English Collocations: Words That Go Together

A collocation is a pair or group of words that naturally go together, like make a decision or heavy rain. Some words just sound right together, but changing the word for another one can make the sentence sound off.

Key takeaways

• A collocation is words that naturally go together, like make a decision.
• The grammar can be correct but still sound wrong if the pairing is off.
• Learn the whole pair.
• Verbs like make, do, take, and have cause many collocation slips.

How to use collocations

1. Use the verb that pairs with the noun.

• ✓ I need to make a decision.
• ✗ I need to do a decision.

2. Use make and do correctly.

• ✓ She made a mistake in the test.
• ✗ She did a mistake in the test.

3. Use the adjective that pairs with the noun.

• ✓ We had heavy rain all day.
• ✗ We had strong rain all day.

4. Keep set phrases in their usual form.

• ✓ Let me take a photo.
• ✗ Let me make a photo.

Test yourself

Collocations turn correct English into natural English. Practise the common pairs out loud and get instant feedback on Speechful. Start practising free →