Collocations
Find typical usage patterns (collocations) for English words.
Enter a verb, a noun or an adjective.
# | Collocations for | Example Sentence |
---|---|---|
Click on the word cloud to see example sentences
Click on the word cloud to see example sentences
v_boj_n
n_mod_a
v_subj_n
Try these words
Some more examples with collocations
Adjective + smoker:
- heavy smoker
- inveterate smoker
- lifelong smoker
- habitual smoker
to smoke + Object:
- to smoke pipe
- to smoke cigarette
- to smoke marijuana
- to smoke cigar
hot + Noun:
- hot water
- hot day
- hot iron
- hot coffee
Noun + shop:
- gift shop
- coffee shop
- repair shop
- barber shop
memory + Verb + [s]:
- memory fades
- memory fails
- memory serves
- memory remains
[to] Verb [a/the] light:
- to throw the light
- to see the light
- to shed the light
- to reflect the light
attention noun
1 act of watching/listening/showing interest
ADJ. full, rapt, undivided They listened with rapt attention. | assiduous, careful, close, meticulous, scrupulous | scant Policy-makers paid scant attention to the wider issues. | urgent | special | unwanted, unwelcome | international, media, public
VERB + ATTENTION devote, direct, give (sb/sth), pay, turn How many times do I have to ask you to pay attention? He had a cup of tea and then turned his attention to the report. | get, have, receive Can I have your attention, please? These poems have received a lot of critical attention. | attract, call, capture, catch, command, compel, draw, excite, grab I tried to attract the waiter’s attention. Wherever he goes, he commands attention. She doesn’t like to draw attention to her illness. | deflect, distract, divert, draw The government is trying to divert attention away from the economy. | hold, keep, rivet There was something in the way he spoke that riveted her attention. | concentrate, confine, focus In this chapter we shall confine our attention to non-renewable energy sources. | refocus, transfer The firm decided to refocus its attention back onto its traditional strengths and expertise. | deserve, need, require a matter requiring urgent attention | jostle for, vie for dozens of concerns jostling for your attention She was surrounded by men all vying for her attention. | repay an interesting essay that repays close attention | bring sth to My boss was grateful that I had brought the matter to his attention. | come to | avoid, escape Her primary aim was to avoid the attentions of the newspapers.
ATTENTION + VERB focus Media attention focused today on the prince’s business affairs. | wander I felt my attention wandering during the lecture.
ATTENTION + NOUN span
PREP. for sb’s ~, for the ~ of a letter for the attention of your doctor
PHRASES attention to detail He is a designer known for his meticulous attention to detail. | care and attention He was convicted of driving without due care and attention. | the centre of attention Some children love being the centre of attention. | the focus of attention The focus of attention must now be how to improve the economy. | force your attentions on sb A man like Luke had no need to force his attentions on unwilling women. | not pay much attention to sth, pay little/no attention to sth (= not take something very seriously) Pay no attention to what Bill said?he’s a complete liar!
2 care
ADJ. constant | individual, personal, special The child needs special attention. | medical
VERB + ATTENTION devote, give, lavish He devoted all his attention to his mother. She lavishes attention on those silly little dogs. | be in need of, need, require, want a patient requiring attention
- Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.
Collocations for «attention»
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word «attention» in context.
WordReference English Collocations © 2023
attention
ⓘMost examples are given in US English. We have labeled exceptions as UK.
n
- (pay) [full, complete] attention (to)
- please pay [special, particular] attention to
- needs your personal attention
- [craves, needs] attention (from)
- take your attention away from
- [put, move, change] your attention towards
- the [matter] [needs] your attention
- I will give it my [full, undivided] attention
- give your (full) attention to the [matter, issue] at hand
- trying to draw attention [to, towards]
- was trying to get your attention
- is always [seeking, wanting, trying to get] attention
- it has [come, been brought] to our attention that
- needs (your) immediate attention
- does not pay attention [in, during] class
- she was [watching, listening] with attention
- pay attention to [detail, the facts]
- shows [great, an impressive] attention to detail
- [can, may] I have your attention, please?
