Flashcard - Unit 1

Unit 1: What is a Collocation?

A collocation is a natural combination of words that frequently occur together. Advanced English relies heavily on collocations because they make language sound accurate and fluent. Common patterns include verb+noun (arouse someone’s interest, lead a seminar), adverb+adjective (fundamentally different), adverb+verb (flatly contradict), noun+noun (words of wisdom, a lick of paint), phrasal verbs (come up with a suggestion, adhere to your principles) and compound expressions (economy drive, stock market). Register also matters: some collocations are formal, some informal and some neutral.

IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Collocation word network showing linked word partnerships.

Examples: make mistakes, of great importance, picturesque little village, spectacular mountains, blissfully happy. Learning collocations helps writers avoid unnatural word combinations and improves precision.

Exercise 1 – Identify the Type

  1. arouse interest
  2. fundamentally different
  3. flatly contradict
  4. words of wisdom
  5. lead a seminar
  6. economy drive
  7. come up with a suggestion
  8. blissfully happy

Exercise 2 – Match Halves

  1. adhere to …
  2. play the …
  3. make …
  4. spectacular …
  5. of great …
  6. lead a …
  7. arouse someone’s …
  8. picturesque little …

Options: village, mistakes, principles, importance, mountains, seminar, interest, stock market.

Exercise 3 – Choose the Best Collocation

  1. heavy/strong rain
  2. make/do mistakes
  3. flatly/softly contradict
  4. lead/direct a seminar
  5. breathtaking/tasty views
  6. stylish furnishings/furnitured
  7. relaxing weather/atmosphere
  8. mouth-watering cuisine/building

Exercise 4 – Formal, Informal or Neutral?

  1. alight from the bus
  2. get off the bus
  3. grab a bite
  4. have something to eat
  5. terminate the agreement
  6. bring the agreement to an end
  7. pop the question
  8. ask her to marry him

Exercise 5 – Complete the Collocation

  1. _____ rain
  2. _____ hair
  3. _____ contradict
  4. _____ different
  5. a lick of _____
  6. words of _____
  7. _____ seminar
  8. _____ up with a suggestion

Exercise 6 – Sentence Writing

  1. make mistakes
  2. of great importance
  3. adhere to your principles
  4. lead a seminar
  5. arouse interest
  6. spectacular mountains
  7. blissfully happy
  8. play the stock market

Further Practice

Focus on meaning, register and natural word partnerships. Choose combinations that native speakers commonly use.

IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Tourist brochure with picturesque village and breathtaking views.

Exercise 1 – Gap Fill

  1. _____ someone’s interest
  2. _____ a seminar
  3. _____ your principles
  4. _____ the stock market
  5. _____ mistakes
  6. _____ great importance
  7. _____ mountains
  8. _____ happy

Exercise 2 – Find the Wrong Word

  1. heavy sunshine
  2. flatly agree
  3. words of wisdom
  4. stylish furnishings
  5. breathtaking views
  6. make mistakes
  7. mouth-watering cuisine
  8. relaxing atmosphere

Exercise 3 – Rewrite More Formally

  1. get off the bus
  2. have something to eat
  3. end the agreement
  4. ask her to marry him
  5. start work
  6. leave the bus
  7. tell him no
  8. go away from the rules

Exercise 4 – Rewrite More Informally

  1. alight from the bus
  2. terminate the agreement
  3. commence work
  4. consume food
  5. request marriage
  6. depart from
  7. reside
  8. purchase

Exercise 5 – Collocation Grid

Match each adjective with a noun: picturesque, breathtaking, stylish, relaxing, spectacular, blond, heavy, local. Nouns: atmosphere, cuisine, village, rain, views, hair, mountains, furnishings.

Exercise 6 – Error Correction

  1. do mistakes
  2. strongly different
  3. come with a suggestion
  4. play the shares market
  5. words of intelligent
  6. a paint lick
  7. lead a lesson seminaring
  8. greatly importance
IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Business seminar where a speaker leads a discussion.

Extension and Review

Use collocations accurately in context. Think about meaning, grammar pattern and level of formality.

IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Student studying collocation cards and vocabulary notes.

Exercise 1 – Multiple Choice

  1. _____ contradict (flatly / deeply)
  2. _____ different (fundamentally / heavily)
  3. _____ interest (arouse / cook)
  4. _____ seminar (lead / rain)
  5. _____ wisdom (words / pieces)
  6. _____ paint (lick / bite)
  7. _____ market (stock / village)
  8. _____ drive (economy / scenery)

Exercise 2 – Categorise

Place these into groups: verb+noun, adverb+adjective, adverb+verb, noun+noun.

  1. make mistakes
  2. fundamentally different
  3. flatly contradict
  4. words of wisdom
  5. lead a seminar
  6. blissfully happy
  7. a lick of paint
  8. arouse interest

Exercise 3 – Complete the Sentences

  1. The speaker will _____ a seminar.
  2. The article _____ my interest.
  3. The two systems are _____ different.
  4. She would never _____ her principles.
  5. The guide showed us a _____ village.
  6. The climbers admired the _____ mountains.
  7. Good collocations help learners make fewer _____.
  8. The advice was full of _____ of wisdom.

Exercise 4 – Short Transformations

  1. invent an idea → use a collocation
  2. follow your beliefs → use a collocation
  3. very happy → use a collocation
  4. beautiful village → use a collocation
  5. important → use a collocation phrase
  6. rain a lot → use a collocation
  7. teach a workshop → use a collocation
  8. be interested → use a collocation

Exercise 5 – Mini Dialogue Creation

  1. seminar
  2. interest
  3. mistakes
  4. principles
  5. stock market
  6. wisdom
  7. paint
  8. mountains

Exercise 6 – Review Challenge

  1. Give a formal collocation.
  2. Give an informal collocation.
  3. Write a verb+noun collocation.
  4. Write an adverb+adjective collocation.
  5. Write an adverb+verb collocation.
  6. Write a noun+noun collocation.
  7. Write a phrasal-verb collocation.
  8. Write a compound-noun collocation.
Bài trướcBài sau