Verb + noun and verb + adverb collocations

Using Collocations for Natural English - Elizabeth Walter, Kate Woodford 2010

Verb + noun and verb + adverb collocations

Verbs and nouns

There are many collocations formed with a verb and a noun. The verb is the word that 'operates' the noun. In other words, you need the verb to use the noun in a natural way. Although it is often possible to use a very simple verb which can go with many different nouns, your English will sound much better if you learn some specific verbs to use with particular nouns. Often these verb + noun combinations are impossible to guess. When you are adding a new noun to your vocabulary book, try to find out the verb or verbs that form a collocation with that noun and write these down too.

1 Circle the correct answer. Use a dictionary to help you if necessary.

1 If you restore confidence in something, you:

a make people trust it again.

b insist that it is worth a lot of money.

c make people feel confident.

2 If you assume control of a situation, you:

a think that you should be in charge.

b take charge of it.

c ask if you can be in charge of it.

3 If someone is admitted to hospital, they:

a admit that they have been in hospital.

b get their doctor to agree that t hey should go to hospital.

c are taken into hospital for treatment.

4 If you raise the alarm, you:

a make people more worried.

b tell people that something is wrong.

c put the alarm in a higher place.

5 If someone resorts to violence, they:

a start to use violence.

b use violence on holiday.

c try to prevent violence.

6 If you deny responsibility for something, you:

a say that you do not want to be responsible for it.

b say it was not your fault.

c say that people are lying about it.

2 Underline the verb that operates the noun in bold in the sentences.

1 The managers issued, a formal, written warning to all staff that strike action could result in dismissal.

2 At our school, we attach a great deal of importance to the creative arts.

3 In an attempt to cause trouble amongst other family members, she spread a lot of completely false rumours about their private lives.

4 Her main criticism of the school was that discipline was not enforced sufficiently.

5 Although she had always acted professionally in the past, it seems that on this occasion personal involvement clouded the nurse's judgement.

6 I think we're expending far too much of our energy worrying about things that don't really matter.

Study tip

The words in a collocation do not always have to come right next to each other. With verb + noun collocations, the verb can sometimes be quite a long way from the noun it operates.

3 Complete the sentences with collocations from Exercises 1 and 2. Make sure you use the correct form of the verbs.

1 Two men were ... to ... suffering from the effects of the smoke.

2 I need to fix the problem. I've ... far too much ... on it already.

3 If you are a lawyer, you cannot allow your feelings to ... your ... .

4 Sometimes I feel that our society doesn't ... much ... to ideas like generosity and politeness.

5 It will take more than a few tax cuts to ... in this government.

6 In the event of the death of the president, the vice president would ... of the country immediately.

4 There has been trouble at the kung fu club. Try to memorise the collocations you learned in Exercise 1 and 2. Use them to complete the letter from the chief instructor to the parents.

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Dear Parents

Some of you will be aware that an incident at the club last week resulted in two boys being 1 ... to ... with minor injuries. This letter is to reassure you that the situation has been dealt with firmly and - we hope - to 2 ... in the club.

As you know, we 3 ... great ... to the concepts of self-control and non­violence. Sadly, it appears that these boys allowed a personal argument to 4 ... their ... on this occasion.

We can assure you that the instructors dealt with the incident quickly and calmly, and were soon able to 5 ... of the situation. No other children were involved.

We have 6 ... a ... to the boys involved, and should there be a repeat of this kind of behaviour, they will be asked to leave the club.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Doug Faairchild

Chief Instructor

Classroom extra

Ask your students to identify the differences in the instructor's version and the mother's version of events.

Image5 Here is one of the mothers talking to her friend about the same incident. Replace the underlined phrases with the collocations you have learned above. Listen to the recording to check your answers.

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'Apparently, the instructors were just chatting in the corner when it happened, and it was my Edward who 1 told them something bad was happening. By that time, the two lads were rolling on the floor, kicking and biting each other, and the instructors had to 2 be quite violent with them to get them apart.

Apparently, one of the boys had been 3 telling everyone that the other one's dad was in prison. The instructors are 4 saying it wasn't their fault, but from what I've heard, they don't 5 make the children behave properly in the club. And isn't that what kung fu's supposed to be all about?

It seems to me that the kids 6 use up a lot more energy messing around than they do learning martial arts. I'm going to look for another club for Edward to join.'