- now I’ve got your attention, I [am going to, would like to]
- they lavished attention on their [guests, friends, children]
- the [soldiers, troops, recruits] were standing at attention
- UK: the [soldiers] were standing to attention
n as adj
- have a [small, short] attention span
- attention deficit (disorder)
- attention-seeking [child, behavior]
‘attention‘ also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
attention
-
draw attention
There is however, one further distinction which is rarely noted, but which it is important to draw attention to here.
-
particular attention
Pay particular attention to any areas which may be problematic — unexplained gaps in work sequence, poor examination results, etc.
-
serious attention
Book publishing is another important aspect of the print media to which private organisations and the government should pay serious attention.
-
little attention
Beetle attack which has ceased requires little attention except for any necessary repairs to the damaged timbers.
-
draw your attention
Someone who could draw your attention without being seen.
-
care and attention
Erm,uncare, undue care and attention, yeah.
-
attention is directed
It is to his circumstances that attention is directed in fixing the rate of tax to be paid.
-
attention away
They had to try to take attention away from the accepted theory that Jibril and the Syrians were responsible.
-
turn his attention
If England feared Spain, for the Scottish Protestants Henri II became a very present menace; for through his daughter-in-law Mary he might turn his attention to the Calvinists in Scotland as well as those in France.
-
attention to detail
He will be remembered for his wonderful attention to detail and his meticulous work.
-
attention given
What makes it so is the extraordinary care and attention given to every guest by its owner, Jean Dodgson.
-
so much attention
Never has there been a gas cooker with so many refinements, so many innovations, so much attention to detail as the new Moffat Discovery.
-
public attention
It could be part also of an effort to raise a smoke screen to divert public attention from Reagan’s plan for a massive military build-up.
-
pay attention
I wish you’d learn to pay attention.
-
attention should
Instead, attention should be focused on halting the felling of existing forests.
-
less attention
Even in the most politically advanced parts of the continent foreign affairs still attracted, for the most part, much less attention than internal problems.
-
direct attention
Detailed studies of particular artefacts direct attention to the varying complexity involved in manufacturing items, many of them designed for specific functions.
-
attention back
He simply turned his attention back to his pudding.
Collocation stands for a group of either two or more words that are almost always put together to create a specific meaning. The reason is that using different combinations of words might sound unnatural or awkward. To break down the word: Collocation, Co means together and location means place. In simple words, these are words that are located together. Collocation is widely popular during the preparation for IELTS.
Check: Get Free IELTS Sample Papers
Using collocations shows an excellent command of the English Language and can improve the speaker’s ability to get a qualitative native touch to their speaking skills. However, during the IELTS writing,and speaking modules, collocations help them in speaking better English, improving vocabulary, giving better answers, and their probability of getting high bands in the tests.
For the writing tasks, the candidate is marked on their lexical resources and they’ll be judged on a sufficient range of vocabulary which showcases their grammar flexibility and precision. To add to this, collocations would also help them use some uncommon words which will get them extra points for their style awareness and sentence formation. The tip to learning collocations is more about learning the surrounding words but not just memorizing them blindly. One of the best ways to learn collocations is to collect as many words and vocabulary as by reading, listening, and making our own sentences. The more one reviews their vocabulary regularly and practices, they will be able to score better in their IELTS test.
Collocations for IELTS- ‘Attention’
There is a wide variety of collocation that would be effective in improving the skill set for writing and speaking tasks for IELTS. Some of the important collocations of the word ‘Attention’ are mentioned below:
Attention: Interest or thought given to something/someone
Attention as an Adjective
Here the word ‘attention’ stands for a measure of interest given to someone/something.
i) Meaning: Complete- rapt/undivided
Sentence: They listened to the sermon with rapt attention.
The teacher required undivided attention from the students for the test.
ii)Meaning: Little- scant
Sentence: All through his tenure, scant attention was paid to the development of the roads
iii) Meaning; Not wanted- unwanted
Sentence: The spy had to avoid drawing any unwanted attention to his presence.
iv) Meaning: Careful- meticulous
Sentence: The shopkeeper had partnerships with the suppliers who paid meticulous attention to the customer demands.
v) Meaning— merit
Sentence: The social and economic issues deserve special merit from the politicians.
