The most frequent collocations in spoken English

A collocation is a group of two or more words that are often used together. These combinations sound common and natural to native English speakers.

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The following table displays several collations most commonly used in English speaking.

All along All the time/from the very beginning	Do you think he's been cheating us all along? Bạn có nghĩ rằng anh ấy đã và đang lừa dối chúng ta?
All the same All/just the same = No difference Nevertheless	He's not very reliable, but I like him just the same. 'Will you stay for lunch?' 'No, but thanks all the same.' All the same, there's some truth in what she says.
All thumbs Clumsy, awkward Vụng về, lóng ngóng, không gọn gàng	Harry tried to fix the chair but he was all thumbs. Can you thread this needle for me? I'm all thumbs. Poor Bob can't play the piano at all. He's all thumbs. Mary is all thumbs when it comes to gardening.
As a rule Usually, but not always	As a rule, men should wear tuxedos at formal dinners. As a rule, the bus picks me up at 7:30 every morning.
As for me/as to me (someone/something) In my opinion	He prefers hiking and surfing. As for me, I would rather just stay at home and relax. As for dessert, I'd better skip it today. We are not sure as to how to pay the bill. See more at http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/as+for
As well Also, too	They advertised the new movie on television and in newspapers as well. Mary is going to Italy and to France as well. A fine software engineer, he has knowlede of database design as well.
Be about to Ready (to do)	I am about to go downtown. The chorus is about to sing.
Be all in Be extremely tired	I was all in after only the first mile of the race. I could barely even walk for the rest of it! I've had six children to look after today and I'm in all.
Be in charge (of something/someone) Be responsible for something or someone	Who's in charge here? The teacher put me in charge of organising the project.
Be in the red If you or your bank account are in the red, you owe money to the bank. See be in the black If a bank account is in the black, it contains some money, and if a person or business is in the black, they have money in the bank and are not in debt. Be in debt	State government has been operating in the red for five straight years. What with all those car repairs, we're going to be in the red this month. Tourism is down and many hotels are operating in the red. The phone company found itself about $1.8 billion in the red.
Be into something Be interested in If you're into something, it means you really like it.	'I'm into listening to music. What are you into?' 'I'm into singing!' See more at https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/word-the-week/be-something
Be out of sorts In bad humor to be slightly ill or slightly unhappy	I've been feeling tired and headachy and generally out of sorts.
Be touch and go Be uncertain of the result If a situation is touch-and-go, it is uncertain	The doctor says that it's touch-and-go whether Mary will be okay.
Be up to one's ears in something Be very busy to be very busy, or to have more of something than you can manage	I'm up to my ears in work. She's up to her ears in debt.
Big shot Important person a person or an organization with a lot of power or influence	He is trying to become a big shot in the mortgage business.
Break into something Enter by force to begin suddenly to do something to force your way into something	He broke into a run, and we couldn’t catch him. He’s had his apartment broken into twice.
By heart By memorising to learn something in such a way that you can say it from memory learned in such a way that you can repeat it from memory:	My father can still recite the poems he learned by heart at school.
By the way Incidentally used to introduce a new subject to be considered or to give further information	I think we've discussed everything we need to - by the way, what time is it? Oh, by the way, my name's Julie.
Catch sb's eye attract attention	A sudden movement caught my eye. I tried to catch the waiter's eye, so we could order. It was the unusual colour of his jacket that caught my eye.
Catch sb's breath get your breath (back) Stop and rest to pause or rest for a short time until you can breathe comfortably or regularly again	I had to stop running to catch my breath.
Come true become reality If a hope, wish, or dream comes true, it happens although it was unlikely that it would	I'd always dreamed of owning my own house, but I never thought it would come true. After all the problems I'd had getting pregnant, Oliver's birth was a dream come true.
Down to earth practical, reasonable, and friendly:	She's a down-to-earth woman with no pretensions. After twice of divorces, she is thinking of a down-to-earth view of marriage.
Draw the line fix a limit to never do something because you think it is wrong set a limit on what one is willing to do or accept to separate one thing from another	I swear a lot, but even I draw the line at saying certain words. You can make as much noise as you want, but I draw the line at fighting. It's hard to keep young people under control, but you have to draw the line somewhere. It's not clear where this author draws the line between fact and fiction.
Even so Nevertheless (tuy vậy), but despite what has just been said mặc cho cái gì đó vừa được nói ra	I had a terrible headache, but even so I went to the concert. An immediate interest cut might give a small boost to the economy. Even so, any recovery is likely to be very slow.
Feel up to (doing) something Be able to do something to have the energy to do something	I don't feel up to going out tonight.
Few and far between rare, scarce not very many or not appearing very frequently	Sunny, warm weekends have been few and far between this summer.
For good Forever	She's gone and this time it's for good.
From now on Now and in the future from this moment and always in the future	From now on the gates will be locked at midnight.
Get cold feet Be afraid to do to suddenly become too frightened to do something you had planned to do, especially something important such as getting married	We're getting married next Saturday - that's if Trevor doesn't get cold feet! I'm worried she may be getting cold feet about our trip to Patagonia.
Get mixed up Get confused upset, worried, and confused, especially because of personal problems	He's just a mix-up kid.
Had better should If you had better/best do something, you should do it or it would be good to do it	I'd better leave a note so they'll know I'll be late.
Hold it! Stop! Wait! used to tell someone to wait or stop doing something	Hold it! I don't have my coat on yet. Hold it! What are you saying?
Hold on (a minute)! Wait! - used to tell someone to wait for a short time - used to say that you are confused or surprised by something that you have just heard or read and want to understand it Hold! to hold something or someone firmly with your hands or arms	"Are you ready?" "No, hold on." Hold on, I'll check in my diary. Now hold on, Ed, that wasn't what we agreed at all! She held on tightly to his waist.

Hepefully, you could learn and practice these collocations as much as possible. Good luck!