Collocations of have

Examples for collocation

Collocation exercises

• Which word collocates with all the words given?

• 1. fried, poached, fresh, raw, frozen, grilled, smoked _________________

• 2. summer, warm, winter, tatty, shabby, trendy, second-hand _____________

• 3. dangerous, desperate, common, born, hardened, master _______________

• 4. massive, huge, crowded, packed, outdoor, indoor, sports _______________

• Answers. 1 = fish, 2 = coat, 3 = criminal, 4 = stadium

Speaking and writing activities for collocations

Speaking activities

• Get the students to do creative drills. For example, devise a 'Find somebody who...' activity for them to practise collocations. For example,

• Find someone who

• .....has been on a strict diet

• .....has been in an embarrassing position

• .....has made a critical choice in his/her life etc.

• The students themselves could make up similar activities.

• Get the students to repeat the same activity, for example giving a short talk or telling a story, perhaps three of four times. This has been shown to boost fluency by activating collocations.

• Ask the students to brainstorm nouns on a particular subject, perhaps for a 

writing task e.g. what are the collocations of 'money'. Then get them to suggest verbs 

and adjectives that collocate with those nouns, then adverbs with the verbs, thus 

building up a number of lexically dense collocational fields.

A short break

Although Language learning is a painful process, there are some enjoyable experiences that people encounter in this process. Here are two examples:

An Arab Couple went to London hotel...
One day in hotel room, husband heard his wife scream"Farr! Faaaarrrrr" (which is the Arabic word for mouse).
Now he wants to inform room service but doesn't know english word for "farr" is.....
Husband : hello room service?
Room-service: yes sir ,how can I help you ?
Husband: Mmmm..... You Know tom and Jerry ?
Roomservice: yes sir ,I know tom and jerry ...
Husband: Wallah Habibi Jerry is here. 

example for connotation

collocation of power

connotation of days

Collocations of job

Collocations of technology

Collocation examples

Collocation examples

Collocation examples

Collocation examples

Connotation exercise

Read each of the following sentences. Decide from the context whether the speaker is 

showing approval or disapproval of the topic. Then circle the best word to put into the 

sentence.

1. “The sooner we move out of this (home, dump),” said Jack, “the happier I’ll be.”

2. This cell phone is (expensive, overpriced), but I don’t mind paying extra because it has so many useful features.

3. You’re lucky to have Wilma on your committee. She has lots of (original, crazy) ideas.

4. Boss Reed and his (cronies, employees) have controlled the politics in this city for more than twenty years. I certainly hope the other party wins this year!

5. It was a beautiful spring day, and the (stench, scent) of apple blossoms filled the whole yard.

6. I hope I don’t have to share an office with Janice. Sandra told me how (curious, nosy) she can be.

7. “I think Fay is an excellent president,” said the principal. “She really knows how to (manage, meddle).”

8. Will you please turn your stereo off? I can’t concentrate with all that (music, noise).

connotation exercise

Examples for negative and positive connotations

Collocations of sympathy

Teaching collocations

Teaching Collocation

Vocabulary instruction in general, and certainly the instruction of collocation, is not much emphasized. However, there are some general principles for teaching collocation:

1. 1
   Teach students the term “collocation” and the rationale for learning it. Once they know the rationale behind instruction, they become more motivated to learn.
2. 2
   Notice which words go together when giving out a new reading. Call students’ attention to key words and the words that “go” with them, and have them underline collocations. On any given page, for example, there is likely to be numerous collocates. Spend some time practicing and interacting with these collocations with each reading.
3. 3
   Focus on “salient language,” language students may use a lot or that is related to the curriculum: for example, the phrase “on the other hand” is used a lot in academic language, and students often make mistakes in it: “in the other hand,” “on the other hands,” etc. Explicitly teaching the phrase and practicing it is a valuable investment of course time.
4. 4
   Contrast two words:
   • make         do
   • list their collocates
5. 5
   Extend it: Have students make a list of things they need to accomplish that week, using “make “ and “do.” This establishes some of the differences between the two words (which are largely collocational).
6. 6
   Matching exercises/completion exercises: have students complete a sentence with the correct collocation or match words to their collocates: do homework, give a presentation.
7. 7
   Surveys: have students survey their classmates about their activities, including verbs and their collocations, for example.
8. 8
   Have students practice the phrases you’ve targeted. Once students been explicitly taught “in contrast to” and “on the other hand,” for example, have them practice these collocations in journal and essay assignments.
9. 9
   Write a sketch/dialogue. Put some collocates on the board learned from reading over the last week: e.g., “regular exercise,” “healthy diet,” “small portion size” and have students create a dialogue in pairs and practice it.
10. 10
    Write poetic descriptions of beloved person or place with adjective+noun combinations or adverb+adjective combinations. Again, give students some of the language for the task on the board or in a handout: “dear friend,” “old friend,” “passionately embrace,” “fond farewell,” etc.
    Then have them create a poem with it.

A diagram

Negative vs. Positive connotation

• chef vs. cook

• teacher vs. professor

• plagiarizer vs. cheater

• thrifty vs. tightwad

• stay-at-home mom vs homemaker vs housewife

• ambitious vs greedy

• submissive vs lazy

• slow vs stupid

• amazed vs stupefied

• slender vs gaunt

• promiscuous vs slutty

• clever vs shrewd

• substance abuser vs druggie

• journalist vs reporter

• eccentric vs weirdo

• mentally unstable vs wacko

• inexpensive vs cheap

• invest vs speculate

• purchase vs buy

• manufactured home vs trailer

Connotation examples

• Those who are lonely and detached live in a house. Those who

 live with loved ones and in happiness live in a home.

• A mother and father have procreated. A mom and a dad are 

loving parents.

• Many wise men have made plans. Many cunning scoundrels 

have devised a scheme.

• Pushy salespeople are to be avoided. Aggressive salespeople 

make a lot of money.

• I'm sick and tired of listening to politicians, but give me a good 

statesman any day of the week and we'll get things done.

A quote

 "If you want to be a leader of people, then 

you need to be a master of words. If 

you're going to be a master of words, you 

better choose them carefully."

 

Connotations of some animals

Metaphoric Connotation in the Animal World

• A snake is something to be feared for its deception.

• A dog connotes a shameless beggar or an ugly face.

• A fox is sneaky or sly. A foxy woman, however, is desired.

• A shark is ruthless.

• A predator seeks to harm innocents.

• A dove is gentle.

• A hen is motherly.

• A beast dominates (sometimes negative and sometimes positive).

• Chicks are sought after by boys of all ages (some predators, by the way).

• Owls are wise.
• A lion is strong and so king of the forest

The connotation of animals has lent metaphorical meaning to commonalities. This list of animals with its associated connotations exemplify denotation vs connotation.
According to denotation, a weasel is a small carnivorous mammal with short legs and elongated body and neck. According to connotation, a weasel is not to be trusted.
Not all animal metaphoric connotations are negative:
Because these metaphors have become common, so their connotative meaning is easy to recognize.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist trailer

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is another good example for teaching negative connotation. Especially after September/11, growing a beard is seen as a symbol of terror for many Americans and all the Muslims are considered as potential terrorists. Here is the trailer..