Fixed Expressions & Collocations
Fixed Expressions & Collocations
Collocations are the word-pairings native speakers use automatically — not idioms exactly, just the 'correct' verb or preposition that happens to go with a given noun, for no rule-based reason.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Verbs pair with specific nouns unpredictably
cometer un error (to commit a mistake, not hacer un error), tomar una decisión (to take a decision, not hacer)
to make a mistake, to make a decision — English pairs both with 'make'
Where English happily reuses 'make' for both mistakes and decisions, Spanish requires different verbs — cometer for errores, tomar for decisiones — and there's no underlying logic to derive this from, only memorization through exposure. These mismatches are exactly what makes advanced fluency feel different from simply knowing grammar rules.
Recognizing a collocation mismatch is itself a C1 skill
prestar atención (to pay attention, literally 'to lend attention') — a collocation with no transparent logic in either language
to pay attention — its own equally arbitrary pairing
Both languages are full of these arbitrary noun-verb pairings; the point of this lesson isn't that Spanish is unusually illogical, but that you're now at the stage where noticing 'this doesn't translate word-for-word from my last collocation success' is the actual skill, rather than a warning sign that something's wrong with your grammar.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- to make a mistake
- English
- to make a decision
- English
- to pay attention
- English
- to take a walk
- English
- to ask a question
- English
- to keep silent
- English
- to run a risk
- English
- to draw conclusions
- English
- to put into practice
- English
- to take into account