1. Collocation Dr. Baramee Kheovichai English Talk 2017 7 June
Faculty of Arts, Silpakorn University

2. Which of the following phrases doesn’t feel right?
1. apply for a job
2. do your best
3. catch a job
4. make money

3. What is collocation
Collocation refers to a group of two or more words that usually go together.
A good way to think of collocation is to look at the word collocation.
Co - together
location - place
Collocation = words that are located together.
A good answer to "What is collocation?" is:
Collocation is a group of two or more words that like to hang out together.

4. Here are some examples of common collocations that you might know:
make tea - I made a cup of tea for lunch. do homework - I did all of my homework yesterday.
Make and Do are perfect examples of verbs that go together with specific nouns.
A verb + noun combination that always go together are considered collocations.
Even though it is possible to use other word combinations, understanding collocations helps English learners improve their fluency because they are words that usually go together.

5. noise the laundry a fuss the errands the shopping sense
Activity 1 : Which of the following words collocate with “make” and which ones collocate with “do”?
noise the laundry
a fuss the errands
the shopping
sense
the bed a deal a chore

6. Answer Key make noise make the bed make a deal make a fuss make sense
do the laundry
do the errands do a chore do the shopping

7. Collocation vs Phrasal Verbs
Some books regard verbs followed by preposition/particle as phrasal verbs and collocation only refers to lexical words combination such as verb+noun, adjective+noun (Carter & McCarthy, 2007).
In linguistics, verbs followed by preposition are also regarded as a type of collocation. This is also referred to as ‘Colligation’ (Hunston, 2002).

8. Common patterns of collocation
1. verb + noun: watch TV
5. noun + noun: summer school
I am watching TV.
Many students don’t like summer school.
2. verb + preposition: afraid of
6. adjective + noun: strong tea
I am afraid of height.
She likes strong tea.
3. verb + adverb: listen carefully
7. adverb + adjective : Totally different
You have to listen carefully.
Today I will do something totally different.
4. noun + verb: Dogs bark.

9. Activity 2: adjective + preposition collocation

10. Answer Key 1. Are you going to apply for that job at university?
2. What kind of sport are you keen on?
3. What sport are you good at?
4. I am afraid of losing my job.
5. You should prepare for your interview.
6. I am proud of my mother.
7. Did you succeed in finding your friend ?
8. The man is accused of stealing.
9. We arrived in New York yesterday.

11. Collocation related to sports and other activities
“Do”, “play” or “go” with sports and other activities
Go skiing Do karate Play tennis

12. When do we use “go”, “play” or “do”?
Go swimming
Go skiing
Do athletics
Do Karate
Play football
Play chess

13. Go is used with activities and sports that end in -ing
Go is used with activities and sports that end in -ing. The verb go here implies that we go somewhere to practice this sport: go swimming.
Do is used with recreational activities and with individual, non- team sports or sports in which a ball is not used, like martial arts, for example: do athletics, do karate.
Play is generally used with team sports and those sports that need a ball or similar object (puck, disc, shuttlecock...). Also, those activities in which two people or teams compete against each other: play football, play poker, play chess.

14. Some exceptions to the rules:
You use do with three activities that end in -ing: do boxing, do body-building and do weight-lifting because they don't imply moving along as the other activities ending in -ing.
Golf: if there is an idea of competition, you use the verb play. However, you can say go golfing if you do it for pleasure: Tiger Woods plays golf. We'll go golfing at the weekend. 

15. Activity 3: Put the following words in the right column
riding
taekwondo
gymnastics
aerobics
jogging
badminton
Table-tennis
judo
fishing
sailing
Kung-fu
windsurfing
basketball
ballet
cricket
hockey
skiing
rugby
volleyball
snowboarding
exercise

16. Answer Key Go Do Play riding aerobics badminton jogging gymnastics
table-tennis
fishing
taekwondo
basketball
sailing
judo
cricket
windsurfing
kung-fu
hockey
skiing
ballet
Rugby
snowboarding
exercise
volleyball

17. Activity 4: Collocation and listening activity
Listen to the following song and complete the collocations

18. Answer Key Come in Look up unknown words Sit down Come down
Turn off your phone
Cheer up
Follow all the rules
Be through
Listen up to the teacher
Be down
Take out your notebook
Look at
Write down the answer
Give up
Help you out
Work out
Speak up

19. Where can you find information about collocation?

20. Collocation Dictionary