using bbc learning english - vocab pt 1

Again, this is a very good resource.

But first:
What are the opposites of:
> light
> old
> single
> hot
> free

The 'opposite' of a light meal is a heavy meal; an old book, a new book; a single ticket to Brighton, a return ticket to Brighton; a single person, a married person; a hot curry, a mild curry; a free place, a reserved place; a free ticket, a  ticket you have to pay for...

Do you know any more such 'opposites' or antonyms?

An excellent course book (Innovations - published by Heinle/Thompson) has this at the heart of its understanding of how we learn languages:
Innovations Upper-Intermediate: A Course in Natural English (SB, WB, TB, 2 Audio CDs) - Free eBooks Download

And the point it makes is that you don't know a word until you know what other words go with it.

For example, what's the missing word:
Oh dear, I've ______ a terrible mistake!
Have you ______ your homework yet?
Well, I think it's time we ______ a ______ break!
My dad's a really _______ smoker: he gets through at least 40 a day.

The answers are:
to make a mistake
to do your homework
to have a coffee/tea/short break
a heavy smoker

These are all examples of 'collocation':

collocation

noun 

 

 

 

 /ˌkɒl.əˈkeɪ.ʃən/   /ˌkɑː.lə-/ specialized

Definition

B2 [C] (also collocate) a word or phrase that is often used with another word or phrase, in a way that sounds correct to people who have spoken the language alltheir lives, but might not be expected from the meaning:

In the phrase 'a hard frost', 'hard' is a collocation of 'frost' and 'strong' would notsound natural.B2 [C] the combination of words formed when two or more words are often used together in a way that sounds correct:The phrase 'a hard frost' is a collocation.

collocation noun - definition in the British English Dictionary & Thesaurus - Cambridge Dictionaries Online


We can spend a lot of time looking things up in our dictionaries:
What verbs collocate with 'mortgage'?

mortgage

 NOUN

ˈmɔːɡɪdʒ ; ˈmɔːrɡɪdʒ 

 

(also informal home loan) a legal agreement by which a bank or similar organization lends you money to buy a house, etc, and you pay the money back over a particular number of years; the sum of money that you borrowto apply for/take out/pay off a mortgage
mortgage - Definition and pronunciation | Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com


Now let's take an example from BBC Learning English:

Obama's brain project

Summary

5 April 2013

US President Barack Obama has launched a $100m project to map the "enormous mystery" of the human brain. He hopes the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) project will help us understand how the brain works and learn more about diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Reporter:

Paul Adams

How much do we know about the human brain?

Listen

Click to hear the report

Report

Learning English - Words in the News - Obama's brain project

This is full of collocations.

Firstly, there are several which are pointed out:
neural circuits
subatomic particles
etc

But can you find what collocates with:
audacious (= project)
address (a project hopes to address the various conditions)
etc

In fact, everything is collocation.
Just take a look at any text; just listen to anything and you'll realise how words are connected, how words are used.
It's all about how to use words.
.
.
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