COLLOCATIONS WITH SIMPLE VERBS
CATCH
a cold, or some other infection; a bus
COME TO
an agreement; a conclusion; a decision
DO
business (with sby); one's best; damage (to stg); (one's) duty; an experiment; (sby) a favour; good; (one's) hair; (sby/stg) justice; (sby) a kindness; a lesson; right; (sby) a service; a translation; the washing-up; wonders; work; homework; wrong.
EARN
a leaving; money; a salary; a reputation; wages
FIND
an answer (to a question); a solution (to a problem); time (for stg)
Follow
(sby's) example; a procedure; advice
GAIN
an advantage (over sby); a grip on (stg); a hold on (stg)
GET AND KEEP WILL OCCUR IN THE FOLLOWING PATTERNS:
GET the tickets |
KEEP the change |
GET me a newspaper |
KEEP me a seat |
GET your book out |
KEEP your head down |
GET ready |
KEEP warm |
GET your room ready |
KEEP your room tidy |
GIVE (sby)
(some) advice; an answer; a blow; a definition (of stg.); a description (of stg); encouragement; an excuse; an explanation; (some) help; a kick; a kiss; permission (to do stg); a pinch; a punch; a reply; support; trouble; a welcome
give (stg)
a brush; a polish; a rub; a trial; a wash; a wipe
go for
a drive; a run; a swim; a walk
GRANT
admission; an interview; permission; a request
HAVE
an argument (with sby); a bath; a bathe; a dance; {a/no} desire for (stg); a drink (of water); an effect (on sby or stg); a look at (stg); a rest; a sleep; a talk with (sby); a swim; a wash
KEEP
an eye on (stg); (stg) under control; (one's) temper [see also GET]
LOSE
the advantage; control of (stg); (one's) temper
MAKE
an accusation (against sby); an agreement (with sby); an attack on sby; an attempt; a bargain (with sby); a bed; certain (of something); a calculation; a choice; a comment; a contribution (to stg); a copy (of stg); a correction; a criticism; a decision; a difference; a discovery; an escape; an excuse; friends; a fortune; fun of stg/sby; a good job of stg; haste; an inquiry (into stg); an improvement (on stg); an investigation (into stg); a journey; love (to sby); a mark; a mistake; money; a move; a noise; a note (of stg); an observation; (sby) an offer; peace; progress; a proposal; a recommendation; a reduction (in stg); a reference (to stg); a report on stg; a request (to sby, for stg); a reservation; room for sby; sense of stg; sure (of stg); a suggestion; time for stg; trouble (for sby); use of stg/sby; war on people; a will.
offer (sby)
an apology; one's congratulations; an explanation; one's resignation; a suggestion.
PAY
attention to stg/sby; a call on sby; a visit to sby
PUT
emphasis on stg/sby; a question to sby; stg on record
REACH
an agreement; a conclusion; a decision
SUBMIT
an application; one's resignation
TAKE
a breath; care of; hold of; an interest in; measurement of stg; a note of; notice of; a photograph; pity on sby; trouble over sby/stg.
Notes:
The pattern give a push is frequently used to refer to one performance of an action, e.g. PUSH.
The pattern find a solution enables the speaker to replace a verb, e.g. SOLVE, in case like the following:
We cannot solve this problem in such a way that everyone will be satisfied.
We cannot find a solution {that will / to} satisfy everybody.
COLLOCATIONS IN ENGLISH.
BBC English.
WINNING AND LOOSING.
You can win or lose amongst other things a match, a game, a race, a medal, a trophy , an award, a title or even an election.
If you do particularly well you could break a record /*******/, perhaps even the world record. But if you do, it's important not to get complacent and rest on your laurels. Your one and only win can be just a flash in the pan. If you are not careful next time, you may get beaten, you may be out of the game .There's always a chance though that you could stage a comeback. Comebacks are a tricky business but - who knows?- it may work. You may just be on the brink of a historic victory!
MONEY
Here are some of the common English word combinations, collocations from the world of money. You can either earn money or make it.
If you earn money, it comes down to you from the organization or the individual that employs you. But it's that organization or individual that actually makes money, brings in the profits.
There are two nouns: moneymaking and profitmaking.
«They're making lots of money». = They're well off.
«Her main interest is moneymaking».
The profit - motive / *******/ is the starting point in the moneymaking process and to discuss that process fluently in English there are a lot more word combinations. In English, you make money and you make a profit or profits.
Speaking about businesses
Entrepreneurs / *********** / start or set up businesses, they take risks and meet challenges. A company can equally make a loss or losses. It can even make or suffer serious losses. The important thing for survival is to be able to weather these losses and look forward to seeing revenues grow. A company breaks even when it spends as much as it makes profits. A business can be on the rocks, The ship that is on the rocks will probably come to a disaster soon.
«Their business was promising at first, but now it's on the rocks»
Speaking about personal finances
If you used to have money but haven't got much any more you are in reduced circumstances.
«She was rich but now she is living in reduced circumstances».
