Brush up Your English through Collocations

МИНИСТЕРСТВО НАУКИ И ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ  
РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

УРАЛЬСКИЙ ФЕДЕРАЛЬНЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ  
ИМЕНИ ПЕРВОГО ПРЕЗИДЕНТА РОССИИ Б. Н. ЕЛЬЦИНА

Т. Н. Зубакина

BRUSH UP YOUR ENGLISH  
THROUGH COLLOCATIONS

Учебное пособие

2-е издание, стереотипное

Москва                                                         Екатеринбург
Издательство «ФЛИНТА»                 Издательство Уральского университета
2022                                                                   2022

З-91

Зубакина Т. Н.
Brush up Your English through Collocations : учебное 
пособие / Т. Н. Зубакина. — 2-е изд., стер. — Москва : ФЛИНТА ;  
Екатеринбург : Изд-во Урал. ун-та, 2022.  — 116 с. — ISBN 
978-5-9765-5061-2 (ФЛИНТА) ; ISBN 978-5-7996-3352-3 (Изд-во 
Урал. ун-та). — Текст : электронный.

Учебное пособие нацелено на изучение устойчивых словосочетаний 
в английском языке для подготовки студентов-бакалавров (уровня 
Intermediate / B1, а также Upper-Intermediate / B2) к независимому тесто-
вому контролю по дисциплине «Иностранный язык», а также для развития 
навыков грамотного построения английского высказывания на основе 
активного владения коллокациями изучаемого языка. Пособие состоит 
из тестовых заданий, а потому может быть использовано как для само-
стоятельной работы, так и в качестве дополнения к любому учебнику 
английского языка. Приведенные ключи позволят студенту проверить 
правильность выполнения заданий и помогут самостоятельно подгото-
виться к различного рода тестированиям.

УДК 811.111’37(075.8)
ББК 81.432.1я73

УДК
811.111’37(075.8)

ББК
81.432.1я73
З-91

ISBN 978-5-9765-5061-2 (ФЛИНТА)
© Уральский федеральный

университет, 2022

ISBN 978-5-7996-3352-3 (Изд-во Урал. ун-та)
© Зубакина Т. Н., 2022

ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ

Предисловие 
4
Unit 1. What is a Collocation? 
6
Unit 2. Adjective Collocations 
13
Unit 3. Noun Collocations 
25
Unit 4. Adverb Сollocations 
35
Unit 5. Verb Collocations 
47
Unit 6. Business Collocations 
80
Unit 7. Time Collocations 
84
Unit 8. Sport Collocations 
90
Supplement 
94
Answer key 
100
References 
114

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ

Учебное пособие, составленное в соответствии с требованиями 
университетских рабочих программ дисциплины «Иностранный 
язык», разработанных на кафедре лингвистики и профессиональной 
коммуникации на иностранных языках, предназначено для студен-
тов-бакалавров (уровня Intermediate/B1, а также Upper-Intermediate/
B2) по европейской классификации владения иностранным языком 
(Common European Framework of Reference —  CEFR) и предполагает 
развитие лексических навыков обучаемых.
Основной целью настоящего учебного пособия является под-
готовка студентов к независимому тестовому контролю (НТК) 
по дисциплине «Иностранный язык». Балльно-рейтинговая система 
оценки качества знаний включает в учебный процесс активное ис-
пользование тестирования. Данное пособие нацелено на подготовку 
к тестированию базового лексического материала, в частности, 
устойчивых словосочетаний английского языка.
Процесс обучения английскому языку в настоящее время пред-
полагает глубокое изучение устойчивых словосочетаний, которые 
активно используются носителями английского языка. Термин 
коллокация понятийно соответствует комбинации слов, связан-
ных единым значением, которая функционирует как устойчивое 
словосочетание.

В пособие включены задания по основным типам коллокаций. 
Каждое устойчивое словосочетание имеет свою структуру, так на-
зываемую формулу, по которой оно строится, например: adjective + 
noun, verb + noun и т. д.
Учебное пособие состоит из 8 разделов (Units): «What is a Col-
location?», «Adjective Collocations», «Noun Collocations», «Adverb 
Collocations», «Verb Collocations», «Business Collocations», «Time 
Collocations», «Sport Collocations».
Все тестовые задания выполняются с опорой на справочный 
корпус коллокаций, который представляет собой наглядную пре-
зентацию лексического материала. Такое построение пособия на-
целено на развитие быстроты понимания значений устойчивых 
словосочетаний, а также эффективное закрепление и контроль 
полученных знаний. Работа в таком алгоритме организует мысли-
тельную деятельность и память студентов при подготовке к НТК, 
ориентируя их на грамотную англоязычную коммуникацию и ов-
ладение достаточным уровнем коммуникативной компетенции 
с целью дальнейшего использования устойчивых словосочетаний 
в речевой практике.
При создании учебного пособия использованы разнообразные 
информационные ресурсы, список которых приведен в конце книги.

