Lexical and grammatical collocations

A distinction may, if wished, be made between lexical collocations and grammatical collocations.

A lexical collocation is a type of construction where a verb, noun, adjective or adverb forms a predictable connection with another word, as in:

• adverb + adjective: completely satisfied (NOT downright satisfied)
• adjective + noun: excruciating pain (NOT excruciating joy)
• noun + verb: lions roar (NOT lions shout)
• verb + noun: commit suicide (NOT undertake suicide)

A grammatical collocation is a type of construction where for example a verb or adjective must be followed by a particular preposition, or a noun must be followed by a particular form of the verb, as in:

• verb + preposition: depend on (NOT depend of)
• adjective + preposition: afraid of (NOT afraid at)
• noun + particular form of verb: strength to lift it (not strength lifting it)

Miscellaneous collocations:

Time	Business English	Classifiers
bang on time dead on time early 12th century free time from dawn till dusk great deal of time late 20th century make time for next few days past few weeks right on time run out of time save time spare time spend some time take your time tell someone the time time goes by time passes waste time	annual turnover bear in mind break off negotiations cease trading chair a meeting close a deal close a meeting come to the point dismiss an offer draw a conclusion draw your attention to launch a new product lay off staff go bankrupt go into partnership make a loss make a profit market forces sales figures take on staff	a ball of string a bar of chocolate a bottle of water a bunch of carrots a cube of sugar a pack of cards a pad of paper

AS vs LIKE

As

1: 'As' can mean 'because/since'.

• As it was raining, we didn't go out.

2: 'As' can mean 'while' or 'at the same time':

• As I was walking down the street, I saw Jimmy.

3: We can use 'as' to talk about the way one thing is similar to another thing. In this case 'as' is a conjunction and needs to be followed by a subject and a verb or by a prepositional phrase. We invert the subject and the verb when using a formal register.

• James loves pets, as do I.

4: We need to use 'as' with expressions like 'as much as' and by 'as +adjective +as'. This is also talking about similarity. These expressions can be followed by a subject and a verb or a noun or preposition.

• John loves spicy food as much as I do.
• Lily travels as much as me.
• She's as clever as her sister is.
• London's not as big as Mexico City.

5: 'As' can be used with a noun to show someone's position. This is especially common with jobs. In a similar way, 'as' can also be used to show something's function (what we are using it for). It must be followed by a noun.

• She works as a teacher.
• Don't use the knife as a screwdriver.

Watch out! You can't use 'like' for someone's real job. You need to use 'as'.

• I work like a waitress.

Like

1: 'Like' can be used to give examples. It means the same as 'for example' and is usually followed by nouns or pronouns.

• Western European countries like France and Spain have high unemployment at the moment.

2: We can also use 'like' to talk about how one thing is similar to another thing. Here 'like' is a preposition and is followed by a noun or a pronoun.

• John loves spicy food, like me.
• Tokyo is a busy and exciting city, like London.

When we're talking about how things are similar, we often use 'like' with verbs such as 'look', 'sound' and 'smell'.

• She looks like her mother.
• It looks like rain.
• That sounds like a car.
• The kitchen smells like lemons.

'Like' vs 'as' for similarity

Often, we can use both 'as' and 'like' to talk about similarity.

• I love coffee, like Julie.
• I love coffee, as Julie does.

We need to follow 'as' with a clause (a subject and a verb). When we use 'as' for similarity, it's not followed by a noun or pronoun.

• I love coffee, as Julie.

However, when we use 'as' to mean a role or job (it's followed by a noun in this case), then we can't use 'like'. Instead, 'like' is talking about similarity.

• As your mother, I'm telling you not to go out now. (I am your mother and I am telling you this in my role as your mother.)
• Like your mother, I'm telling you not to go out now. (I'm not your mother, but I am telling you the same thing as she is. I am acting in a similar way to your mother.)

Here's another example.

• She works as the manager (= she is the manager).
• She works like the manager (= she isn't the manager, but she works in a similar way to the manager).