How to make useful phrases

I like to make the most of the programmes I hear on the radio.Whenever I switch on This blog Service, I have a pen and paper so I can take notes and remember the new words I hear. Last year, I used the notes to study when I had English exams – they were really useful!
Recognising collocations
There are many groups of words – or phrases – in English which seem to have no rules about how they are formed. Certain words – for example adjectives and nouns, or verbs and nouns, simply ‘go together’. These groups of words are called collocations and by learning to recognise and use collocations you can make your English much richer.
Verb and noun collocations
Do we use do, have or make with the following nouns? Put the words below into the correct circle but remember, some of these nouns can take two different verbs.

your homework	an examination	the housework	dinner	a walk
some exercise	your bed	a mess	troubler	the washing-up
some tea	a bath	a test	a decision	the cleaning

Can you see a useful ‘pattern’ to help you remember these collocations?

Do your homework, an examination, the housework, some exercise, the washing up, the cleaning ‘Do’ often goes with tasks which are considered boring or which are done every day.
Have an examination, dinner, a walk, some exercise, some tea, a bath, a test ‘Have’ often goes with things which are given to us, or which we take because they we enjoy them.
Make dinner, your bed, a mess, trouble, some tea, a decision ‘Make’ is often used for things we create (e.g. dinner) or things which involve mental effort (e.g. a decision).
Adjective & noun collocations
In this passage, underline all of the adjectives associated with food.
I went on holiday last week and I forgot to clean my fridge.When I got home, the milk had gone sour and the eggs were rotten. I also found some week-old bread which was stale, of course.
And the fish… Everything had gone off.
What do these adjectives have in common?
All of the adjectives in this passage refer to food when it has gone bad – or, with dairy food, ‘gone off ’. However, we cannot speak about rotten bread or sour eggs. Each adjective can be used with only a restricted range of food:
Rotten:eggs, fish
Stale: bread, biscuits
Sour: milk, cream
When learning new adjectives, take care to learn which nouns they go with.
Learning tip: When you are learning new vocabulary, always check to see if the words you are learning ‘go with’ – or collocate with – other words.Try to identify patterns in collocations to help you remember phrases rather than single words.To do this, group vocabulary by subject, or by nouns which share the same adjective. For example, we know that someone who smokes a lot is a heavy smoker but did you know that we can also have heavy drinkers?
Learning tasks

1. Complete the dialogues below with do, have, or make.
   a) ‘Have you_____________dinner yet?’ ‘No. What would you like to eat?’
   b) ‘Have you_____________the washing up?’ ‘Not yet.’
   c) ‘Would you like to go to the cinema this evening?’ ‘I can’t. I_____________an exam tomorrow.’
   d) ‘Can you_____________this exercise?’ ‘Yes, but it’s a bit difficult!’
   Weather collocations
2. Complete the text using the adjectives below. Some adjectives can be used more than once.
   thick light heavy
   This evening, we will have a)_________rain in the east, but only b)_________showers in the south and west. Tomorrow morning will start with c)_________cloud everywhere, except in the north where it will be sunny. Expect d)_________snow over the weekend and e)_________fog at the coast.

Learning task answers
1. a) made b) done c) have d) do
2. a) heavy b) light c) thick d) heavy e) thick