Collocation: an introduction

Grammar and Vocabulary for Cambridge Advanced and Proficiency

Unit 1 Section 5

Stative verbs

Ÿ Describe unchanging states

Ÿ Not normally used in continuous tenses

Ÿ Some of them describe mental processes

Ÿ Realise

Ÿ Suspect

Ÿ Believe

Ÿ Feel

Ÿ Remember

Ÿ understand, etc.

Ÿ Some of them describe emotional states

Ÿ Love

Ÿ Doubt

Ÿ Care

Ÿ Want

Ÿ Prefer

Ÿ Enjoy

Ÿ Despise

Ÿ Some of them describe senses

Ÿ Smell

Ÿ See

Ÿ Hear

Ÿ Taste

Ÿ Use can and could with smell, hear, see, taste, remembe and understand to describe what is happening at the moment:

Ÿ I can smell burning.

Common examples:

Ÿ Be

Ÿ Own

Ÿ Depend

Ÿ Contain

Ÿ Belong

Ÿ Deserve

Ÿ Include

Ÿ Possess

Ÿ Fit

 

Stative verbs can be used in continuous tenses:

1. With active meaning:

Ÿ I’m tasting this to see if there is enough salt.

Ÿ She’s being rather obstinate at the moment

2. To emphasize change or development:

Ÿ More schools will be including Shakespeare on their syllabuses

3. With a change in meaning:

Ÿ She’s having a baby (she is pregnant) - She has a baby (the baby is already born)

Ÿ I’m seeing her later (have an appointment) - I see what you’re on about (understand)

4. In reference to physical feelings (hurt, ache, feel, etc.) in Simple or Continuous with little or no difference in meaning:

Ÿ My head aches/is aching.

Ÿ How are you feeling/ do you feel?

Unit 1 Section 6

Collocation: an introduction

Collocations - words that frequently go together

Ÿ Time flies/ goes by/ wears on/ passes

Ÿ Academic year

Ÿ Productive/ fruitful discussion

No logical explanations for collocations

Grammatical forms

Ÿ Adverb+adjective (hopelessly addicted)

Ÿ Adjecitve+noun (formative years)

Ÿ Noun+noun (policy review)

Ÿ Verb+noun (honor the pledge)

Ÿ Dependent preposition (ashamed of)

Ÿ Part of a longer phrase (to delve into the past)

Types of collocations

Ÿ Fixed (strong) - have a limited number of collocates, highly idiomatic

Ÿ Open (weak) - have a larger number of possible collocates

Ÿ Some can be changed by using a different grammatical form or adding words: gain (an awful lot of) weight

Ÿ Some sound unnatural if changed: a tidal wave (not the wave was tidal), agreed unconditionally (not unconditionally agreed)

 

Collocation	Translation	Example
Delve into the past	Разбираться в прошлом	It’s always interesting to delve into the past.
Honor one’s pledge	Cдержать обещание	We will honor our pledge to reduce unemployment.
Hopelessly addicted	Безнадежно пристраститься	I am hopelessly addicted to coffee.
Formative years	Начало карьеры, становление личности	I remember my formative years.
Genuinely moved	Искренне растроганный	People were genuinely moved by the pictures of the rescued child.
Contrast to	Противоположность (кому-либо)	Paul is such an introvert: a real contrast to his brother.
Question the wisdom	Ставить под вопрос правильность	I would question the wisdom of such an approach.
Backbreaking work	Каторжный труд	Clearing out that room was backbreaking work.
Breath of fresh air	Глоток свежего воздуха	She’s a real breath of fresh air.
Road works	Дорожные работы	I’m fed up with the endless road works on the Botley Road.
In a flash	В мгновение ока	I’ll be back in a flash.
Stark raving mad	В конец обезумевший	She’s stark raving mad.
Stark naked	В чем мать родила	He came to the door stark naked.
Stark reminder	Суровое напоминание	The outbreak of violence served as a stark reminder of how fragile the peace was.
Bone idle	Ленивый до мозга костей	You’re bone idle.
Bone dry	Абсолютно сухой	This soil is bone dry.
On the dot	Минута в минуту, ровно в	My boss usually arrives at eight o’clock on the dot.
Safe and sound	Целый и невредимый	The children arrived safe and sound.
Price oneself out of the market	Завысить цены и потерять покупателей	We’re in danger of pricing ourselves out of the property market.
A tidal wave	Приливная волна (тж. в переносном смысле)	The tidal wave will affect all of Japan.
Agreed unconditionally	Безоговорочно согласились	They agreed unconditionally.
Water purification	Очистка воды	Purify water, water purifying gadget, water purification.
Fruitful meeting	Плодотворная встреча	The leaders claimed the meeting had been fruitful.
Soar dramatically	Резко взлететь	House prices soared dramatically in recent months.
Whole-heartedly agree	Искренне согласиться	I whole-heartedly agree with everything you said.
For the time being	Пока что	Let’s leave it at that for the time being and continue tomorrow.
In the twinkling of an eye	В мгновение ока	In the twinkling of an eye the swindler had vanished, never to return.
In next to no time	Совсем скоро	In next to no time they had become the best of friends.
Since time immemorial	С незапамятных времен	The Whittington familz have lived there since time immemorial.
In the nick of time	Как раз вовремя	I arrived in the nick of time to prevent a potential disaster.
Time-consuming job	Дело, отнимающее много времени	Cooking good French food can be a very time-consuming job.
In the dead of night	Глубокой ночью	I was awoken in the dead of night by a strange noise from outside.

 

 

Word	Collocations
wealth	Accumulate/ acquire/ amass/ come into/ flaunt your/ inherit
politics	Abandon/ be involved in/ dabble in/ enter/ go into/ engage in
prices	Dropped/ fell/ plummeted/ slumped/ fluctuated/ remained steady/ rose/ shot up/ soared/ spiralled/ went through the roof
timing	Perfect/ immaculate/ exquisite
gain	On somebody (нагонять)/ several minutes (спешить, о часах) / access
dead	On time/ heat (ничья)/ of night (глубокая ночь)
dying	Seconds (последние секунды)/ to meet smb./ out
dim	And distant past/ view (скептическое отношение)/ recollection (смутные воспоминания)
peak	Viewing time/ of one’s career/ season
minute	A meeting/ be kept up to the m. on (держать в курсе)/ the m. smth. happens
broken	Out / home (неблагополучная семья)/ sleep (тревожный сон)

 

 

Unit 6 Section 3