Collocations about Music My older brother Alex is very musically gifted (he has a natural talent for music). He can play tunes from memory, without looking at sheet music (musical notation written on paper). He spends all his free time strumming a guitar (playing a guitar), composing music (creating music), and writing song lyrics (the…
Collocations related to Books & Movies My brother is a huge fan of movies. When he sees a movie trailer (a short video offering a preview of the movie), he counts down the days until the movie comes out (movie released) on opening night – that’s the first day a movie, show, concert, or performance…
Collocation about Food /Eating habits My mother radically changed her eating habits a few years ago. In the past, she ate a lot of junk food (food that is not nutritious/healthy) and was overweight. Sometimes she would try to go on a diet (eat less food and healthier food), but it would never last. But…
Collocations of Feelings I experienced a roller coaster of emotions (many different emotions one after another) when my son was born. During my wife’s pregnancy, I was ridiculously excited about the prospect of becoming a dad. On the big day, I’d imagined that everything would go smoothly and we’d be blissfully happy – but there…
Collocations Related to Behavior When I was a teenager, I was painfully shy (extremely shy). I loved reading books, and I had a vivid imagination (had a creative and colorful imagination). My best friend had a more outgoing personality (she liked to be friendly and sociable) and a good sense of humor (ability to make…
Collocations Related to Appearance My best friend Joanna is absolutely gorgeous -extremely beautiful. She has long, sleek, jet-black hair (sleek = smooth and straight, jet-black = perfectly black), pale blue eyes (pale = light color), and a radiant complexion (skin that appears healthy and full of energy). People always compliment her on her hourglass figure…
Collocations Related to Relationship When you move to a new city, it can be hard to make friends. You’ll probably have a number of casual acquaintances – people who you know on a basic level, but with whom you don’t have a significant relationship. Over time, some of these may become good friends or close…
Buy time E.g. She is just stalling to buy time. Do time E.g. He did time in a California prison. A race against time/the clock E.g. It’s a race against time to complete the construction. A whale of a time E.g. The kids had a whale of a time at the theme park. Time flies…
Take French leave Eg: The driver had taken French leave To go Dutch Eg: Sally said she wouldn’t let a man pay for her meal on a first date. She prefers to go Dutch. Dutch courage Eg: I think I’ll have a glass of whiskey for Dutch courage before I ask that girl if she…
A storm in a teacup Eg: Our argument was no big deal – just a storm in a tea cup It never rains but it pours Eg: I lost my wallet and now I’ve lost my phone. It never rains but it pours! Take a rain check Eg: No thanks. I’ll take the rain check….