43 Collocations to Build Your Vocabulary FAST in 2025!

Hi there. This is Harry. And welcome back  to Advanced English Lessons with Harry,  

where I try to help you to get a better  understanding of the English language.

Okay, so in this particular

it's not actually going to be too  advanced. I'm actually using some quite

Ordinary adjectives, and these adjectives all  appear in the top 50 simple adjectives in the  

English language. But the important thing  is, I'm going to show you how to put them  

into small phrases and expressions that will help  you so you don't get stuck in lost for words, and  

yet be able to understand when other people use  them, and perhaps help you to use them yourself.

Okay. Let's go. So

first one big. So as I said the simple adjectives  

big so we can have a big decision  or we can make a big decision. Oh,  

it's a big decision to leave your job now  when we're about to go into a recession.

Somebody can be a big eater, a  big drinker or a big spender.

Hey, big spender.

But if you're a big eater, it  means you eat a lot and every meal.

A big drinker is not a good thing to be. Oh,  he's a really big drinker. He goes out Thursday,  

Friday and Saturday. I don't know  how we can afford it, but really,  

it's not so healthy for him, a big drinker.

Or you could use it in the negative when  somebody says, would you like to come  

out for a few beers? I'm not such a big  drinker. I might join you later on. Okay.

Big ideas and big plans. Oh I've got  big ideas for this house. I really  

think this is a wonderful house that  we can put our own mark. Stamp our own

authority on this so people can see exactly what  we can do. We’ll design it really well. Big ideas.  

Big plans. And it's always good to have big  ideas and big plans. Who knows? Some days,

someday you'll be able to put them into operation.

Big grin. Well, a big grin is like it was.  They call it grinning like a Cheshire cat.

So when somebody has a big grin on their face,  they're very happy about something. Somebody  

might say, Oh, look at him. He looks like the  cat who got the cream. He's got a big grin on  

his face. I wonder what the good news is.  So a big grin. A big smile from ear to ear.

Big money. Wow. It must have cost big money  to buy that property. Look at the land. There  

must be easily two hectares. What is he going  to do with all of that? Really big money. Or  

if you're walking past a new development  in your high street. Beautiful offices,  

beautiful architecture, well laid  out. Wow. Big money went into that.

You can see they've no expense  spared. Everything looks really,  

really wonderful. Look at the marble that  they've used in that hallway. So big money.

Okay, so you got the general idea. So the next  adjective is easy. Again, simple adjective. Easy.

So we can use it like an easy day  or an easy week. Oh, I had an easy  

day yesterday. The boss was away. So as you  know what they say, when the boss is away,  

the mice will play. Yeah, so we can.  We all had a bit of fun and a bit of  

relaxation. I'm going to have an easy week  next week because I'm actually on holidays.

I'm not going anywhere, but I think I'll  just stay at home and relax and chill out.

Easy money. Everybody likes to think  they could earn or get easy money,  

but really, there's no such thing. And that's  exactly how we might use that expression.

There's no such thing as easy money. Means  you have to work for every penny you get.

if somebody tells you that there is easy money,  

that's usually false or probably not legal.  So there's no such thing as easy money,

An easy target. Well, when  somebody is an easy target,  

it means they're standing out there and  somebody is going to come and criticise  

them. Politicians can often be described  as easy targets. They stand up, they make,

certain announcements. They make  some mistakes from time to time,  

and therefore they are easy targets for criticism.

Or the bosses are easy targets for  criticism. When things don't go quite  

right in the business, they are an easy  target. Yep. So we often think, well,  

why would I want to be a politician?  Why would I be want to be in the  

limelight? I'd be an easy target for all that  criticism. I think I'll keep my head down.

Next. Good. Okay, so lots of ways we can use this.

Good man.

a good man.

He's a good man. He's got a good heart.  He really knows how to look after people.

