Guide A2 · Elementary Vocabulary

10 Common Collocations in English

Learn 10 common English collocations for everyday life with simple meanings, example sentences, common mistakes, and a quick practice exercise.

4 min read 572 words Updated Oct 4, 2026

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A collocation is a group of words that often go together. Learning these word partnerships helps you choose natural English phrases, rather than translating each word separately.

This short A2 guide introduces ten useful collocations for home, study, and everyday conversations. It is a companion to our 50 Common Collocations in English guide, with ten additional phrases to practise.

How to learn these collocations

Learn the whole phrase, not only the verb. For example, remember do homework together.
Read the example, then write a sentence about your own life.
Say your sentence aloud and use the phrase again the next day.

10 collocations for everyday English

Collocation	Meaning	Example
do homework	Complete school work outside class.	I do my homework after dinner.
do the dishes	Wash the plates, cups, and other things used for a meal.	We do the dishes together after lunch.
make a phone call	Call someone by telephone.	I need to make a phone call to the hotel.
make an effort	Try hard to do something.	She makes an effort to practise English every day.
take a shower	Wash your body in a shower.	I take a shower before work.
take a seat	Sit down.	Please take a seat while you wait.
have a look	Look at something briefly.	Can I have a look at your notes?
have a rest	Relax for a short time.	Let’s have a rest after our walk.
save money	Keep money instead of spending it.	I save money by bringing lunch from home.
catch a cold	Become ill with a cold.	My brother caught a cold last week.

The verb can change with the subject or the time. For example, I make a phone call becomes She makes a phone call or Yesterday, I made a phone call. The past form of catch is caught.

Watch out for these common mistakes

These pairs show the usual verb for each expression. Try to learn the correct phrase as one unit.

Avoid this	Use this instead
make my homework	do my homework
do a phone call	make a phone call
do an effort	make an effort
take a cold	catch a cold

Homework is uncountable: say do homework or do my homework, not do a homework.

Some collocations have more than one natural form. Have a shower, take a look, and take a rest are also correct. The phrases in the main table are useful examples, not the only possible choices.

Quick practice

Complete each sentence with do, make, save, or catch. You can use a word more than once. Try the questions before looking at the answers.

I ___ my homework before I watch TV.
Please ___ a phone call to confirm our booking.
They ___ an effort to speak English every day.
I ___ money by bringing lunch from home.
I hope I don’t ___ a cold before the exam.

Answer key

do — I do my homework before I watch TV.
make — Please make a phone call to confirm our booking.
make — They make an effort to speak English every day.
save — I save money by bringing lunch from home.
catch — I hope I don’t catch a cold before the exam.

Put them into practice

Choose three collocations from the table and write one true sentence for each. You could describe your morning, something you do at home, or a plan for this week.

For example: I take a shower before breakfast. After dinner, I do the dishes. I make an effort to read a little English every evening.