Essential English Collocations, Verbs, and Word Families

Common English Collocations

Catch

• A bus: coger un bus
• A cold: coger un resfriado
• Fire: prender fuego
• One's breath: recobrar el aliento
• Sight of: ver
• Someone's eye: llamar la atención

Take

• A photo: sacar una foto
• Charge: hacerse cargo
• For granted: asumir
• One's time: tomarse tiempo
• Pride in: orgullecerse
• Someone by surprise: sorprender a alguien

Go

• Abroad: irse al extranjero
• Bald: quedarse calvo
• Blind: quedarse ciego
• Mad: volverse loco
• Missing: desaparecer
• Wild: desmadrarse

English Verbs and Phrasal Verbs

Verbs

Emerge (emerger), Fool (engañar), Gossip (cotillear), Pursue (perseguir), Worship (adorar), Avoid (evitar), Ban (prohibir), Destroy (destruir), Devote (dedicarse), Emit (emitir), Ingest (ingerir), Inhabit (habitar).

Phrasal Verbs

• Break down: venirse abajo, estropearse
• Bring up: criarse, educar
• Cut down: reducir
• Pick up: aprender, recoger, remontar
• Use up: agotar, gastar
• Wipe out: exterminar

Word Families: Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs

This section categorizes words by their grammatical function to help expand your vocabulary range.

Nouns

Entertainment, performance, publicity, appearance, fashion, politics, expense, promotion, music, delight, admiration, poverty, apology, flight, success, harm, danger, comfort, fright, decor, politeness, education, courtesy, horror, symbol, noise, reason, help, collection, beauty, weakness, competition, announcement, advertisements, assistance, peace, peacefulness, decision, arrival, enjoyment, emotion, academy, allergy, love, friend, wonder, end, penny, ambition, luxury, anger, mud, abuse, digestion, exhaust, excitement, fame, fortune, fun, worry, bitterness, cleanliness, cleverness, completion, early, ease, excellence, honesty, heat, length, modernity, niceness, patience, perfection, richness, roughness, strangeness, strictness, sureness, surprise, tallness.

Adjectives

Entertaining, luxurious, performer, public, fashionable, political, expensive, musical, delightful, clear, admired, poor, useful, apologetic, flown, successful, harmful, dangerous, comfortable, scary, decorated, polite, horrible, symbolized, noisy, reasonable, simple, helpful, collector, beautiful, weak, competitive, advertiser, assistant, peaceful, decisive, arrived, understandable, enjoyable, emotional, academic, allergic, lovely, friendly, wonderful, endless, penniless, ambitious, luxurious, angry, muddy, abusive, digestive, exhaustive, amusing, excited, exciting, famous, fortunate, funny, worried, bitter, clean, clever, complete, early, easy, excellent, honest, hot, long, modern, nice, patient, perfect, rich, rough, strange, strict, sure, surprising, tall, usual, wise, young, wide.

Verbs

Entertain, perform, post, appear, spend, promote, admire, impoverish, use, apologize, fly, succeed, damage, endanger, accommodate, frighten, decorate, educate, horrify, symbolize, make noise, rationalize, simplify, help, collect, beautify, weaken, compete, announce, assist, decide, arrive, understand, enjoy, love, finalize, anger, smear, abuse, digest, amuse, excite, worry, embitter, clean, complete, ease, excel, heat, lengthen, modernize, perfect, enrich, roughen, ensure, surprise, wise up, widen.