225 Useful Collocations You MUST Know | 1-Hour Vocabulary Masterclass

Prepare yourself because I am going to teach you over 225 phrases to truly help you build your vocabulary. And I say truly build your vocabulary because I'm going to teach you different collocations, which are words that are frequently used together.

Now, many of these words you may already be familiar with, and that is a good thing because you should be using these collocations in order to sound more natural and fluent. Because if you tell me something like, "I would like to raise my vocabulary," I understand you, it's grammatically correct, but it sounds awkward. You're not going to use the verb "raise" when talking about vocabulary. Instead, you are going to "build your vocabulary" or "develop your vocabulary" or "expand your vocabulary." These are collocations.

I want to start out with words that are at a B2, C1, and C2 level and go over some of the useful and common collocations with those words to help you be more descriptive and precise. Let's begin.

Yeah, I want to help you supercharge your vocabulary by learning many different collocations, which are words that are frequently used together. And when you use them in conversation, it's just going to help you sound more natural. So, in this lesson, I'm going to teach you over 50 different collocations ranging from levels B2 to C2. So, the phrases that we're going to look at are more upper intermediate to advanced.

Now, I'm not going to lie to you. Building your vocabulary is something that may take a considerable amount of time, but learning collocations can be somewhat of a shortcut. So, let's begin with some B2 collocations and with a word that I've already mentioned, "considerable." This is an adjective that means very large or much. And there are some great adjective noun collocations such as "a considerable amount of something." Previously I mentioned "a considerable amount of time," or you could say that you're making "a considerable difference" or you're making "considerable progress" or you have "considerable influence over someone." And this collocation, you may follow it with that preposition "over." Besides, we have to do "a considerable amount of paperwork." Whether you might go back and use your "considerable influence" and ask your cabin colleagues if they might reconsider. And I am confident that learning collocations will make "a considerable difference" in building your vocabulary.

And if that is what you'd like to do, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And if you follow my video lessons, I think that you will make "considerable progress." Okay? See how just natural that sounds?

Let's continue with our next set of collocations that have the noun "feedback." So, this is information or statements of opinion about something such as a product and saying whether it's successful or liked. So you may "give feedback" or "provide feedback" or even "offer feedback." And "give," "provide," and "offer," those are really synonyms. You may also "get feedback" as well as "receive feedback." And once again, "get" and "receive," those are synonyms. And this may seem simple, but this is when I hear people make mistakes and they may say "tell feedback" instead of "give feedback." So these are some great verb noun collocations. There are also some very common adjective noun collocations because I think overwhelmingly people may talk about "positive feedback" or "negative feedback."

The next word that I want to look at is "deeply." We're going to mix it up with an adverb. So "deeply" means extremely or strongly and it is a great way to add emphasis. So there are some adverb adjective collocations that well may have a positive connotation or a negative connotation. Let's start with the negative. You may say that you are "deeply worried about something" or "deeply concerned about something." So either of those collocations, you may follow with that preposition "about." You could also refer to something or someone as "deeply flawed." So in this case, you may be talking about "a deeply flawed plan" or maybe "a deeply flawed individual."

I'm "deeply worried about aging." The US is "deeply concerned about an escalating conflict" that will not end well for either side. He's "deeply flawed" and somehow, somehow, some way, we raised a child.

For those that may be a bit more positive, if you're apologizing, you could say that you are "deeply sorry." Or maybe you were "deeply moved by something" and it just affected you emotionally and you're going to follow this with "by." Or you could say that you are "deeply in love." And he is "deeply sorry." I told him that I was "deeply moved by a statement." I was in love with her and she was in love with me and we were so "deeply in love."

Then we have the word "controversial." And I have two different sets of collocations with this noun, which means causing disagreement or discussion. So let's start with some adjective noun collocations. Maybe you're going to "debate a controversial issue" or say that someone made "a controversial decision." Or if you're talking about a person, you could say, "Well, this person is a controversial figure." And I'm sure right now you can think of someone who you would refer to as "a controversial figure," and they're really causing disagreement.

And then there are some common adverb adjective collocations. If you want to say someone or something is "extremely controversial" or "highly controversial." And we can build on top of this and say that someone is "a highly controversial figure." And now we're using them all together. Can you think of someone who you would consider "a highly controversial figure"? Let me know down in the comments.

Then we have the word "wisdom," which means using knowledge or experience to make good decisions. And there are only two collocations that I want to look at. The first one is an adjective noun collocation, which is "conventional wisdom." And in this case, the meaning changes slightly. So if we're talking about "conventional wisdom," it refers to opinions or theories that have existed for a long time and that most people agree with. And this is a common collocation, "conventional wisdom."

"Conventional wisdom suggests that our next move is to resume hostilities to fight." Well, "conventional wisdom says good fleeing will always beat good chasing," but the stats say put your money on the guy with the gun.

I have another adjective noun collocation. Except this time, "wisdom" is the adjective. And I'm talking about "a wisdom tooth" or "wisdom teeth." So, this is the last tooth to come in at the back of each side of your upper and lower jaw. And often you may have to get, well, this tooth or even the teeth removed. Your "wisdom tooth" or "wisdom teeth."

Dental emergency. I'm getting my "wisdom teeth" pulled and count up all of the extra painkillers that I had left over from my "wisdom tooth" surgery.

Let's move on to some C1 words and some of those common collocations. And we'll begin with the verb "call." So, this is a verb that has, well, multiple meanings. But in this case, we're talking about arranging for something to happen, such as a particular event, and usually something official. And there are some great verb noun collocations such as "to call a meeting" or more specifically, "to call an emergency meeting." And you could also "call for something." And we're going to follow the verb with "for." And I have a few different examples. You could "call for a strike" or "call for an election" or "call for a halt to something." Those are some great collocations with this verb.

