English collocation in Use Cambridge - English II, Appunti di Lingua Inglese

Scarica English collocation in Use Cambridge - English II e più Appunti in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! 1 English collocations in use – Cambridge intermediate UNIT 6: INTENSIFYING ADVERBS. In English there are lots of ways of saying very or very much. For example, we can use the words such as: highly, utterly, bitterly, deeply. These alternatives collocate strongly with specific words. Highly Highly is used with some probability words. With the exception of highly controversial it usually combines with positive words. Extremely can also be used with all the opposite adjectives, expect recommended. Collocations with highly 1. highly likely / unlikely 2. highly unusual 3. highly successful 4. highly competitive 5. highly profitable 6. highly effective 7. highly controversial 8. highly recommended Absolutely, utterly Absolutely and utterly (slightly more formal) combine with adjectives with very extreme meaning where we can’t use very. We say utterly exhausted/tired. Often, but not always, they have a negative meaning. Collocation with absolutely and utterly It was an absolutely stupid comment. The whole area was utterly devasted 1. absolutely/ utterly ridiculous 2. absolutely stupid 3. utterly impossible 4. utterly wrong 5. absolutely alone 6. utterly appalled / means to be shocked 7. convinced 8. devasted 9. miserable word collocations bitterly (having harsh) Bitterly carries a feeling od deep sadness; used slightly more in writing than in conversation. I was bitterly disappointed when I failed the exam. 1. to be bitterly disappointed/ bitterly disappointing 2. bitterly resent 3. bitterly criticise 4. bitterly regret 5. bitterly complain 6. cry 7. weep Deeply Collocates mainly with words associated with feelings; used slightly more in writing. Professor McDell was always deeply committed to her students. 1. deeply ashamed/ concerned 2. shocked 3. committed to something 4. moved 5. affect 6. hurt 7. regret 8. to be deeply religious 9. to be deeply unhappy Ridiculously Suggest something extreme, which seem unbelievable or unreasonable. 1. ridiculously cheap - expensive 2. easy 3. low 4. high 5. long 6. short/small 7. large 8. early /late 2 Strongly Collocates with verbs, that relate to having an opinion. Oppose, influence, believe, deny, recommend, support, condemn, suggest, feel, argue, object UNIT 7: EVERYDAY VERBS 1 | UNIT 8: EVERYDAY VERBS 2 MAKE DO GET is a very common verb in English, but it is not always appropriate for talking about changes. GO , not get. Go is used for changes in people’s personality, appearance, and physical abilities. Ex. People go mad / go bald / grey / blind/ deaf. Go is often used for sudden negative changes: ex. His face went red for the embarrassment / suddenly the sky went dark / the pages of the book gone yellow. TURN , not get. Turn often collocates with colours. Ex. The sky turned gold / when tomatoes turn red the farmers pick them / her hair turned white-his face GET AND BECOME can be often used with the same collocation, but become is slightly more formal and more appropriate in the essays. Ex. She became pregnant / I would like to become involved in the fund raising for charity. ALTERNATIVE TO GET AND BECOME She fell ill and was taken to the hospital. Everyone fell silent when they heard the shocking news. As my father grew older, he spent less time working. The noise grew louder. Overusing and misusing get Wrong sentences with get Appropriate alternative I was able to get new friends I was able to make new friends A year ago he had an heart attack A year ago he suffered a heart attack If I get a child If I have a child I was getting crazy I was going crazy In June I got a baby In June I had a baby UNIT 9: EVERYDAY VERBS Collocation Example Make arrangement for The school can make arrangements for pupil with special needs. Make a change/changes The new manager is planning to make some changes Make a choice Amelia had to make a choice between her family and her career Make a comment/make comments Would anyone like to make any comments to the talk? Make a contribution to She made a useful contribution Make a decision I’m glad that it’s you who has to make the decision, not me Make an effort Micheal is making an effort with his maths this term Make an excuse I’m too tired to go out tonight, let’s make an excuse and stay at home Make friends Caroline is very good at making friends Make an improvement Repainting the room has really made an improvement Make a mistake She has made a mistake in the exam Make a phone call I’ve got to make some phone calls before dinner Make progress Holly is making progress with all her school work Do your best All that matters is the exam is to do your best Do damage The storm did damage Do an experiment We are doing an experiment to test how the metal reacts with water Do exercises We’ll do some exercises on this topic Do someone a good turn/a favour Could you do a me favour? Jess did me a good turn by lending me her car Do harm Changing the rules may do more harm than good Do your hair /make up I haven’t done my make up yet Do your homework My son has to do his homework after school Do the ironing/shopping/ washing I’ll do the washing, if you’ill do the ironing Do some work Well ‘do some work on the project 5 Light and dark. Light in English is associated with happiness: face shines | eyes shine | face lights up | atmosphere lightens or mood lightens (becomes more cheerful) Dark is associated with unhappiness and negative