Good deal. I got a really good  deal on my laptop. I think that  

shop is closing down anyway. I  went in and I offered the guy

€200 less than was on the ticket, and he  sold it to me. Wow. It's wonderful. Great  

model. A good deal, good value. Often we  use this with good value for money. Oh,  

the holiday was really good value for money.

We got all inclusive. Means every meal. Breakfast,  lunch and dinner. We couldn't move at the end  

of the week. I think it was a little bit too  much, but it was really good value for money.

Good chance. There's a good  chance I'll get that job.

There's a good chance they'll call me for an  interview. There's a good chance I'm going to  

get really good marks in my final exams, because  I really did a good thesis and I defended it very  

well. Good chance. And finally, good cry. I  sat down and had a good cry when everybody  

had left the house, and I was thinking  about my poor mother that had passed away.

I sat down and I had a good cry. So I cried

myself. Nobody was around. Nobody  could hear me. I had a good cry.

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Okay. Next. Hi. And again, an easy,  simple adjective. Hi. So we can talk  

about high level, high degree,  high rates. So there's a high

level of inflation in the country at the moment.

There's a high degree of

anxiety among the staff as  to what's going to happen

High rates of interest in the banks. If you want  

to borrow money. Okay. So that's  all high, but it's all negative.

high level of inflation, negative.  

High degree of uncertainty, negative. And a  high rate of interest rates extremely negative.

High standard. I set high standards for myself. So  

everything I do I want to  do very well. I want to do

better than I did before. And I want to do  it in a way that people would be proud of me.

And I, of course, would be proud of myself. So

I set high standards. Hotels can set  high standards of service. Companies  

try to set high standards of service  for their customers and clients.

High society. Oh, he's really moving  in high society now since he got that  

promotion. He's rubbing shoulders with all  the bosses and the executive directors. He  

really feels he's cool. Yeah, and he's  driving round in that extra special car  

of his. I'm a little bit jealous, I  think. Yeah. So he's in high society.

High priority. We can mark certain work that we  do as high priority. It's something we really,  

really have to start. And more importantly,  we have to really, really finish it. So it's  

high priority. So when you sit down at the  beginning of the week with your to do list,  

at the top of the list should be those pieces of  work that do things that are really high priority.

The most important.

High wind,

we can expect high winds blowing at such and  such a speed and then may not be hurricane force,  

but they're strong, stronger than  the gale, but really high winds,  

high winds sweeping across the country.

High winds bound to bring down some power  lines, causing some electrical faults and,

power outages or indeed some  trees may fall so high winds

And then high alert. The country is in a  state of high alert because of terrorism.  

Or on a state of high alert because of the  weather conditions, expecting snowstorms or  

blizzards or floods or whatever it might be. So  they they have these codes of like traffic lights,

So the country is on a state of high alert.

Okay, so the next adjective is light. Yeah.

We can have a light meal, so it's usually a snack  light meal before we we go to work in the morning,  

a light meal when we come in the  evening if we're not so hungry.

He can be a light smoker or a light eater or  light drinker. Earlier on we talked about,

Big. So here's the bit of an opposite. A  light smoker means he smokes cigaret once  

in a blue moon. A light eater eats, tends  to eat small meals on a regular basis,  

and a light drinker. He'll have an occasional  beer with his friends of the if he is out with  

them in the evening. Or maybe it's a really warm  day during the summer, he is a light drinker.

He's a light sleeper, meaning he will wake up  at the least sound. I'm a light sleeper. If  

there's a cat making noise outside , or the wind  blows or the windows rattle or something happens,  

I'm bound to wake up. I'm a very  light sleeper. So light sleeper.  

Somebody who wakes up at the least sound  possible. Yeah. The key in the door.

Something falling off the table.  Yeah. I'll wake up. A light sleeper.

