,wn) = p(w1)p(w2|w1)p(w3|w1,w2)...p(wn|w1,w2,...,wn-1) • Not practical (even short for W ® too many parameters)

Markov Chain • Unlimited memory (cf. previous foil): • for wi, we know its predecessors w1,w2,w3,...,wi-1 • Limited memory: • we disregard predecessors that are “too old” • remember only k previous words: wi-k,wi-k+1,...,wi-1 • called “kth order Markov approximation” • Stationary character (no change over time): p(W) @Pi=1..n p(wi|wi-k,wi-k+1,...,wi-1), n = |W|

N-gram Language Models • (n-1)th order Markov approximation ® n-gram LM: p(W) = Pi=1..n p(wi|wi-n+1,wi-n+2,...,wi-1) • In particular (assume vocabulary |V| = 20k): 0-gram LM: uniform model p(w) = 1/|V| 1 parameter 1-gram LM: unigram model p(w) 2´104 parameters 2-gram LM: bigram model p(wi|wi-1) 4´108 parameters 3-gram LM: trigram mode p(wi|wi-2,wi-1) 8´1012 parameters 4-gram LM: tetragram model p(wi| wi-3,wi-2,wi-1) 1.6´1017 parameters

Reliability vs. Discrimination “large green ___________” tree? mountain? frog? car? “swallowed the large green ________” pill? tidbit? • larger n: more information about the context of the specific instance (greater discrimination) • smaller n: more instances in training data, better statistical estimates (more reliability)

LM Observations • How large n? • zero is enough (theoretically) • but anyway: as much as possible (as close to “perfect” model as possible) • empirically: 3 • parameter estimation? (reliability, data availability, storage space, ...) • 4 is too much: |V|=60k ® 1.296´1019 parameters • but: 6-7 would be (almost) ideal (having enough data) • For now, word forms only (no “linguistic” processing)

Parameter Estimation • Parameter: numerical value needed to compute p(w|h) • From data (how else?) • Data preparation: • get rid of formatting etc. (“text cleaning”) • define words (separate but include punctuation, call it “word”, unless speech) • define sentence boundaries (insert “words” <s> and </s>) • letter case: keep, discard, or be smart: • name recognition • number type identification

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Episode #51: Fun C1-C2 Collocations Master English With Tim

• Language Learning

Do you want to speak C1 or C2 level English? Collocations are words that are often used together, for example “spicy food” or “fast car”. Many collocations require no effort to learn because they’re both common and logical. If you aim to speak C1 or C2 English though, then you will need to use collocations which use less common meanings of words, for example “commit to memory” or “drive someone crazy”. Listen in Episode 51 to Tim explain twelve advanced verb + noun collocations to make you speak more fluently and naturally.Don’t forget to download and use the free bonus PDF worksheet to help you commit these useful expressions to memory!

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What is Good Friday? What the holy day means for Christians around the world

Christians around the world observe Good Friday two days before Easter, but what is it, and why do they commemorate the holy day?

The holiday is part of Holy Week, which leads up to Easter Sunday. Palm Sunday kicks off the series of Christian holy days that commemorate the Crucifixion and celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection.

"Good Friday has been, for centuries now, the heart of the Christian message because it is through the death of Jesus Christ that Christians believe that we have been forgiven of our sins," Daniel Alvarez, an associate teaching professor of religious studies at Florida International University, told USA TODAY.

What is Holy Saturday? What the day before Easter means for Christians around the world

When is Good Friday?

Good Friday is always the Friday before Easter. It's the second-to-last day of Holy Week.

In 2024, Good Friday will fall on March 29.

What is Good Friday?

Good Friday is the day Christ was sacrificed on the cross. According to Britannica , it is a day for "sorrow, penance, and fasting."

"Good Friday is part of something else," Gabriel Radle, an assistant professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, previously told USA TODAY. "It's its own thing, but it's also part of something bigger."

Are Good Friday and Passover related?

Alvarez says that Good Friday is directly related to the Jewish holiday, Passover.

Passover , or Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.

"The whole Christian idea of atoning for sin, that Jesus is our atonement, is strictly derived from the Jewish Passover tradition," said Alvarez.

How is that possible?

According to the professor, Passover celebrates the day the "Angel of Death" passed over the homes of Israelites who were enslaved by the Egyptians. He said that the Bible states when the exodus happened, families were told to paint their doors with lamb's blood so that God would spare the lives of their firstborn sons.

Alvarez says this is why Christians call Jesus the "lamb of God." He adds that the symbolism of the "blood of the lamb" ties the two stories together and is why Christians believe God sacrificed his firstborn son. Because, through his blood, humanity is protected from the "wrath of a righteous God that cannot tolerate sin."

He adds that the stories of the exodus and the Crucifixion not only further tie the stories together but also emphasize just how powerful the sacrifice of the firstborn and the shedding of blood are in religion.

"Jesus is the firstborn, so the whole idea of the death of the firstborn is crucial," said Alvarez.

He adds that the sacrifice of the firstborn, specifically a firstborn son, comes from an ancient and "primitive" idea that the sacrifice unleashes "tremendous power that is able to fend off any kind of force, including the wrath of God."

Why Is Good Friday so somber?

Alavarez says people might think this holiday is more depressing or sad than others because of how Catholics commemorate the Crucifixion.

"I think [it's] to a level that some people might think is morbid," said Alvarez.

He said Catholics not only meditate on Jesus' death, but primarily focus on the suffering he faced in the events that led up to his Crucifixion. That's what makes it such a mournful day for people.

But, the professor says that Jesus' suffering in crucial to Christianity as a whole.

"The suffering of Christ is central to the four Gospels," said Alvarez. "Everything else is incidental."

According to the professor, statues that use blood to emphasize the way Jesus and Catholic saints suffered is very common in Spanish and Hispanic Countries, but not as prevalent in American churches.

Do you fast on Good Friday?

Father Dustin Dought, the executive director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, previously told USA TODAY that Good Friday and Ash Wednesday are the two days in the year that Roman Catholics are obliged to fast.

"This practice is a way of emptying ourselves so that we can be filled with God," said Dought.

What do you eat on Good Friday?

Many Catholics do not eat meat on any Friday during Lent. Anything with flesh is off-limits. Dought says this practice is to honor the way Jesus sacrificed his flesh on Good Friday.

Meat that is off limits includes:

Instead, many Catholics will eat fish. According to the Marine Stewardship Council , this is allowed because fish is considered to be a different type of flesh.

Contributing: Jordan Mendoza ; USA TODAY