Unit 1   
WHAT IS A COLLOCATION?

Collocation /kɒləˈkeIʃ(ə)n/ (in Linguistics) —  according to Ox-
ford dictionary is the habitual juxtaposition of a particular word 
with another word or words with a frequency greater than chance.
Usually a collocation is a pair or group of words that are often used 
together. These combinations sound natural to native speakers, but stu-
dents of English have to make a special effort to learn them because they 
are often difficult to guess.
Learning collocations is an important part of learning the vocabulary 
of a language. Some collocations are fixed, or very strong, for example 
take a photo, where no word other than take collocates with photo to give 
the same meaning. Some collocations are more open, where several dif-
ferent words may be used to give a similar meaning, for example keep to / 
stick to the rules. Here are some more examples of collocations.

You must make an effort and study for your exams (NOT do an effort).
Did you watch TV last night? (NOT look at TV).

Sometimes, a pair of words may not be absolutely wrong, and 
people will understand what is meant, but it may not be the natural, 
normal collocation. If someone says I did a few mistakes they will be 
understood, but a fluent speaker of English would probably say I made 
a few mistakes.

COMPOUNDS, FIXED EXPRESSIONS, COLLOCATIONS AND IDIOMS

Compound —  a word made up of two or more existing words. Some-
times the words are written separately, sometimes they have a hyphen and 
sometimes they are written as one word. Usually the meaning of the com-
pound can be guessed by knowing the meaning of the individual words. 
Some examples of compounds are railway, car park, post office, narrow-
minded, shoelaces, teapot.
It is not always easy to separate collocations and compounds and, 
where they are useful for learners or an important part of the vocabulary 
of a topic, we include some compounds in this book too.
Collocations, fixed expressions and idioms all relate to the combi-
nation of words.
A fixed expression is the standard way of expressing a concept or an idea. 
A fixed expression is a form of expression that has taken on a more specific 
meaning than the words themselves. It is the standard way of expressing 
a concept or an idea; it is something we ordinarily say in certain situations.

For example: pleased to meet you, all of a sudden, on the other hand, more 
trouble than it’s worth, neither here nor there.

Collocations refer to the way in which some words regularly occur 
together.

For example: do homework; make the bed; a golden opportunity; take 
a risk; a faint smell.

There are no rules on how these collocations are formed, they simply 
‘sound right’ to the native speaker.

For example: You say heavy smoker but you would never say strong smoker 
and you say a powerful car not a strong car.
Referring to height, we would never say John is high, we say John is tall.
We take a quick shower, not a fast shower and eat fast food, not quick food.
We have a blazing row, not a burning row and have a heated argument, 
not a hot argument.

An idiom is an expression that cannot be understood from the mean-
ings of its separate words but that has a separate meaning of its own. 
Idiom —  a group of words in a fixed order established by usage as having 
a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words. For example, 
pass the buck is an idiom meaning ‘to pass responsibility for a problem 
to another person to avoid dealing with it oneself’.

For example:

Idiom
Meaning
Example

piece of cake
something that is easy 
to do
Making spaghetti Bolognese 
is a piece of cake.

a hot potato
a controversial issue or 
situation that is awkward 
or unpleasant

The subject of bullying and 
fighting in my school is a hot 
potato.

once in a blue 
moon
to deal with very rarely
I go to visit my grandfather 
only once in a blue moon; he 
lives far away.

a bed of roses
easy option
Taking care of my younger 
sister is no bed of roses; she 
is very silly.

raining cats 
and dogs
raining very heavily
I wanted to go to play outside, 
but it was raining cats and 
dogs yesterday.

Exercise 1
Put the expressions from the box into the correct category in the table below.
Be as dry as a bone; soap opera; make a mistake; a storm in a tea cup; 
live music; checkpoint; key ring; pull somebody’s leg; heavy snow; valid 
passport; teapot; bitterly disappointed; a shot in the dark.