Nouns and intransitive verbs, verbs and adverbs

If the collocation is formed from a subject and an intransitive verb (a verb which does not have an object after it), then the verb will come after the noun. Try to get into the habit of noticing the grammatical patterns of collocations you see, so that you are able to use them accurately yourself.

6 Complete the sentences with verbs from the box. Make sure you use the correct form of the verbs. Each verb makes a collocation with the noun in bold.

pound • strike • buckle • break out

1 We were had just gone to bed when the earthquake ... .

2 He joined the army as soon as war ... .

3 Suddenly, I started to feel faint, and my legs ... under me.

4 My heart starts to ... every time I see him.

7 Underline the correct adverb to form a collocation to complete each sentence. Use a dictionary to help you if necessary.

1 I was trying to make a pink dinosaur cake, but I got into such a mess that I decided to throw it away and start alternatively/cleanly/afresh.

2 When I was younger, I travelled broadly/extensively/greatly in Asia.

3 I'm afraid his attempts to speak French made me laugh widely/afresh/aloud.

4 After all that exercise, we should sleep soundly/profoundly/heavily tonight.

5 He felt able to talk clearly/openly/genuinely about his feelings.

6 I don't know Alice, but George speaks happily/largely/highly of her work.

8 Match what the speakers 1-6 say to the descriptions a-f on page 13.

1 'She's an excellent colleague. She is very efficient, and meets all her deadlines.

She has written an excellent report for me this quarter.'

2 'I was the sales rep for South America. I usually spent alternate months in the London office and in one of our offices over there - most often Brazil, but sometimes Argentina or Ecuador. From there, I'd go out to visit our main clients in all the major cities.'

3 'At the beginning of the war I found myself stuck in Switzerland, where I'd been studying, because there was no available transport home for several weeks.'

4 'When the floods came, we had to abandon all our belongings - there was no time to pack them up. Afterwards, it was too painful to go back to our village, so we decided to move to another island and set up a restaurant, which is something I'd always wanted to do."

5 'In the morning, everyone was talking about the bomb. It went off right outside our apartment block, but I hadn't heard a thing. Nobody could believe that I hadn't been woken up by the noise, or by the ambulance sirens afterwards/

6 'I've been in a relationship with a very nice man for over a year, and he wants to marry me. The trouble is, I like him a lot, but I'm not sure I love him enough. Recently, I've met someone at work who I'm really attracted to.'

Sound natural

Look (and listen) out for collocations you have learned. Noticing them on TV or in print helps you to use them naturally.

a He spoke very highly of her work.

b She talked openly about her feelings.

c She slept soundly, despite the noise outside.

d He was abroad when war broke out.

e He travelled extensively for his work.

f They left their old lives behind and started afresh.

9 Complete the sentences with the collocations you have learned above. Make sure you use the correct form of the verbs. Then complete the crossword.

Across

1 As I stood up to speak, my heart ..., was pounding.

4 If war ... out, you will have to return home.

5 We decided to leave our country and ... afresh.

6 We saw the bullet hit him and his legs ... .

8 He always speaks ... of his colleagues.

Down

2 What should you do if an ... strikes?

3 The fresh air will help you ... soundly.

7 Her jokes made us ... aloud.

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10 Chris is e-mailing Julie to tell her some exciting news. However, his adverbs are with the wrong verbs. Match the six verbs and adverbs correctly.

From: Christopher Tucker

To: Julie Gibbs

Subject: Big news!

Hi Julie

I've got some exciting news to tell you - Rose and I are giving up our jobs and we're planning to open an art gallery in Brighton!

I know this is all a bit sudden, but we treated ourselves to a weekend in a luxury hotel recently, and when Rose made a joke over dinner, I suddenly realised that it was the first time that I'd laughed afresh for weeks. Isn't that (aloud) awful? So then we both started to talk soundly about how much we hated our jobs and our lives, and we quickly realised that we needed to start aloud before it's too late. After that conversation, I felt as if a weight had been lifted off me, and I slept openly for the first time in years.

I've always had a particular interest in Asian art, and I know that people speak extensively of many contemporary Asian artists. So our plan is to spend six months travelling highly in India and Pakistan, and then to come back and set up the shop.

Anyway, I know you'll be excited for us, and we'd love to see you before we set off on our travels.

All the best,

Chris

Classroom extra

In pairs, students choose three words from the collocations in this unit and make mini crosswords like the one in Exercise 9. They then write their own gap-fill clues and swap them with another pair.