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COLUMNS
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 Focus
on Language
Study:
Introduction
Collocation
Less fixed combinations
and functional expressions
UK version ¦ US
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New
word of the month
Proper nouns and new words
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Using MED CD to explore
background information
onestopenglish.com
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by Luke
Prodromou
• Less
fixed combinations
• Functional expressions
• Learning collocation
• Activity
• In the previous issue
Less fixed
combinations
These are very common in English. In such cases, we have
more freedom to make combinations, but there are certain restrictions
on what is possible or probable.
Let's take make, a verb which has many 'friends'.
We make:
• a mistake
• the bed
• (the) dinner
• an effort
• friends
It is difficult to say exactly what make means
in all these different collocations. We can look up the meaning of screwdriver
or digest in a dictionary and be fairly sure what they refer to,
but this strategy does not work very well with make. One important
part of the meaning of make is that it contrasts with the verb
do. These two verbs tend to have very different friends. For example,
we do:
• the shopping
• the dishes
• our best
• someone a favour
So we can see that there are many ways of combining make
and do with nouns. There are limits to the number of collocations
they have and they don’t often share the same collocates.
There are several other very common verbs in English like
make and do (such as get, have, and take)
that do not have much meaning on their own. To really get a feel for the
way these very common verbs are used, you need to know the phrases they
form with other words and the contexts in which we use them.
There are a number of other common grammatical combinations
that form collocations in English:
temperatures rise
prices fall
dogs bark
cats miaow |
bitterly cold
hugely enjoyable
deeply upset |
strong tea
a powerful engine
a heavy smoker |
sleep soundly
walk briskly
rely heavily on |
distinctly remember
flatly refuse
hotly deny |
You can find many examples of combinations like these
in the 130 'Collocation Boxes' in the Macmillan Essential Dictionary:
see for example the boxes at the entries for cost, environment,
influence, and suggestion.
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Functional
expressions
In everyday conversation, there are many collocations
that occur with particular grammatical structures. These structures are
like frames, into which we can put different words in order to perform
a variety of communicative acts. Here are some examples:
| • |
I’d like a return ticket to/a
ham sandwich ... |
[buying something] |
| • |
I don’t suppose you could tell
me the way/open the window ... |
[making requests] |
| • |
Have you got the time/change
for a pound... |
[asking for information, asking a favour]
|
| • |
Could you tell me the way to
... |
[asking for directions] |
| • |
By the way, ... |
[introducing a new topic of conversation]
|
| • |
Well, it’s time we were going/
Well, I’ll be going now ... |
[saying goodbye, ending a conversation]
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There are thousands of such sentence frames in English
and many are explained in the Macmillan Essential Dictionary. They
are one way in which expert users of English manage to sound so fluent.
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Learning
collocation
Here are some techniques to help you to acquire greater
'collocational fluency' in English:
| • |
Read widely in English — begin with simplified
texts and as quickly as possible go on to authentic, unsimplified
texts: newspapers, magazines, stories etc. |
| • |
Use highlighters of different colours to make the
new collocations stand out. |
| • |
As you read, connect keywords and their collocations
by drawing lines between them. |
| • |
Copy out the examples you find in your reading into
a special notebook. |
| • |
Organize your notebook into topics (travel, sport
etc) and add collocations connected with the topic. |
| • |
Organize your notebook into collocational patterns:
Verb + noun
Noun + verb
Adverb + adjective
Verb + adverb
Adjective + noun
Functional expressions
Idioms
Phrasal verbs
|
| • |
Organize your notebook into common keywords (get,
take, come, make, do etc), and add collocations
as you come across them in your reading. |
| • |
Make a chart showing common verbs and their collocations:
| |
a trip
|
a break
|
a date
|
the dishes
|
a walk
|
lunch
|
| take |
•
|
•
|
p
|
p
|
•
|
p
|
| make |
p
|
p
|
•
|
p
|
p
|
•
|
| do |
p
|
p
|
p
|
•
|
p
|
p
|
| have |
p
|
•
|
•
|
p
|
p
|
•
|
|
| • |
Use your dictionary to enrich your knowledge of collocations.
For example, before you use a dull collocation such as 'a big storm',
look up the word storm in your dictionary and try to choose
a more interesting adjective (e.g. fierce, raging, terrible, violent).
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Activity
Read the following passage and
| • |
underline any collocations you find |
| • |
organize them into separate groups (for example,
verb + noun collocations, adverb + adjective collocations, phrasal
verbs, idioms, and functional expressions) |
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England's decisive victory over Bulgaria yesterday
was overshadowed by news that Phil Harper's knee injury could keep
him out of the game for up to three months. By deciding to play
in last night's game, the England midfielder had disregarded the
advice of his doctor, and it was clear — even as the team was
warming up before the game — that he was not fully fit. After
30 minutes, he limped off the field in agony, and it is now highly
unlikely that he will take any further part in the European competition.
Harper has made an outstanding contribution to
England's recent successes, and without him they face a daunting
challenge as they gear up for the next round of the tournament.
Said team coach Alex Murphy, 'Obviously we're bitterly disappointed,
but to be honest, it was always on the cards that Phil's knee would
cause him problems.'
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Answers
top
In
the previous issue
If you would like to find out what collocation is and
what are the main types of fixed phrases in English, you can do so by
reading the first part of the article about collocation in Issue
19 of MED Magazine.
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