What is a collocation?
The term collocation was coined by the British linguist J.R. Firth (1890-1960) in the 1950s to refer to the common co-occurrence of certain words. He considered that part of the meaning of a word derives from the words with which it is associated with.
"You shall known a word by the company it keeps"
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- Firth, John R.,1957. Modes of meaning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. A collocation is two or more words that often go together and this combination just sound "right" and natural to native English speakers. |
A collocation is two or more words that often go together and which sound "right" and natural to native English speakers.
| Sounds right | Does not sound right |
|---|---|
| gross negligence | bad negligence |
| safe driver | secure driver or risk-free driver |
Some important definitions:
| Term | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| To collocate (verb) | To appear with another word with a higher frequency than by pure chance. | The word Babylonian collates with confusion. |
| Collocation (noun) | The combination of two or more words appearing more frequently than by chance. | Using collocations properly would make our writing richer and more interesting. |
| A collocation (noun) | A specific example of a collocation. | Backlog of work is an example of a collocation. |
Why learn collocations?
- Your writing will sound more natural and be more easily understood.
- Shorter and pithier sentences can be written using the appropriate combination of words.
- Subtle differences in meaning and nuances can be better captured using appropriate collocations.
- Shorter and more pithy sentences can be written by using appropriate combination of words.
