Collocations: 50 Common Examples With Meanings and Sentences

Some English words naturally belong together.

We say “make a decision”, not “do a decision”. We say “heavy rain”, not “strong rain”. We also say “take a break”, “pay attention” and “catch a bus”.

These natural word combinations are called collocations.

Learning collocations is important because correct grammar alone does not always make English sound natural. Cambridge explains collocation as the way words regularly occur together or form established relationships. For example, “heavy rain” is natural English, while “thick rain” is not.

In this lesson, you will learn common types of collocations, 50 useful examples, common mistakes and a short exercise with answers.

For more vocabulary lessons, explore the Eng Only Eng Vocabulary section.

What Is a Collocation?

A collocation is a combination of two or more words that are commonly used together.

For example:

make a mistake

strong coffee

heavy traffic

deeply worried

take an exam

The individual words may be grammatically correct in other combinations, but some combinations simply sound more natural.

For example:

Correct: heavy rain

Unnatural: powerful rain

Correct: make a mistake

Incorrect: do a mistake

The British Council notes that using the correct collocation helps English sound more natural and precise.

Why Are Collocations Important?

Learning collocations helps you use vocabulary as complete patterns instead of learning isolated words.

If you learn only the word “decision”, you may not know whether to use “make”, “do” or “take” before it.

If you learn the complete collocation “make a decision”, you can use it correctly straight away.

Collocations can improve your:

Speaking

Writing

Vocabulary

Reading comprehension

Exam performance

Natural sentence formation

The British Council also recommends noticing word combinations in real texts and recording useful collocations together rather than memorising individual words only.

Common Types of Collocations

English collocations appear in several patterns.

Verb + Noun

make a decision

do homework

catch a bus

pay attention

Adjective + Noun

heavy rain

strong coffee

high temperature

great opportunity

Adverb + Adjective

deeply worried

highly successful

completely different

perfectly clear

Noun + Noun

traffic jam

school bus

football match

language skills

Verb + Adverb

speak softly

work hard

smile politely

apologise sincerely

Knowing these patterns makes it easier to recognise new collocations while reading.

50 Common Collocations With Meanings and Examples

Collocation	Meaning	Example Sentence
make a decision	choose something	We need to make a decision today.
make a mistake	do something incorrectly	Everyone can make a mistake.
make progress	improve	Priya is making good progress in English.
make an effort	try hard	Make an effort to speak English every day.
make friends	form friendships	Rohan made new friends at college.
do homework	complete school work	I do my homework after dinner.
do exercise	perform physical activity	We should do regular exercise.
do your best	try as hard as possible	Just do your best in the exam.
take a break	stop briefly to rest	Let us take a break after this lesson.
take notes	write important information	Students should take notes during class.
take an exam	sit for an examination	I will take an English exam next month.
take responsibility	accept responsibility	He took responsibility for the mistake.
pay attention	concentrate	Please pay attention to the teacher.
pay a visit	visit someone or somewhere	We paid a visit to the museum.
catch a bus	get on a bus	I catch a bus to school every morning.
catch a cold	become ill with a cold	She caught a cold during winter.
keep a promise	do what you promised	Good friends keep their promises.
keep in touch	continue communicating	We still keep in touch after school.
have breakfast	eat the morning meal	I have breakfast at seven.
have a problem	experience difficulty	I have a problem with this question.
have fun	enjoy yourself	The children had fun at the school event.
give advice	advise someone	My teacher gave me useful advice.
give permission	allow something	The teacher gave us permission to leave.
ask a question	request information	You can ask a question at any time.
tell the truth	say what is true	Always tell the truth.
heavy rain	a lot of rain	Heavy rain continued all night.
heavy traffic	many vehicles causing delay	We were late because of heavy traffic.
strong coffee	coffee with a powerful flavour	My father prefers strong coffee.
strong argument	convincing argument	She presented a strong argument.
high temperature	elevated temperature	Delhi recorded a high temperature today.
high quality	very good quality	This dictionary is of high quality.
great opportunity	very good chance	This course is a great opportunity to learn.
great success	major success	The school event was a great success.
close friend	very good friend	Rahul is one of my close friends.
serious problem	important problem	Pollution is a serious problem.
hard work	strong effort	Success usually requires hard work.
bright future	promising future	Good education can lead to a bright future.
fast learner	someone who learns quickly	Neha is a fast learner.
deeply worried	very worried	His parents were deeply worried.
highly successful	very successful	The programme became highly successful.
completely different	totally different	The two answers are completely different.
perfectly clear	very easy to understand	The teacher’s explanation was perfectly clear.
strongly recommend	recommend with confidence	I strongly recommend this English dictionary.
fully aware	completely aware	She is fully aware of the rules.
speak English	communicate in English	Try to speak English every day.
speak softly	speak quietly	Please speak softly in the library.
work hard	make a strong effort	Students who work hard usually improve.
apologise sincerely	give a genuine apology	He apologised sincerely for his behaviour.
save time	use less time	This method can save time.
waste time	use time badly	Do not waste time before your exam.

