Definition

1. Noun:
   • A grouping or pairing of words that frequently occur together: In linguistics, "collocation" refers to the habitual or conventional combination of words that sound natural to native speakers.
   • The act of placing things side by side: More generally, it can mean the action of positioning items together or in proximity.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Linguistics):
  • "Strong tea" is a common collocation in English; "powerful tea" is not.
  • Language learners must study collocations to sound more fluent.
• Noun (General):
  • The collocation of the two statues created a powerful artistic contrast.
  • The exhibit featured an interesting collocation of modern and classical paintings.

Advanced Usage

• "Lexical collocation": A frequent pairing of content words (e.g., verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs).
  • "Commit a crime" is a classic example of a verb-noun lexical collocation.
• "Grammatical collocation": A combination where a dominant word (like a verb or adjective) is typically followed by a specific preposition or grammatical structure.
  • "Depend on" is a grammatical collocation.
• "Collocational range": The set of words that a given word typically combines with.
  • The verb "run" has a wide collocational range, including "run a business," "run a risk," and "run a bath."

Variants and Related Words

• Collocate (verb): To place or occur together regularly.
  • The words "heavy" and "rain" collocate frequently.
• Collocational (adjective): Relating to collocation.
  • Making collocational errors can make speech sound unnatural.

Synonyms

• Juxtaposition: The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect. (More general, often used in art/design contexts).
• Combination: A joining or merging of different parts. (More general).
• Pairing: Two things put together to form a pair.

Related Phrases

• "Fixed collocation": A word combination that is very rigid and allows little to no variation.
  • "Kith and kin" is a fixed collocation meaning friends and relatives.
• "Strong collocation": A word pair with a very high frequency of co-occurrence.
  • "Torrential rain" is a strong collocation.
• "Break a collocation": To use a non-standard or unnatural word combination.
  • Saying "make a homework" instead of "do homework" breaks a common collocation.

Related Idioms

(Note: "Collocation" itself is a technical term and is not typically used in idiomatic expressions. However, the concept is central to many natural phrases.) - The concept underlies countless natural English idioms and phrases, such as: - "Pay attention" (not give attention in most contexts). - "Catch a cold" (not take a cold). - "Make a decision" (not do a decision).

Noun

1. the act of positioning close together (or side by side)
   • it is the result of the juxtaposition of contrasting colors
2. a grouping of words in a sentence