1000 English Collocations. in 10 Minutes a Day

Lesson – Family Let ’s be gi n our study of collocati ons by learning some common expressions about the family Your parents and siblin gs (brothers and sisters) are your immediate family – and your extended family includes all your relati ves – uncles, cousins, great-aunts, etc You can use a family tree to diagram the relati onships amon g your family members A person who is related to you by a long series of connecti ons can be called a distant relati ve If you ’re lucky, you have a loving family or a close-knit family – these expressions refer to a family that has good relati onships, where everyone loves each other and helps each oth er If you were raised in a loving family, then you probably had a carefree childhood – that means you had nothing to worry about wh en you were youn g On th e other hand, a family in which the relati onships are bad or unhealthy can b e called a dysfuncti onal family If the children experienc e abuse, poverty, or problems with the law, we can say th ey had a troubled childhood Perhaps the parents went through a bitt er divorce – that means a separati on in which there were bad/angry feelin gs b etween the husband and wife It ’s also possible to have a messy divorce, with a prolonged legal batt le involving lots of confl icts about th e separati on of the form er couple’s assets (mon ey and possessions) The decisions about the separati on of assets are made in th e divorce sett lement A family in which there are divorces or separati ons is som eti mes called a broken home Someti m es the mother and fath er fi ght over custody of the children – that refers to who has the primary responsibility of caring for the kids A judge can grant joint custody – that means th e ex- husband and ex- wife share the responsibility – or s ole custody to only on e parent For example, a judge might award sole custody to the mother, and th e fath er has to pay child support – regular paym ents to help with expenses for the kids If it was a mutual divorce/separati on – that means th e ex-husband and ex-wife agreed to separate without fi ghti n g – then they will probably stay on good terms with each other (m eaning to have a polite relati onship without confl icts) If a woman gets pregnant without being married or in a relati onship, then sh e will becom e a single mother Some women in this situati on choose to have an aborti on, and others prefer to give the baby up for adopti on Th e ti m e wh en th e baby is planned to arrive is called the due date – you can also say the baby is due in midOctober, for example Aft er the woman has the baby (or gives birth to the baby), the baby is given to the adopti ve parents, who will raise the child or bring up the child as if it was their own Someti m es, wh en th e adopted child is older, he or she tries to fi nd their birth mother (biological moth er) Lesson Quiz Circle the best word to complete each sentence: A friend of mine gave / took / went birth to her son at home with the help of a nurse A number of th e kids in my classroom come from broken / damaged / hurt hom es Aft er a hosti le / cruel / bitt er divorce from his wife of 20 years, the actor married a woman young enou gh to be his dau ghter I see my excepted / expanded / ex tended family once a year, durin g our annual family vacati on I was raised in a very joyful / loving / tender family, in which everyon e helped each other I was created / grown / raised by my grandparents aft er my parents passed away I'm on good friends / relati ons / terms with all my form er boy friends John had a carefree / careful / careless childhood, growing up with happily married parents and three brothers Many women regret giving / having / taking an aborti on years aft er wards 10 My aunt's goin g through a messy / sloppy / unti dy divorce; sh e's payin g a fortune in legal fees 11 My husband doesn't get along with a few of my family people / individuals / members 12 Although my salary is low, I get child assistance / provision / support from my ex- husband 13 My sister got / had / made pregna nt immediately aft er sh e got married 14 My son is making a diagram of our family roots / tree / web for a school project 15 My wife is pregna nt with twins Th ey're come / due / here in February 16 Sally was gra nted sole custody / guardian / keeping of th e children from her fi rst marriage 17 Teena gers who had a distressed / troubled / worsened childhood oft en have behavior problems in school 18 The celebrity wrote a book about his debilitated / defecti ve / dysfuncti onal family 19 The divorc e contract / reimbursement / sett lement awarded the wife $500,000 20 There are four people in