An adjective + noun collocation is an established word combination in which an adjective commonly describes a particular noun. Examples include heavy traffic, narrow escape, and compelling evidence. Some combinations…
A verb + noun collocation is an established combination of a verb and a noun, such as settle a bill, keep a secret, or grant permission. These expressions are common…
English collocations can be classified in different ways. Make a decision is a verb + noun combination, while interested in follows an adjective + preposition pattern. Some classifications focus on…
You can know the meaning of every word in a sentence and still be unsure which words belong together. In English, we naturally say heavy traffic, but strong traffic sounds…
The hardest part of describing yourself is not finding positive words. It is choosing words that are accurate, relevant, and believable. Words such as reliable, adaptable, curious, and confident can…
Emotion words help you describe how someone feels, but similar words often differ in cause, strength, or tone. A person can be nervous, anxious, worried, or apprehensive, for example, but…
The alphabet ends with one of its smallest adjective groups. Z does not offer hundreds of common descriptive words, but the ones English actually uses cover a surprising range: zany…
Y gives us fewer adjectives than many other letters, but there are still some useful choices. Familiar words such as young, yellow, yearly, yummy, and yucky appear in everyday English,…
Adjectives that start with X are rare in English. Unlike letters such as A, M, or S, X gives us very few everyday descriptive words. Many established X adjectives belong…
Some W adjectives show what time, weather, or use can do to things: a jacket becomes worn, a fence becomes weathered, and an old table may turn wobbly. Others describe…
V sits in an interesting middle ground. It does not give you the huge adjective vocabulary of letters such as S or C, but its useful words are far from…
U has an unusual advantage over most letters: a large part of its adjective vocabulary comes from the prefix un-, which can reverse or change the meaning of another word.…