Luyện ngữ pháp - English Collocations in Use - Intermediate - (Unit 1: Learning about collocations)


Using your dictionary

Introduce

A good learner’s dictionary will give you information on collocations. Sometimes the information is highlighted in some special way. In other cases, the examples used in the dictionary include the most common collocations.

In the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (CALD), common and useful collocations are given in bold type. Look at the CALD entry for the word pain and note how useful collocations are highlighted in bold.

pain /peɪn/ noun [c or u] 1 a feeling of physical suffering caused by injury or illness: Her symptoms included abdominal pain and vomiting. o Are you in (= suffering from) pain? o She was in constant pain. o These tablets should help to ease the pain. o I felt a sharp pain in my foot. o He's been suffering various aches and pains for years. 2 emotional or mental suffering: It’s a film about the pains and pleasures of parenthood. o The parents are still in great pain over the death of their child.
a pain (in the neck) INFORMAL someone or something that is very annoying: That child is a real pain in the neck.

Online dictionaries are very useful because you can search for a lot more information very quickly. The Cambridge Dictionary (dictionary.cambridge.org) provides definitions as well as more examples including the key word and links to the SMART Thesaurus. The SMART Thesaurus gives synonyms, related words and phrases of the word you are looking up. Here is the entry for ‘advice’ in the Cambridge online dictionary.

A good dictionary will also tell you if a collocation is formal or informal. For example, CALD indicates that to take somebody up on an offer is an informal collocation (accept an offer would be a more formal alternative).

offer /ˈɒf.ər/ noun [C] when someone asks you if you would like to have something or if you would like them to do something: "If you like I can do some shopping for you. " "That’s a very kind offer. " 0 I must say the offer of a weekend in Barcelona quite tempts me. o INFORMAL One day I 'II take you up on (= accept) that offer.

Tip
When you buy a dictionary, make sure it gives good, clear information about collocations. When you look up words, if you don’t know the collocations, highlight them in your dictionary or transfer them to your vocabulary notebook.
- Lesson 2: Exercises 2.4 - Lesson 3: Exercises 3.1


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