Grammar Course

Student’s Handout

Lesson 6:
PREPOSITION, CONJUNCTION AND COMMON COLLOCATION
Giới từ, Liên từ và các cụm từ thường gặp

Content

1. Preposition – Giới từ: Time, Place, Movement and Independent Prepositions

2. Correlative Conjunction – Liên từ kết nối 2 đối tượng
3. Common Collocation – Các cụm từ thường gặp

I. PREPOSITION – Giới từ
1. Preposition of Time and Place: Giới từ chỉ thời gian và nơi chốn

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Student’s Handout

2. Preposition of Movement: Giới từ chỉ phương hướng/ chuyển động

3. Common Independent Prepositions: Các giới từ độc lập thường gặp

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Student’s Handout

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Student’s Handout

 Practice 1: Fill in each blank with a suitable preposition:

1. The price of electricity is going up _____ August.

2. They came to visit us _____ my birthday.

3. Did you have a good time _____ Christmas?

4. The children are really excited _____ their summer vacation.

5. We were very disappointed _____ the organization of the festival.

6. John missed a lot of lessons. He was ill _____ January to March.

7. Helen had said goodbye to everybody in the class _____ she left for the hometown.

8. My cat is very fond _____ fish.

9. I waited _____ 10 o’clock and then went home.

10. I can’t remember exactly when the accident happened. I think it was _____ nine and half past nine.

11. Are you acquainted _____ the lady?

12. _____ the children left, the house was very quiet.

13. These photographs were taken _____ a friend of mine.

14. The river Rhine flows _____ the North sea.

15. I shall meet you _____ the corner _____ the street.

16. I always come _____ school _____ foot.

17. He had learned the whole poem _____ heart.

18. He has waited _____ her for a long time.

19. He’s not very keen _____ watching football, but his wife is.

20. Are you worried _____ the final examination?

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Student’s Handout

II. CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTION – Liên từ kết nối 2 đối tượng

 Practice 2: Each correlative conjunction comes in a pair of words. Use one of the following
pairs to complete each sentence:

either … or, neither … nor, both . . . and, not only . . . also, not only . . . but also , whether … or

1. "Could I come over at _____ three _____ four o'clock?" asked Joan.
2. The teacher refused to mark his work because his book was _____ torn _____ dirty.
3. I really need a holiday but _____ in Spain _____ France.
4. I'm going to fish tomorrow, _____ it rains _____ shines.
5. _____ did he borrow a lot of money from us, he _____ refused to pay back a single cent.
6. The children at the centre can _____ hear _____ speak.
7. She employs a maid to do _____ the cooking _____ washing for her family.
8. We have enough spices for only one type of curry. We can cook _____ chicken curry _____ mutton
curry.
9. The boy is really talented. He _____ knows how to play the piano _____ can also compose music.
10. I do not like him. He is _____ rude _____ selfish.
11. We do not know _____ it's you _____ me who will have to do it.
12. Each class is to present _____ a drama _____ a song for the concert.
13. The invitation is for two persons, so _____ Jack _____ his wife can attend the function.
14. We are waiting for the boys. _____ Roy _____ Joseph has come yet.

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15. Alfred _____ got up late this morning _____ missed the train.
16. "Why is the baby crying?" "_____ she is hungry _____ her nappy needs changing."
17. _____ we go now _____ in an hour's time, it doesn't matter as it's still very early.
18. Our Yellow House was _____ first _____ last in this year's sports.
19. "Oh, dear! I have left _____ my purse _____ keys in the other bag," said Jean.
20. _____ you ask Mary _____ Lucy, she will give you the same answer.

III. COMMON COLLOCATIONS IN IELTS – Các cụm từ thường gặp trong IELTS

1. Verb + Adverb Collocations

Positively/Negatively Smoking negatively affects people’s health.
affect/influence
Closely examine The factors causing environmental pollution should be closely
examined.
Carefully analyze This essay shall carefully analyze the problems of climate change.
Support Governments should support financially artists working in traditional
financially/emotionally art fields.
Develop mentally/physically Children attending soft skill courses at early age could develop both
mentally and physically.
Strictly control The government should strictly control the amount of violence on
films and other TV programmes.
Partly/Totally agree/disagree I partly agree with the idea that zoos should be closed for the sake of
animal’s right.
Strictly enforce The authority should strictly enforce the traffic law in order to reduce
the number of road accidents.
Be commonly believed It is commonly believed that globalization brings enormous benefits
to international corporations.
Greatly benefit The development of the tourist industry greatly benefits local people
in tourist attractions.
Seriously damage Emissions of toxic chemicals from factories seriously damage the
environment in their surrounding areas.

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2. Verb – Noun Collocation

Provide support for Big companies and organizations should provide support for poor and
elite students.
Play an important role Investment in cutting-edge technology plays an important role in the
sustainable development of any country.
Commit a crime There are an increasing number of young people who commit crimes
without being aware of the serious consequences.
Invest money in Non-governmental organizations are encouraged to invest money in
vocational training for people in less developed areas.
Receive investment/ support Developing countries in Asia have received substantial foreign
from
investment from Western nations in recent years.
Encourage investment in The government should encourage investment in infrastructure
development in remote areas.
Solve a problem It is not easy to completely solve the problem of urban waste.
Tackle an issue In order to tackle the issue of online piracy, Internet users should
limit sharing personal information online.
Overcome a difficulty People can easily overcome the difficulty of learning a foreign
language when watching films imported from other countries.
Address a problem Addressing the problem of overpopulation is not the responsibility of
only the government.
Improve a situation The situation of excessive littering would be improved if both
governments and individuals cooperate effectively.
Minimize the negative effects What people could do to minimize the negative effects of global
warming is to plant more green trees around their house.
Encounter a problem First-year students usually encounter a number of problems
concerning self-research and teamwork skills.
Face a challenge Western nations are facing huge national security challenges in the
context of global terrorism.
Raise one’s awareness Media campaigns shall raise social awareness of the importance of
protecting the environment.
Achieve success It is said that hard work is one of the key factors for people to achieve
success in life.

