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Introduction to MCD The Macmillan Collocations Dictionary (MCD) provides a complete record of the most typical ways in which common English words combine with one another. These word combinations are known as ‘collocations’, and this is an important concept for anyone learning, teaching, or using English. According to Professor Michael Hoey, who heads the Macmillan Dictionaries Advisory Panel, collocation is ‘the property of language whereby two or more words seem to appear frequently in each other’s company’. Long before computer corpora became available, linguists noticed the tendency of some words to ‘stick together’, in expressions like conduct a survey, highly effective, or rapturous applause. Nowadays, with a corpus of 1.6 billion words at our disposal, we can reliably identify the most frequent English collocations. That’s the easy part. But lists of collocations on their own are not especially helpful. In order to make this information useful for teachers and students, our team of lexicographers divided up the various collocations according to the meanings they express. For example, if you are talking about an argument (in the sense of ‘a set of reasons you use for persuading people’), the corpus provides a long list of words (or ‘collocates’) which are frequently used with this noun. Our job was to analyse these collocates and sort them into useful sets, such as words meaning ‘a strong argument’ (compelling, persuasive, powerful, and so on), or an argument that is ‘sensible and well-argued’ (coherent, rational, well-reasoned etc) or one that is ‘based on incorrect facts’ (spurious, fallacious etc). For this meaning of argument, the MCD provides six sets of adjectives and five sets of verbs, each expressing a different meaning. Every set has its own definition, its own list of collocates, and its own example sentences to show how these combinations work. Why is collocation so important? Firstly, it is a central feature of language, and – whether you are speaking or writing – it is just as important as grammar. Getting the grammar right is an essential part of producing text which is free of errors. But selecting appropriate collocations is one of the keys to sounding natural and fluent. For this reason, a good collocations dictionary is a valuable resource if you are preparing for IELTS or similar examinations. Secondly, collocation contributes to meaning. Most common words in English have more than one meaning, and we use the surrounding context to indicate (or work out) which meaning is intended. Collocation plays a big part in this process. Consider, for example, the word goal, which can mean either something you want to achieve or a point scored in football. When you see goal with verbs like set, achieve, or pursue (or with verbs like score or concede), you know immediately what is meant, and it is collocation which provides the clue. As the linguist J.R. Firth said, in a famous quotation, ‘You shall know a word by the company it keeps’. Some features of language, such as wordplay, figurative uses, or cultural references, may be seen as ‘optional extras’ which you can use once you are really fluent. Collocation is not like this. Once you have progressed beyond beginner level, collocation is essential to expressing ideas in the most natural-sounding way. With the Macmillan Collocations Dictionary, you have the ideal resource for developing this important skill and using collocation with confidence.
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