Chapter 8 Collocation

Chapter 8 Collocations
Collocation is the way words combine in a language to produce a natural-sounding speech and writing. For example, in English you say strong wind but heavy rain. It would
not be normal to say heavy wind or strong rain.
Collocation is the important method of lexical cohesion. runs through the whole of the English language. No piece of natural spoken or written English is totally free of
collocation. For the student, choosing the right collocation will make his speech and
writing sound much more natural, more native-speaker-like. A student who talks about
strong rain may make himself understood, but possibly not without provoking a smile or
a correction, which may or may not matter. He will certainly be marked down for it in an
exam. (Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English, edited by Jonathan
Crowther, Sheila Dignen and Diana Lea, 2001.)
Words can collocate with different degrees of frequency and acceptability. e.g.
high-frequency verb collocate of “story” would be “tell”. Some collocations are
unacceptable, for example, “strong tea” is O.K., but one cannot speak of “powerful tea”.
1. Definition of collocation
1) (Bri. ) Firth: “…you shall know the word by the company it keeps.”;
2) (Bri.) Leech: “one of seven types word meaning, collocation meaning”;
3) (Ame. L.) Morton Benson: “ …is the combination of the co-occurrence in a language.”
4) Halliday: “Collocation is a natural co-occurrence of lexical items, a word or phrase that
is often used with another word or phrase. “
So some words may go together, some may not. This natural combination of words is called collocation. A collocation is a pair or group of words that are often used
together.
– E.g. …do an experiment‟, not …make an experiment‟.
2. Classification of collocation
Benson, Benson & Ilson (2007): Collocations fall into two major groups: Grammatical collocations: a phrase consisting of a dominant word (nouns, adjectives, verbs) and a preposition or grammatical structure.
Lexical collocations: consist of nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs, and do not contain prepositions, infinitives, or clauses.lexical collocation: the combination of two full lexical items
a. Noun (as subject) + Verb
b. Verb + Noun (as object)
c. Adjective + Noun
G1「N+ Prep」：The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
G2「N + to Inf」: It was a pleasure to do business with you.
G3「N +that Cl」：I took an oath that I would do my duty.
G4「Prep+ N」：Major earthquakes can be predicted months in advance.
G5「Adj + Prep」：We were hungry for more success.
G6「Adj + to Inf」：It is necessary to understand the nature of science.
G7「Adj + that Cl」：He was afraid that he might lose his job.
L1「V+ N」：The computer software program can help young children compose music. L2「Adj+ N」：I can give you a rough estimate over the phone.
L4「N+ V」：Our burglar alarm goes off unexpectedly.
L5「N+ of+ N」：He sent her a bouquet of flowers.
L6「Adv + Adj」：The good manager will be keenly aware of the needs of others.
L7「V+ Adv」：Students vary considerably in their abilities to understand the second language.
As we can see the way items combine can be a major source of frustration for nonnative speakers. Therefore, some ESL professionals believe that when learning a new word, students also need to learn the common collocates of the word. These collocates can be “presented” along with the target word or the word can be used in a number of authentic sentences and students can figure out the collocates on their own.
Students can test their knowledge of collocates by doing matching exercises.
3. Types of collocation
1) fixed combination (固定型组合)
see eye to eye (with) (意见一致)
see red (大为生气), see stars (眼冒金星)
2) natural collocation （习惯型搭配）
a cat mews, a rooster crows,
a bird chirps, a tiger roars
3) free combination （自由型组合）
–T he economy boomed in the 1990s
–T he company has expanded and now has branches in major cities.
–T he price increase poses a problem for us.
✧The economy boomed in the 1990s.
✧The company has expanded and now has branches in major cities.
✧The price increase poses a problem for us.
1) adj. + n.
a major problem/ a key issue/ a chief chat
fast quick
food meal car glance
2) n. + v.
发动汽车start the car 经营公司run a company
成家start a family 开店run a shop
说实话tell the truth 思念一个人miss a person
讲笑话tell a joke 错过一节课miss a lesson
– n. + n.
– As Sam read the lies about him, he felt a surge of anger.
– Every parent feels a sense of pride when…
.3) n. + n.
✧When Paul saw how harshly the poor little girl was treated, he felt a surge of
______.
✧If people have a sense of ______ in their town, they are more likely to behave well
there.
4) v.+ prep.
✧B urst into tears, filled with horror
5) v. +adv.
✧He whispered softly to Her.
✧He placed the beautiful vase gently on the window ledge.
✧Perhaps it’s a good thing that Ken’s ______ unaware of what people really think of
him.
✧I am _____ aware that there will be problems whatever we decide.
✧Nadya smiled ________ as she watched the children playing in the garden.
4. Common errors
1) V + N:
* learn knowledge – acquire/ broaden/ increase/ extend/ gain/ improve knowledge (增进知识)
* kill problem – attack/ combat/ deal with/ ease/ grapple with/ overcome/ resolve/ solve/ tackle problem (解决问题)
* make problem – create/ cause problem (造成问题)
raise (提出)a question/ *suggestion/ *warning/ * an application/ *one’s resignation 2) A + N:
* sour rain – acid rain (酸雨)
* hearty greeting – hearty welcomes(热烈欢迎)
* thick tea – strong tea (浓茶)
* toxic snake – poisonous snake (毒蛇)
Practice:
1. An explosion of chemicals in the factory started a large fire. (big)
2. The car runs at a mean speed of fifty miles an hour. (average)
3. You have a nice-looking hat. (nice)
4. There are many high buildings in this university. (tall)
5. In big cities such as Shanghai, the number of trees and other greenery is very small.
(scarce)
6. In Shanghai, the traffic is too difficult. (heavy)
7. But when the customers buy the goods, they may find they are of bad quality.
(low/poor)
8. However, the speed of a car is much faster than that of a bicycle. (greater)
9. In the past the price of milk was so expensive that most families could not afford it.
(high)
10. The opportunities for being promoted in a joint venture will be smaller if one cannot
speak English. (fewer)
11. That the moon moves round the earth is ordinary sense. (common)
12. The inactive volcano may erupt at any time. (dormant)
13. We mush have a good command of daily English. (everyday)
14. My watch is quick, and yours is slow. (fast)
15. The scientist‟s speech drew many audiences. (a large)
16. The angle contained by the lines AB and AC is a straight angle. (right)
17. The ill engineer has recovered. (sick)
18. Penicillin is considered a special medicine for infection. (specific)
19. Small drops of water in the air form clouds. (tiny)
20. This is the only empty room in the hotel. (vacant)
21. As a famous physicist, he received a hot welcome. (warm)
22. Charles Darwin is a clever man. (wise)
23. He is the only alive man who survived the shipwreck. (living)
3) N + N:
* job chance – job opportunity (工作机会)
4) N + of + N
cause of accident/ damage/ death/ trouble/ failure/ anxiety/ *success/ *progress
✧Learning collocation is mostly a matter of noticing and recording, and students
should be trained to be able to explore texts and select collocations which are crucial to their own writing needs.
✧Eventually, students are guided to internalize these prefabricated language
collocations/chunks to write a complete piece of research article (autonomous learning/ independent learners).
5. Fixed use of lexical collocation
1) Verbal collocation
1) We accused him ______ theft.
2) They indicted the official ______ taking bribes.
3) They impeaching the President ______ killing the boy astray.
4) Public opinion blamed her ____ leading the boy astray.
5) Mother scolded the child ___ telling a lie.
6) They were punished ____ selling drugs
控告/指控某人做某事。

