Smart Way to Boost Vocabulary—English Collocations
Do you search for the right words when you explain what you think in English? Wish you had more vocabulary to do that easily in English? Good news. English collocations about what you think can help you do that!
But wait—what are collocations?!?!
English collocations are groups of words that native speakers use together naturally. There aren’t any grammar rules for these groups of words… it’s just what sounds natural. Like make the bed. Do the dishes. Nice to meet you. We don’t say “joy to meet you” or “make the dishes” or “do the bed.” These don’t sound natural in English.
With time and practice you can also effectively use collocations to get your message across clearly and confidently.
So, in today’s lesson let’s look at 15 useful collocations that can help you talk about what you think. You’ll learn English collocations that…
- Include the word ‘think’
- Express what you think
- Ask for time to think
- Describe what others think
- Show that you have some doubts about what you think
15 English collocations to boost your vocabulary.
Lesson by Annemarie
English Collocations About What You Think—A Smart Way to Boost Your Vocabulary
English collocations with the word ‘think’
- Honestly think
- Personally think
- Hate to think
- Dread to think
- Shudder to think
I honestly think the best thing to do is replace your old laptop with a new desktop.
The lifeguards rescued him from the water just in time; I shudder to think what would have happened if they hadn’t!
English collocations to say what you think
- In my opinion, I think…
- Take the view that
- Subscribe to the theory that
I take the view that if you are kind, then kindness will come your way.
I subscribe to the theory that everything happens for a reason.
English collocations when you need time to think
- Think carefully
- Give it some thought
- Have a good think
- Have a long think
- Have a hard think
- Have a long, hard think about it
After their meeting she thought long and hard about how to improve their strategy.
Clearly, with that injury you need to have a good think about whether you should run in the marathon again this year.
I appreciate your offer, I will definitely give it some thought.
English collocations about what others think
- Common knowledge
- Widespread belief
- Opinions are divided
It’s common knowledge that she is the strongest athlete on the team.
There is widespread belief that vinegar will ease jellyfish stings, but actually hot water is a much better idea.
Opinions are divided as to whether the new office paint color should be olive green or light mauve.
English collocations when you’re worried or have a doubt
- Nagging doubt/feeling
- Wrestling with a problem/issue/situation
I have a nagging doubt/feeling that it may go horribly wrong tomorrow! (horribly wrong is a great collocation to use too!)
I have been wrestling with this issue for over a week now!
❤️this lesson? Here are some similar lessons:
So, are you feeling ready to collocate?
Putting words together into little collocation chunks is a great way to help you build sentences really quickly and easily as you are speaking.
Remember to look out for our future collocation videos so you can add even more to your list. Taking some time to learn and practice these collocations will really help to get you started.
You can begin right here, right now with some practice questions. We would love to hear your answers below:
- What could you say to your friend if it sounds like they need to spend some time thinking about a problem?
- What collocations could you use to express your thoughts about climate change?
The best place to share, get feedback, and learn from others in the Confident English Community is in the comment section below.
Have a fantastic Confident English Wednesday!
~ Annemarie
Get the Confidence to Say What You Want in English
Download my free training on how to build the courage and confidence you need to say what you want in English.
You'll also get my Confident English lessons delivered by email every Wednesday and occasional information about available courses. You can unsubscribe any time.
Similar Lessons
Learn with me
Fluency School
Job Interviews
Most Recent Lessons
#244: Motivate Your Team in English — Essential Strategies & Phrases for Leaders
Motivate your team in English and effectively demonstrate your leadership skills with these 14 must-have phrases + 4 key strategies. Get clear example sentences that you can confidently adapt to your needs as a team leader in an English-speaking environment at work.
#243: 21 English Idioms to Express Feelings of Joy, Calm, Frustration, and Anger
Use these English idioms to express your feelings. Idioms add creativity and nuance so you can express yourself precisely.
#242: Assimilation in American English | Pronunciation Training
Assimilation in American English is the reason why the sentence “Nice to meet you” sounds like “nice to meetchu.” As part of the Confident English series on how to Understand Fast English Speakers, this pronunciation training lesson will highlight 6 clear examples of assimilation in American English.
Woohoo! Wonderful examples! 🙌
Hi Annemarie mam,
Thanks for this video 😊
1. I personally think, you should take one more opinion for your problem.
2. I thought that we have to cancelled our tomorrow’s picnic plan.
Scenario-1
I can totally understand if you need time to give it some thought.
