Whats collocation in English grammar?
Collocation refers to the restrictions on how words can be used together, for example which prepositions are used with particular verbs, or which verbs and nouns are used together. Collocations should not be confused with idioms. Expanded definition If the expression is heard often, transmiting itself memetically, the words become ‘glued’ together in our minds. ‘Crystal clear’, ‘middle management’, ‘nuclear family’, and ‘cosmetic surgery’ are examples of collocated pairs of words. Some words are often found together because they make up a compound noun, for example ‘riding boots’ or ‘motor cyclist’. Collocations can be in a syntactic relation (such as verb-object: ‘make’ and ‘decision’), lexical relation (such as antonymy), or they can be in no linguistically defined relation. Knowledge of collocations is vital for the competent use of a language: a grammatically correct sentence will stand out as ‘awkward’ if collocational preferences are violated. This makes collocation an interestin