If you have a low income you are badly off. And the expressions to be better off and to be well off exist to describe happier financial situation. If you've got no money you are broke or stony broke (= completely broke). If you want to be discrete about your financial problems you can say,
«I'm a bit low on cash» ( which is usually a polite way of saying: 'I've got no cash, no money'.), or
«I've got a slight cash - flow problem.» ( if you are waiting for the payment for work already done and until that the money is received you don't have money ).
{If the employer hasn't paid you your wages or salary on time (a typical situation in Russia these days ) that money is called «wage-arrears».}
If you have no money NOW, NOT ALWAYS, you use to be hard up,
«Can you lend me *5? I'm a bit hard up at the moment».
But if you have no money and no home, you are down and out (= in dire strait{s}).
In slang,
«I haven't got a bean» means «I haven't got any money». That is less impressive to say «I've got a slight cash-flow problem».
CONFLICTS.
A crisis might arise. At the same time there might be description of tension mounting. Crisis arises, tension mounts. But at this point tension could still die down or subside. If the tension doesn't die down and the crisis escalates, it may be that violence erupts or fighting breaks out. Full scale conflict that is war, can also be described as erupting or breaking out. But in some cases war is officially declared. Wars and military campaigns are waged. People fight battles, but battles themselves rage before fighting dies down. And all this time the peacemakers may be hard at work trying to tame the raging beast that's out of control.
RELATIONSHIPS.
We talk about relationship between people, but one person has a relationship with another. People get together and form couples. It may be a love-match. If so, they will have fallen in love, or maybe even fallen madly in love.
They may get married or live together. If the relationship doesn't work then couples may split up or get divorced.
But all is not necessarily lost. People do sometimes get that together again. And there's always a chance that this time round they might be on the brink of a lasting relationship.
Pop groups and lovers break up. People break up but their relationships break down.
We have a special relationship, sexual relationship, work(ing) relationship, the lasting relationship.
BEING FAMOUS.
If you want to seek fame and fortune, it's best to have some kind of claim to fame. You may achieve fame because of your skills, talents. These might also bring you fame.
Fame can be addictive, you might become a fame-junky. Or things might go wrong and you'll pay the price of fame. There may be too much media interest. Fame can also be short-term. You might have ten minutes of fame and then -oh, horror of horrors,-slipping/sliding to obscurity. But you may just become so famous that it seems that you're going to live forever. That happens to celebrated actors or other celebrities.
But what of the great majority who never reach the pinnacles of fame, the people in the street? Some of them are happy to stay unknown, to remain in obscurity. Others might have a lurking wish to appear considerable, but still remain in obscurity, or they may become well-known and then disappear from public view.
THE CAREER LADDER.
Getting a job
When Paul left school he applied for (= he wrote an official request for) a job in the accounts department of a local engineering company. They gave him a job as a trainee (= a very junior person in a company). He didn't earn very much but they gave him a lot of training (= organised help and advice with learning the job), and sent him on training courses.
Note: Training is an uncountable noun, so you cannot say `a training'. You can only talk about training in (general), or a training course (if you want to refer to just one). Here you can use the verbs do or go on: «I did/ went on several training courses last year».
Moving up.
Paul worked hard at the company and his prospects (= future possibilities in the job) looked good. After his first year he got a good pay rise (= more money), and after two years he was promoted (given a higher position with more money and responsibility). After six years he was in charge of (= responsible for/ the boss of) the accounts department with five other employees (= workers in the company) under him (= under his responsibility/ authority).
Leaving the company.
By the time Paul was thirty, however, he decided he wanted a fresh challenge (= a new exciting situation). He was keen to work abroad, so he resigned from his company (= officially told the company he was leaving the job; you can also say `he quit the company') and started looking for a new job with a bigger company. After a couple of months he managed to find a job with an international company which involved (= included) a lot of foreign travel. He was very excited about the new job and at first he really enjoyed the travelling, but...
Hard times.
After about six months, Paul started to dislike the constant moving around, and after a year he hated it; he hated living in hotels, and he never really made any friends in the new company. Unfortunately his work wasn't satisfactory either and finally he was sacked (=told to leave the company/ dismissed/ given the sack) a year later.
After that, Paul found things much more difficult. He was unemployed (= out of work/without a job) for over a year. He had to sell his car and move out of his new house. Things were looking bad and in the end Paul had to accept a part-time job (= working only some of the day or some of the week) on a fruit and vegetable stall in a market.
Happier times.
To his surprise, Paul loved the market. He made lots of friends and enjoyed working out in the open air. After two years he took over (=took control of) the stall. Two years later he opened a second stall, and after ten years he had fifteen stalls. Last year Peter retired (= stopped working completely) at the age of 55, a very rich man.
*
Exercise 1.
Find the logical answer for each of the questions.
Why did they sack him?
Why did they promote him?
Why did he apply for the job?
Why did he retire?
Why did he resign?
Why did he go on the course?
Exercise 2.
Answer the questions as quickly as you can.
What does your job involve?
Are you responsible for anything or anyone?
Have you had much training from your company?
Have the company sent you on any training courses?
Have you been promoted since you started in the company?
Do you normally get a good pay rise at the end of each year?
How do you feel about your future prospects in the company?
Are you happy in the job or do you feel it's time for a fresh challenge in another company?
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