ESL Blogs

To put it simply, collocation means 'some words are often used/placed together', for example, 'make a mistake', 'make your bed', 'do the warshing up', etc. 

Some people may not agree that collocation should include idioms, fixed expressions or phrasal verbs, such as 'keep it up', 'here and there', 'shut up'. So, what's really a collocation is still arguable. 

It makes sense, however, to take the time to learn about collocation if you really want to sound natural. You say 'fast food' or 'heavy smoker' instead of 'quick food' or 'strong smoker'; you say 'Thanks a lot' or 'feel someone's pulse' rather than 'Thank you a lot' or 'touch someone's pulse'; you say 'You're interested in something', but you say 'You're proud of something' or 'You're worried about something'. 

Let's try to write a blog by focussing on a word's collocation - you could try to look the word up in a dictionary - pay attention to the collocation of it. 

Sample paragraph by Expector

Making a decision can be so hard. It's especially true when you're trying to make a big/major decision, which means you should be careful when your decision is final, or rather, when you need to make the final decision as to which way to go - you may regret a wrong decision. So it's not a good idea to make a snap decision, especially when you're facing a tough/hard/difficult decision, or when you're trying to reach/come to a decision on/about something important.  

So, you see I just practised using the collocation of the word 'decision'. Your turn now...

P.S.  Don't confuse 'collocation' with 'collection', 'allocation' or 'collaboration'.