Next is the word "tedious." It's a word that I don't really like the meaning of it, but I like using it because it's very descriptive. It's an adjective that means boring or uninteresting. So, we can use this to describe some specific nouns, and those are the collocations. You might talk about "a tedious job" or "tedious work" or even "a tedious task." So once again, "job," "work," "task." They're they're similar. They're synonyms, but great nouns to use with this adjective.

"Jerry selection is tedious work." It's the only way to get through yet another "tedious and useless task."

And then let's throw in a phrasal verb. Why not? "Bubble over." And we're going to follow the phrasal verb with the word "with." "To bubble over with something." It means to be very excited or enthusiastic. And there are some great phrasal verb noun collocations such as "to bubble over with excitement" or "to bubble over with enthusiasm" or even "to bubble over with emotion." And hopefully, it makes it a little easier to grasp these collocations because "excitement," "enthusiasm," "emotion," once again, they're really synonyms.

I am "bubbling over with excitement" to continue teaching you more collocations with the next word, which is "burning." And no, I'm not talking about fire. This word has a couple of different meanings. And I want to talk to you about collocations with each. So the first meaning would refer to something that is very strong. And there are some great adjective noun collocations like "a burning desire" or "a burning ambition." So, it's a great way to add emphasis.

Firefighters have a passion for their work. Arsonists just have "a burning desire." Is that even a joke? It's a wordplay or parody.

The next meaning is a subject or question that must be dealt with or answered quickly. And there are also a couple adjective noun collocations with this meaning. Maybe you're talking about "a burning issue" or even "a burning question." So again, we're really adding emphasis because we're not talking about a normal question. We're talking about "a burning question."

You look like a boy with "a burning question." One that my tarot cards can answer better than any book.

Then we have the verb "capture." And the meaning that we're going to talk about is to feel interested or excited by something. And there are a few different verb noun collocations such as "to capture the imagination" or "to capture the attention" or "to capture the interest." And you could follow each of these collocations with the word "of" to "capture the imagination of someone." We could also put a pronoun between the verb and the noun. I could say that, well, someone's trying to "capture the audience's attention" or something "captured my imagination." And I hope that this lesson has "captured your interest." And if it has, and you've learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button.

Let's continue with some C2 words, which are a little more advanced. And we'll talk about some of those collocations. And we'll begin with the word "underlying." This means that something is real, but it's not immediately obvious. I have several adjective noun collocations like "an underlying cause" or "an underlying condition." And these you may hear somebody use medically. Perhaps a doctor may talk about "an underlying condition" or "the underlying cause of some illness."

As of right now, the mortality rate is fluctuating between 25 and 30% depending upon "underlying medical conditions."

You could also say that something is "the underlying principle" or perhaps "an underlying motivation." Maybe you want to improve your English for more work opportunities, but perhaps you also maybe want to date someone and have the relationship in English. And you could say that maybe that is "an underlying motivation." It's real, but it's not obvious.

Next is the word "framework." We're talking about a system of rules, ideas, or beliefs that is used to decide something. And you may hear people use this word with a few different adjective noun collocations talking about "a legal framework" or "a regulatory framework" or even "a theoretical framework."

Then there's the word "expenditure," which refers to the total amount of money a government, organization, or even a person spends. And a few different adjective noun collocations include "government expenditure" or "annual expenditure" or even "personal expenditure." We also have a couple of verb noun collocations such as "to cut expenditure" or even "to reduce expenditure." Something that I think many businesses try to do with current and projected deficits.

We need to "cut expenditures" by 32%.

Then we have the word "literal." It refers to a word's original or basic meaning. And there are a few different adjective noun collocations that I want to share with you. You may talk about "the literal meaning of something" or perhaps "the literal interpretation" or even use it in the phrase "in a literal sense."

Look, what's an M7G677? A black hole. In what sense? "In a literal sense."

And then "finite." I don't know why I said it like that. "Finite." This adjective means having a limit or end. And a few different adjective noun collocations with this word include "finite resources" or "a finite number" or "a finite amount." Those are some great phrases with this word.

We just learned a lot of different collocations and I do not expect you to remember all of these. I I think you're probably already familiar with many of these words, but it's all about recognizing which words are frequently used together. That's what collocations are. And your brain is going to start recognizing that pattern so that when you're having a conversation, you're just going to end up using the words together and you'll sound a lot more natural. I know I'm giving you a lot right now and I hope that you don't think this is a tedious task. I just want you to be able to recognize the words that are used together. That's why I'm showing them to you. I'm saying them. And I think over time, you you're going to start recognizing that pattern, especially if I can "capture your interest."

And the way that I want to do that right now is by talking about a word that is overused by everyone, myself included. And I want to share with you some useful collocations that you can use instead. So this is really going to add flavor to your vocabulary. Today I have a very important lesson for you. But let let's just get this out of here because I want to help you supercharge your vocabulary. I want to teach you many different words and phrases that you can use instead of saying "very" because the word "very," it's a very common, it's a very common word. I just used it several times then. It's probably one of the most overused words in English. I end up using it all the time. It's an adverb that means really or to a high degree. But because this word is so common, it presents a unique opportunity for all of you to greatly build your vocabulary. And there are two different ways that you can do this. I'm going to talk to you about both.

The first way that you can do this is by learning some different synonyms for the word "very." And here are some right here. These are all adverbs that typically come before an adjective to form a collocation. Words that are frequently used together. So, these are some very common and useful phrases that I'm getting ready to teach you. And I'm going to give you a lot. I do not expect you to remember all of them, but the more that you hear these phrases and that you see them, you're just going to end up making a mental note, and that's very important.

