I want to start out today's lesson with a question.
How would you complete this sentence? What?
What word would you use to complete this sentence?
It's been a really [inaudible] day. Just one problem after another.
You may have used a variety of adjectives.
You could have said it's been a really rough day,
or perhaps you said it's been a bad day or a difficult day, or even a tough day.
These are all adjectives that we can use with the word day and they are
frequently used together because they are collocations.
And that's what I want to talk to you about today in order to help you build,
develop and grow your vocabulary.
Hey everyone. My name is Wes. This is interactive English,
which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills.
And today I want to help you build your vocabulary because it's just so
important when it comes to your English fluency.
And the secret that I'm going to share with you today is collocations.
And I don't know why I'm whispering because it's really just the two of us.
So I am going to teach you some different collocations which are words that are
And this is a wonderful way to build and improve your vocabulary.
But before we jump into the lesson,
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So let's go back to that first sentence and the adjective that I want to use is
rough. A rough day. It was just difficult.
We've actually had a bit of a rough day.
We just returned from a trip and the airline destroyed our stroller.
That that's a true story, but I don't want, I don't want to make this about me.
I want to make it more about you and building your vocabulary. Now,
not all words that are frequently used together have to be adjectives and nouns.
You can have verb, Noun, collocations. You can even have noun, Noun,
collocations, but, but these that I'm going to use with rough are all adjective.
Noun collocations. For example,
the next one that I want to talk to you about is a rough draft.
If somebody says that they've done a rough draft,
it means that they have done some work, but it is incomplete.
They've only started the process and you could say it was a rough draft.
Often it's used when talking about something that you're writing and the writing
is not finished, the paper, the essay, whatever it is, you might just say, well,
You can also use this adjective with estimate and somebody might ask for a rough
estimate, which is an approximation. And I think about numbers.
Somebody's asking for some kind of value.
Perhaps you're having car troubles and you take it to the mechanic and you want
to know how much it's going to cost. You might ask them for a rough estimate.
They might not know exactly how much it's going to cost,
but they perhaps could give you a rough estimate and approximation so that you
know well, whether you want to fix your car or, or just leave it the way it is.
You may also hear this adjective with the Noun, neighborhood,
rough neighborhood, and I say that,
I don't know why I'm saying that in a very cheerful way because if you're
talking about a rough neighborhood, it's kind of a dangerous neighborhood.
Perhaps a, you know, there's a lot of crime there. It's not very safe.
And you might describe this area and say, yeah, you know, it's,
it's a bit of a rough neighborhood. Often I think people use it.
Maybe when they're talking about their past, they're telling us stories, Eh,
you know, I grew up in a really rough neighborhood,
or I used to live in a rough neighborhood and it was a bit dangerous.
But yeah, that's where, that's where they were living.
It was a rough neighborhood. Now I want you to try and complete this sentence.
I hope you didn't think I was just going to tell you all of these collocations I
want you to try and work for it. Just kind of quiz yourself a little bit.
Which of those words would you use to complete it?
We'll give it a mm of paint and then it's finished. What do you think?
I hope you said B, touch a touch of paint.
This is the next set of collocations that I want to teach you and that is those
with touch. So this is a noun, noun, collocation.
If you're talking about a touch of something,
you're talking about a slight amount. For example,
a touch of paint, a slight amount of paint,
or perhaps you could say that that you have a touch of the flu,
you feeling a little bit sick and you might tell somebody, yeah, you know,
I think I got to touch with the flu right now.
We also frequently use touch with several different adjectives. For example,
and this is talking about small details at the end of something.
Maybe you want to put the finishing touches on something that you're creating.
You're just adding those small details.
We can also say that that something is a nice touch and in this case we're
talking about something that makes another thing better. For example,
maybe you are painting a picture and somebody suggests,
oh maybe you should put this down there in the corner and you think, yeah, okay,
that's a nice touch. It makes the painting better.
If we're talking about a person and we say that someone has a nice touch.
In this case we're saying that they do something very well. For example,
maybe there there's a basketball player and he or she shoots the ball very well
and you say, wow, you know this person, they just have a really nice touch.
They're a great shooter. So in that case,
I think it's commonly used when talking about sports and athletics and you want
to say that, that somebody has a nice touch.
A person may also have a soft touch. And in this case we're,
we're just saying that something is delicate that that it's very nice.
It's comforting that that somebody has a soft touch.
I don't know if I would describe myself and say that I have a soft touch,
but perhaps you do. I don't know.
Now look at this sentence and tell me which word best completes it someday.
I hope to a world record. I hope that you chose c break,
break a record someday. I hope to break a world record.
I don't think I am going to do it, but, but maybe you will. I don't know.
But let's talk about some collocations with break. And these are all verb noun,
collocation. So to break a record,
this just means to do something better than anybody else. You break a record.
There is also an expression that's pretty common.
You might tell somebody to break a leg and if you tell somebody, hey,
break a leg, then you're just wishing them luck. It's actually,
this is an informal expression that somebody is getting ready to do something.
Perhaps they have a performance or they're going to do a show and you say, hey,
you know, good luck. Break a leg.
You can also break a promise which is not good.
This just means that you don't do what you say. You will do break a promise.
You frequently hear that one or you can break the ice.
This is another idiom which means that you are trying to start a conversation
between strangers or you're trying to make a tent situation a little less tense.
