Key English Collocations, Idioms, and Phrasal Verbs

Mastering English Vocabulary and Grammar

Common Verb Collocations

• Make: progress, money, suggestions, sense, a reaction, a choice, competition, an appointment
• Take: part, action, achievement, place, a rise, an effort, one’s time, responsibility, age
• Raise: a solution, issues, money, one’s voice, a question, an award, children, awareness, a price, doubt

Essential Idiomatic Expressions

• Move with the times: to adapt to current trends
• Have you on the edge of your seat: something that is very exciting or suspenseful
• His mind is made up: he has decided firmly
• Dead-end job: a job with no prospects for advancement
• Get your foot in the door: to get started in a new career or organization
• Make a living: to earn enough money to live
• Tricks of the trade: clever methods used in a particular profession
• Room for advancement: opportunity for promotion or career growth
• Work his way up: to advance in a career or organization
• Burnt out: suffering from extreme fatigue or stress due to overwork
• Rat race: a way of life in which people are caught up in a fiercely competitive struggle for wealth or power
• Pulling your weight: doing your fair share of work
• Got fired: to be dismissed from a job
• Hold down a job: to keep a job for a period of time
• Get paid peanuts: to receive very little money for work
• A must: something that is essential or required
• Have the time of one’s life: to have a wonderfully enjoyable experience
• Rushed off one's feet: to be extremely busy
• Call it a day: to stop working for the day
• Learn the ropes: to learn how to do a particular job or activity
• Go on strike: to stop working as a form of protest
• By leaps and bounds: making very rapid progress
• Upcoming: happening soon
• First-rate: of the highest quality
• Upbeat: optimistic and cheerful
• Best-selling: selling in very large numbers
• Full-time: working or operating for the whole of the working week
• Lifelong: lasting for the whole of a person's life
• Widespread: found or distributed over a large area or number of people
• Trustworthy: able to be relied on as honest or truthful
• Well-preserved: kept in good condition
• Heart-stopping: extremely exciting or frightening

Key Prepositional Phrases

• On time: at the scheduled time
• At a glance: with a quick look
• Out of date: old-fashioned or no longer valid
• On the whole: in general
• Out of the question: impossible or not allowed
• By mistake: accidentally
• On condition: provided that
• Ahead of time: before the scheduled time
• In the long run: in the distant future; eventually
• On foot: walking
• On purpose: intentionally
• By heart: from memory
• For a change: as something different
• In case: as a precaution
• Duty-free: exempt from customs duties
• In private: not in public; secretly
• At fault: responsible for a mistake or error
• Under control: being managed successfully
• At a time: one by one

Common Verb and Noun Combinations with Prepositions

• Impact on: the effect on something
• Play a role in: to have a function or part in something
• Demand for: a strong request for something
• Increase in: a rise in the amount or level of something
• Revolution in: a dramatic and wide-reaching change in something
• Use of: the act of employing something for a purpose
• Solutions to: answers to problems
• Ban on: an official prohibition of something
• Protection from: the act of keeping someone or something safe from harm
• Benefit of: an advantage or profit gained from something
• Take pride in: to feel satisfaction from one's own achievements or qualities
• Effects of: the results or consequences of something
• Search for: an attempt to find something

Essential Phrasal Verbs

• Come down with: to catch an illness
• Show up: to appear or arrive
• Break out: to start suddenly (e.g., a fire, war, disease)
• Be going on: to happen
• Kick in: to start to have an effect
• Come round: to visit someone's house; to regain consciousness
• Pull through: to recover from a serious illness or difficulty
• Keep on: to continue doing something
• Run into: to meet someone by chance; to encounter a problem
• Turn down: to refuse an offer or request; to reduce the volume/intensity
• Put on: to place clothes/accessories on one's body; to organize an event
• Use up: to consume completely
• Put off: to postpone; to discourage someone
• Look after: to take care of someone or something
• Carry out: to perform or complete a task
• Cheer up: to become happier; to make someone happier
• Pass out: to faint
• Call off: to cancel an event

Verb Patterns: Gerund vs. Infinitive

• Stop + Gerund (-ing): to cease an activity (e.g., I stopped smoking.)
• Stop + Infinitive (to + verb): to stop doing something in order to do something else (e.g., I stopped to smoke.)
• Remember + Gerund (-ing): to recall a past event or action (e.g., I remember meeting him.)
• Remember + Infinitive (to + verb): to recall that one has to do something (e.g., Remember to lock the door.)
• Regret + Gerund (-ing): to feel sorry about a past action (e.g., I regret telling her.)
• Regret + Infinitive (to + verb): to be sorry to have to do something, often to give bad news (e.g., We regret to inform you.)
• Forget + Gerund (-ing): to forget a past event or action (e.g., I'll never forget seeing that.)
• Forget + Infinitive (to + verb): to forget to perform an action (e.g., I forgot to buy milk.)

Formal Letter Writing Essentials

Sample Address and Date Format

Sender's Address:

1234 Lleida Street
San Diego, CA 0171BJ
30th July, 2018

Recipient's Address:

[Recipient's Name]
90 Queensway Court
26 Urgell Street
Barcelona 25280

Opening and Closing Phrases

Salutation: Dear Sir/Madam, (or Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name], if known)

Opening: I am writing in response to your advertisement.

Closing: I look forward to your reply.

Sign-off: Yours faithfully, (if you don't know the recipient's name)
Yours sincerely, (if you know the recipient's name)

Signature: Lidia