Adjective - Noun Collocations

Adjective - Noun Collocations

by Liam Egan

​Collocations

• ​A collocation is a pair or group of words that typically appear together.

• ​Adjectives and nouns can have a particular collocation to convey a specific meaning.

​Form

​We form adjectives and noun collocations by putting adjectives before nouns.

​

The most commonly used adjectives and nouns collocations are:

​

• Big disappointment, big failure, big mistake, big surprise…;

• Heavy bag, heavy box, heavy rain, heavy snow, heavy suitcase, heavy traffic…;

• Rich culture, rich history, rich people, rich vocabulary…;

• Strong accent, strong drink, strong smell, strong taste, strong wind…

​Examples

​The documentary was a big disappointment.

He admitted he made a big mistake.

We were walking in heavy rain.

You shouldn’t carry such a heavy suitcase alone.

I was late due to heavy traffic.

Rich people can afford to buy everything they want.

She reads a lot of books and has a rich vocabulary.

The man just wanted a strong drink.

This coffee has a very strong smell.

The strong wind stopped us from going for a walk yesterday.