Collocations,   1

Complete the sentences below with a suitable adjective plus a preposition. Choose from the following.

Some of the prepositions will be used more than once.

absent    fond    jealous     satisfied      absorbed      friendly     keen      serious      cruel

good      proud short    eligible      grateful      responsible      similar famous          ill        rich

terrified

about    from    of     to    at      in      on       with      for

1. Both my dogs are very__________________ice cream.

2. I’ve been ___________________a cold for over a week.

3. For the last time who is _________________this mess?

4. You’re not ________________leaving this country and going to live in China, are you?

5. I’ve always been ____________________ water since I nearly drowned as a child.

6. Mark’s been __________school for over a month. He’ll have a lot of catching up to do when he

comes back.

7. I’m afraid only single people under the age of thirty are ___________________membership of this

club

8. Julie’s my oldest friend. We’ve been _________one another since we were at Primary school

9. Our daughter has just won a scholarship to Cambridge. We are very ________________her.

10. Australia is __________________natural resources

11. Could I phone you later, Alan? I’m a bit _________ time right now.

12. He was so ______________________what he was doing that he didn’t notice me come into the room.

13. Switzerland is ________its beautiful scenery.

14. My cousin is very ______________music and can play four or five instruments

15. I like ballet but I’m not very _________opera

16. There’s no pleasing our teacher. He’s never ______ our work!

17. She is ________in character ________her sister

18. We are __________________________ you for all you’ve done for us

19. Michael was_________ his brother’s success.

20. Small children are often _______________ animals without realizing it.

Collocations,   2

 Complete the sentences below with a suitable verb, using either the infinitive (to buy, to come, etc) or

the -ing form (buying, coming, etc). Choose from the following and use each verb once only. There are

two examples at the beginning (0 and 00).

be     hurt     pass     stay     think     buy     leave     play

take     walk     come     like     save     talk     want     get

live     see     teach     win     give     meet

0   Remember to buy some milk on your way home       tonight.

00 I’m busy at the moment. Would you mind coming back       later?

1 I’m sorry, Joe. I didn’t mean __________your feelings.

2 When she was a child, her parents wouldn’t allow her    _______________in the street.

3 There must be something wrong with Simon. He keeps     _______________ he’s being followed by M15.

4 As they’d received a bomb threat, the police ordered    everyone _________________the building.

5 What with inflation and everything, it’s just not worth    ____________________nowadays.

6 I remember _______________ to be a pop star when I    was a child.

7 Don’t pretend _________________ jazz. I know you    hate it really.

8 ‘Mary hasn’t got a car. Would you mind __________ her    a lift?’

‘No, not at all.’

9 I really enjoy going to parties and ________ new people.

10 Her parents were very strict and wouldn’t allow her      __________________out later than 10.30 at night.

11 Parents usually warn their children against __________      to strangers.

12 I never go swimming because I dislike _____________      my hair wet.

13 I agreed _______________ her English if she helped      me with my Spanish.

14 It was a very tough match, but in the end England       managed _____________ by two goals to one.

15 He suggested _______________ a taxi to the station.

16 The film star disguised herself to avoid _____________      recognized

17 Would you dare _____________ through a graveyard      on your own at night?

18 She was very upset when she failed ______________      her driving test.

19 He wasn’t happy with his room so he demanded       ____________________the manager

20 It’s hard to imagine ____________without television,       isn’t it? What on earth would you do in the

evenings?

Collocations,   3

Complete the sentences below with a suitable verb plus a preposition. Choose from the following and

make any necessary changes. Some of the prepositions will be used more than once.

apologize      compliment      protect      succeed arrive      feel      sorry      rely      suffer

believe      insure      remind      think      care      lose share      charge     translate      prefer     

smell      write

about      by      in      on      against      for      into      to

among      from      of      with      at

1. You should always ______your home________fire.

2. ‘Does Peter ________you_______Michael Jackson?’ ‘No, he doesn’t look anything like him.’

3. If I were you Julie I’d ________ very carefully _______ his offer. I don’t think you’ll get a better one.

4. She made the children _______________their bad behaviour at the party.

5. The man was arrested and ____________ murder.

6. Don’t forget to wear a scarf. It will _____ you____the cold.

7. After three attempts she finally _______________ breaking the world record.

8. Hamlet was ___________________Shakespeare.

9. ‘Does Mark really _______________flying saucers?’ ‘Oh yes, he’s quite convinced they exist’

10. The mother told the group of children to _________ the sweets _____________ themselves.

11. She felt really pleased when her teacher __________ her __________ her homework.

12. It was largely my fault that we ___________ tennis. I played so badly.

13. We left Heathrow airport at 16.45 and ___________ Copenhagen at 19.30.

14. Although she had only painted the kitchen, the whole flat ________________________paint.

15. My sister _____________hay fever every summer.

16. I really _____________________ people who are tone deaf. It must be awful not to be able to sing

17. ‘Would you ______________________ another piece of cake, Frank?’ ‘No thanks, Jill. I really couldn’t

eat another thing.’

18. Most young people _____ pop music ______ classical music.

19. Ask Mike to do it. You can ________________him. He never lets you down.

20. This book has been _______________________ five languages, including Russian

Collocations,   4

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one. Use one of the words in

the box on the left plus a preposition. (Most of the prepositions will be used more than once) There is an

example at the beginning (0).

air     order     average   purpose     debt    random first      sight      short     good      stock

heart    the moment     myself      the house     once      work

by     in     at     on     for     out of

0 We flew to Paris.

We went to Paris by air

1 Come here immediately!

Come here_________________________________!

2 My name’s Patrick, but most people call me Pat.

My name’s Patrick. Pat ________________________

3 Most people in this country work forty hours a week.

________________________people in this country    work forty hours a week.

4 He left Russia in 1992 and will never go back there.

He left Russia __________________________in 1992

5 We’ll have to use the stairs. The lift’s not working.

We’ll have to use the stairs. The lift’s ______________

6 Mr Blake comes back from his holiday next week.

Mr Blake is on holiday___________________________

7 He owes the bank £5,000.

He is £5,000_______________________________

8 I memorized the poem.

I learnt the poem__________________________

9 It was no accident. He did it deliberately.

It was no accident. He did it _____________________

10 He hasn’t had a job for over two years.

He’s been _____________________for over two years

11 I fell in love with her the moment I saw her.

It was love_______________________________

12 No one helped me with the homework.

I did the homework__________________________

13 The goods you want won’t come in until next week.

The goods you want are _____________at the moment.

14 ‘You don’t have to pay for the drinks -they’re free tonight’, said the hotel manager.

‘The drinks are ________tonight’, said the hotel manager

15 When you play bingo, the numbers are not called out in any particular order.

When you play bingo, the numbers are called out ________