By English For Today (September 3, 2018) By Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (GAB)
Collocations
These are words that are used together. If one part of it is omitted or substituted, it will result in ungramaticality. Some collocations in English are:
Scarcely… when: Scarcely had I parked my car when it started raining.
Hardly… when: Hardly had she woken up when she began to cry for breakfast.
No sooner… than: No sooner had we started the meeting than Uche began to argue with the secretary.
Prefer… to: She prefers engineering to medicine.
One… one: One shouldn’t make a promise if one won’t be able to fulfill it.
Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose
Academic Advisor, Distance Learning Centre, University of Ibadan;
