Introduction
A collocation is a pair or group of words that habitually appear together.
Adjectives and nouns can have a particular collocation to convey a specific meaning.
Form
We form adjectives and noun collocations by putting adjectives before nouns.
The most commonly used adjectives and nouns collocations are:
- Big disappointment, big failure, big mistake, big surprise…;
- Heavy bag, heavy box, heavy rain, heavy snow, heavy suitcase, heavy traffic…;
- Rich culture, rich history, rich people, rich vocabulary…;
- Strong accent, strong drink, strong smell, strong taste, strong wind…
Example
- The documentary was a big disappointment.
- He admitted he made a big mistake.
- We were walking in heavy rain.
- You shouldn’t carry such a heavy suitcase alone.
- I was late due to heavy traffic.
- Rich people can afford to buy everything they want.
- She reads a lot of books and has a rich vocabulary.
- The man just wanted a strong drink.
- This coffee has a very strong smell.
- The strong wind stopped us from going for a walk yesterday.
Use
Before a specific noun we must put only a specific adjective to convey a specific meaning. If we use another adjective, the meaning could sound strange and not natural.
Summary
Collocations are a pair or group of words which habitually appear together to convey a whole new meaning.
We use adjectives and nouns collocations putting adjectives before nouns.
The most commonly used adjectives and nouns collocations are:
- Big disappointment, big failure, big mistake, big surprise…;
- Heavy bag, heavy box, heavy rain, heavy snow, heavy suitcase, heavy traffic…;
- Rich culture, rich history, rich people, rich vocabulary…;
- Strong accent, strong drink, strong smell, strong taste, strong wind…
For example:
— “She has a strong Italian accent.” = The word accent is placed after the adjective strong in the sentence.
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.