So, let's begin with the first adverb, which is "pretty." Now, "pretty," it has a similar meaning. It's probably to a lesser degree than "very," but it's it's extremely useful because we often use "pretty" with some some very common and simple adjectives and their opposites. So, you might hear somebody say that something is "pretty good," or they may say it's "pretty bad." Perhaps you're trying to do something and you have no problems and you say, "Wow, that was pretty easy." Or if there were a lot of problems, you might say, "It was pretty difficult." Maybe somebody's moving "pretty fast." I do not want to do that in this lesson. I'll probably move "pretty slow" because that'll make it easier for you to understand. Or you're describing somebody and you say that they are "pretty smart." And the opposite of that would be "pretty dumb."

The next adverb, which is probably more of a direct synonym, is "extremely," which means a a very high degree. And I'll probably throw in some "very"s throughout the lesson, but you you could say something is "extremely important." Or perhaps it's "extremely dangerous." Maybe you are "extremely grateful for something." Or you could describe uh something and say it's "extremely difficult." And I've now used "difficult" twice. Really just to show you that you can use different words and mix them together because there is a difference. It helps you be more specific. If you're talking about something and you say it's "pretty difficult" or "extremely difficult."

Then we have the word "highly." And you could describe someone and say they are "highly successful." Maybe you're you're talking about a situation that is "highly unlikely." You could describe a person's uh personality and say they are "highly competitive" or maybe they are "highly motivated."

And the next adverb that I have for you is "awfully." And instead of saying that that you're "very tired," you could say you're "awfully tired." Or uh a great phrase is "awfully nice of someone." Uh I would say, you know, it's "awfully nice of you" to go ahead and hit that like button. It's "awfully nice of you." Or maybe you say that you are "awfully sorry." Or perhaps you're talking about a place that is "awfully crowded."

Then we have the word "truly." I love this synonym. You could say that you are "truly thankful." Or perhaps you're "truly passionate about something." Or maybe you're "truly happy." And we could also use "truly" with a synonym for "happy." It's another collocation and say you are "truly content." So either one. "Truly happy," "truly content." Great phrases to know.

"Immensely." And this just makes me think, well, like "very big." But this adverb is used in some very common collocations. I threw another "very" in just now. And you could hear somebody describe a person and say that they are "immensely talented." Or perhaps you say something is "immensely popular." I I wish my video lessons were "immensely popular." Or maybe you describe something as "immensely useful." Or you could talk about a business and say that it is "immensely profitable."

So, I just taught you some "truly remarkable," which is which is another collocation with "truly." "Truly remarkable" synonyms that you can use instead of saying "very." And I I don't think these phrases are extremely difficult to learn, but I do feel that they are "immensely useful" in helping you build your vocabulary. And I'm really trying to emphasize these synonyms.

But now let's look at the second way that you can supercharge your vocabulary and avoid using the word "very." And that is by using more precise language. So I think quite often people will use "very" with a a simple adjective such as the adjectives that you see up here. And instead of using "very" along with one of these adjectives, you can use a word that is more descriptive. It's more exact. And this is going to help you more accurately express your thoughts, opinions, and ideas.

So, let's start with "very good." And you might use, well, "very good" to describe uh an event, a party, a festival. And instead of saying "very good," there are so many different words that you can choose from. You could say that something is "incredible," "amazing." Those are two very common adjectives, or "spectacular." And then if you want to use a couple of adjectives which may not be as common, maybe you could say something is "phenomenal" or "breathtaking." I love that adjective. I've never had anyone describe one of my lessons as "breathtaking." I've just been waiting. I've been waiting to hear that down in the comments.

And then the same goes for "very bad." There are many different words that you can choose from that are going to be more descriptive than just saying "very bad" like "terrible" or "horrible." Those are those are very common adjectives, great words to use instead of saying "very bad." You could also say that well something is "lousy" or "dreadful." That's that is "very bad." And then probably, I I think the strongest word maybe that you could use would be "atrocious." I I really hope I I don't see that word down in the comments.

Then we come to "very happy." Now I have already taught you one way that you could avoid using "very" if you want to use another adverb and you could say that that you are "truly happy." But you could also just use one word instead to be a bit more descriptive. And instead of saying "very happy," you have several choices. You could say that that you are "cheerful" or you are "delighted" or "elated" or one of my favorites is "ecstatic." That that if I am "very happy," I would I love saying that I am just "ecstatic." And then you could also say that that you are "jubilant." All of those words mean that you are at some level of extreme happiness. You're "very happy."

But if you're not feeling "very happy," and you're actually feeling the opposite of that, "very sad," then again, there are many words that you could use that would be a little more specific and tell somebody, well, just how sad you are, but also maybe give an indication as to why you may be sad. So, just in general, an informal word that you could use is "down." If you're feeling "down," then yeah, you're you're just sad. But if there's maybe love involved in some way, perhaps you could tell somebody that you're "heartbroken" and then they know that, well, this may have to do with with ending some relationship and they know that love is involved. Or if you want to express that there's no hope, maybe you tell somebody that you you're just you feel "dejected." Or "bitter." That's another good one. And "bitter" makes me think that. Well, not only are you sad, but you're also a little angry. And then you could say that you feel "wistful." "Wistful" is like you're sad because you're you're thinking about the past. Maybe there was a bad memory and I was thinking about it and and I became "wistful."

"Beautiful" is another common adjective that well people use "very" with "very beautiful." And instead of saying that somebody looks "very beautiful," you could say, well, that they look "lovely" or or they look "marvelous." Or if you want to make it a little more intense, a little stronger, you could say that somebody looks "gorgeous." Or you could say "elegant." That's another great word. It makes me think of somebody who might look a little more formal, a little more dressed up. You could use "elegant." Or I've saved the best for last. "Stunning." "Stunning" is a great word. The next time that you you see someone and you want to say that they look "very beautiful," just say "stunning." They look "stunning."

