Challenge your English! Can you pass this Collocations Test? (A1-C2 Level)

Do we 'make a party' or 'have a party'?

Is the weather 'bitterly  cold' or 'furiously cold'?

What am I talking about?

Collocations!

The challenge in today's video is all about collocations.

You are going to answer 12 questions, from beginner to advanced level, learning

useful collocations as you go along.

It's like 12 mini-lessons in a quiz.

But what are collocations?

Well, firstly, they're my favourite.

Secondly, they are combinations of words that appear together often and sound

natural to people who speak a language fluently.

They sound just right when they go together.

So, learning collocations is essential if you want to sound natural when speaking English.

Let's go back to 'make' or 'have a party.'

'Make a party' doesn't sound right to

English speakers.

The correct collocation is 'have a party.'

For example—'I had a party for my birthday.'

However, many collocations are not right

or wrong.

Some are just not as natural as others.

An example of this is with 'furiously cold.'

We don't often hear these words together,

but it's not wrong.

In fact, 'it was a furiously cold day'

sounds like a line from a novel, but a much more natural, much stronger

collocation is 'bitterly cold.'

For example—'It was bitterly cold when I

went out this morning.'

In this video, I'm going to teach you

strong collocations that you can use in everyday speech.

But before we get started with the challenge, as always, I've created a free

PDF to go with this lesson.

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have to do is click on the link in the description box or scan this QR code here.

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Okay, let's get started with the A1, A2 beginner-level questions.

Number one—which verb can you use to complete the sentence?

'I _ yoga every morning.'

'Make' or 'do'?

I'll give you five seconds.

Pause if you need longer.

'We do yoga.'

We also 'do karate' or 'do exercise.'

We can't 'make yoga.'

Two—which preposition is missing from

this sentence?

'I argued with my brother _ whose turn it

was to use the car.'

'About' or 'over'?

Okay, everyone gets a point here.

There are two possible answers.

'You can argue about something' and 'you can also argue over something.'

Three—complete the sentence with a word that starts with 'w.' 'When the weather is

nice, I like to go for a _.'

'Walk.'

'To go for a walk' means to walk outside,

usually for fun or exercise.

Four—which verb can you use to complete

all three sentences?

First sentence—'I always _

a shower after exercising.'

Second—'I'm going to _ an English course next year.'

And three—'They often _

photographs of

their dog.'

The answer is—'take.'

'Take a shower' is more common in American English than British English, but people

in the UK do use this collocation.

In British English, you'll also hear 'have

a shower.'

'Take a course' is a strong collocation

meaning do a course and 'take photographs' is also very strong.

How did you do at A1, A2 level?

Let me know in the comments.

Are you ready for intermediate level B1 and B2?

First—which word would we not use to complete the sentence?

'When strawberries are ready to eat, they _

red.'

We have 'change', 'go', and 'turn.'

Which one wouldn't we use?

The answer is 'change.'

You could say 'change to red', but better collocations are 'go red' and 'turn red',

both meaning 'become red.'

Two—which adjective collocates  best with 'imagination'?

'She had a _ imagination when she was a child.'

Is it 'vivid', 'bright', or 'shining'?

Have a think.

The answer is—'vivid.'

This is the strongest collocation.

If someone 'has a vivid imagination', they

can make very clear images in their mind.

Number three—which adjective does not

form a strong collocation with 'hot' in this sentence, does not collocate well?

'It was the middle of July and a _ hot day.'

'Scorching', 'baking', or 'fiery'?

Have a few moments.

The answer is 'fiery.'

'A fiery hot day' isn't a strong collocation, but everyone would

understand what you mean if you said this.

In everyday speech and writing, 'scorching

hot' and 'baking hot' are more natural.

'Baking hot' is particularly common in

British English.

Okay, here's the final question for this round.

Which word can you use to complete all three sentences?

I love activities like this!

First sentence—'We often _ research

projects about the animals that live in our local area.'

Next—'Our workplace has a strict code of _ that all employees must follow.'

And three—'Jackson Blythe and Marie Sato _ the Philharmonic Orchestra.'

The answer—'conDUCT', 'conDUCT', or 'CONduct'.

Notice the stress shift.

In the first and third sentences, 'conDUCT' 

is a verb, and the stress  is on the second syllable.

But in the second sentence, 'CONduct' is a noun, and the stress is on the first syllable.

'ConDUCT', 'CONduct'.

What do these words mean?

If you 'conduct research', you 'do research'.

'A code of conduct' is 'a code of behaviour'

or rules for behaviour.

And if you 'conduct an orchestra', you

direct the orchestra.

That one was hard.

How are you doing?

Let me know your score for the

intermediate round.

And now we can move on to some really

advanced collocations.

Here are some at C1 and C2 levels.

Number one—which word best completes this sentence?

'You need to _ your pride and apologise to him.'

'Absorb', 'consume', or 'swallow'.

The answer is—'swallow.'

If you 'swallow your pride', you decide to

do something even though it will make you feel embarrassed, and you would prefer not to.

You 'hide your pride', although that's not a strong collocation.

'Swallow your pride' is stronger.

Number two—which word collocates well

with error?

'The book contained a few _ errors, and many

readers complained to the publisher.'

Is it 'bleak', 'crying', or 'glaring'?

Which one sounds best to you?

The answer is—'glaring'.

'A glaring error' is very obvious.

'Bleak' and 'crying' don't collocate well

with 'error.'

Three—which word can you use to complete

all three sentences?

First sentence—'Things took an

interesting _ when Evie showed up with her new partner.'

Second—'The sights and smells in the market _ my stomach.'

And three—'The author had an interesting _ of phrase that made everything he wrote

supremely interesting.'

I'm going to give you a clue here.

In two sentences, the word is a noun.

The answer—'turn'.

In sentence one and three, 'turn' is a noun and in sentence two, it's a verb.

'To take a turn' means to change or develop in a certain way.

You could say—'The party took a surprising turn'—meaning something surprising happened.

If something 'turns your stomach', it makes you feel ill and upset and a 'turn of'

phrase is a way of describing something.

We often use it to say someone expresses

themselves well.

And our last question, number four—which

of the adverbs does not form a strong collocation with 'beautiful' in this sentence?

'The morning mist hanging in the valleys made the landscape _ beautiful.'

'Hauntingly',

'creepily', or 'eerily.'

All three are lovely words.

The answer is 'creepily.'

'Creepily beautiful' is not a strong

collocation, though it would work if you wanted to make a powerful impact.

'Hauntingly beautiful' means in a way that makes you feel sad and is difficult to forget.

'Eerily beautiful' means in a strange or mysterious way.

And that's everything.

What is your score out of 12?

Let me know how you did in the comments, which level or question you struggled with.

Don't forget to download the PDF that goes with today's lesson.

We've included some extra exercises.

Also, if you're interested in the B1, B2

or C1 level, I have my Beautiful British English Programmes at B1, B2 and C1 level.

To learn more, visit englishwithlucy.com or visit the links in the description box.

I'll see you in the next lesson.

Bye!