word collocation

WORD COLLOCATION

A collocation is two or more words which often go together.

Natural English Unnatural English

fast food quick food
a quick shower a fast shower
(Tip:when you learn a new word,write down other words that collocate with it)
Eg.: make + the bed/ time/breakfast/friends/fun/a joke/money

Exercise
Both options make sense.
Underline the one which forms a common collocation

1. Many small houses and huts were (flooded away/washed away) when the river bursts its banks.
2.Poor farming methods are responsible for soil (devaluation/erosion )in many areas of Saharan African.
3.During the earthquake,many people were( buried/covered )alive.
4.The forest fire left a wide area of the mountainside blackened and (ablaze/smouldering).
5.Villagers are hoping for rain this month after nearly a year of (dry weather/drought.)
6. Before the hurricane struck,many people were (evacuated/shifted) to higher ground.
7.Thousands of children in the famine-striken area are suffering from (malnutrition/undernourishment).
10.Heavy snow has fallen in the mountains and many villages have been (blocked out/cut off) for the past two days.
11.The Aids (epidemic/plague) is having serious effects in some countries.
12.Many small islands in the Indian Ocean are threatened by rising sea (waters/levels).

English Grammar and Vocabulary
Vince Michael and Sunderland Peter