I often think of a classroom because the very first time that I have a class
I will try to break the ice and we will do different activities so that
everybody gets to know each other a little better. To break the ice,
then you can break the law. This is something else that you can break.
It's not good because if you break the law then it is illegal.
You shouldn't do it. I hope that you don't break the law.
Here is your next question and this time I'm not going to give you any options.
I want you to tell me which verb do you think best completes the sentence.
I need you to do me. All right. I'm sorry.
I just told you the answer. I need you to do me a huge favor. All right.
I apologize. We're talking about verb noun.
do someone a favor and if you do someone a favor then you are just doing
something for that person in order to help them do a favor.
People may also have to do housework,
which are the things you have to do around the home.
You may have to do laundry or do the dishes.
There's a lot of different housework that that people just have to do.
You may also hear somebody like me tell you to do your best.
If you haven't known any of the answers to these questions, that's okay.
I want you to keep participating.
I want you to keep watching and learning with us because I just want you to do
your best and if you do your best then then you are going to learn and build
your vocabulary and that is the most important thing of all. Just do your best.
Another do collocation is to do harm and in this case you are well,
it's just not something good. You don't want to do harm to others.
You also don't want to do harm to yourself.
There are so many different complications with do and they are so important
because we use them all the time. Here's another sentence for you.
I spend too much editing these videos and this is quite true.
I do spend too much editing these videos. I almost said the answer right then,
but I didn't. But I hope you've said time.
I spend too much time editing these videos so you can spend time.
Noun collocation and I want to talk to you about some other collocations with
time. So not only can you spend time, you can also waste time,
in which case you are not using your time wisely.
I hope that you don't waste time and you're certainly not wasting your time
learning these different complications and building your vocabulary.
which means that you are just doing something unimportant while you wait for
So you can kill time walking around a mall,
you can kill some time watching TV and until something else happens,
you're just going to do something unimportant and kill time.
There's another collocation that's pretty similar to kill time and that is past
the time you do something to pass the time. And in this case you again,
you are doing some activity. It's not super important.
I like to read books to pass the time that you are just trying to occupy your
time by doing something and you're trying to pass the time.
Then there's an expression that I just wanted to throw in there,
but it is frequently used and that is to say right time.
then then they are there right when they should be right on time.
I try to be right on time, but mo, most of the time it doesn't happen.
I always do my best to be right on time, but especially if I'm having a bad day,
not going to be right on time and I hope you hope you recognize these
collocations that that I continue to use.
Let's look at this sentence right here. We're not going to go much farther.
The car is about two mm of gas. What do you think? This is a verb.
Noun,
collocation and actually it is a phrasal verb that is a hint for you and I hope
that you said run out, run out of gas.
I want to talk about some collocations with run out. You run out of something,
so if something like a car runs out of gas,
then it just means that there's none left. It runs out.
Now the way that we use this phrasal verb, the meaning can change a little bit.
if we use it in the present continuous and we say that we are running out of
something, then it just means that there is a little bit left.
There's still some left, but it's, it's about to be gone very quickly.
If we use it in the past tense and we say that we ran out of something,
then it just means that that there's none left that that's it.
So if a car is running out of gas, there's still a little bit left.
If it ran out of gas then then there's none.
You can also run out of patients, which is another common collocation.
And I think in this case people may tend to give you a little bit of a warning
and they may say, you know, be careful, hey, I'm running out of patients,
I'm starting to run out of patients. There's just a little bit left, so,
so be careful. And if somebody has already ran out of patients, then yeah,
they're, they're going to be pretty upset with you.
There are many different things that you can run out of.
you can run out of money and the worst of all you can run out of coffee.
I hate it when that happens because in the morning I need my coffee.
Here is another sentence for you and, and this is,
this is a little bit of a bigger sentence and all of those blanks.
It's the same word you shouldn't be wasting.
Instead you should invest your [inaudible] or you can donate to your favorite
charity. Which word am I talking about?
I hope that you can take a quick look at this and know that I am talking about
money collocations with money.
These are all verb noun collocations so you can waste money,
which means that you are spending money in a carefree and careless way and you
are just wasting it on things that you probably don't need.
You can also invest money. You can buy stocks or maybe even buy a home.
Those are good ways to invest money or if you're feeling very charitable you can
donate money. You can give money to your favorite cause,
your favorite charity and donate your money.
Some more complications with money include save money.
I think it's always a good idea to save money because you never know when you're
going to need it and along those lines you can also set aside some money and
you have some money you you're not going to spend it because you might need it
for something important. We can also add to it to create the expression.
Set aside some money for a rainy day that you have this money for a time when
you absolutely need it. You set aside some money for a rainy day.
We always tried to save money.
That's very important to us and we also like to donate money when,
we try not to waste money because if we do that then we're going to run out of
money and there's a very quick review, a quick money review for you.
Now I want you to do me a favor and help put the finishing touch on this lesson
and all you have to do is hit that like button.
If you enjoy learning these different collocations and building your vocabulary,
do you promise you promise that you're going to do that?
I really hope that you're not going to break your promise because that's going
to make me sad and I could have a pretty rough day. Okay,
so we finished right on time and I'm not even wearing a watch,
but I'm going to end the lesson there before you run out of patience and notice
all of the collocations that I'm using just to give you a quick review.
But they are so important when it comes to building your vocabulary.
They're very, very useful. Not a waste of time. Okay? All right. That's it.
That's it. I'm gonna. I'm gonna end it there.
Thank you guys so much for watching. I will see you next time.