Compound
Collocation
Idiom

Exercise 2
Underline the collocations in this text.
When I left University, I made a decision to take up a profession 
in which I could be creative. I could play the guitar, but I’d never written 
any songs. Nevertheless, I decided to become a singer-songwriter. I made 
some recordings, but I had a rather heavy cold, so they didn’t sound 
good. I made some more and sent them to a record company and waited 
for them to reply. So, while I was waiting to become famous, I got a job 
in a fast-food restaurant. That was five years ago. I’m still doing the same 
job and I’m happy.

Exercise 3
A. Underline 11 collocations in this text.
My friend Beth is desperately worried about her son at the moment. 
He wants to enrol on a course of some sort but just can’t make a decision 
about what to study. I gave Beth a ring and we had a long chat about it last 
night. She said he’d like to study for a degree, but is afraid he won’t meet 
the requirements for university entry. Beth thinks he should do a course 
in Management because he’d like to set up his own business in the future. 
I agreed that that would be a wise choice.
B. Look at this entry for the verb arrive in the Oxford Online Dic-
tionary. What collocations could you learn from this entry? Underline 
or highlight them. Then write one new sentence for each of them. Use 
a dictionary to find three or four other good collocations for each of these 
words: desperately pain wise run. Write the collocations you find in an ap-
propriate way in your vocabulary notebook. Use two or more dictionaries:

Oxford Online Dictionary
Online Oxford Collocation 
Dictionary

Arrive /əˈrʌɪv/ —  verb
1. Reach a place at the end of a jour-
ney or a stage in a journey.
‘we arrived at his house and knocked 
at the door’
‘the team arrived in New Delhi 
on July 30’

arrive —  verb
ADV. early, late | shortly, soon
We should arrive shortly.
|finally
We finally arrived at our destination 
late that evening.
|on time, punctually| safe and 
sound, safely |unannounced

Oxford Online Dictionary
Online Oxford Collocation 
Dictionary

‘they had recently arrived from 
Turkey’
1.1 (of a thing) be brought or deliv-
ered.
‘the invitation arrived a few days later’
2. (of an event or a particular mo-
ment) happen or come.
‘we will be in touch with them when 
the time arrives’
2.1 (of a new development or prod-
uct) come into existence or use.
‘microcomputers arrived at the start 
of the 1970s’
3. (arrive at) Reach (a conclusion or 
decision)
‘they arrived at the same conclusion’
4. (of a baby) be born.
‘he will feel jealous when a new baby 
arrives’
5. (informal) Achieve success or 
recognition.
‘he still has to pinch himself to be 
sure he really has arrived

My uncle arrived unannounced 
yesterday evening.
VERB + ARRIVE be due to
We are due to arrive in Rome at ten 
o’clock.
| fail to
The package failed to arrive.
PREP. at
We arrived at the hotel late.
| in
I should arrive in London tomorrow 
morning.
PHRASES the first/last to arrive

Online Oxford Collocation Dictionary —  a completely new 
type of dictionary with word collocation that will help students 
and advanced learners effectively study, write and speak natu-
ral-sounding English. This online dictionary is also very helpful for the ed-
ucation of the IELTS, TOEFL test. Level: Upper-Intermediate to Ad-
vanced.
The dictionary contains over 150,000 collocations for nearly 9,000 head-
words.
The dictionary shows all the words that are commonly used in com-
bination with each headword: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and 
prepositions as well as common phrases.

The collocation dictionary is based on 100 million words British 
National Corpus. Internet searches were made to ensure most up-to-date 
usage for fast changing areas of language like computing.
Over 50,000 examples show how the collocation / collocations are 
used in context, with grammar and register information where helpful.

Exercise 4
Choose the right answer.
1. A collocation is two or more words that
— often go together
— have similar meanings
— must be used together
2. Collocations sound ‘right’ to native English speakers because they
— sound unnatural
— are rarely used
— are often used
3. If you learn and use many collocations, your English will sound
— more unusual
— more grammatical
— more natural
4. Which is a very common collocation?
— quick food
— fast food
— rapid food
5. Complete the collocation: “I was running late so I only had time 
for a __________________ shower.”
— short
— quick
— fast
6. It’s best for learners to think of collocations as being single
— parts of speech
— blocks of language
— rules of grammar
7. Collocations can be divided into several types such as _________ 
collocations.
— verb + noun