native English speaker ever said to you
hmm
what you said doesn’t sound right we
just wouldn’t say it like that often
this is simply because you’ve used the
wrong words in combination with each
other there are only a small number of
words that work with a single word in
English
take the word question for example it’s
a noun or it can be a verb but it’s a
noun and there are a group of adjectives
that are often used with this noun to
help describe it an awkward question or
a difficult question relevant probing or
a burning question there are also a
group of verbs that are often used with
question asked answer face or have now
compare this to the verb make which is
not usually used with question certain
adverbs and prepositions are also used
with question when others are not when
words go together like this they’re
called collocations words that
frequently occur together in English
sentences the reason why native speakers
say that something you said sounds weird
or strange is because they’re not used
to hearing those words together they
don’t often get said together so it
sounds a bit strange part of the problem
is that you’re probably translating
words from your own language directly
into English words that are commonly
used together in your language but in
English they’re not are their own of
yester it makes sense in Spanish but
if you translate those words directly
you get maker party which is not the
correct way to say this in English can
you think of any examples in your own
language that are like this where you
translate words directly and it just
doesn’t work in English it doesn’t make
sense
I’m sure you can think of some that you
already know it’s likely that
collocation is the problem that you’re
just using the wrong words together the
problem here is that it’s very easy to
get into a bad habit and use words that
sound okay in your own language when you
translate them in your head but they
sound strange or even wrong in that
combination in English to explore the
idea of collocations a little more we’re
going to focus on just one simple verb
mink and we’ll explore some of the
common collocations of that verb
specifically make with a noun or a noun
phrase and we just have to start with
food the verb make is so commonly used
with food drinks and meals like coffee
and tea can I make you a coffee it’s
used with meals like lunch dinner
breakfast I prefer to make breakfast at
home on Sundays you can use it with food
cake soup dessert if you’re making
dinner
I’ll make dessert but there are many
other nouns that collocate with make and
as I read them out make a note of the
ones that you don’t know and look them
up in the dictionary after this lesson
first one decision he’s made the
excuse stop making excuses love they
made love the night before he left the
country offer after his interview they
made him an offer he couldn’t refuse
assumption we don’t want to make any
assumptions yet but he appears to be
guilty friends we’ve made some really
good friends since we moved here phone
call can I borrow your phone I need to
make a quick call you can make a sound
or a noise make a sound if we make a
noise they’ll hear us you can make your
bed I make my bed as soon as I get up in
the morning complaint if you’re unhappy
with the service you should make a
complaint and apology you need to make
him an apology note here that it’s quite
formal to use make with complaint and
apology in informal speech and writing
you can use the verb forms complain and
apologize in the same way if you are
unhappy with the service you should
you can make a mess the kids made a mess
when we went out for dinner last night
you can make a plan
have you made any plans for your summer
holidays you can also make mistakes
I’ll admit that we may have made a
mistake there profit after three years
the business is finally making a profit
but equally you can also use make with
loss after three years the business is
still making a loss you can make a
speech once the groom made his speech
the music started effort you can make an
effort he really made an effort to have
fun at the party you can make a list
I think we’ve invited about 200 people
I really should make a list so I know
for sure you can make money
I heard he made his money on the
Internet
you can make progress
your son has made a lot of progress at
school this year make a statement he
witnessed the fight he needs to make a
statement to the police and change after
our poor performance last month we need
to make some changes you can make an
error which is similar to a mistake
uh-oh I think I’ve made an error make a
promise you made me a promise last year
time she needs to make more time for her
family
so Emma what nouns aren’t used with meek
well Lots but some of the common
mistakes are make a party he’s making a
party on Friday night the verbs throw
have and plan a party are possible but
make doesn’t sound right
don’t use make with party in English
make a picture the artist makes her
pictures outside the verbs draw create
paint a picture are possible but make is
not oh make a barbecue we’re making a
barbecue in the park tonight do you want
to come the verbs have and cook are
possible here but make just doesn’t make
sense
make an accident is also incorrect I
hope they didn’t make an accident the
verbs have sore and cos are possible
here but make is not the idea of English
collocations can be pretty overwhelming
we just focused on the verb make and
look at all of the different nouns that
it collocates with and that’s not all of
them but learning words together like
this in chunks in common collocations is
a really good idea you’re learning and
practicing a word along with the other
words that it commonly appears with next
time you learn a new word I want you to
try it let me show you what I mean let’s
say you just heard the noun innovation
and you wanted to spend some time
exploring some of the words that it’s
commonly
used with that’s a really smart idea and
you can easily do that using an English
collocations dictionary I’ve got a few
links to some good ones in the
description box below but innovation is
commonly used with the adjectives
technical scientific educational
innovation design or product innovation
scientific innovations are helping the
team to develop new technologies there
are some common verbs that are used with
innovation encourage foster facilitate
stifle or hinder the management team
encourage creativity and innovation
occur how does innovation occur and a
common preposition used with innovation
is in innovations in technology allowed
the research to progress well I really
hoped that this lesson helped you to see
the value of learning common
collocations together learning words in
chunks together to train your brain
which words to use with other words this
type of study is crucial to training
your brain to think in English instead
of in your own language
it helps words come to your mind more
quickly and efficiently without thinking
about it too much
if you’re learning them together if you
enjoyed this lesson make sure you
subscribe by clicking that red button
down there I make a new lesson every
week you can also translate this video
very kindly for your friends and the
link to do that is in the description
below and of course you can keep
practicing with more English lessons
right here thanks for watching and I’ll
see you next week for another lesson bye for now