Questions tagged [collocations]
A sequence of words or terms that co-occur more often than would be expected by chance (i.e., the statistically significant placement of particular words in a language).
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Can you say that a something meets certain limitations?
I couldn't find the phrase in any collocation dictionaries, but it does seem to be used occasionally, according to Google.
For example:
"Make sure that the configuration meets the following ...
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'Rescuers had to wade waist-deep in floodwater.' Why not 'Rescuers had to wade in waist-deep floodwater.'?
Oxford's Collocations dictionary - 10th edition - for Android mobile app (licensed).
wade verb
ADVERB | PREPOSITION | PHRASES
ADVERB
slowly
ashore
The men waded ashore.
across, back, out
...
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Is "covered wagons rolling access the prairies" wrong?
I am using Oxford's Dictonary Advanced learner + Oxford's Collocations dictionary - 10th edition - mobile application (licensed). I seen
In my thought, it is covered wagons are rolling access the ...
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How do you say you felt the same when someone said they were delighted: Do you say " "So, did I" OR "So was I."?
This is from a tv show Golden Ladies (see:13:21-13:25) The ladies are talking about their new neighbours(the McDowells) who were there and have just left.
Blanch: Well, I think the McDowells were ...
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What's the meaning of "Making demands on someone" in the following context?
She (Julie) spent her time doing little more than taking care of him (Mark) and the children. Now her sister was getting divorced and would doubtless be making
demands on her too.
Does it mean that ...
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Make or Do sushi?
I have seen both variants with "make / do sushi" (e.g. There’s a little Japanese place near my office, which does great sushi!). What is the difference or how should I choose make sushi or ...
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aggravate/exacerbate/heighten those disadvantages
You're not smart. You're not born into a wealthy family. And you don't have a lot of friends who can help you out financially. This lazy attitude will only aggravate those disadvantages.
Hey, guys! ...
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Differences in job titles. "Manufacturing manager", "Production manager", "Manufacture manager"
I was given a piece of business card with a job title "Manufacture manager".
I wonder any differences between
a. "Manufacturing manager"
b. "Production manager"
c. "...
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Is 'Kay a shortened form of Okay?
This is from an interview by Vogue 73 questions with Cindy (see 03:01-03:06)
The reporter asks questions to a celebrity. Right before one of the questions, he says:
'Kay Cindy, what is something that ...
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Why "previously learned knowledge" is a natural phrase in English, although "learn knowledge" is not?
Learning transfer refers to the degree to which an individual applies
previously learned knowledge and skills to new situations. - source
I already know that the phrase "learn knowledge" ...
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Collocations for "world record": one can "break"/"set" a world record - what about "making" one?
Is it also possible to "make a world record"? Or just "setting" and "breaking" are possible?
I found it in a google search but found nowhere else proof of it.
Could you ...
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renamed in 1946 as 7-Eleven
The preposition "as" is not normally used with the verb "renamed," is it? Why is it used in the following?
To reflect their extended hours of operation, the stores were renamed in ...
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Can "and" be used for the thousands place in sounded-out numbers? [duplicate]
Can "and" be used for the thousands place in sounded-out numbers? Or is it only restricted to the tens and ones places? For example:
9,300,000 => nine million and(?) three hundred ...
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The meaning of “grab a bite”
I have the following sentence in my textbook:
Let’s grab a bite before we get down to work.
(English Collocations in Use, Advanced, Exercise 1.4)
At first, I thought that the meaning of “grab a bite”...
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Is "providing with Ukraine" grammatically correct?
I heard John Kirby said this:
“We have been, from the beginning of this war now 11 months ago, have
been evolving the capabilities we’re providing with Ukraine, with the
conditions on the ground,”
I ...
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Can you actually "make" a girlfriend or boyfriend?
I think I hear young people say this a lot but it sounds weird to my ear. I always say "dated/had" or "started to date/go out with". How acceptable and widely used is "make a ...
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Is "adapt to society" natural English?
I learned that "go into society" is not natural because we are born into society; we should say "go into the real world".
How about "adapt to society"?
If this is not ...
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at that time or of that time?
Hello in the following sentence can the preposition "of" work?
Diamond rings date back to the Roman empire in 300BC. Diamonds ( ) that time were uncut and quite different.
Is "at that ...
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Which one is correct? "stop doing a habit?" or "stop making a habit?"
Please help me clear up my confusion..
I haven't got the foggiest idea if my following phrases are correct,
"this term is used to stop doing something, especially stop doing a bad habit."
I ...
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"In the right direction" or "to the right direction" or "at the right direction"
May I know why "in" is used in this sentence:
Tom asked Bill where the train station was? Bill told him north, pointing him in the right direction.
Why does it not use :
pointing him to ...
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Because “away” and “from” have similar ideas, “away from” is a common collocation
se16teddy:
English verbs of motion feel almost naked without a little adverb such as up, down, through, over or away, at least in conversational English. The prepositional phrase adds additional ...
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carry a message vs. convey a message [closed]
I'm wondering what the difference is between "carry a message" versus "convey a message". Can we use these two expressions interchangeably? Please, comment.I would be very grateful....
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"Take a job" vs. "take on a job" in context
Would you please tell me if there is any difference between take a job and take on a job in the context below?
You laptop looks too damaged to be fixed, but let me ask if there is someone who would ...
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A helpful exercise for/to your abdomen
I know that we can say something is helpful to/for someone like in
“This information would be extremely helpful for/to teenagers.”
I wonder if it is okay to say something is helpful to/for something
...
