Collocations

A collocation is a sequence of two or more words that go together to form fixed expressions. E.g. «heavy rain«, «fast car«, «quick shower» Learning lots of collocations will improve your level of English. Here are some useful collocations for you to learn.

• Not to be on the agenda: to be something that people are not prepared to do or to talk about.
• Be one step ahead: to be better prepared or more successful than someone else.
• Be below the belt: to be cruel and unfair ( a comment or action).
• A breath of fresh air: something or someone that is new, different and exciting.
• Be up in the air: if a topic/subject/matter is «up in the air», no decision has been made about it.
• Set the alarm bells ringing: if something » sets the alarm bells ringing» it makes you feel worried because it is a sign that there may be a problem.
• Great minds think alike: something you say when someone else has the same ideas as you, or makes the same suggestion as you.
• Be eaten alive: to be criticized a lot, and very angrily.

Complete each sentence with the correct expression. You may have to change some of the forms, or parts of the words.

1. 1. We’ve got to keep developing our products in order to _________________ of the competition.
   2. Mentioning John’s criminal record in front of his new friends was really _________________.
   3. After all the criticism we’ve been receiving, Paula’s positive comments were like a ________________.
   4. I may be moving to New York, but don’t tell anyone because at the moment it’s still ________________.
   5. Jim seemed to be very ill, and all the symptoms should have __________________, but the doctor preferred to ignore them and sent him home. Three days later, he was in the hospital again.
   6. A: Why don’t we go to the cinema tonight? B: That’s just what I was thinking…____________________.
   7. If we get our facts wrong, we’ll be ___________________ by the press.
   8. She made it clear that there was only one course of action open to us: Negotiation; and that strike action was definitely ___________________.

You can download this information. Please, click here.