Verb + Noun + Preposition Collocations

Hello, English learners! Learning verb + noun + preposition collocations will help you speak and write more naturally in English. Expressions such as take care of, make sense of and pay attention to are commonly used in everyday conversation, formal writing and English exams.

Do you pay attention to the words that often appear together in English? Do you take pride in using natural expressions? Then this lesson is for you.

Collocations are combinations of words that native speakers naturally use together. Although another combination may be grammatically possible, it might not sound quite right. Learning complete expressions such as make room for, take care of and put pressure on will help you speak and write more naturally.

In this lesson, you will learn 20 common verb + noun + preposition collocations, together with clear meanings and natural examples.

---

Seeing, Watching and Understanding

Catch sight of

Meaning: to see someone or something for a brief moment

• As she turned the corner, Monica caught sight of a strange man following her.

Keep an eye on

Meaning: to watch someone or something carefully

• Could you keep an eye on my suitcase while I go to the toilet?

Lose sight of

Meaning: to stop being able to see someone or something

• The road was extremely busy, so we tried not to lose sight of the car in front of us.

It can also be used figuratively:

• While trying to make more money, he lost sight of what was really important in life.

Pay attention to

Meaning: to watch, listen to or think about something carefully

• Please pay attention to the instructions before you begin the exercise.

Make sense of

Meaning: to understand something that appears confusing

• I have read the message three times, but I still cannot make sense of it.

Planning, Space and Change

Make arrangements for

Meaning: to organise or prepare something in advance

• My assistant will make arrangements for the conference next month.

Make room for

Meaning: to create enough space for someone or something

• We moved the table to make room for two more chairs.

Make way for

Meaning: to move aside or remove something so that another person or thing can pass or take its place

• Several old buildings were demolished to make way for a new shopping centre.

Put a stop to

Meaning: to make something unpleasant or unacceptable end

• The school introduced new rules to put a stop to bullying.

Keep a count of

Meaning: to record or remember the total number of something

• The organisers kept a count of the number of people entering the building.

In everyday English, we also commonly say keep count of:

• She keeps count of how many glasses of water she drinks each day.

---

Relationships and Communication

Make contact with

Meaning: to communicate with someone, especially after trying to find or reach them

• After several unsuccessful attempts, Peter finally made contact with his childhood friend.

Make friends with

Meaning: to begin a friendship with someone

• It did not take Sophie long to make friends with her new colleagues.

Take an interest in

Meaning: to become curious about or involved in something

• Jane began to take an interest in sculpture while she was at secondary school.

Take care of

Meaning: to look after someone or something and keep them safe

• Could you take care of my dog while I am away?

It can also mean dealing with a task:

• Do not worry about the booking. I will take care of it.

Responsibility, Praise and Apologies

Make amends for

Meaning: to do something to correct a mistake or compensate for harm you have caused

• Laura tried to make amends for her rude behaviour by apologising and inviting Michael to dinner.

Take the blame for

Meaning: to accept responsibility for something that went wrong

• Brian took the blame for the broken window, although it had been an accident.

Take credit for

Meaning: to accept praise for an achievement

• The manager took credit for the successful project, even though the whole team had worked on it.

This expression can be neutral, but it is often used critically when someone accepts praise for another person’s work.

Take pride in

Meaning: to feel proud of something you do, own or have achieved

• Daniel takes great pride in his garden and spends hours looking after it.

---

Opportunities, Participation and Influence

Take advantage of

Meaning: to make good use of an opportunity or situation

• Sandra took advantage of the fine weather to work in the garden.

Be careful: take advantage of someone can have a negative meaning. It means to treat someone unfairly for your own benefit.

• The dishonest salesman took advantage of inexperienced customers.

Take part in

Meaning: to participate in an activity or event

• More than 200 students took part in the school competition.

Put pressure on

Meaning: to try strongly to persuade or force someone to do something

• Environmental groups are putting pressure on the government to reduce air pollution.

---

Verb + Noun + Preposition Collocations: Common Patterns to Remember

Notice how several of these expressions begin with the same verbs:

• make: make amends for, make arrangements for, make contact with, make friends with, make room for, make sense of, make way for
• take: take advantage of, take the blame for, take care of, take credit for, take an interest in, take part in, take pride in
• keep: keep a count of, keep an eye on
• put: put pressure on, put a stop to

Learning them in groups can make them easier to remember.

Final Tip

Do not learn only the individual words. Learn each collocation as one complete expression, including the preposition:

• not simply attention, but pay attention to
• not simply pride, but take pride in
• not simply advantage, but take advantage of

The more complete word partnerships you learn, the more natural and confident your English will sound.

Related posts:

• Verb + Preposition Collocations 
• Adjective + Preposition Collocations 
• Collocations with Make, Take, Get, Have, Give, Do 
• Collocations for B2 First Writing and Speaking 
• Collocations for C1 Advanced (CAE) 
• 100 Collocations to Use in Daily Life + PDF 

Visit our bookshop for more English study materials