Scenario-2
Opinions are divided on climate change but I subscribe to the theory that climate change is already having an impact on human life and it will intensify in coming years. Therefore, I take a view that its high time we reduce carbon footprints on planet earth and save humans and other species from this catastrophe.
Q 1, I suggest you give your decision a long hard thought.
Q 2, I have been of this nagging feeling that our picnic tomorrow may be stopped due to a heavy downpour.
Hi, I’m glad I joined your lessons on speaking English. Your explanations are very easy to follow.
Hi Annemarie,
I just want to take a minute to say thank you. I’m so glad that I found your website. For the last 3 weeks, I’ve learned a lot of useful English lessons here.
Q.1: If I were you, I will have a long, hard think about this problem before making any decisions.
Q2: I take the view that our planet is getting warmer every day because of the industrialization. There is a widespread belief that if we don’t eliminate the warming, humans will expose to extreme heatwaves in the next 5 years.
Thanks again,
You are such a wonderful teacher. I am blessed with this lesson. Thank you!
1. I fervently believe you are brave to handle this problem, all you need is to have a long hard think about the solution.
2. Opinions are divided as the climate change may affect the flight tomorrow, I personally think, the flight should be cancelled.
Hi Ayotunde,
I’m so happy to know this lesson was helpful to you. And you’ve got such great examples here using collocations from the lesson. I particularly like number one with ‘I fervently believe.’ Nicely done.
One note about number two. When we talk about ‘climate change’ we don’t mean the daily change in weather but rather changes in the earth’s climate system over a long period of time.
Hi. Thank you for the video, very helpful here are my answers
1) This is certainly a difficult decision to make I suggest, you give it some thought. I am pretty sure you will take the right decision.
2) All together, we need to do something about climate change, we should have a good think about how our actions are contributing to this matter. I subscribe to the theory that simple actions make a difference.
Oh, nice work, Kattia! I like how you’ve used some of the collocations from the lesson, especially with multiple examples in sentence 2.
One thing: In English, we use a different verb with _____ a decision. Do you know what it might be?
Hi Ayodele,
Thank you so much for creating your time to us, it helpful.
1. I will try to have a good talk with him and give him some space in order to think wisely about his personal problem. I believe he can solve it.
2. The weather climatic change either positive way or negative way but it depend on the type of weather you like to live with.
Hi Ayodele, great use of the term think wisely! Well done! Usually we say ‘climate change’ rather than climatic change. Good job on taking some time to practice and use what you learned in the video!
Thanks for the lesson!
My answers:
1.I honestly think that you should spend some more time to have a long,hard think about this problem
2. I take a view that the effects of climate change can be turned into better, if we act wisely thinking carefully about the environment
You are so welcome Spec. I love the way you use ‘honestly think’ and ‘long, hard think’ in your example! Awesome sentence! In your second example, grammatically it would be better to say – I take the view that the effects of climate change can be changed for the better. You have done a great job using ‘act wisely’ and ‘thinking carefully’, if you pop a comma in between those two it would work so well. Well done on some great examples here.
Hi Annemarie, as usual another helpfull and great lesson. Thank you!
1) In my opinion if you have a long, hard think about this problem you can find the right solution. Because I know you, and I know you can do it.
2) Opinions are divided about this problem, but I dread to think about what disasters climate change will bring. The future of humans may go terribly wrong if we don’t do something immediately
Have a nice day!
Annalisa
Hi Annalisa,
Thanks so much. I’m glad it was helpful.
I love your examples, especially the second one with two collocations: opinions are divided and dread to think. Excellent work!
Hello Annemarie,
Thank you for your helpful lesson.
Q-1-What could you say to your friend if it sounds like they need to spend some time thinking about a problem?
A-1- I had a long ,hard thoughts about it and gave them good ideas to solve there problems.
Q-2- What collocations could you use to express your thoughts about climate change?
A-2-My widespread belief we must avoid burning forest and cutting trees to protect our climate change.
Have a lovely warm night .
Munira.
Hi Munira,
Thanks for sharing your answers. 🙂 A couple of things:
1. Note the collocation is ‘to have a long, hard think’ as opposed to thoughts.
2. Widespread belief is used for what other people think. For example, “It is a widespread belief that we must avoid…” but we don’t use this for personal beliefs. What could you change here?
First question
After the large drop in your sales you need to have a hard think about sales promotion strategies
Second question
I subscribe to the theory that climate change negatively affect food security
Wonderful, Nagat! You’ve used two of the collocations from this lesson perfectly. Nicely done. 🙂
One note: there’s something missing on the word “affect.” Any idea what it might be?