BRASIL NEWS | 1ª edição de junho | 10.06.2014
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English Corner por Brian Bowen teacherbowen@yahoo.com
“Pay Attention” to Word Combinations
O
n e a s p e c t of English (or any other language for that matter) that causes problems for learners is collocations — the natural combinations of words. For native English speakers these words just sound right together, even when other combinations make sense logically. For example, we always “do homework” and never “write homework”. Collocations occur with every type of word combination, but for this article I’m going to focus on verbs + objects. The easiest type of verb + object collocations to understand are called Free Collocations. These are the ones that would make sense in any language: “eat food”, “drive a car”, or “watch a movie”. A little more difficult are the Restricted Collocations: combinations that are always used even when other combinations seem to logic-
ally make sense — like the “homework” example above. Take “say a prayer” and “tell a lie,” for example. You can’t “tell a prayer” or “speak a prayer” and you can’t “say a lie”. Why not, you ask? I don’t know; I just teach the language, I didn’t make it up. The most difficult collocations are the Pure Idioms, those combinations of words that can only be understood as a whole phrase — understanding each individual word won’t help you. So, if someone uses the phrase “kick the bucket”, knowing what “kick” and “bucket” means won’t help you to understand that in combination they mean “die”; and if you hear “spill the beans”, knowing what “spill” and “beans” means won’t help you to understand it means “to reveal a secret”. Between the Restricted Collocations and the Pure Idioms are the Figurative Collocations. These are the verb + object combinations
that don’t seem logical at first. To “catch a bus” makes sense, but why would anyone want to “catch a disease”? And how can a house “catch fire” ? — it doesn’t even have hands! Some of these combinations have a historical explanation. For example, “cast a vote” comes from the old practice of throwing (casting) little slips of wood with one’s vote onto a pile. To “draw the curtains” makes sense once you understand “draw” can also mean “to pull”. But then how do you explain “draw a conclusion” ? Do you “pull” it from your head? Other Figurative Collocations are probably metaphors. When you “abandon a principle”, in a way you are leaving it behind; when you “deliver an address”, it’s like bringing your ideas to the audience; and when you “adopt a policy”, it could be described as taking it and making it your own. And,
of course, we “give our support” to people but, when we “lend our support,” does that mean we want it back? Some other confusing combinations are: “bear witness”, “entertain an idea”, “give birth”, “foot the bill”, “make the bed”, “pay a visit”, “press charges”, “raise the alarm”, “run a risk”, and the
ever popular “throw a party”. While learning (i.e. memorizing) collocations may seem difficult, if you use them correctly your English will sound more natural and fluent. Born and raised in Toronto, Brian Bowen has a BFA in Creative Writing from York Uni-
versity. He has been teaching English for almost 25 years as a high school English teacher, and as an ESL instructor at Seneca College and with the Japan YMCA. He currently owns and runs the Canadian Academic Success School, 5310 Yonge St. You can contact Brian at (416) 768-8456 or visit CanadianAcademicSuccess.com