my cl ose / immediate / neighboring family 21 They have three biological children and two adopted / adopti ve / adopti ng children Lesson – Relationships When you move to a n ew city, it can be hard to make friends You’ll probably have a number of casual acquaintances – p eople who you know on a basic level, but with whom you don’t have a signifi cant relati onship Over ti me, some of these may becom e good friends or close friends – these collocati ons refer to friends with whom you have an especially strong relati onship Do you believe in love at fi rst sight? Th at ’s wh en two people meet each oth er and immed iately fall in love – perhaps because they have st rong chemistry – thi s expre ssion descri bes stro ng compati bili ty or connecti on b etween two possible romanti c partn ers Some people believe that their signifi cant other (their boy friend, girlfriend, husband, or wife) is their soul mate – this is a poeti c expression that means that two people are desti ned to be togeth er It ’s possibl e for one person to have feelings for another person – this expression is an indirect way to describe romanti c feelings – but if the other person doesn ’t feel the same way, then the feeling is not mutual The other pe rson might say “he’s/she’s just not my type” – meaning that they are inte rested in peopl e of a diff erent typ e of personality/appearance Ah, there’s nothing sadder than unrequited love! (Love that is not return ed) Some people marry their childhood sweetheart or high school/college sweetheart – this expression refers to a boy friend or girlfriend from your childhood, teenage, or college years Other couples are introduced by a mutual friend – one friend that the two people have in common When the couple is ready to make a commitment, th e man proposes to the woman – h e asks her to marry him If the marria ge is good, th en we say th e couple is happily married Unfortunately, not all love stories have a happy ending Someti mes a husband or wife has an aff air – they have sex with a diff erent person We can also say that th ey are cheati ng on their husband/wife The expression “have an aff air ” is typicall y used only for married couples, and the expre ssion “cheati ng on” can be used for married couples or for boyfriends/girlfriends Lesson Quiz The process of creati ng friendships is called a) getti ng friends b) earnin g friends c) makin g friends A "cl ose friend" is someone a) who lives near you friendship b) who is similar to you c)with whom you have a strong When you develop romanti c feelings for another person, you're a) becomin g passion ate b) fallin g in love c) giving your heart If only one of the two people has romanti c feelings, we say the feeling is not a) mutual b) return ed c) togeth er A polite way to say you're not att racted to someone is: "He/she's not my " a) kind b) styl e c) typ e A man who marries a woman wh o he met when both were very young , has married his childhood a) darling b) lover When two people get married, th ey make a a) commitment b) compromise c) sweeth eart to each other c) guarantee Many men try to fi nd a creati ve and romanti c way to a) propose b) propositi on to their girlfriends c) purpose A lot of marriages end when one member of the couple has an a)aff air b) exp erience c) inti macy 10 If you catch your signifi cant other in bed with another pers on, then he/she is you a) b etraying b) cheati n g c) deceiving on www.espressoenglish.net Lesson – Appearance My best friend Joanna is absolutely gorgeous (extremely beauti ful) She has long , sleek, jet-black hair (sleek = smooth and straight, jet-black = perfectly black), pale blue eyes (pale = light color ), and a radiant compl exion (skin that appears healthy and full of energy) People always complim ent h er on her hourglass fi gure (when a woman has large breasts and hips, but a small waist) and ask her what the secret is to maintainin g such a slender waist (a thin waist) She has a round face with an upturned nose , and she actually bears a striking resemblance (looks extremely similar) to a famous singer Joanna could get any guy she wanted – so I was reall y surpri sed when she i ntroduced me to her late st boy friend, who I think is hideously ugly He has curly, shoulderlength hair th at looks rather unkempt (unkempt hair = messy hair, it appears that the person doesn’t take care of their hair) He has a square face and a ruddy complexion (reddish skin) His deep-set eyes (eyes that are far back in the person’s face) are almost hidden under his bushy eyebrows (big eyebrows with lots of hair) , and he sports a thick mustache and a huge, shaggy beard (a beard with lots of hair) I guess Joanna doesn’t mind his