Collocation Lists

Collocation Lists On this page you can find a few short lists of collocations to give you more of an idea about them. Many good learner's dictionaries show collocations associated with specific words. There are also dictionaries of collocations, though these are more difficult to find.

Some common verbs have

have a bath have a drink  have a good time have a haircut have a holiday have a problem have a relationship have a rest have lunch have sympathy

do

do business do nothing do someone a favour  do the cooking do the housework  do the shopping do the washing up do your best do your hair  do your homework 

take break take a break   break a habit take a chance  break a leg take a look   break a promise take a rest  break a record take a seat  break a window take a taxi  break someone's heart take an exam  break the ice take notes  break the law take someone's place  break the news to someone take someone's temperature  break the rules pay

save save electricity  pay a fine save energy  pay attention save money  pay by credit card save one's strength  pay cash save someone a seat  pay interest save someone's life  pay someone a compliment save something to a disk   pay someone a visit save space  pay the bill save time  pay the price save yourself the trouble  pay your respects come

come close come complete with come direct come early

go

go abroad go astray go bad go bald

make make a difference make a mess make a mistake make a noise make an effort make furniture make money make progress make room make trouble catch

catch a ball catch a bus catch a chill catch a cold catch a thief  catch fire catch sight of  catch someone's attention catch someone's eye catch the flu keep

keep a diary keep a promise keep a secret keep an appointment keep calm keep control keep in touch keep quiet keep someone's place keep the change get

get a job get a shock  get angry get divorced

come first come into view come last come late come on time come prepared come right back  come second come to a compromise come to a decision come to an agreement come to an end come to a standstill come to terms with come to a total of  come under attack 

go bankrupt go blind go crazy go dark  go deaf  go fishing go mad go missing go on foot go online go out of business go overseas go quiet go sailing go to war  go yellow

get drunk  get frightened get home get lost get married get nowhere get permission get pregnant get ready get started get the impression get the message get the sack  get upset get wet get worried

Miscellaneous Time  bang on time dead on time early 12th century free time from dawn till dusk  great deal of time late 20th century make time for  next few days  past few weeks right on time run out of time save time spare time spend some time take your time tell someone the time time goes by time passes waste time

Collocation Quizzes »

ADVERB+ADJECTIVE entirely convinced

Business English annual turnover   bear in mind  break off negotiations cease trading chair a meeting close a deal close a meeting come to the point dismiss an offer  draw a conclusion draw your attention to launch a new product lay off staff  go bankrupt go into partnership make a loss make a profit market forces sales figures take on staff 

Classifiers

a ball of string a bar of chocolate a bottle of water  a bunch of carrots a cube of sugar  a pack of cards a pad of paper 

consistently successful utterly (amazed, successful) completely useless virtually impossible

ADVERB+VERB absoluely adore barely see bitterly regret distinctily remember dramatically increase eagerly await fully investigate heavily rely on profusely apologize seriously wonder soundly sleep strongly (suggest, recommend) thoroughly investigate  Adverb+verb Completely agree Rightfully belong  Adverb+adjective Fully aware Properly used Completely vague Beautifully madeup.

Do+ the shopping + work + homework + housework + the cleaning + the cooking + the laundry + the salad + the dishes + gardening + something + nothing + a good job + business + errands + a favour + a puzzle + exercise + an exercise + science (at school)

+ the washing + the washing up + a quiz + a text + good + harm + well + fine + wisely + your best

Make + progress + a mess + furniture + trouble + war + peace + a change + plans + arrangements + a telephone call + a deal + a scene + an effort + an excuse + a mistake + a noise + trouble + a phone call + a journey + an offer + a suggestion + a speech + a decision + a choice + the bed + a dress + money + a fortune + a profit + friends + food + a meal

