Common English Collocations with Meanings

If you want to speak English more naturally and fluently, learning collocations is a great way to start.

But what are collocations?

A collocation is a group of two or more words that go well together.

Native English speakers use them all the time without even thinking. For example, we say “make a decision” (not “do a decision”) and “strong coffee” (not “powerful coffee”).

Using collocations will help you sound more like a native speaker and improve your speaking and writing skills.

In this blog post, I’ll teach you 50 common English collocations, explained in simple language.

Table of Contents

🔹 1. Make a decision

✅ Meaning: To decide something
➡️ It’s time to make a decision about your career.

🔹 2. Do homework

✅ Meaning: To complete school or college work at home
➡️ She always does her homework after dinner.

🔹 3. Take a break

✅ Meaning: To stop working for a short time
➡️ Let’s take a break and have some tea.

🔹 4. Catch a cold

✅ Meaning: To become sick with a cold
➡️ You’ll catch a cold if you go out in the rain.

🔹 5. Save money

✅ Meaning: To keep money for future use
➡️ I’m trying to save money for a new phone.

🔹 6. Break the rules

✅ Meaning: To do something that is not allowed
➡️ He broke the rules and got into trouble.

🔹 7. Tell the truth

✅ Meaning: To say what is true
➡️ Please tell the truth. I need to know what happened.

🔹 8. Give advice

✅ Meaning: To offer help or suggestions
➡️ My teacher gave me good advice about studying.

🔹 9. Make a mistake

✅ Meaning: To do something wrong
➡️ Everyone makes mistakes. It’s okay.

🔹 10. Take a shower

✅ Meaning: To wash your body under running water
➡️ I always take a shower in the morning.

📚 Collocations With “Do,” “Make,” “Take,” and “Have”

These verbs are often used with different nouns. Here are more examples:

🔹 11. Do the dishes

➡️ I’ll do the dishes after dinner.

🔹 12. Make a plan

➡️ We need to make a plan for our weekend trip.

🔹 13. Take a photo

➡️ She took a photo of the sunset.

🔹 14. Have a good time

➡️ Did you have a good time at the party?

🔹 15. Do your best

➡️ Just do your best and don’t worry too much.

🔹 16. Make an effort

➡️ He made a big effort to finish the project on time.

🔹 17. Take a nap

➡️ I feel tired. I’m going to take a nap.

🔹 18. Have lunch

➡️ Let’s have lunch together tomorrow.

💼 Collocations for Work and Study

These are useful if you are a student or a working professional.

🔹 19. Attend a meeting

➡️ I have to attend a meeting at 10 a.m.

🔹 20. Give a presentation

➡️ She gave a great presentation at work.

🔹 21. Meet a deadline

➡️ We need to meet the deadline for this project.

🔹 22. Study hard

➡️ If you want to pass the exam, you must study hard.

🔹 23. Do research

➡️ He is doing research on climate change.

🔹 24. Write an essay

➡️ We need to write an essay for our homework.

🔹 25. Get a job

➡️ She finally got a job at a bank.

🏡 Collocations for Daily Life

We use these collocations in everyday life.

🔹 26. Brush your teeth

➡️ Don’t forget to brush your teeth before bed.

🔹 27. Make the bed

➡️ I always make the bed after waking up.

🔹 28. Clean the house

➡️ We clean the house every Sunday.

🔹 29. Go shopping

➡️ I need to go shopping for groceries.

🔹 30. Take the bus

➡️ Do you take the bus to school?

🔹 31. Watch TV

➡️ They watched TV all night.

🔹 32. Do the laundry

➡️ It’s your turn to do the laundry today.

💬 Collocations for Communication

These collocations help you express yourself better.

🔹 33. Speak English

➡️ He speaks English very well.

🔹 34. Make a phone call

➡️ I need to make a phone call to my doctor.

🔹 35. Ask a question

➡️ You can ask a question if you don’t understand.

🔹 36. Answer the phone

➡️ Could you answer the phone, please?

🔹 37. Tell a story

➡️ Grandpa told us a funny story.

❤️ Collocations About Feelings and Emotions

We use these to talk about how we feel.

🔹 38. Feel happy

➡️ I feel happy when I’m with my friends.

🔹 39. Get angry

➡️ Try not to get angry so easily.

🔹 40. Be in a good mood

➡️ She’s in a good mood today.

🔹 41. Express your feelings

➡️ It’s okay to express your feelings.

🔹 42. Feel nervous

➡️ I always feel nervous before a test.

✈️ Travel and Free Time Collocations

These are great for casual conversation.

🔹 43. Book a ticket

➡️ We booked a ticket to Goa.

🔹 44. Catch a train

➡️ Hurry up! We need to catch the train.

🔹 45. Go on vacation

➡️ They are going on vacation next week.

🔹 46. Visit a place

➡️ I want to visit Japan someday.

🔹 47. Go for a walk

➡️ Let’s go for a walk in the park.

🔹 48. Play a game

➡️ Do you want to play a game?

🔹 49. Listen to music

➡️ I listen to music every evening.

🔹 50. Watch a movie

➡️ We watched a movie last night.

✅ Final Thoughts

Learning collocations is one of the best ways to improve your fluency and sound more natural when speaking English.

👉 You don’t need to memorize all 50 at once. Start with 5–10 and try to use them in your daily conversations or writing.

Over time, they will become natural for you!

Happy learning! 😊