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"as between": a stylistic alternative for "between"?
This example presented below is from Saussure's Course in General Linguistics translated into English by Roy Harris.
If words had the job of representing concepts fixed in advance, one would be able ...
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inheriting (a legacy of) cultural achievements
In this period, the indigenous Vietnamese culture developed while inheriting a legacy of cultural achievements from the previous period. The representative achievements of this period were Dong Son ...
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Overlook a mistake
The word overlook has a few meanings. Two of them sound close.
to fail to see or notice (something)
to pay no attention to (something)
(Merriam-Webster's Dictionary)
In the following sentence
The ...
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Cause for/of in sentence
If one wants to say:
The cause of/for his interest in ... was ...
should one use of or for in this context
As far as I understand from the previous research, it should be for as it is an outcome.
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Verb + a + noun (e.g. have a sit / take a look)
I'm not native speaker.
I've heard of these expressions such as "take a look" or "have a sit."
and I always wondering why people uses like that because we can just say "look ...
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Is it idiomatic to say "ride subway lines"?
I hired a native speaker to improve my essay but she didn't change this sentence at all. I've only heard "ride the subway". Is it correct to say "ride subway lines"?
Also, I ...
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is there a collocation "have as a goal + Noun" [closed]
I came across the sentence below and I've never found that phrase which is bold.
Formerly, person who retired from the world in order to form utopians
had as their goal the setting up of perfect ...
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to get a hired knife vs to get hired
I was reading the comic book Batman The Long Haloween and I came across a question involving the verb ''to get'' in the following excerpt: ''It seems like only yesterday when The Roman tried to get a ...
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They Was Gonna - Colloquial Language
I heard some people saying "They was..." instead of "They were...".
Also, it seems that this is usually used with gonna (e.g. They was gonna use it).
Is this a common colloquial ...
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What exactly does "She likes to go on the Internet in the evenings." mean?
I was looking for some internet vocabulary and I found this sentence on the Oxford Thesaurus which sounds very inespecific as compared to words like browse or surf when it comes to internet vocabulary....
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Can "another" be preceded by "what" as in "What another factor will affect the rollout of the product?"
I've recently seen this question in an English textbook.
(One of the only two factors is........) What another factor will affect the rollout of the product?
This struck me as awkwardly sounding ...
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Encourage something AMONG vs TO
Original sentence: Neil's real mission is to encourage scientific thinking among the American public.
I've never seen encourage can be used with "among", only "to". The closest ...
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Can "reaction on" be used? [duplicate]
Obviously "reaction to" is correct but I wonder if "reaction on" is correct. If so what is the difference?
Examples:
People have a positive reaction to good things.
People have a ...
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"That was rude from your side" Does it sound natural?
A person did something wrong or bad. Can I use this phrase to express my concern?
"That was rude from your side. You should've been more considerate".
If not kindly provide your examples ...
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address problems VS address solutions
We have government recycling programs for materials like plastic,
glass, and metal, yet widespread solutions for organic waste materials
haven’t really been addressed in the United States. --from ...
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Can I use the adjective 'shapeshifting' with 'fear' or 'dream'?
Do the collocations 'shapeshifting fears' and 'shapeshifting dreams' make sense? I'm trying to say something like 'changeable/fluid/turbulent fears and dreams', but in a poetic way.
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'Obsessiveness about' or 'obsessiveness with'
I was wondering whether A or B are grammatically correct:
A: obsessiveness about
B: obsessiveness with
or maybe even a completely different preposition is necessary here?
Thanks!
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launch ... to/into space
Normally, I expect the verb "launch" to go with "into space." But I saw the following:
Three rookie astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Crew-3 mission for NASA just launched to space for ...
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which of "the pizza wasn't quite up there with the rest" or "the pizza left something to be desired" more natural to say? [closed]
The chicken and pasta were delicious. They were excellent.
However, the ______________.
(a) the pizza wasn't quite up there with the rest
(b) the pizza wasn't quite on par with the rest
(c) the pizza ...
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Should I say automatic memories or automatic tasks?
Here is a paragraph explaining Procedural Memory (from the TOEFL exam)
The memories people form when they learn names and facts are different
from the memories they form when they learn how to ...
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Is "It is happy to hear that." (meaning the speaker is happy to hear that) grammatical and idiomatic?
Some native speakers of English around me think the following are not good, while some others find them to be OK.
It is happy to hear that. (meaning "I (the speaker) am happy to hear that."...
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What prepositions should I use with "want" in the following sentences?
I just cannot decide whether to use "for" or "in" in the following examples.
We want two engineers (for / in) the project.
We want two violin players (for / in) the show.
...
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Why can't we say "win a world record"?
In Unit 3, lesson A of Perspectives 3 published by Nat Geo Learning, it is stated that we can't use "win" with "world record" and I can't find any explanation about that so please ...
Vy T Phan
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Listen to the/a class
Can we say, “listen to the/a class,” to mean “listen to what the teacher teaches or says in class”? For example, can we say something like,
“All good students listen to the class properly”?
Or can a ...
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“Star Wars video game” VS “Video game of Star Wars”
Can we say,
“video game of Star Wars,” “book of Star Wars,” “movie of Star Wars” etc.
instead of
“Star Wars video game,” “Star Wars book,” “Star Wars movie” etc?
For example, can we say these ...
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used to AND sometimes
This is from Animal Farm:
"Jones used sometimes to mix some of it in our mash," said one of the hens.
Used to means that something happened continuously or frequently during a period in ...
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