What is a collocation?
A collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations
just sound "right" to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On
the other hand, other combinations may be unnatural and just sound "wrong".
Look at these examples:
How to learn collocations?
Be aware of collocations, and try to recognize them when you see or hear
them.
Treat collocations as single blocks of language. Think of them as individual
blocks or chunks, and learn strongly support, not strongly + support.
When you learn a new word, write down other words that collocate with it
(remember rightly, remember distinctly, remember vaguely,
remember vividly).
Read as much as possible. Reading is an excellent way to learn vocabulary
and collocations in context and naturally.
Revise what you learn regularly. Practise using new collocations in context as
soon as possible after learning them.
Learn collocations in groups that work for you. You could learn them by topic
(time, number, weather, money, family) or by a particular word (take action,
take a chance, take an exam).
You can find information on collocations in any good learner's dictionary.
And you can also find specialized dictionaries of collocations.
Tell me who you go with and I'll tell you who you are.