🤝 Natural Word Partnerships
Verb-Noun Collocations & Partnerships
Native speakers don't pick words in isolation—they think in paired chunks. You make a decision, but you do homework; in Spanish you tomar una decisión, and in French you poser une question. Learn the right verb for every noun.
⚡ The Natural Collocation Matcher
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Which verb naturally pairs with the phrase below?
🇬🇧 English
Natural Collocation
make a decision
❌ Not: do a decision
💡 Use 'make' for creating, choosing, or originating something new.
🇬🇧 English
Natural Collocation
do homework / research
❌ Not: make homework
💡 Use 'do' for tasks, obligations, work, or non-specific activities.
🇬🇧 English
Natural Collocation
make a mistake
❌ Not: do a mistake
💡 Always 'make a mistake', 'make an error'.
🇬🇧 English
Natural Collocation
do business with
❌ Not: make business with
💡 We do business, but we make a deal.
🇪🇸 Spanish
Natural Collocation
tomar una decisión
❌ Not: hacer una decisión
💡 In Spanish, you take a decision (tomar), you don't 'make' it.
🇪🇸 Spanish
Natural Collocation
sacar una foto
❌ Not: hacer una foto (in Latin America)
💡 'Sacar una foto' or 'tomar una foto'; rarely 'hacer'.
🇪🇸 Spanish
Natural Collocation
dar un paseo
❌ Not: hacer un paseo
💡 Going for a walk is 'dar un paseo' or 'dar una vuelta'.
🇪🇸 Spanish
Natural Collocation
tener miedo / sueño / hambre
❌ Not: estar con miedo / ser hambriento
💡 Sensations and physiological needs are possessed with 'tener'.
🇪🇸 Spanish
Natural Collocation
hacer las paces
❌ Not: tomar las paces
💡 To make peace / reconcile is 'hacer las paces'.
🇫🇷 French
Natural Collocation
poser une question
❌ Not: demander une question
💡 In French, you don't 'ask' a question; you 'place/pose' it (poser).
🇫🇷 French
Natural Collocation
faire attention
❌ Not: prendre attention
💡 To pay attention / be careful is 'faire attention'.
🇫🇷 French
Natural Collocation
prendre une douche
❌ Not: faire une douche
💡 To take a shower is 'prendre une douche'.
🇫🇷 French
Natural Collocation
rendre visite à quelqu'un
❌ Not: visiter quelqu'un
💡 Visiting human beings requires 'rendre visite à'.
🇩🇪 German
Natural Collocation
treffen eine Entscheidung
❌ Not: eine Entscheidung machen
💡 In German you 'hit/meet' a decision (eine Entscheidung treffen).
🇩🇪 German
Natural Collocation
treiben Sport
❌ Not: Sport machen (informal)
💡 Elevated standard German uses 'Sport treiben'.
🇩🇪 German
Natural Collocation
leisten Widerstand / Hilfe
❌ Not: Hilfe machen
💡 To offer help or resistance is 'Hilfe/Widerstand leisten'.