Using Collocations to Learn English

What are collocations in English?

Collocations are words that are used regularly with a specific word.  For example, three collocation words for the word 'friend' are 'best, 'good,' and 'loyal.'  Here are some example sentences:

"She talks to her best friend every day."
(best)

"He lives with some good friends."
(good, close)
* The word 'close' is another collocation that can be used in the place of 'good' such as "He lives with some close friends."

"She has been a loyal friend for many years."
(loyal, real, trusted, true, faithful)
* All the words in the parenthesis can be used in the place of 'loyal.'  These are other examples of collocations for the word 'friend.'

Why is it important to study English collocations?

When we learn vocabulary, we might understand the meaning of the word using a dictionary, but many times, we do not know how to use the word in a sentence.

How do I use that word? What are example sentences with that word? These are all common questions when we study vocabulary.

The best way to learn vocabulary is to learn what words are commonly used with the word in an example sentence. SKESL.com developed collocation lessons using the 2000 most frequently used words to help English learners improve their basic vocabulary and to help them learn how to use words in the correct way.

How do I study English collocations?

It doesn't make much sense to pick up a dictionary and study all the words there.  Similarly, it doesn't make sense to pick up a collocation dictionary to study all the words.  The best way is to find the most frequently used words in the English language and study the most frequently used collocations with those words.  That is exactly what SKESL.com has done.

SKESL.com has identified the 2000 most frequently used vocabulary words in the English language and created a collocation lesson for each word.  There are over 2000 collocation lessons in ESL Vocabulary Lessons.  You can find any word by searching, or you can study them by order of frequency.

Keep in mind that you should study them in depth.  Do not simply read the sentence.  Learn each sentence and read it out loud until you can say it without thinking about it.  For additional study tips, please visit the Study Method page.