+ breakfast + lunch + dinner + a promise + a list + a cake + a sentence + an exception + a cup coffee + a glass of tea Verb and Preposition Collocations Click for Audio  The following is a list of verbs and prepositions which commonly appear together. accuse (someone) of ([doing] something) add (something) to (something else) admire (someone) for ([doing] something) agree on (topic) agree with (someone) apologize to (someone) for ([doing] something) apply to (a place) for (something) approve of (something) argue with (someone) about (topic) arrive at (a building, room, site, event) arrive in (a city, country) ask (someone) about (someone/topic) ask (someone) for (something) believe in (something) belong to (someone) blame (someone) for ([doing] something) borrow (something) from (someone) care about (someone/something/topic) comment on (topic) compare (something) to/with (something else) complain to (someone) about (something) concentrate on ([doing] something) congratulate (someone) for/on ([doing] something) consist of (some things) consent to ([doing] something) contribute to (something) count on (someone) to (do something) cover (something) with (something else) decide on (topic) depend on (someone) for (something) discuss (something) with (someone)

distinguish (something) from (something else) dream about/of (someone/something) escape from (somewhere) explain (topic) to (someone) excuse (someone) for ([doing] something) forgive (someone for ([doing] something) get rid of (something) graduate from (a place) happen to (someone) help (someone) with (something) hide (something) from (someone) insist (up)on (something) introduce (someone) to (someone else) invite (someone) to (an event) keep (something) for (someone) matter to (someone) object to (something) participate in (something) pay (price) for (something) pray for (someone/something) prefer (something) to (something else) prevent (someone) from ([doing] something) prohibit (someone) from ([doing] something) protect (someone) from (something) provide (someone) with (something) recover from (something) rely (up)on (someone/something) remind (someone) of (something) rescue (someone) from (something) respond to (someone/something) save (someone) from (something) search for (something) separate (something) from (something else) scold (someone) for ([doing] something) smile at (someone) for ([doing] something) speak to/with (someone) about (topic) /br>stare at (something/someone) stop (someone) from ([doing] something) subscribe to (something) substitute (something) for (something else/someone) subtract (something) from (something else) succeed in ([doing] something) suffer from (something) take advantage of (someone/something/ situation) take care of (something/someone) talk to/with (someone) about (topic) thank (someone) for ([doing] something) travel to (somewhere) vote for (someone) vouch for (someone)

wait for (someone/something) wish for (something) work for (company/something/someone) Preposition Collocations with "Be" Click for Audio

be absent from

be absolved of

be accepted as/to

be according to

be accused of

be accustomed to

be acquainted with

be adamant about

be addicted to

be affected by

be afraid of

be after

be alarmed at

be aligned with

be (all) set for

be amazed at/by

be an authority on

be angry about/at/with

be annoyed at/with

be anxious about

be appropriate for

be armed with

be around

be arrested for

be ashamed of

be associated with

be astonished at/by

be at it (again)

be attached to

be attracted to

be aware of

be away from

be back (from)

be bad at

be bad for

be banned from

be based (up)on

be behind (schedule)

be bent on

be biased about

be big on

be blamed for

be blessed with

be bored with

be capable of 

be carried away about/with

be caught up in

be centered around

be certain of

be charged with

be classified as

be clear about

be clear to

be clever at

be close to

be cluttered (up) with

be a combination of

be compared to

be compensated for

be composed of

be comprised of

be concerned about/with

be confident of

be confused about

be congratulated for/on

be connected to/with

be conned into

be considerate of  

be considered for

be content with

be contrary to

be convenient for/to

be convinced of

be convicted of/for

be coordinated with

be covered with

be crammed into

be crazy about

be credited with

be criticized for/as

be bound for

be crowded with

be dedicated to

be delighted with

be dependent (up)on

be devoted to

be different from/than

be disappointed about/at/in/with

be discouraged about

be discriminated against

be disgusted with

be disillusioned with

be disqualified for

be disposed of 

be distinguished from be divided into

be divorced (from)

