Common English collocations and their usage What is collocation?

Example:

• ( Happy hour) this is an English expression some shops reduce their prices and introduce several activities in the afternoons and put happy hour sign on their windows and menus. For Arabic language we don’t have this expression.

How collocations differ from Compound words and Idiom?

Compounds: compounds are units of meaning formed with two or more words. Sometimes the words are written separately, sometimes they have a hyphen and sometimes they are written as one word. Usually the meaning of the compound can be guessed by knowing the meaning of the individual words. Some examples of compounds are bookstore, narrow-minded..etc

Idioms

Idioms are group of words in a fixed order that have a meaning that cannot be guessed by knowing meaning of the individual words also, an idiom is a full expression. For example, pass the buck is an idiom meaning to pass responsibility for a problem to another person to avoid dealing with it oneself.

Examples for idioms

• Speak of the devil.
• Raining cats and dogs.
• Once in a blue moon.
• When pigs fly.
• Let the cat out of the bag.

Put the following expressions into the correct category in the table below.

Heavy rain, To hit the nail on the head,

Passport, Ensure safety , teapot, break a leg.

Collocations	idioms	compound

Put the following expressions into the correct category in the table below.

collocation	idiom	compound
Ensure safety	break a leg	teapot
Heavy rain	To hit the nail on the head	passport