feelings: dark thoughts | dark eyes | dark times | eyes darken | someone’s expression darkens Water collocation comment ideas flow, conversation flows flow suggest that thing progress easily, without effort a flood/ flood of tears, tears streaming down someone’s face metaphor that suggest the girl is crying people pour/ stream somewhere pour and stream suggest lots of people moving smoothly people trickle trickle suggest a few people moving slowly a stream of visitors/traffic stream suggest continuous movement Fire and heat to suggest anger  heated debate/discussion/conversation | fiery temper | tempers flared | violence flares up | troubles flare up Not all metaphor relating fire suggest anger  cheeks burn with embarassement | blaze of glory | blaze of publicity TOPICS: TRAVEL AND THE ENVIRONMENT Unit 13: weather unbroken sunshine means no clouds in the sky, only sunshine scorching hot extremely hot soaking up the sunshine enjoying the sunshine / sunbathing pouring with rain heavy rain torrential rain heavy rain freezing cold we all got soaked break in the clouds rained heavily thick cloud looks like rain look as if it is going to rain a strong wind is blowing Describe extreme weather Freak storm is very unsual or unexpected Building were destroyed Freak storm conditions hits struck, badly affected Roof were torn off Gale-force winds caused a lot of damage Fences were blown down Burst their banks rivers flooded Weather conditions COLLOCATION EXAMPLE COMMENT Weather deteriorates The weather is likely to deteriorate later on today Deteriorate is quite formal thick/dense fog patches There is tick fog on the motorway. 6 patches of fog/mist – a blanket of mist (literally) opposite: fog/mist comes down There are patches of fog on the east coast but these should lift by midday. strong sun opposite: weak sun heavy rain (not strong rain) and driving rain Driving rain= rain falling fast and heavily heavy/ fresh/ crisp/thick/driving snow This snow is lovely and crisp Crisp snow=snow that is fresh and hard hard frost There will be a hard frost tonight The opposite is a light frost high / strong / light / biting winds the wind picks up (opposite: dies down) the wind blows/ whistles The wind was light thins morning but it’s picking up now and will be very strong in the evening. The wind was whistling/blowing the tres Biting wing= very cold wind If the wind pick up, it gets stronger UNIT 14: TRAVEL TRAVEL travel arrangements travel agent business travel travel brochures 1. JOURNEY Safe journey Tiring journey Return journey (viaggio di ritorno) Opposite: outward journey Overnight journey Safe journey 2. TRIP camping trips business trip day trip boat trip UNIT 16:TOWNS AND CITIES (describing towns and cities for visitors) describing town and cities for visitors city skyline (linea di orizzonte) is basically how the city looks from a distance. cobbled street made of regular pattern of stones (ciottolato). conservation area it’s an ancient area which is preserved from historically reasons. quaint old buildings it’s a synonym of picturesque, the buildings are unusual and especially old-fashioned. upmarket shops they sell luxury merch, for people with expensive taste, the merch is pricey /over-priced. good value (rapport qualità-prezzo). relaxed atmosphere. royal avenue runs from north to south/ from the castle to the river. lined with shops sequence of shops. lively bars full of life, a lot of people going (movida). fashionable clubs is similar to “discoteca”, it is a place where people dance. pavement café you can spend your time in outdoor café , they are common in Italy. tree-lined avenues there are trees on the side of the avenue residential areas richest part of the city with high-value flats high-rise flats inner city central part of the city where people live and often social problems such as poverty. This applies differently in Europe. storey (in American English the spelling is “story”) : when you are look a building from the outside ex. You can see multi-storey buildings. floor: you’re looking at the building from the inside. imposing buildings: they can be easily seen from far away compared to other monuments. town and cities and their problems. town: a town usually is smaller than a city ACCOMODATION  family-run hotel  run-down hotel  luxury hotel  smart hotels  make a reservation  budget accomodation  make a reservation  fully booked FLIGHTS these collocations are all rather formal ones connected with flying.  In-flight entertainment  In-flight magazine  Fasten your sea belts  Boarded the plane  Connection flights (to miss)  Domestic flights / international flights  Window seat / aisle set  Charter flight (flight on a plan used for special use)  Scheduled flights (regular flights organised but the company which owns the plane)  Smooth flight  The opposite of a smooth flight is a bumpy flight 7 city: a city is provided with more services and has a long historical presence trough history (old traditional buildings); the population 10 completely refurbished means in Italian “ristrutturare” do up an old house do up is phrasal verb, it is more a colloquial way to say refurbished move out dilapidated building means almost destroyed (over- emphatic) draughtly hall a draught is a off a cool air chilly corridor cramped room corridoio freddo a place of my own affordable housing to take out a big mortgage mortgage in italian is “mutuo”, t is silent invite me house-warming party is a party that you thrown when you move to new house collocations with home feel homesick avere nostalgia di casa welcome him home