Appendix talk:Collocations of do, have, make, and take

"Do the shopping"
This would seem to be a uniquely bad example because this is not a valid or common usage in the United States of America. If I heard someone say he or she had to "do the shopping," I would think he or she is speaking broken English. Therefore, it should probably be changed out for a more universal example, like "do the laundry" or "do the work." --BRP

"Do some exercise"
What's the story with the phrase "do some exercise"? Does it actually exist? Where I'm from, I'm pretty sure people say "exercise", or "work out", or "get some exercise"; "do some exercise" sounds very weird to my ear. (Now, "do some exercises" exists here, but doesn't mean the same thing at all.) I assumed this was a US-vs.-UK thing, but Beobach972 removed the tag I added, so I assume there's something I don't know? —RuakhTALK 03:43, 25 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes. More often it's "do some exercises" (either physical activity or schoolwork) or with a specific exercise such as "do some situps". --EncycloPetey 03:48, 25 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks to all of you for pitching in to this project. There is always going to be a US - UK thing here, because collocations are like that! But if we remember that this can never be definitive, merely orientative, then I see it doing some good. Algrif 15:07, 25 June 2007 (UTC)


 * A doctor in UK would equally tell you to do or take more excercise. Also I see decision marked as take-UK. But in fact we use both take and make equally and almost interchangeably in UK. (The difference is subtle and would pass unnoticed by most native speakers, let alone an L2.) Take and have a bath or a shower are also equally used in UK. Do a meal with someone is very US. Hardly ever used in UK. Algrif 15:07, 25 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Re: take/make decision, take/have bath: Sorry, I assumed that the not-US one was UK, and therefore that the US one was not-UK. I've fixed those now. As far as I know, "do a meal" doesn't exist in the U.S., either; "do lunch" does, but to me that sounds like an I-&#x200B;want-&#x200B;you-&#x200B;to-&#x200B;know-&#x200B;how-&#x200B;busy-&#x200B;I-&#x200B;am way to say it. Normal people say "get lunch" or "grab lunch". —RuakhTALK 16:29, 25 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Is there a en tag we could use for do lunch :-))? Algrif 16:52, 25 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Perfect! !  :-)     --Connel MacKenzie 17:09, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Better subdivision?
I like how this is growing, but, the headings are hard to see towards the bottom. Perhaps split the table and restart it after every five to ten lines?

Also, I'm not sure that excluding the rare formations is helpful. (I know I was originally suggesting only the most common ones.) Explaining the difference is probably more important. For examples, to make a bath would be either to build/construct a new bathtub, or to fill a bathtub with water at a pleasant temperature. While "take a bath" is pretty likely restricted to the US, I'm not sure that "have a bath" is UK-only.

Looking at "bath" as an example, I'm not sure US/UK distinctions are helpful for this table. The table (and page) were supposed to identify which formations you should not use, and explain why. Since both "take a bath" and "have a bath" could be understood unambiguously in both US and UK, I'm not sure why we'd want to confuse the issue for ESL students.

Can we please just give only example wording in the left four columns? I.e. "take a bath" (in the take column) instead of "a bath"?

--Connel MacKenzie 15:36, 25 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I would agree with just about everything you say, Connel. However, if we use "take a bath" etc, then the need to split the table is probably not necessary.


 * If we use the notes more fully, with more uncommon entries, then the table would show more clearly why a certain collocation could be considered wrong.


 * Also, I think the UK-US thing could easily get out of hand, and could well be counterproductive, given the aims of this appendix. Thanks for reminding us of those aims, BTW.


 * Finally, I am still concerned about the title of the appendix. — Beobach972 makes some suggestions in WT:BP.Algrif 16:46, 25 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Those are both excellent suggestions (re-posting the headers every ten items, or using the collocating verb in the example); does anybody have a preference for one method or the other? I think listing the verb (giving take a bath in the take column, instead of a bath) is the better method, what do others think? — Beobach972 17:44, 25 June 2007 (UTC)


 * One vote aye for listing as take a bath. Algrif 18:10, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Insert new words: 'rehearsal' and 'concert'
This is a very useful page. English is not my mothertongue so sorry if my English isn't so good. I've noticed that 'rehearsal' and 'concert' are missing and it should be beautiful complete this page in the most complete way as possible. 31.6.14.50 02:35, 11 January 2015 (UTC)