El Principio Del Plaser

Collocations
| Tell me who you go with and I'll tell you who you are. |
What is a collocation?
A collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations just sound "right" to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations may be unnatural and just sound "wrong". Look at these examples:
Natural English... | Unnatural English...|
the fast train
fast food | the quick train
quick food |
a quick shower
a quick meal | a fast shower
a fast meal |
Why learn collocations?
* Your language will be more natural and more easily understood.
* You will have alternative and richer ways of expressing yourself.
* It is easier for our brains to remember and use language in chunks or blocks rather than as singlewords.
How to learn collocations
* Be aware of collocations, and try to recognize them when you see or hear them.
* Treat collocations as single blocks of language. Think of them as individual blocks or chunks, and learn strongly support, not strongly + support.
* When you learn a new word, write down other words that collocate with it (remember rightly,remember distinctly, remembervaguely, remember vividly).
* Read as much as possible. Reading is an excellent way to learn vocabulary and collocations in context and naturally.
* Revise what you learn regularly. Practise using new collocations in context as soon as possible after learning them.
* Learn collocations in groups that work for you. You could learn them by topic (time, number, weather, money, family) or by aparticular word (take action, take a chance, take an exam).
* You can find information on collocations in any good learner's dictionary. And you can also find specialized dictionaries of collocations.
Types of Collocation
There are several different types of collocation made from combinations of verb, noun, adjective etc. Some of the most common types are:
* Adverb + Adjective: completelysatisfied (NOT downright satisfied)
* Adjective + Noun: excruciating pain (NOT excruciating joy)
* Noun + Noun: a surge of anger (NOT a rush of anger)
* Noun + Verb: lions roar (NOT lions shout)
* Verb + Noun: commit suicide (NOT undertake suicide)
* Verb + Expression With Preposition: burst into tears (NOT blow up in tears)
* Verb + Adverb: wave frantically (NOTwave feverishly)
In this lesson we look at some sample collocations, and end with quizzes to check your understanding:
* Sample Collocations
* Collocation Lists
* Do/Make Collocations Quiz
* Time Collocations Quiz
Advanced students and teachers may also be interested in the Advanced Collocations page.

Articles Articles are usually characterized as either definite or indefinite.[2] A fewlanguages with well-developed systems of articles may distinguish additional subtypes.
Within each type, languages may have various forms of each article, according to grammatical attributes such as gender, number, or case, or according to adjacent sounds.
[edit]Definite article
A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may besomething that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may be something uniquely specified. The definite article in English, for both singular and plural nouns, is the.
The children know the fastest way home.
The sentence above refers to specific children and a specific way home; it contrasts with the much more general observation that:
Children know the fastest way home.
The latter sentencerefers to children in general, perhaps all or most of them.
Likewise,
Give me the book.
refers to a specific book whose identity is known or obvious to the listener; as such it has a markedly different meaning from
Give me a book.
which does not specify what book is to be given.
The definite article can also be used in English to indicate a specific class among other classes:
The cabbage...