Also check,
Attention as a Verb
Collocations for the word ‘Attention’ as a verb has numerous forms, some of which are described below
i) Meaning: get someone’s attention- pay,attract
Sentence: Her wardrobe will definitely attract some attention in the crowd.
Sentence: His mother has always suggested that he pay attention to the details while painting.
ii) Meaning: give attention to- brought
Sentence: I would like to bring it to your attention that the spare wheel is missing.
iii) Meaning: take attention away from-divert, deflect
Sentence: The central government is trying to divert our attention away from the pandemic.
iv) Meaning: deserve attention- deserve
Sentence: The topic deserves extra attention from the weaker students.
v) Meaning: attention changes- confine, focus, concentrate
Sentence: In trigonometry, we should confine our attention more to the basics.
vi) Meaning: attention goes away- drift, refocus, wander, transfer
Sentence: The company decided to refocus its attention on Human resource development.
vii) Meaning: escape
Sentence: The invigilator was so strict, that there was hardly any chance of anything escaping his attention.
viii) Meaning: repay
Sentence: Don Quixote’s story is an interesting one and repays close attention from its readers.
ix) Meaning: jostle for attention
Sentence: Nowadays, many students are jostling for the attention of their supervisors to score maximum in their internal assessment.
x) Meaning: vie for attention
Sentence: Hema was surrounded by all her suitors, vying for her attention.
xi) Meaning: bring to your attention
Sentence: I would like to bring the problem of water clogging in our society to your attention.
xii) Meaning: come to
Sentence: It has come to my attention that the workers are not being paid regularly.
Attention as a Noun
i) Meaning: span
Sentence: Clownfish have a very small span of attention.
Nouns used after ‘Attention to’
i) Meaning: aspect, issue, matter, problem
Sentence: The Governor thanked the servicemen for their attention to the urgent matter.
Nouns+Of used before ‘Attention’
i) Meaning: centre, object
Sentence: Nowadays, the centre of attention for economists is inflation and demonization.
Attention as Preposition
i) Meaning: for the, of
Sentence: The letter of recommendation for the student applies only to the post of the researcher.
Attention as Phrases
i) Meaning: attention to detail
Sentence: Sabyasachi is known for his attention to detail.
ii) Meaning: care and attention
Sentence: He put a lot of care and attention into the car design.
iii) Meaning: the focus of attention
Sentence: The Government’s focus of attention is towards eradicating poverty.
iv) Meaning: lack of attention
Sentence: Shyam possessed a lack of attention for maths.
v) Meaning: force your attention
Sentence: Raj has forced all his attention into understanding German.
vi) Meaning: not pay much attention to
Sentence: My father does not wish to pay much attention to the tournament after India was kicked out.
vii) Meaning: pay little attention to
Sentence: I like to pay little attention to the toppings while eating pizza.
viii) Meaning: pay no attention to
Sentence: The dog paid no attention to his dirty paws while jumping on the sofa.
Attention: care given to something/someone.
Attention as an Adjective
i) Meaning: constant
Sentence: I was willing to give my constant attention to my ailing grandmother.
ii) Meaning: personal
Sentence: Hiring the nurse would be beneficial as she would be able to give personal attention at home.
iii) Meaning: special
Sentence: People with disabilities require special attention from their parents, relatives, and spouses.
iv) Meaning: individual
Sentence: The teachers were in favor of evening classes as they would be able to give individual attention to weak students.
Attention as a Verb
i) Meaning: devote
Sentence: Ram devoted all this attention to his mother after her accident.
ii) Meaning: give
Sentence: The doctor was ready to give attention to his injury in spite of the tight schedule.
iii) Meaning: lavish
Sentence: Sandra lavishes attention on all her pets during her holidays.
iv) Meaning: need
Sentence: He needed medical attention as he was losing blood at a fast rate.
v) Meaning: require
Sentence: After hurting my leg, I needed medical attention to be able to walk properly.
vi) Meaning: want
Sentence: The babies want their mother’s attention during the growing up years.
Attention as a Phrase
i) Meaning: be in need of
Sentence: We all have a deep need for attention during our teenage and adolescent years.