facial hair (facial hair = beard and/or mu stache) His body isn’t bad – he has an athleti c build (body with a lot of muscles) , with broad shoulders (wide shoulders) and muscular arms If he would only trim his beard (cut his beard a litt le shorter) and comb his hair, I suppose h e could be considered s omewhat att racti ve (more or less beauti ful/handsome) 7|Pag e Lesson Quiz comb / curly / deep-set / facial / medium / muscular / radiant / slender / striking / trim This moisturizer will give you a _ complexion She has a waist and wid e hips He bears a resemblanc e to a good friend of mine I've never liked my His hair; I wish it was straight eyes make him look very pensi ve I love men with Would you please bed hair - I think it's sex y your hair? It looks like you've just gott en out of I ’m not changing my hairstyle – I’m just getti n g a He has a skin ny eith er 10 My soccer co ach has ver y build - he's not parti cularly strong, but not especially legs www.espressoenglish.net Lesson – Character & Behavior When I was a teenager, I was painfully shy (extremely shy) I loved reading books, and I had a vivid imaginati on (had a creati ve and colorful imaginati on) My best friend had a more outgoing pers onality (she liked to be friendly and sociable) and a good sense of humor (ability to make other people laugh) Unfortun ately she was also brutally honest , and som eti mes her comments hurt my feelings (made me sad, upset, or angry) Although I was fi ercely loyal to her, sh e sh owed her true colors (revealed her true personality) when she played a prank (did a trick) th at humiliated me in front of the class I bore a grudge (conti nued feeling angry) aga inst her for years aft erwards Now that I look back on it, I can see that she had low self- esteem (she considered herself inferior) and a bit of a mean streak (a “streak” is a ti ny bit of someone’s personality) I've come out of my shell (become less shy) since those days; I have a thicker skin (I’m less sensiti ve to criti cism) and it doesn't bother me when people speak their minds (say exactly what they think, without considering the eff ects of the words on others) My big gest fl aw is that I have a tendency to be arrogant – som e say I have a superiority compl ex (consider myself superior to others) I’ll admit that it is hard for me to swall ow my pride (stop being arrogant) and re cogni ze when I' ve been mi staken about somethi ng My resoluti o n for the N ew Year is to make a more concerted eff ort to put others fi rst (consider the needs of other people more important than my own) Lesson – Quiz A lot of succ essful entrepren eurs have not only a bright / lucid / vivid imaginati on, but also the willingn ess to work hard He really hurt my emoti ons / feelings / senses when he called me an idiot His superiority belief / complex / tendency makes him impossible to work with because h e won't listen to sug gesti ons I had to chew / eat / swallow my pride and apologize to Janet for overreacti ng to her criti cism I like to date men with a great feel / sense / touch of humor In some cultures, it's consid ered very rude to say / speak / talk your mind It's good to get / put / set others fi rst, but not at the expense of your own wellbein g Most people who work as com edians have very outgoing / tendency / upcoming personaliti es My broth er is brutally / carefully / painfully shy, but I'm trying to encoura ge him to come out of his case / shell / skin 10 My daughter gets along with her classmates, but sh e has a competi ti ve spot / streak / strip wh en it comes to academics 11 My husband forgives other peopl e very easily; h e's not one to bear / hurt / swallow a grud ge 12 She would n ever cheat on h er husband; she's angrily / brutally / fi ercely loyal to him 13 The kids were suspend ed for playin g a grudge / prank / streak on the teacher - th ey put a live snake inside her desk 14 Working with a th erapist has helped me overcome my problems with deep / low / small self- esteem 15 You need to d evelop a fatt er / harder / thicker skin; you can't let every litt le comment upset you ... gonna start saving up for a down payment (an initi al payment on a big purchase) Someday, wh en I move into a new place, I’ll be sure to throw a housewarming party (a party to celebrate living in. .. Lesson – Character & Behavior When I was a teenager, I was painfully shy (extremely shy) I loved reading books, and I had a vivid imaginati on (had a creati ve and colorful imaginati on) My... weight ga in and heart problems Nowadays, she eats a balanced diet includin g a lot of nourishing meals (meals that are healthy and nutriti ous) that she pre pare s hersel f S he doesn’t buy organic