3. Adj – Noun Collocations

Clear/obvious There are many clear drawbacks of the over-consumption of fast food
advantages/ disadvantages among young people in developed countries.
Environmental pollution Environmental pollution has attracted much public concern over the
past decades.
Global warming Global warming has caused severe effects on the changing living

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environment of inhabitants on earth.

Climate change Human activities have greatly contributed to climate change and
many natural disasters lately.
Public transport Encouraging people to use public transport would help to
significantly reduce traffic jam in crowded cities.
Private vehicles Governments should tax those using private vehicles heavily so that
the amount of traffic congestion could be reduced.
Toxic waste/chemicals + Toxic chemicals from polluted industries bring about many
Polluted industries dangerous effects on living creatures in the surrounding area.
Urban planning Urban planning is a necessary step toward successful urbanization.
Rush hour Restriction on the use of private cars during rush hour plays a part in
minimizing traffic jam in urban areas.
High population density Nuclear power plants should be placed far away from areas with high
population density.
Extreme sport Some people find taking part in extreme sport activities highly
enjoyable.
Technological advance Technological advances have resulted in the significant increase in
human well-being.
Cultural diversity Cultural diversity is a typical feature of metropolitan areas.
Social crimes Social crimes are the possible consequence of poverty and a lack of
welfare.

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4. Noun – Noun Collocations

Air pollution Air pollution is an inevitable result of industrial activities.
Co2 emissions Trees play a role in absorbing CO2 emissions and mitigating
greenhouse effect.
Culture shock International students often experience culture shock on their first
times abroad.
Life expectancy Human life expectancy has been massively improved by advances in
medical technology.
Urbanization process The urbanization process is taking place rapidly in developing
countries.
Population boom Population boom is evident in regions without appropriate birth
control methods.
Food/IT/etc industry In the last decade, the food industry saw remarkable changes in terms
of production capacity.
Housing/accommodation Besides daily living costs, housing problems are an obstacle for
problems people with low income.
Traffic accidents/ Traffic accidents account for a large number of fatalities every year.
congestion/jam
Education development Education development is a key policy in remote areas.
Culture exchange Global integration allows nations to promote culture exchange.
Youth crime A lack of family care can possibly lead to youth crime.
Market share It is very hard to maintain one’s market share in highly competitive
markets, such as mobile phone, automobile, and so on.
Prison sentence A long sentence for a prisoner is a burden for the taxpayer.
Advertising campaign Effective advertising campaigns allow producers to boost their
revenues.
Trade barrier Free trade agreements will lower trade barriers and promote
economic development.

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Student’s Handout

5. Adv – Adj Collocations

Extremely beneficial Music is extremely beneficial for a child’s emotional development.
Potentially dangerous Watching TV too much is potentially dangerous for children.
Increasingly popular Social networks such as FB or Twitter are becoming increasingly
popular all over the world.
Highly practical Machines are highly practical for housework.
Fairly reasonable The idea of building ski resorts around mountains is considered fairly
reasonable.
Fully comprehensive One of the requirements for encyclopedias is that they have to be
fully comprehensive.
Widely applicable/accessible Human life in a region depends on water being widely accessible.
Excessively wasteful Government spending in some countries for the Olympic Games is
excessively wasteful.
Truly impressive The ancient Egyptian pyramids are truly impressive wonders of
mankind.
Remarkably economical Electric cars are remarkably economical in terms of energy
consumption.
Absolutely justifiable Many see long prison sentences with no parole for extreme felonies
as absolutely justifiable.
Absolutely unethical Caging animals for entertainment is seen as absolutely unethical.
Heavily polluted The most heavily polluted cities in the world have been centers of
industrial activity.
Entirely different Travelling to countries with an entirely different culture might cause
some difficulties for tourists.
Entirely unconvincing Some of the government’s reasons for raising taxes are entirely
unconvincing.

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Student’s Handout

6. Verb – Adj Collocations

Keep fit + stay healthy Exercising regularly will help people keep fit and stay healthy.
Live alone Pets are important for people who live alone.
Go viral With the help of social networks, any moment from one’s life can go
viral in a short time.
Remain Whether same-sex marriage should be legalized remains debatable.
debatable/questionable
Go bankrupt Economic recession makes a lot of companies go bankrupt.
Appear important Soft skills appear important for job seekers in the competitive labor
market today.
Seem unfair It seems unfair when the income of celebrities can far exceed that of
researchers or doctors.
Sound reasonable It sounds reasonable that people with inherited wealth should be
taxed heavily.
Become popular Frequently changing one’s job has become popular worldwide in
recent years.
Prove effective Media campaigns have proven effective in raising brand awareness
for companies.

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