A collocation is two or more words which often go together.

Natural English Unnatural English
fast food quick food
a quick shower a fast shower
(Tip:when you learn a new word,write down other words that collocate with it)
Eg.: make + the bed/ time/breakfast/friends/fun/a joke/money

Exercise
Both options make sense.Underline the one which forms a common collocation

1. Many small houses and huts were (flooded away / [washed away]) when the river bursts its banks.
2. Poor farming methods are responsible for soil (devaluation / [erosion]) in many areas of Saharan African.
3. During the earthquake, many people were ([buried] / covered) alive.
4. The forest fire left a wide area of the mountainside blackened and (ablaze / [smouldering]).
5. Villagers are hoping for rain this month after nearly a year of (dry weather / [drought]).
6. Before the hurricane struck, many people were ([evacuated] / shifted) to higher ground.
7. Thousands of children in the famine-striken area are suffering from ([malnutrition] / undernourishment).
10. Heavy snow has fallen in the mountains and many villages have been (blocked out / [cut off]) for the past two days.
11. The Aids ([epidemic] / plague) is having serious effects in some countries.
12.Many small islands in the Indian Ocean are threatened by rising sea (waters / [levels]).


English Grammar and Vocabulary
Vince Michael and Sunderland Peter
(Macmillan)