Light music or light reading. When you're working,  perhaps you'd like to have some light music on in  

the background. Not big heavy rock, not some  big symphony orchestra, but something peaceful  

and light that you can relax to. Or just takes  your mind off things when you're doing some work

Or light reading. Now we can use this something  sarcastically. When somebody gives you this big,  

massive volume of casework to look at, you  say, Some light reading for the weekend. Yeah,  

but literally light reading might be a very  easy book. For example, one of the Agatha  

Christie books that I've started to read again,  I would describe those as very light reading.

They're not so sophisticated. The English  on them is very good. The plots are good,  

but I would consider those to be light reading.  But as I said, you can use it in a fairly

sarcastic way where you say, oh

you give me this big, big document to read  and wow, wow, it's going to take me forever.

Some light reading that is.

And then lastly for that light breeze or light  rain. So a light breeze is just a gentle breeze.  

You're walking along. You don't need a jacket  or a jumper, but there's a nice light breeze to  

keep the air cool so you're not so hot when you're  walking. Or light rain. It could be a light rain  

shower. It lasts only a couple of minutes, just  a sprinkling of rain water, but nothing so heavy.

And it's not going to make you in any way  wet at all. So light breeze or light rain.

And the next adjective is little. Okay,  

so we can again, on the theme of  easy to know adjectives, we can have,

a little boy or a little girl, but so little  by age, little by size, usually some little,  

toddler or some very, very young boy under  the age of 4 or 5, a little boy, little girl,

Little things. We have an expression. Little  things mean a lot. So sometimes it's not so  

important to buy somebody's big, big, big  presents. They like to get them. But little  

things from time to time. A cake. Yeah. A little  small box of chocolates, a bunch of flowers.  

Doing the hoovering, doing the cooking,  bringing a cup of tea to your partner.

These are all the little  things that make a difference.

A little laugh or a little  smile. When he told the joke,  

I had a little laugh to myself because I  remember a similar situation happening to  

me. Or when he told me the story, there  was a little smile on my face because,  

yeah, it's reminded me of times when I used to  have some fun or when I did something similar.

So a little laugh or a little smile.

And then finally in this section, a little of your  little finger. Yeah. The smallest finger on your  

hand. And we have an expression in English. He  or she talking about usually sons or daughters

or even wives, have you wrapped  around their little finger,  

meaning they will get you to do anything,

Absolutely anything that they want.

You will do anything they wish because you're  wrapped around their little finger. Yeah.

Or we can also say the expression he wouldn't lift  his little finger to help you. Meaning he's lazy  

or he's just not going to help anybody so he  wouldn't lift his little finger to help you.

Next. Adjective. New. Any new? So we can have  new hope. That's something is going to happen.  

New confidence in the economy when things start  to improve. New optimism spreading among the  

people as things become a little better. And the  gloom and the doom and gloom begins to lift. So  

new hope, new confidence, new optimism. A  new arrival, a new arrival in the family.

The dog had a litter of of pups. That's a  new arrival. Your son or daughter presents  

you with your first granddaughter or  grandson. A new arrival in the family.

Or indeed, if it's something very simple,  you go past your favourite clothing shop, or

boutique and have a big sign. New arrivals,  

new summer arrivals, new winter  collection at new arrivals,

We can have a new experience and often we like  that. I mean, when you get to a certain age,  

it's not so often you get a new experience, so you  might decide to go ice skating for that's a new  

experience for me. Or you might watch a Sci fi.

movie, because it's not  something that you usually watch.

That could be a new experience

Something you haven't tried before.

And then finally in this section. To  have new blood. Okay, now, new blood

typically means a fresh face in the office. It's  good to have some new blood around the office.  

These people have been working here for years.  Somebody coming in for the first time. New ideas,  

fresh ideas. You never know. We might be  able to improve the business somewhat.

So new blood. Everybody looks  forward to some new blood.

Of course, if you have to  go for a blood transfusion,  

perhaps somebody is sick  and they need to have some.

transfusion of blood that's new  blood. But let's stay away from  

the gory parts of that and just focus  on the new blood. In a football team,  

the new blood in a football  club, new manager, new players.