Another common adjective that's used with "very" is "tired." "Very tired." And I I think instead of saying "very tired," probably the most common word that people would use is "exhausted." I I use that one quite often. Instead of saying "very tired," I would say I'm just "exhausted." Or if you want to use a word that's more informal, you could say that you're "drained." Or another informal word is "beat." I'm "beat." And then there is "exasperated." And with "exasperated," it makes me think, well, you're tired mostly like up here in your mind that you're you're annoyed, you're bothered by something, and you you feel tired, and you're just you'd say you're "exasperated." And then if we're talking about work, people get "very tired" because of work. You could say that you're just "burnt out" and and you need to take a break. You need to relax because right now you're you're "burnt out."

Now, when most people think of collocations, they think of verb noun collocations or adjective noun collocations. These are very I I shouldn't say very. These are immensely popular parts of speech. But as I just previously demonstrated with the word "very," do not underestimate the power of adverbs. These are words that modify verbs and adjectives and they really add emphasis to whatever it is that we're talking about. They are descriptive. Actually, let's let's add some emphasis. They are incredibly descriptive words, which is why I want to give you more adverb collocations that you should know and use. I want to talk to you about adverb collocations. The idea again is not for you to memorize every single one of these. I think you may already be familiar with many of them. So, a lot of it will just be review, but it it's just getting that exposure so that you know which words go together.

So let's begin with the adverb "strongly." This is it's often used to emphasize. Some of the more common ones would be, well, you could "strongly condemn." That you really are are upset with someone and you might "strongly condemn" them for for doing this thing. Or perhaps you could "strongly disagree" with someone. You it's not just your normal level of disagreement. you want to emphasize that and say that you "strongly disagree." You could also "strongly suggest" something that you want to make sure that this person, well, probably does what you are telling them to do. So you may "strongly suggest" something. Now if you want to add a little more to it and really kind of tell them, look, look, this is what you should do, then you might "strongly recommend" something. So "suggest" and "recommend," they're they're pretty similar, but I think "recommend" has that extra little like, well, okay, this is what I think you should do. So you could "strongly suggest" something, but if that person doesn't listen, then you might "strongly recommend" it. You could also "strongly support" someone. If if you want to show an increased level of support, you would "strongly support" them.

The next adverb is "fully." And this adverb is kind of just like talking about something that that's complete. For example, you could say that you are "fully aware" that you know everything that's going on around you and and you are "fully aware of some situation." For example, I could say that I am "fully aware" that you are not going to memorize all of these collocations. But in that case, I I "strongly suggest" that you keep practicing, that maybe you rewatch the lesson again because that is just going to help you build your vocabulary. You could also say that that a person, if you're describing them, they are "fully awake." They are they are definitely awake. They are completely awake. But you want to say they are "fully awake." I hope that you guys are "fully awake" right now as you are watching this lesson. You would also use "fully" to say that something, perhaps a a program or a machine, it is "fully operational." That everything works. It's "fully operational." And finally, you can use it with the adjective "upright" and say that that someone may be standing "fully upright." I I always try to stand "fully upright," but it doesn't always happen and and I end up slouching like this. But I I try to stand "fully upright."

The next adverb that I have, well, it's actually two adverbs that can be used interchangeably. And those two adverbs are "absolutely" and "utterly." Now, you can use either of these adverbs when when talking about the adjectives that I'm about to teach you, but sometimes I think it may be more common to use one over the other. And as we go through these, I I will tell you which one. So both of these adverbs, they they kind of mean like like definitely or for sure. For example, you we can use it and say that someone is "absolutely alone" or "utterly alone." Either one works, but in this case, I think it's probably a little more common to use "utterly" and say that, well, they they are they are "utterly alone." Sometimes it's not good to be alone. So let's let's put a positive spin on it. And I could say that somebody could be "absolutely amazed" or "utterly amazed." I think either one of these adverbs goes well with this adjective. If you again just want to add a little flavor to it and say, "Wow, you know, I I was "absolutely amazed" when I saw the movie. It was incredible. I was "absolutely amazed." Or you could, well, we could use it with the adjective "appalled" and say that you were maybe you really didn't like something. You thought it was terrible and you were "absolutely appalled" by this thing or "utterly appalled." Again, either adverb I think goes well with this adjective. We could say that something or or even someone is "absolutely beautiful" or "utterly beautiful." I think in in this case, I I guess for me, I would tend to use "absolutely" more often than I would use "utterly." If I'm talking about something that's beautiful, I'd probably say that it is "absolutely beautiful." You could also be "absolutely convinced" of something or "utterly convinced." And and in this case, I think both of them are quite common, but well, I'll tell you my personal take. I and this I think I would probably use "utterly." Then we could use these adverbs with the adjective "devastated." That that maybe you could say we were "absolutely devastated." We were "utterly devastated" when we heard the news. I think either of them go very well with this adjective. You could also say that a person might be "absolutely furious" or even "utterly furious." Between these two adverbs, I would probably go with "absolutely," but either one works. "Absolutely furious," "utterly furious." Then we could describe a person's feeling and say that they were "absolutely miserable" or even "utterly miserable." Both of them work well. So if you want to really say that a a situation was bad, perhaps you got caught out in the rain and you were stuck there and you got soaking wet and you just felt "absolutely miserable." These adverbs also go well with the adjective "ridiculous." And you could describe, well, either a person or probably more often a situation and say that it that it was "absolutely ridiculous" or "utterly ridiculous." And finally, you could use it with the adjective "stupid" and again describe a person or even a situation and say it was "absolutely stupid" or "utterly stupid." Both of them work well. Especially if if "stupid" is just not good enough and you really want to say just how stupid it was. You could say that it was "absolutely stupid" or "utterly stupid."