make yourself at home feel at home to buy a second home (only for the weekends, during summer) Unit 22: eating and drinking Talking about types of food junk food nourishing meals (food which is nourishing=nutriente) organic food fresh produce ready meals (high quality) food additives (substances added to food to improve its taste or appearance) processed food (food which are changed or treated as a part of an industrial operation) gm foods (genetically modified) perishable food (you have a short time for consuming it, goes bad quickly) food poisoning eating and drinking light meal substantial meals slap-up meals (unusually large and good) gourmet meal (high quality) home-cooked food quick snack refreshing drink (non-alcoholic) to die of hunger decent meal healthy appetite hearty breakfast (large breakfast) soft drink spoil you appetite set menu reasonably priced Unit 25: sports You DO (a sport which requires discipline) gymnastics, judo, weightlifting, aerobics, yoga, wrestling, circuit training, archery, athletics You PLAY (there is an opponent, a match, score again someone) Games, badminton, billiards, hockey, bowls, rugby, golf, tennis, cricket, baseball, chess You GO (you have to practise it outdoor) Hill, walking, sailing, jogging, swimming You can also say you go to aerobics/judo/karate – this means that you go to a class in this sport. you do or play sports you do exercises you play computer you have/play a game of cards you go skiing. you do activities international food /cuisine (not world wide) referring to the food a country (es. Mexican food) 11 practise to take a penalty Winning and losing Win matches/ lose A player that deserves to win To get narrowly beaten/defeated Attend/do a training session Put up a fight To gain/get a place in the stage/round of the competition Set a new world record To be a record holder Come un against fierce/intense competition Achieve their ambitions Achieve a personal best Enhance their performance Fail a drug test Football You play/win a game Home match or away match Foul your opponent The referee blows his whistle Taking a penalty/free kick Drop the player Bring on a substitute The teams take the lead (be in a winning position) Unit 26: health and illness to catch a cold a flu, a disease, a chill, pneumonia informal contract a disease, malaria, typhoid formal, medical speech suffer from asthma hay fever, backache formal is develop have an attack of bronchits, asthma, hay fever, diarrhoea be diagnosed with cancer, aids, leukaemia, autism suffer, sustain major/minor/serious/head injuries formal Fitness and good health take regular exercise eat a balanced diet healthy eating to follow a fitness programme stick to your programme kept fit talking about sickness and pain talking about sickness and pain gina is terminally ill to suffer excruciating/unbearable pain incurable illness trivial/minor ailments serious illness not life threatening disease acutely/intensely painful dull ache the doctor prescribes some tablets tablets that alleviate the pain to be taken ill (at the hospital) heavy cold splitting headache sore throat UNIT 27: USING THE INTERNET online research a good place to start make a note do a web search online resources hints and tips pages refine your search evaluate critically subscribe to online journals search by keyword back issues (previous editions of a magazine, newspaper or journal) problems and solutions anti-virus software block spam update regularly 12 click on a link open an attachment download applications hack into your computer back up files upload your files to a cloud storage system use a memory stick(flash drive, USB stick) computer crashes UNIT 28: STUDY AND LEARNING alternatives to do and get instead of do i have to take an exam/ i have to sit an exam do a research carried out/conduct a research project do a course to enrol on/take do a degree studied for/took a bachelor’s degrees do an essay to write an assignment/an essay do lecture/talk university the professor gave a lecture get a degree obtained/ was awarded a diploma get a qualification obtain/acquire get an education receive more formal collocations  attend all the lectures to complete the course  the class will be held  you have to hand in your essays on Friday  submit an application  withdraw from the course more collocations with study and learning - keep a notebook - first draft of an essay - final draft - gives us feedback - continuous assessment - provides training - higher/tertiary education - further education - recognise foreign qualifications FUNCTIONS UNIT 51: STARTING AND FINISHING (A) STARTING  to make a promising start  to make an early start  traffic was building up  absolute beginners  got off to a good start (B) FINISHING close finish: an end of a race or contest in which the winner is ahead by a very small amount. The race had a close/tight finish. nail-biting finish: the finish is unknown until the last moment, and this causes anxiety that make you bite your nails put the finish touches strike to an end More collocations  marked the beginning  end result  perfect end  make a start/get started  cane ti ab ebd  drew to a close  abrupt end UNIT 52: TALKING ABOUT SUCCES AND FAILURE SUCCESS  make a breakthrough  remarkable achievement  dramatic improvement  crowing achievement  has an excellent grasp of (ex. French)  come in useful  take advantage of (something)  made a good progress  highly effective  makes useful contributions  has the ability to  effective ways  brilliant ways  enjoy the fruits of his hard work  brought out the best  won the respect