Something that will improve the past performances.

Okay. Next. Adjective. Real. All real. Real. So we  can talk about the real world. Often people say,

get into the real world. Come and  join us in the real world. Don't  

be sitting up there in your ivory  tower thinking you know it all,  

when in fact you don't. Or something happens  and they get a a sharp jolt of reality.

So they walk out in the street and find they've  

got a parking ticket. Haha. Welcome to  the real world. Welcome to our world.

A real job. So somebody might  be slagging somebody by saying,  

don't you think it's time you got a real job?

Don't you think it's time you got a real job?  Something where you actually have to lift a  

finger or break into a sweat, or do something that  the rest of us do from time to time. A real job,

Real feelings though when we have real  feelings, we're really sensitive to the  

situation. I actually think that son of ours  has got some real feelings. I think I saw him  

crying at that movie the other night. To have real  feelings. So not everything is a joke. Not having  

the laugh. You have to have some real feelings.  Empathy with other people who have difficulties.

Real choice. Do I have a real choice?

The boss told me I can either stay here  at work until midnight tonight or come  

in early tomorrow. But he wants  that done by midday tomorrow. So,  

do I have a real choice? No I  don't. Yeah, I have to just do it.

And then we have this expression where we  criticise somebody and we feel somebody is not,

really with it, or they're really annoyed. He's  a real jerk. I mean, that guy, what does he think  

he is? He thinks he's better than us. So when  somebody says something a little bit derogatory  

or criticises you or asks you to do something in  an unpleasant way to look at him, what a jerk.

A real jerk,

I feel like a real jerk, honey.

meaning a real loser.

Okay. And then finally we've got the adjective  strong. As I said, all of these adjectives are

not so difficult. They're in the top 50 of the  most used and well known. But the phrases should  

help you. So how do we use strong?Strong feelings.  So if you've got really strong feelings about  

something, you let people know. I don't want that  development to take place so close to the school.

I don't want the company to move ten kilometres  further east or west, because how am I going to  

get there? So you've got really strong  feelings of strong opinions about it.

Strong desire. Yeah. When you have a strong  desire, it's a deep wish to do something. I  

have a strong desire to do some more study. I have  a strong desire just to start my own business.

There's a strong argument in favour of doing  nothing. Yeah. So when we have a problem, people  

are putting forward all sorts of suggestions how  we should resolve the problem. You can say, well,  

there's actually a strong argument to do nothing.  Just sit back and wait and see what happens.

Somebody will move first and then we  can see what the alternatives are.

So there's a strong argument, and it's my  strong belief that we shouldn't do anything.

A strong chance or strong possibility. There's  a strong chance of heavy rain tonight. There's a  

strong possibility that it will rain heavily  tonight, according to the weather forecast.

Oh, he speaks with a very strong  accent. He has a nice speaking voice,  

but he speaks with a very strong accent. You  have to soften that accent if he's going to  

become an actor. Yes, a strong accent.  And then finally, strong coffee? Oh,  

yes. When you really need it, it's the  best thing to think, to pick you up.

Start your day. Less cup of strong coffee. Yeah.  

So a little bit of a hangover from  the night before. Strong coffee.

A little bit of a shock. Something you're  just trying to get over. Strong coffee.  

Something to keep you going in the  afternoon when you're trying to  

get that contract written or to get  that work finished. Strong coffee.

Okay, so hopefully I've given  you a flavour for all of those  

normal everyday adjectives and some very,

typical expressions that we use with  them. You can practice those and hopefully  

introduce them into your speech. They're not  difficult. It's just a question of trying to  

remember them and trying to use them. So  as always, thanks very much for listening.

If you need to contact me, you can do so  on www.englishlessonviaskype.com. Happy  

to hear from you. Happy to see you and be very  happy if you can join me for the next lesson.