Collocations In: Use Elementary

Emma was a dedicated English student. She knew thousands of individual words: make , do , strong , heavy , tell , say . But when she tried to speak, her sentences sounded strange.

“I did a mistake,” she told her teacher.

Emma smiled and pulled the blue book from her bag. “I learned that words have friends,” she said. “You have to use them together.”

That evening, she began to study. The book was divided into simple, clear units. collocations in use elementary

Her teacher smiled gently. “Actually, we say , not ‘do a mistake’.”

Emma felt frustrated. Why was English so tricky?

One rainy Saturday, she walked into a small second-hand bookshop. On a dusty shelf, she found a blue book with a promising title: English Collocations in Use (Elementary) . Emma was a dedicated English student

From that day on, Emma not only passed her exams with high marks — she with English itself. And whenever a new student asked for advice, she always said the same thing:

She learned that strong collocates with: coffee, wind, opinion, feeling. Powerful collocates with: computer, engine, nation, drug.

“I have a opinion about coffee,” she joked. “This book is a powerful tool!” “I did a mistake,” she told her teacher

She opened it. The introduction said: “A collocation is a pair or group of words that are often used together. For example, we say ‘heavy rain,’ not ‘strong rain.’”

And it did.

She discovered we catch a bus, catch a cold, and catch a ball. We save time, save money, and save someone’s life. We take a photo, take a break, and take an exam.

Emma was intrigued. She bought the book for two euros.