Then we have the adverb "deeply." And this is it's just talking about a great amount. For example, you could use it with uh the adjective "concerned." and you would say that you are "deeply concerned about something." Or it's quite often used with "regret" and you might "deeply regret" something. If you really want to say that you are, well, you you really are upset about this and you you wish that it had never happened, you could start out and say, "Well, I deeply regret that this thing happened." Then we could use it with the adjective "divided" and say that, well, perhaps people are "deeply divided." I think if you're talking about politics, that is a great example. You could say, "I can't believe that that people are so deeply divided that they won't listen to each other." They "strongly disagree" and they are "deeply divided." And I am "utterly amazed" at how "absolutely ridiculous" it is sometimes that people are so "deeply divided." And finally, we can use it with "ashamed." And you could somebody could say that they are "deeply ashamed about something." So with all of these, keep in mind that they they all kind of have a negative connotation. It it's not talking about something that's overwhelmingly positive. If you are saying that that people are "deeply divided" or you're "deeply concerned about something" or you "deeply regret" it or you're just "deeply ashamed." So keep that in mind.

Next we have the adverb "highly." And this really, well, it it kind of means the same as "very." You're you're talking about a degree. And I think it does have more of a positive connotation to it. So we we can start out and you might say that something is "highly unlikely." That it's probably not going to happen. You could say it's "highly unlikely" that this thing will happen. You could also use it with "recommend" that you "highly recommend" something. Now, this is a little different than "strongly recommend" because I think when you "highly recommend" something, you're kind of telling that person that, well, you think this is the best. It is the very best and that's why you "highly recommend" it. If you "strongly recommend" it, you do think it's really good, but it's kind of like you're you're maybe pushing it a little more on that person and you really want them to do it. So they they are a little different in that way. But if you think something is is great, it's it's absolutely the very best, you could "highly recommend" it. We could describe a situation and say that, well, maybe it's "highly unusual." That is a a common collocation as well as "highly controversial." That this, it's it's not just controversial, it's "very controversial," it's "highly controversial." We could also say that something is "highly sophisticated." It's it's very complex. It's detailed. Maybe we're talking about some advanced science and we say, "Wow, this it's just highly sophisticated." Or you could describe a person and say that they are "highly educated." That they have gone to university, they have their masters, their PhD, and you would describe this person and say, "Well, they are a highly educated individual." Perhaps then you could describe a person who is "highly educated" and say that he or she is "highly intelligent." They're they're not just "very smart," they are "highly intelligent." And sometimes if a person is "highly intelligent," they may get a job in which they are "highly paid." That they are earning a lot of money and they are "highly paid" at their job.

Now, let's kind of go in the opposite direction and talk about the adverb "grossly." It it means pretty much the same like "very." You're talking about a degree, but I say that it's kind of in the opposite direction because most of these collocations have a negative connotation. For example, you could say that something is "grossly exaggerated." That it's really it's not close to the truth. That some story, something that happened and you'd say, "Well, it was grossly exaggerated." Or maybe you're describing a person and say that they were "grossly negligent." That they made a mistake, they were negligent, but it was a very careless mistake. and you could say that they were "grossly negligent." We could also use it with the adjective "inaccurate" and say that something is "grossly inaccurate." If somebody's telling a story that was "grossly exaggerated," you would you could then say, "Wow, that is just grossly inaccurate. That is not what happened. It was grossly inaccurate." We could also say that somebody may be "grossly mistreated" and that is not a good situation. If somebody is mistreated and if they are mistreated, well, really bad, then you could say they are "grossly mistreated." You could also describe a situation and say that something was "grossly unfair." It just really wasn't fair. It was "grossly unfair." Or perhaps say that someone was "grossly reckless." That they didn't care about what happened to others and they were "grossly reckless." Their behavior was "grossly reckless." Or you could use it and say that a a person might be "grossly misled." That they were not told the truth. They were led to believe something that was "grossly inaccurate." And in this case, you could say that they were "grossly misled." And finally, we could say that, well, something or even someone was "grossly underestimated." And in in the case of describing a person, maybe that sounds a little surprising and like, oh, we we "grossly underestimated" this person's value. They surprised everyone. And that would be a good thing. But if you're talking about a situation, perhaps that you were trying to plan for something, but you "grossly underestimated" what would happen. And in that case, that would be more of a negative connotation and you might "grossly underestimate the results," which means you were wrong. And yeah, that that that might not be a good situation.

Then we have the adverb "mildly," which really just means slight or or not much. And you could say that a person is "mildly upset." They're just a little upset. They're "mildly upset." Or maybe they are "mildly concerned about something." There's something that they should be a little concerned about and you could say that they are "mildly concerned." Or perhaps uh a person is "mildly surprised" by something that happened. So this is a great adverb to again just give that that extra little bit of information and use "mildly" to describe that maybe the way you feel. You're "mildly upset," you're "mildly concerned," or you're "mildly surprised."

Then we have the adverb "widely." And this, it's a great adverb. I like using it because it really just means like universal. It's talking about everything or everyone. And you could say that something is "widely available." That you can find this thing anywhere, everywhere. It's "widely available." Or maybe you want to say that you're talking about some information that everybody knows about and you'd say that it is "widely known." And finally, we can use it with "accepted" and say that something is "widely accepted." Everybody accepts this information as the truth. It is "widely accepted."

