By the end of this 5 minutes, you can:

identify and use common collocations correctly — distinguishing between similar verbs and understanding why the wrong partner sounds unnatural.

A collocation is a pair or group of words that frequently occur together. Native speakers do not choose these consciously — they come as units. Learning vocabulary in collocations, not in isolation, is one of the most efficient strategies for fluency.

The make/do/take/have problem:

Verb	Common collocations
make	a reservation · a decision · a mistake · a suggestion · progress · an effort
do	homework · research · damage · your best · a favour · the cleaning
take	a risk · an exam · notes · action · responsibility · a break
have	a meeting · a conversation · breakfast · a look · a shower · an idea

Adjective-noun collocations are equally fixed: strong tea / coffee (not powerful) · heavy rain / traffic / smoker (not big rain) · make a mess (not do a mess)

Task 1: Make, do, take or have?

Complete with the correct verb:
1. Could you ___ me a favour? · 2. She always ___ her homework immediately after class. · 3. The manager had to ___ a difficult decision. · 4. Let’s ___ a break before the next session. · 5. We need to ___ action on this immediately.

Show answer

1. do · 2. does · 3. make · 4. take · 5. take

Task 2: Strong or heavy?

Which adjective? Strong or heavy?
1. ___ rain · 2. ___ coffee · 3. ___ traffic · 4. ___ accent · 5. ___ smoker

Show answer

1. heavy · 2. strong · 3. heavy · 4. strong · 5. heavy

Task 3: Spot the wrong collocation

Find and correct the error:
1. ‘She did a good impression at the interview.’ · 2. ‘Can you do a reservation for 8?’ · 3. ‘He took a mistake in the report.’

Show answer

1. She made a good impression. · 2. Can you make a reservation? · 3. He made a mistake. (make is the correct verb with impression, reservation, mistake — do, make and take are not interchangeable)

Write 6 sentences about a typical working day. Each sentence must use a different collocation from today’s lesson (make / do / take / have + noun). Then check each verb: is it the right one? Challenge yourself to use at least one adjective-noun collocation too (heavy, strong, etc.).