C1 - Lesson 2: Spotting Awkward Phrasing
Collocational Clashes
Have you ever written a sentence that was grammatically perfect, but an English native speaker said it sounded "a little strange"? This often happens because of a collocational clash1. This occurs when words that don't naturally partner together are combined, creating phrasing that sounds unnatural2. Learning to spot and correct these clashes is a crucial skill for making your English sound truly fluent and natural3.
Common Collocational Clashes and Their Corrections
Let's look at some common errors made by advanced learners and the natural collocations that should be used instead.
1. Verb + Noun Clashes
| Unnatural Clash | Natural Collocation |
|---|---|
| do a party | throw / have a party |
| make a photo | take a photo |
| do a mistake | make a mistake |
| get a crime | commit a crime |
2. Adjective + Noun Clashes
| Unnatural Clash | Natural Collocation |
|---|---|
| a powerful coffee | a strong coffee |
| high traffic | heavy traffic |
| a tall mountain | a high mountain |
| a quick shower | a fast / quick shower is okay, but take a shower is the core collocation. |
The Thesaurus Trap: A major cause of collocational clashes is using a thesaurus without understanding context. For example, a thesaurus might say `handsome` is a synonym for `beautiful`. But you cannot say "a handsome building." `Handsome` collocates with men, while `beautiful` or `elegant` collocates with buildings. Always check example sentences!
Discourse in Action: Editing a Paragraph
Read this paragraph written by an advanced learner. It's grammatically correct, but contains several collocational clashes.
BEFORE (Unnatural Phrasing):
"Last month, our company **did a big party** to celebrate our success. I **made a lot of photos** with my new camera. The traffic was very **big** on the way home. Unfortunately, I realized the next day that I had **done a mistake** on the final report."
AFTER (Natural Phrasing):
"Last month, our company **threw a big party** to celebrate our success. I **took a lot of photos** with my new camera. The traffic was very **heavy** on the way home. Unfortunately, I realized the next day that I had **made a mistake** on the final report."
quiz Check Your Understanding
1. Which of the following sentences sounds the most natural?
- a) I need to make some research for my essay.
- b) I need to do some research for my essay.
- c) I need to perform some research for my essay.
Click to see the answer
Answer: b) I need to do some research for my essay. (The formal academic collocation is 'conduct research' or 'carry out research', but 'do research' is the most common and natural in general speech).
2. It's incorrect to say "a powerful car." The natural adjective collocation is...
- a) a strong car
- b) a heavy car
- c) a fast car
Click to see the answer
Answer: c) a fast car. (While 'powerful engine' is a correct collocation, we describe the car itself as 'fast').
3. Which phrase contains a collocational clash?
- a) heavy rain
- b) make a decision
- c) give attention
Click to see the answer
Answer: c) give attention. (The natural collocation is 'to pay attention').
edit Your Mission
- Spot the Clash: Find and correct the collocational error in each sentence.
a) He committed a promise he couldn't keep.
b) She has very high, blonde hair.
c) I need to do an important phone call. - Thesaurus Danger: `To get` and `to obtain` are synonyms. Write one sentence where `get` is natural but `obtain` would sound very unnatural.
- Become Your Own Editor: Find a recent email or message you wrote in English. Read it aloud. Can you find one phrase that might be a collocational clash? Try to improve it. Developing an "ear" for natural phrasing is a key C1 skill.
book Lesson Glossary
- Collocational Clash (noun phrase) - Khmer: ការប៉ះទង្គិចនៃការផ្សំផ្គុំពាក្យ (kaa pah-tung-kich ney kaa pʰsam-pkaom peak) - An unnatural or awkward combination of words that don't normally go together. ↩
- Natural (adjective) - Khmer: ធម្មជាតិ (tʰɔɔm-ma-chiet) - In language, sounding normal, fluent, and like a native speaker. ↩
- Unnatural (adjective) - Khmer: មិនធម្មជាតិ (min tʰɔɔm-ma-chiet) - In language, sounding strange, awkward, or grammatically correct but not fluent. ↩