And finally, we have the adverb "perfectly." It is another great adverb and to make some very common collocations in which you're saying that, well, things are are okay. But I think it's used in the context that somebody might be saying the the opposite and then you're trying to say, no, no, no, it's like this. For example, you might use it with the adjective "normal." "Perfectly normal." Somebody might be trying to say that, well, things are a little strange. This is a little weird. And you would say, well, no, no, no, everything is "perfectly normal." So, for example, perhaps I know many of you, you're you're learning English. It's quite uh it's quite common to make mistakes, but it doesn't make people feel good. So, I could then say, "Hey, don't worry about it. It's perfectly normal to make mistakes. It's not strange. It's not weird. It's perfectly normal." You could also say that that something is "perfectly acceptable." That that this thing is just fine. It's "perfectly acceptable." Or maybe you could say that somebody is "perfectly willing" to do something. They're willing to do it. They are "perfectly willing" to do it. And again, maybe it would be used in a context where somebody is may you think that they're not willing to do it and they say, "No, no, I'm perfectly willing to do this thing."

So, I hope that that all of this made sense. I know that I gave you a lot of collocations today, but again, the idea is not that you you're going to memorize each and every one of these. Over time, you are going to learn all of these different collocations. And not only that, you will be able to use them correctly. I am "utterly convinced" that this will be the case. You will learn all of them because you are "highly intelligent."

Let's get back to the basics and have a look at some everyday phrases. And I'm going to present this next part kind of like a quiz. And once again, I think you probably already know many of these words. And if this is review, that's great. This review is essential because people use these collocations all the time and you should too.

I want to start out today's lesson with a question. How would you complete this sentence? What what word would you use to complete this sentence? "It's been a really m day. Just one problem after another." You may have used a variety of adjectives. You could have said it it's been a really "rough day." Or perhaps you said it's been a "bad day" or a "difficult day" or even a "tough day." These are all adjectives that we can use with the word "day" and they are frequently used together because they are collocations and that's what I want to talk to you about today in order to help you build, develop, and grow your vocabulary.

So, let's go back to that first sentence. And the adjective that I want to use is "rough." "A rough day." It It was just difficult. We've actually had a bit of a "rough day." We just returned from a trip and the airline destroyed our stroller. That That's a true story, but I I don't want to I don't want to make this about me. I want to make it more about you and building your vocabulary.

The next one that I want to talk to you about is "a rough draft." If somebody says that they've done "a rough draft," it means that they have done some work but it is incomplete. They they've only started the process and you could say it was "a rough draft." Often it's used when talking about something that you're writing and the writing is not finished. The paper, the essay, whatever it is, you might just say, "Well, I I've only done a rough draft."

You can also use this adjective with "estimate" and somebody might ask for "a rough estimate," which is an approximation. And I I think about numbers. Somebody's asking for for some kind of value. Perhaps you're having car troubles and you take it to the mechanic and and you want to know how much it's going to cost. You might ask them for "a rough estimate." They might not know exactly how much it's going to cost, but they perhaps could give you "a rough estimate" and approximation so that you know well whether you want to fix your car or or just leave it the way it is.

You may also hear this adjective with the noun "neighborhood," "rough neighborhood." And I say that I don't know why I'm saying that in a very cheerful way because if you're talking about "a rough neighborhood," it's kind of a a dangerous neighborhood perhaps. Uh you know, there's a lot of crime there. It's not very safe. And you might describe this area and say, "Yeah, you know, it's it's a bit of a rough neighborhood." Often I I think people use it maybe when they're talking about their past. They're telling a story. They say, "Yeah, you know, I I grew up in a really rough neighborhood or I used to live in a rough neighborhood and it it was a bit dangerous, but yeah, that's where that's where they were living. It was a rough neighborhood."

Now, I want you to try and complete this sentence. All right? I I hope you didn't think I was just going to tell you all of these collocations. I I want you to try and work for it. Just kind of quiz yourself a little bit. Which of those words would you use to complete it? "We'll give it a m of paint and and then it's finished." What do you think? I hope you said "b touch." "A touch of paint."

This is the next set of collocations that I want to teach you and that is those with "touch." So this is a noun noun collocation. If you're talking about "a touch of something," you're you're talking about a slight amount. For example, "a touch of paint." A slight amount of paint. Or perhaps you could say that that you have "a touch of the flu." You you're feeling a little bit sick and you might tell somebody, "Yeah, you know, I think I got a touch of the flu right now."

We also frequently use "touch" with several different adjectives. For example, "finishing touch." And this is talking about small details at the end of something. Maybe you want to put the "finishing touches on something" that you're creating. You're just adding those small details. We can also say that that something is "a nice touch." And in this case, we're talking about something that makes another thing better. For example, maybe you are painting a picture and somebody suggests, "Oh, maybe you should put this down there in the corner." And you think, "Yeah, okay, that that's a nice touch. It makes the painting better." If we're talking about a person and we say that someone has "a nice touch," in this case, we're saying that they do something very well. For example, maybe there there's a basketball player and he or she shoots the ball very well. and you say, "Wow, you know, this person, they just have a really nice touch. They're a great shooter." So, in that case, I think it's commonly used when talking about sports and athletics, and you want to say that that somebody has "a nice touch." A person may also have "a soft touch." And in this case, we're we're just saying that something is delicate, that that it's very nice. It's comforting that that somebody has "a soft touch." I don't know if I would describe myself and say that I have "a soft touch," but perhaps you do. I I don't know.

Now look at this sentence and tell me which word best completes it. "Someday I hope to m a world record." I hope that you chose "c break." "A record." "Someday I hope to break a world record." I don't think I am going to do it, but but maybe you will. I don't know.

