<B>The British Council's language clinic with ?Dr Danny? </B>

Hello and welcome back to the English Language Clinic. This week, I would like to talk about ?collocations?. Collocations are combinations of words, which naturally work together. Learning collocations is an important part of mastering any language and it is vital if you want your English to sound natural. Collocations can be formed between verbs and nouns, for example ?to make a salad? or between a noun and a phrasal verb, as in ?the fight broke out? (?broke out? is a phrasal verb). Collocations can also include adjectives and nouns, ?torrential rain?, adverbs and adjectives, ?highly desirable? and verbs and adverbs, ?to sleep deeply?.

Some words form collocations with a large number of other words, creating a range of different meanings. For example, it is possible to form many different collocations, which include the word ?idea?. You can ?borrow?, ?modify?, ?demonstrate?, ?accept?, ?resist?, ?propose?, ?revive?, ?test? or even ?toy with? an idea. You can also ?play with?, ?relish? or ?reject? an idea. Each collocation has a specific meaning and often this meaning is hard to guess from the definitions of the words, which form the collocation. For example, it might not be obvious what is meant by ?exploding?, ?warming to? or ?planting? an idea.

The examples I have given are all verbs; we can also combine the word ?idea? with a large number of adjectives. Again, these combinations can be a little difficult to understand, unless you have seen or heard them used before. An idea can be ?arresting? or ?novel?, ?fixed? or ?flexible?, it can also be ?ambitious?, ?confused?, ?controversial? or ?elusive?.

Please send your comments, queries and questions to ?Dr Danny? by emailing the following address: [email protected]

To find out more about the British Council?s English Language Courses or any of the services we provide, please call on 403 0200.