Collocations With "WATER" in English

WATER collocations

water noun

¹ liquid

ADJ.

boiling, cold, hot, ice-cold, lukewarm, tepid, warm | clean, clear, crystal-clear, pure | dirty | fresh | brackish, salt

These fish will quickly die in salt water.

| salty

Abscesses should be bathed in warm salty water.

| salted

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water.

| hard, soft | flowing, running

the fast-flowing water of the river All the rooms have hot and cold running water.

| river, sea | surface

The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.

| drinking | tap

Avoid drinking the tap water when you first arrive in the country.

| bottled, mineral, spring | waste | scarce

QUANT.

drop

VERB + WATER

drink | pour | slosh, spill, splash, spray, sprinkle, spurt, squirt

Don't slosh too much water on the floor when you're having a bath. The burst pipe was spurting water everywhere.

| filter, purify | contaminate, pollute | turn off/on

They turned the water off for a few hours to do some work on the pipes.

WATER + VERB

flow, pour, run | gush, spurt

Brown water gushed out of the rusty old tap.

| drip, trickle

There was water dripping from a hole in the ceiling.

| lap, slosh, spill, splash, spray, squirt

Water had got into the boat and was sloshing about under our feet.

| boil, freeze

WATER + NOUN

vapour | temperature | pressure | supply | resources | quality | purification, treatment | filter | pollution | shortage | level | table

Building can be difficult where the water table lies close to the surface.

| power | company, industry

PHRASES

water-repellent

water-repellent leather

| water-resistant

a water-resistant watch

² mass of water

ADJ.

deep, shallow | clear | muddy, murky, stagnant | calm, placid, still

the calm waters of Lake Como

| choppy, rough, stormy | dangerous, safe

At last the boat reached safer waters.

| flood

The flood water had caused tremendous damage.

| rising

They climbed a tree to escape the rising water.

| bathing

WATER + NOUN

sports

PREP.

by ~

Many goods were transported by water in the last century.

| in the ~

I saw something large floating in the water.

| on the ~

The swan landed gracefully on the water.

| through the ~

The boat cut effortlessly through the water.

| under the ~

An abandoned village lies under the water of the reservoir.

PHRASES

the water's edge

She crouched at the water's edge to wash her hands.

³ waters: sea

ADJ.

territorial | coastal | tropical | northern, southern | Antarctic, Arctic | Atlantic, Pacific, etc. | home, foreign, international | Japanese, etc. | uncharted

The ship had drifted into uncharted waters.

PREP.

in/into … ~

The submarine had strayed into Russian waters.

What is a collocation?

A collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations (for example collocations with “WATER”) just sound “right” to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations of “WATER” may be unnatural and just sound “wrong”.

Using collocations list of “WATER” improves your English, especially your English speaking skills, and increases your vocabulary words in English.

Why learn collocations with “WATER”?

• When using collocations with “WATER”, Your language will be more natural and more easily understood.
• You will have alternative and richer ways of expressing yourself.
• It is easier for our brains to remember and use language in chunks or blocks such as Common Collocations with “WATER” rather than as single words ( WATER | Translation, Meaning in Persian (Farsi) )

How to learn collocations with “WATER”?

• Be aware of collocations with WATER , and try to recognize them when you see or hear them.
• Treat collocations as single blocks of language. Think of them as individual blocks or chunks, and learn strongly support, not strongly + support.
• When you learn a new word ( e.g. WATER | Translation, Meaning in Persian (Farsi) ), write down other words that collocate with it.
• Read as much as possible. Reading is an excellent way to learn vocabulary and collocations of “WATER” in context and naturally.
• Revise what you learn regularly. Practice using new collocations with “WATER” in context as soon as possible after learning them.
• Learn collocations with “WATER” in groups that work for you. You could learn them by topic (time, number, weather, money, family) or by a particular word (take action, take a chance, take an exam).

Types of collocation with “WATER”

• adverb + adjective: completely satisfied (NOT downright satisfied)
• adjective + noun: excruciating pain (NOT excruciating joy)
• noun + noun: a surge of anger (NOT a rush of anger)
• noun + verb: lions roar (NOT lions shout)
• verb + noun: commit suicide (NOT undertake suicide)
• verb + expression with preposition: burst into tears (NOT blow up in tears)
• verb + adverb: wave frantically (NOT wave feverishly)

Using Collocations of WATER to Boost Your IELTS Score

The correct use of collocations of “WATER” is an essential part of improving your English level and boosting your IELTS score. Using collocations + “WATER” in sentence examples correctly allows you to write and speak more like a native speaker and they are also one of the things that examiners look out for when marking your tests.

WATER Collocation Frequently Asked Questions

Why are WATER collocations important? WATER collocations are important because they make your language sound natural. If you master WATER collocations, your English will be more idiomatic, that is, more similar to the way it is spoken by native speakers. It is acknowledged that knowledge of WATER collocations helps to improve learners' language skills, enhance learners' communicative competence, and achieve native-like fluency.