But let's talk about some collocations with "break." And these are all verb noun collocations. So "to break a record," this just means to do something better than anybody else. You break a record. There is also an expression that's pretty common. You might tell somebody to "break a leg." And if you tell somebody, hey, "break a leg," then you're just wishing them luck. It's actually, this is an informal expression that somebody's getting ready to do something. Perhaps they have a performance or they're going to do a show and you say, hey, you know, good luck. "Break a leg." You can also "break a promise," which is not good. This just means that you don't do what you say you will do. "Break a promise." You frequently hear that one. Or you can "break the ice." This is another idiom which means that you are trying to start a conversation between strangers or you're trying to make a tense situation a little less tense. For me, I

Often, I think of a classroom because the very first time that I have a class with students, I will try to break the ice and we will do different activities so that everybody gets to know each other a little better.

To break the ice, then you can break the law. This is something else that you can break. It's not good because if you break the law, then it is illegal. You shouldn't do it. I hope that you don't break the law.

Here is your next question. And this time, I'm not going to give you any options. I want you to tell me which verb do you think best completes this sentence. I need you to do me a All right. I'm sorry. I just told you the answer. I need you to do me a huge favor. All right. I apologize.

We're talking about verb noun collocations using do. Do someone a favor. And if you do someone a favor, then you are just doing something for that person in order to help them. Do a favor. People may also have to do housework, which are the things you have to do around the home. You may have to do laundry or do the dishes. There's a lot of different housework that people just have to do.

You may also hear somebody like me tell you to do your best. If you haven't known any of the answers to these questions, that's okay. I want you to keep participating. I want you to keep watching and learning with us because I just want you to do your best. And if you do your best, then you are going to learn and build your vocabulary. And that is the most important thing of all. Just do your best.

Another do collocation is to do harm. And in this case, you are well, it's just not something good. You don't want to do harm to others. You also don't want to do harm to yourself. There are so many different collocations with do and they are so important because we use them all the time.

Here's another sentence for you. I spend too much m editing these videos. And and this is quite true. I do spend too much m editing these videos. I almost said the answer right then, but I didn't. But I hope you said time. I spend too much time editing these videos.

So, you can spend time. This is a common verb noun collocation. And I want to talk to you about some other collocations with time. So, not only can you spend time, you can also waste time, in which case you are not using your time wisely. I hope that you don't waste time, and you're certainly not wasting your time learning these different collocations and building your vocabulary.

You can also kill time, which means that you are just doing something unimportant while you wait for something else to happen. So, you can kill time walking around a mall. You can kill some time watching TV. Until something else happens, you're just going to do something unimportant and kill time.

There's another collocation that's pretty similar to kill time, and that is pass the time. You do something to pass the time. And in this case, you again, you are doing some activity. It's not super important. I like to read books to pass the time. that you are just trying to occupy your time by doing something and you're trying to pass the time.

Then there's an expression that I just wanted to throw in there, but it is frequently used and that is to say right on time. If someone is right on time, then they are there right when they should be. Right on time. I try to be right on time, but most of the time it doesn't happen. I always do my best to be right on time, but especially if I'm having a bad day, I'm not going to be right on time. And I hope you hope you recognize these collocations that I continue to use.

Let's look at this sentence right here. We're not going to go much further. The car is about to m of gas. What do you think? This is a verb noun collocation. And actually, it is a phrasal verb. That is a hint for you. And I hope that you said run out. Run out of gas.

I want to talk about some collocations with run out. You run out of something. So, if something like a car runs out of gas, then it just means there's none left. It runs out. Now, the way that we use this phrasal verb, the meaning can change a little bit. For example, if we use it in the present continuous and we say that we are running out of something, then it just means that there is a little bit left. There's still some left, but it's about to be gone very quickly. If we use it in the past tense and we say that we ran out of something, then it just means that there's none left, that's it. So, if a car is running out of gas, there's still a little bit left. If it ran out of gas, then there's none.

You can also run out of patience, which is another common collocation. And I think in this case, people may tend to give you a little bit of a warning and they may say, you know, be careful. Hey, I'm running out of patience. I'm starting to run out of patience. There's just a little bit left. So, so be careful. And if somebody's already ran out of patience, then yeah, they're gonna be pretty upset with you.

There are many different things that you can run out of. You can run out of time. You can run out of money. And the worst of all, you can run out of coffee. I hate it when that happens because in the morning I need my coffee.

Here is another sentence for you. And and this is this is a little bit of a bigger sentence. And all of those blanks. It's the same word. You shouldn't be wasting m. Instead, you should invest your m or you can donate m to your favorite charity. Which word am I talking about? I hope that you can take a quick look at this and know that I am talking about money.

Collocations with money. These are all verb noun collocations. So you can waste money, which means that you are spending money in a carefree and careless way and you are just wasting it on things that you probably don't need. You can also invest money. You can buy stocks or maybe even buy a home. Those are good ways to invest money. Or if you're feeling very charitable, you can donate money. You can give money to your favorite cause, your favorite charity and donate your money.

Some more collocations with money include save money. I think it's always a good idea to save money because you never know when you're going to need it. And along those lines, you can also set aside some money. And this just means that you have some money. You're not going to spend it because you might need it for something important. We can also add to it to create the expression set aside some money for a rainy day, that you have this money for a time when you absolutely need it. You set aside some money for a rainy day. We always try to save money. That's very important to us. And we also like to donate money when we can. And we always try not to waste money because if we do that, then we're going to run out of money. And there's a very quick review, a quick money review for you.

Now, I want you to do me a favor and help put the finishing touch on this lesson. And all you have to do is hit that like button if you enjoy learning these different collocations and building your vocabulary. Do you promise? You promise that you're going to do that? I really hope that you're not going to break your promise because that's going to make me sad and I could have a pretty rough day.

