Mastering Collocations

One of the most difficult aspects of English usage is achieving idiomatic mastery of collocations.

Collocations are expressions which consist of two or more words which frequently appear together. These may involve adjectives and nouns (e.g. ‘a derisory offer’ or ‘a binding contract’), verbs and nouns (‘to fulfil obligations’ or ‘to cast aspersions’), adverbs and nouns (‘legally valid’ or ‘wholly fraudulent’).

Some collocations are relatively flexible – i.e. the verb, adverb or adjective part of the phrase may be replaced by another word to produce a broadly similar meaning. For example, in the phrase ‘to fulfil obligations’, the word ‘fulfil’ could be replaced by ‘meet’ without altering the meaning of the phrase.

Other collocations are less flexible. Consider, for example, the relatively common phrase ‘to cast aspersions’. An aspersion is a disparaging or damaging remark. It is always ‘cast’ (not made, thrown, spoken etc). Another example is the common phrase ‘to hold discussions’. Here, discussions are generally ‘held’ (not made, ‘carried out’ etc).

You can get around the danger of constructing a false collocation by using another phrase altogether, or even a single word. The phrase ‘to cast aspersions’ could be replaced by ‘to make disparaging remarks’, and ‘to hold discussions’ may in most cases be reduced to ‘to discuss’. However, the use of unfamiliar pairings of words will instantly appear subtly wrong to a native speaker of English.

Here are a few examples of collocations in common use in legal English:

assign rights
authorised representative
binding contract
binding obligation
cancel an order
cast aspersions
contractual breach
copyright protection
derisory offer
detrimental effect
enter into a contract
estimated costs
exercise discretion
flagrant breach
fulfil criteria
fulfil obligations
hold a discussion
irrevocably appoint
legally valid
managerial position
public domain
reasonable control
reasonable costs
relevant issue
rescind a contract
terminate a contract
wholly fraudulent
written notice
written request

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