accuse sb. of doing sth./charge sb. with doing sth.
indict sb. for doing sth./Impeach sb. of/for sth.
责备/谴责/批评/惩罚某人做某事。

blame sb. for sth./chide sb. for sth. /rebuke sb. for sth. /reproach sb. for sth.
reprimand sb. for sth. /criticize sb. for sth. /punish sb. for sth.
解雇/原谅某人做某事。

dismiss sb. for sth./discharge sb. for sth.
fire sb. for sth. /pardon sb. for sth. /forgive sb. for sth.
11) We discouraged him _______ trying again.
12) They encourag e her ______ study abroad.
13) The accident disabled him ________doing.
14) The noise hindered _______ further hearing.
阻止/禁止某人做某事
deter sb. from doing sth.
discourage…/dissuade …
hinder/prevent/prohibit/keep/debar/protect
ban/bar/forbid/disable/…
15) They deceived her _______ buying the defected good.
16) She tricked me _________ thinking that she was honest.
17) He deluded everyone ______ following him.
18) The mother coaxed her child _______ going to school.
欺骗/哄骗/诱骗某人做某事。

deceive sb. into doing sth./trick sb. into doing sth. /fool sb. into doing sth.
delude/inveigle/ juggle/bamboozle/hoax/coax/kid/charm/dupe/entrap trap/
lure/rope/seduce/wheedle/beguile
19) The robber intimidated the boy_____ shutting up.
20) The bandit frightened the cashier ______ opening the safe.
21) The sudden question of the judge surprised the murderer _____ telling the truth.
威协/恐吓/恫吓某人做某事。

frighten sb. into doing sth./Intimidate sb. into doing sth./threaten sb. into doing sth bludgeon sb. into doing sth. /stampede sb. Into doing sth. /bully sb. Into doing sth.
22) We’ll try to argue them _____ giving it up.
23) He finally talked his father ______ retiring.
24) She persuaded the boss _____ raising /raise her salary.
25) The minister advised him _____ leave as soon as possible.。