Okay, so we finished right on time and I'm not even wearing a watch right now. I have something fun for you. It's a throwback video. And by that, I mean it's an older lesson. Perhaps you can tell I may look a bit younger. But in this lesson, I'm going to talk about a couple of super common verbs, make and do. And I'm going to point out different collocations with these verbs because to be honest, this is when I hear people make small mistakes and they confuse these two verbs. So, the production values may be a bit lower. Like I said, it's a throwback video. But it is a little more energetic. I add some music. So, let's have some fun.

Today, I'm going to talk to you about some common words that are used with some common verbs. And those verbs are make and do.

[Music]

So, let's look at some common collocations. And I want to start with the verb make. And generally speaking, when we use make, we're talking about things that we create, things that we might build. Keep that in mind as we go through these different categories and I talk about these collocations.

First, let's start with food because who doesn't love food? Now, when we're thinking of things that we make, things that we create, in the morning, I usually make some coffee. It's the first thing I do in the morning. And then I make breakfast. We can also make lunch and we can make dinner. Something else that we make, we might make a cake for dessert. I love cake. Starting to get hungry now. So I need to start. Let's move on and talk about something else.

We can also use make if we're talking about stuff that has been built like a product. It could be made of something. Maybe it's made of gold. That would be really nice and it's probably expensive. Or it could be made from something else. If something is made from grapes, like this bottle of wine that's already been opened by someone. What when did you open this? Also, when talking about products, we can find out like where something is made on tags in our shirt. Things will say made in. Wonder where this one's made. Can't. What? Okay, that's not going to work. Uh, I don't know where this is made.

We also use make when talking about plans because you can. Well, you can make a plan. You can make a decision. And well, maybe if you haven't made a decision, somebody might tell you, "Make up your mind." Make a decision. Make up your mind.

Make also helps us talk about reactions. So, for example, something could make you happy, like this lesson. And you can give it a thumbs up if it makes you happy. I hope not. Maybe it makes you sleepy. I don't know. Wake up. We're not done yet.

We use make to talk about money. Yeah. Make money, make a profit. And with your job, we say that's how people make a living. Make money. Make make make money money.

Some other common expressions with make. You can make a mistake. You can also make a phone call. You can make a sound. You can make a promise. And if you end up breaking that promise, then you can just make an excuse. There are actually many, many, many, many other collocations with make. These are just some of them, a few of them that I think are really common. So, I recommend that you keep studying, keep learning, and help build build your vocabulary.

So, let's have a look at do and some of the common collocations with this verb and the nouns that follow. We use do generally speaking when we're talking about some type of activity. For example, maybe performing an action. You can do the dishes. You can do some exercise. You can also do the laundry. That reminds me, you need to do some laundry.

We can also use do to talk about some kind of work like you can do your homework or you can do your job or you can even do chores around the house. Finally, we can use do to talk about non-specific activities like do something or do anything or maybe do everything. So, those are some common collocations with do. Again, there are others out there and I think they're great to learn because it'll just help you expand and build your vocabulary.

So, now we're going to do a quick practice and I'm going to quiz you on what we just learned. I'm going to give you a sentence and I want you to complete the sentence with either make or do. So, I want you to say out loud which verb would complete the collocation. And I'm not going to show you the sentence. So, this is going to be a bit of a listening exercise. Which one, which verb would complete this sentence? If you're not positive, just try and think of what comes naturally. And if it helps, try to repeat the whole sentence and fill in either make or do. I'll give you a few moments and then afterwards, I'll go over the answer with you. Are you ready? I hope that you do a good job. Let's begin.

That was pretty cheesy. She's going to m her hair and nails for the party. She's going to m her hair and nails for the party. So, if we're talking about hair and nails, it would be more of an activity and we would use do. She's going to do her hair and nails for the party. Do hair. Do nails.

Let's look at the next one. Someday I hope to m a lot of money. Someday I hope to m a lot of money. If we're talking about money, money, money, money, money. We make money. Someday I hope to make a lot of money. I hope to make money. I don't know if we'll make a lot of money someday. Maybe. We'll see.

Here's the next one. Did you m the assignment for class? Did you m the assignment for class? Here we are talking about some kind of work. Remember you do homework. So in this example, did you do the assignment for class? Do the assignment. Do work.

Here's another. I just want to sit back, relax, and m nothing. I just want to sit back, relax, and m nothing. In this sentence, we're talking about a non-specific activity. Nothing. So, you would do nothing. I just want to sit back, relax, and do nothing. The beach. I don't need to do anything. I just want to do nothing and relax and do nothing.

Here's another. I'm going to m soup for lunch. I'm going to m soup for lunch. Talking about food. Food that I want to eat. Make. I want to make food. Make some food. That wasn't the sentence. I'm going to make soup for lunch. That's what you would do. You would make soup. Make lunch. And I need to make some lunch because I'm hungry. Probably won't make soup. Maybe I'll make a sandwich.

Here's another one. Going on vacation will always m me smile. Going on vacation will always m me smile. This is a reaction to something, a reaction that causes a smile. Going on vacation will always make me smile. It's true because when you're on vacation, you can do nothing.

I hope you enjoyed that activity. And if you did and you did a good job, let me know. Write that in the comments. I just want to say I am a big believer in learning collocations to build your vocabulary. They're incredibly useful, which is why I wanted to put together this longer, more detailed masterclass lesson on collocations. I hope that you learned something new, but even if you didn't, trust me, getting this review was highly beneficial because it's going to help you avoid making small mistakes in the future. If you enjoyed the lesson, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thanks so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long.