Longman Practical English Collocations Dictionary

Author: (English) Morton Benson, E
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1996-06-01
Features: Longman Practical English Collocations Dictionary (English-Chinese Edition) is a practical guide that helps you use words correctly in sentences and corrects "Chinglish." The Longman Practical English Collocations Dictionary is a reference book that introduces the collocations between English words. The greatest difference between this dictionary and other English dictionaries is that it does not prioritize explaining vocabulary but focuses on showing the numerous fixed, conventional collocation structures in English. There are many fixed collocations in English. For example, "propose" and "suggest" are synonyms, but their collocability is constrained by habitual usage. We can say "I propose to leave early," which uses the "to + infinitive" grammatical structure, but "suggest" cannot use this structure. Instead, we can only say "I suggest leaving early" or "I suggest (that) we leave early." Similarly, in Chinese, we have the phrases "a group of monkeys," "a group of wolves," and "a group of bees," all using the same measure word. However, when speaking English, we generally use "a horde of monkeys," "a pack of wolves," and "a cluster colony of bees." The collocations included in this dictionary are comprehensive and can be divided into two major categories: grammatical collocations and semantic collocations:
1. Grammatical Collocations (8 types):
1. Noun + Preposition
2. Noun + to + Infinitive
3. Noun + that + Clause
4. Preposition + Noun
5. Adjective + Preposition
6. Adjective + to + Infinitive
7. Adjective + that + Clause
8. Grammatical Collocations of Verbs (19 patterns)
2. Semantic Collocations (7 types):
1. Verb + Noun (or Pronoun, Prepositional Phrase)
2. Verb + Noun
3. Adjective + Noun
4. Noun + Verb
5. Collective Nouns of Nouns
6. Adverb + Adjective
7. Verb + Adverb (For detailed explanations, see the Introduction)
This dictionary aims to help readers use English collocations correctly, guiding them to improve their ability to use authentic English in word choice and sentence construction. Its features include:
- Comprehensive collocation forms, including grammatical collocations (i.e., collocations between nouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions, infinitives, clauses, etc.) and semantic collocations (i.e., collocations between nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs without prepositions or other grammatical structures).
- A large vocabulary, with over 12,000 entries and nearly 100,000 collocation combinations, featuring concise and practical examples.
- Multiple synonymous or near-synonymous collocations to enrich readers' vocabulary.
- Usage notes for easily confused words to help readers pay attention and avoid errors.
- Both Kk phonetic symbols and IPA phonetic symbols for each entry, facilitating self-study.
- Grammatical symbols or abbreviations marked before collocations to explain their grammatical relationships or usage scope.
This dictionary is suitable for students, teachers, secretaries, clerks, translators, and all individuals who need to communicate and write in English.