Strong and Weak Collocations

Not every collocation has the same level of restriction.

Some combinations are very fixed.

For example:

utter disappointment

blissfully unaware

commit a crime

Other words can combine naturally with many different words.

For example:

big house

big problem

big difference

big opportunity

Cambridge describes these as strong and weak collocations. Strong collocations allow fewer natural alternatives, while weak collocations can combine with many different words.

You do not need to memorise these labels for everyday speaking, but understanding the idea helps explain why some word combinations feel more fixed than others.

Common Collocation Mistakes

One of the most common problems is choosing a word because it has a similar meaning.

Do a Mistake

Incorrect:

I did a mistake.

Correct:

I made a mistake.

Make Homework

Incorrect:

I made my homework.

Correct:

I did my homework.

Strong Rain

Unnatural:

There was strong rain yesterday.

Natural:

There was heavy rain yesterday.

Big Traffic

Incorrect:

There was big traffic.

Correct:

There was heavy traffic.

Give an Exam

In some varieties of Indian English, you may hear “give an exam” when referring to a student taking an examination.

For internationally understood standard English, a student normally takes or sits an exam, while a teacher or examining body may give, set or administer the exam.

This is a useful distinction for students preparing for interviews, IELTS or formal writing.

Collocations vs Idioms

A collocation is a natural combination of words whose meaning is usually understandable.

Example:

heavy rain

The meanings of “heavy” and “rain” still help you understand the expression.

An idiom often has a figurative meaning that cannot be understood simply from its individual words.

Example:

break the ice

This means to make people feel more comfortable in a social situation. It does not normally mean breaking real ice.

So remember:

Collocation = words that naturally go together

Idiom = expression with a special or figurative meaning

Collocations vs Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs combine a verb with a particle and create a particular meaning.

Examples:

give up

look after

turn off

find out

Collocations are a much broader group of natural word combinations.

Examples:

make progress

strong coffee

heavy rain

pay attention

A phrasal verb may itself appear inside a larger collocation, but the two terms describe different language patterns.

How to Learn Collocations Easily

The best approach is to learn the complete combination.

Do not write:

decision = choice

Instead, record:

make a decision

difficult decision

important decision

final decision

This teaches you how the word actually behaves in English.

Your vocabulary notebook can also group collocations around one important word.

For example:

make a mistake

correct a mistake

common mistake

serious mistake

simple mistake

You can build vocabulary further with our lesson on Prefix and Suffix Examples.

Quick Practice Exercise

Choose the correct word.

1. Please ______ attention to the instructions.

a. make
b. pay

2. I always ______ my homework after school.

a. do
b. make

3. We had ______ rain yesterday.

a. heavy
b. powerful

4. You need to ______ a decision soon.

a. make
b. do

5. Rahul ______ a bus to college.

a. catches
b. takes up

6. She is ______ worried about her exam.

a. deeply
b. heavily

7. Please ______ your best.

a. do
b. make

8. We should ______ in touch after the course.

a. keep
b. make

Answers

1. pay
2. do
3. heavy
4. make
5. catches
6. deeply
7. do
8. keep

Frequently Asked Questions

What are collocations?

Collocations are words that commonly and naturally occur together, such as “make a decision”, “heavy rain” and “pay attention”.

What are five examples of collocations?

Five common examples are make a mistake, do homework, take a break, strong coffee and heavy traffic.

Why are collocations important?

They help your English sound more natural and improve vocabulary, speaking and writing.

Is “heavy rain” a collocation?

Yes. “Heavy rain” is a standard adjective + noun collocation.

Is “make a decision” a collocation?

Yes. “Make a decision” is a common verb + noun collocation.

What is the difference between a collocation and an idiom?

A collocation is a natural word combination whose meaning is usually clear. An idiom often has a figurative meaning that is different from its literal words.

How can I improve my collocations?

Read regularly, notice words that frequently appear together, use a reliable learner’s dictionary and record complete word combinations instead of individual vocabulary words.

Conclusion

Collocations are one of the keys to natural English.

Knowing the words “decision”, “attention” and “rain” is useful, but knowing make a decision, pay attention and heavy rain makes those words much easier to use correctly.

Start with everyday collocations rather than trying to memorise hundreds at once. Learn each combination in a sentence, notice it when reading and use it in your own speaking and writing.

With regular practice, these word combinations will begin to feel natural.

For more learner-friendly vocabulary and grammar lessons, visit Eng Only Eng.

For a detailed authoritative explanation, see Cambridge Dictionary’s guide to collocations.