be done with

be down

be down on/with

be dragged into

be dressed (up) in

be drunk with/on

be east of

be elected as/to

be eligible for

be embarrassed about/at

be encouraged by

be entailed in

be engaged to/in

be entrusted with

be envious of  

be equal/equivalent to be equipped with

be estranged from

be evicted from

be excited about

be expelled from

be faithful to

be faced with

be familiar with/to

be famous for

be fanatic(al) about

be fascinated with

be fed up with

be filled with

be finished with

be fired for/from

be followed by

be fond of  

be for the sake of

be fraught with

be free from/of  

be friendly to/with

be frightened by/at

be full of 

be glad to

be good at

be good to

be gone to/with

be grateful for/to

be guilty of  

be furnished with

be half-hearted about be hailed as

be happy about/with

be headed for/to/toward

be hired as/for

be immersed in

be imposed (up)on

be impressed by/with

be in

be in accordance with

be in agreement with

be an indication of

be an issue of

be in back of  

be in bed with

be in cahoots with

be in charge of  

be hard on be hitched to

be in common with

be in conjunction with

be in contact with

be in control of

be in danger of

be in exchange for

be in favor of

be in front of

be in honor of  

be in hope(s) of

be in love with

be in need of  

be in on

be in place of

be in possession of  

be in proximity to

be in reference to

be in regard to

be in response to

be in return for

be in search of  

be in store for

be in sync with

be in tandem with

be in the habit of

be in the middle of

be in the midst of  

be in the vicinity of

be in time for

be in touch with

be in trouble with/for

be in tune with

be incensed with

be inducted into

be inferior to

be infested with

be informed about

be innocent of

be insecure about

be insistent (up)on

be interested in

be into

be involved in

be irritated at/with

be isolated from

be kind to

be knowledgeable about

be labeled as

be leery of

be left of/with

be less than

be limited to

be located at/near

be mad at/about

be made of/from

be married to

be a matter of

be the matter with

be mean to

be meant to

be a measure of

be mindful of  

be named as/after

be next to

be nice to

be notorious for

be north of

be nuts about

be obedient to

be oblivious about/to be obsessed with

be obvious to

be off

be okay with

be on

be on behalf of

be on the brink of  

be on the edge of

be on the verge of

be on time for

be jealous of  be kind of be known as/for

be lower than

be more than

be on to

be on top of

be open about/for/to

be opposed to

be opposite from

be oppressed by

be out

be out of

be out of concern for

be out of contact with be out of sync with

be out of touch with

be outraged about

be outspoken about

be over with

be parallel to

be partial to

be patient with

be a pattern of

be pegged as

be perturbed at/about

be pleased with

be polite to

be popular with

be praised for/about

be precious to

be preoccupied with

be prepared for

be prohibited from

be promoted to

be provided with

be proud of

be psyched about

be punished for

be put off by

be qualified for

be a question of  

be ready for

be regarded as

be related to

be relevant to

be relieved of

be remembered for

be rescued from

be reserved for

be responsible for

be retired from

be rid of

be rife with

be right to

be riled up (about)

be roped into

be satisfied with

be saved from

be scared of  

be selected as/for

be sensible about

be separated from

be set on

be shocked at

be short of  

be sick of/about

be a sign of

be similar to

be soft on

be sorry about/for

be sort of  

be south of

be specialized in

be spoken for

be startled at

be strange to

be a stranger to

be rude to

be stressed out about be stuck on/with

be stunned at

be subject to

be sufficient for

be suitable for

be superior to

be sure of

be surprised at/about

be suspected of

be suspended from

be a symbol of  

be taken aback by/at be taken in by

be tantamount to

be tapped as/by

be terrified of/with

be there for

be a threat to

be through with

be ticked off about

be tired of

be tuned (in)to

be to the left of  

be under arrest

be under fire for

be to the right of  be uncalled for

be under investigation be up against for

be up front with

be up in arms about

be up on

be up to

be upset about/with

be uptight about

be used for

be used to

be useful to

be valued as/at

be vindicated of  

be wary of/about

be west of

be whipped into

be wiped out

be with it

be with reference to

be with respect to

be worked up about

be worried about

be wrapped up in

be wrong with

be zealous about