English speakers do not pick verbs freely when they combine them with nouns. They use fixed combinations that sound natural. We give a speech (not say a speech). We pay attention (not give attention). We catch a cold (not get a cold, though that also exists). We save time (not keep time, in this meaning). These are verb + noun collocations, and they cover huge areas of everyday English. Beyond the well-known make / do / take / have set, students need a wider range of verb + noun pairs to sound natural at B1 level. Verbs like give, pay, catch, save, waste, keep, break, tell, spend, lose, run all combine with specific nouns to make fixed expressions. Mixing them up produces grammatically correct but unnatural English. This lesson builds on the basic verb + noun collocation pattern and introduces the next most useful set of pairs at B1.
Before you start — think honestly about your own teaching and experience.
Look at the examples. Answer each question before reading the explanation — this is how your students will learn too.
She gave a speech at the wedding. ✓
She made a speech at the wedding. ✓ (also possible)
She said a speech at the wedding. ✗
She did a speech at the wedding. ✗ (sounds informal/wrong)
Please pay attention to the teacher. ✓
Please give attention to the teacher. ✗
Please make attention to the teacher. ✗
Please take attention to the teacher. ✗
For each noun, only one or two verbs sound right. Why? And why is it not predictable from meaning?
English has settled, through long use, on specific verb + noun combinations. Speech goes with give and make (with a small difference: give a speech is more common; make a speech is slightly more formal). Attention goes with pay only — never give, make, take, or do. The choice is not logical — pay normally has to do with money, but pay attention has nothing to do with money. The combination has just become fixed. A student who uses logic will guess wrong most of the time. The teaching point: verb + noun collocations must be learned as chunks, not assembled from a verb plus a noun. Once students know give a speech as one item, they will not say make or say or do a speech.
With pay:
pay attention / pay a visit / pay a compliment / pay respect
With catch:
catch a cold / catch a bus / catch a thief / catch fire
With save:
save time / save money / save energy / save someone's life
With waste:
waste time / waste money / waste energy / waste opportunity
With spend:
spend time / spend money / spend the night
These groups show patterns. What does the verb tell us about the kind of noun it goes with?
The verb often suggests what kind of noun fits with it. Pay goes with abstract things owed or given (attention, a visit, a compliment, respect) — like paying money to someone but for non-money items. Catch suggests grabbing something (a cold, a bus, a thief, fire) — taking hold of something that was moving or coming towards you. Save and waste are opposites and both go with limited resources (time, money, energy). Spend goes with things you use up gradually (time, money, the night). Seeing the pattern helps students predict which verb to choose, but they still need to learn each combination as a chunk because the patterns are not perfect rules. For example, you save time but you spend time — both are correct, but the meaning differs (save = use efficiently, spend = use, often with a positive or neutral feeling).
Keep a secret. ✓ (not save a secret or have a secret in this meaning)
Break the rules. ✓ (not pass the rules — meaning is the opposite)
Tell the truth. ✓ (not say the truth)
Take a photo. ✓ (not make a photo or do a photo)
Make a phone call. ✓ (not do a phone call)
Lose weight. ✓ (not down weight or reduce weight in everyday speech)
Why are these particularly difficult for students?
These pairs are particularly difficult because they often differ from the equivalent in students' first languages. In many languages, you say a secret (not keep), say the truth (not tell), make a photo (not take), do a phone call (not make). Students translate directly and produce the wrong English collocation. The errors are completely understandable but they sound very wrong to a native speaker. Teaching these as chunks with explicit warnings about what NOT to say is the most effective approach. Make a list of the wrong forms students typically produce and write them with a cross next to the correct form. Visual contrast between right and wrong helps fix the correct version in memory.
| Verb | Common nouns | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| give | a speech, advice, a hand, a hug, an answer, permission | The head teacher gave a speech at the assembly. | Give is for things passed from one person to another, including abstract things. Give a speech is the most common form (also make a speech, slightly more formal). |
| pay | attention, a visit, a compliment, respect, the price | Please pay attention to the instructions. | Pay is fixed with these abstract nouns even though they are not about money. Pay attention is the most common. |
| catch | a cold, the flu, a bus, a thief, fire, sight of | She caught a cold and stayed home from work. | Catch suggests something arriving at you — illness, a bus, a thief. Used for illness as if the cold caught you. |
| save | time, money, energy, water, someone's life | The new road will save us a lot of time. | Save = use carefully or avoid wasting. The opposite is waste. |
| waste | time, money, energy, food, an opportunity | Do not waste your money on things you do not need. | Waste = use badly or use without good reason. Opposite of save. |
| spend | time, money, the night, the day | I spent two hours on my homework. | Spend = use up gradually. Different from save and waste — neutral about whether the use was good or bad. |
| keep | a secret, a promise, a diary, calm, quiet, in touch | Can you keep a secret? I want to tell you something. | Keep = continue to hold or maintain. Used with things you protect or maintain over time. |
| break | the rules, a promise, the law, a record, your heart | You should not break the rules of the school. | Break = not keep or follow. Often the opposite action of keep. |
| tell | the truth, a lie, a story, a joke, the time, a secret | Children should always tell the truth to their parents. | Tell, not say. Tell + person + thing. Say a story or say a lie are wrong. |
| lose | weight, time, money, your job, your way, patience | The doctor said I should lose weight to be healthier. | Lose = no longer have. Often the opposite of gain. |
| take | a photo, a shower, a break, a holiday, an exam, a chance | Can you take a photo of us in front of the school? | Take has many noun pairs — already covered in the make / do / take / have lesson, but worth reviewing. |
| run | a business, a school, a country, a meeting, a risk | My uncle runs a small business in town. | Run = manage or be in charge of. Used metaphorically for organisations. |
NOTE 1 — Verb + noun pairs are chunks: Each combination is a single unit, not a verb + a free choice. When students meet attention, they should learn it with pay attached. When they meet a speech, they should learn it with give. The chunk goes into their notebook as one item, with an example sentence.
NOTE 2 — Some verbs go with whole groups of nouns: Pay, save, catch, keep, break each combine with a recognisable group of nouns. Pay goes with abstract things owed (attention, a visit, respect). Save and waste both go with limited resources (time, money, energy). Catch goes with things that arrive at you (a cold, a bus, fire). Seeing the pattern helps students predict, but they still need to drill the specific combinations.
NOTE 3 — Translation traps: Some verb + noun pairs are particularly tricky because they differ from the equivalent in students' first languages. Tell the truth (not say). Take a photo (not make or do). Pay attention (not give). Keep a secret (not save or have). These need focused teaching with explicit warnings about what NOT to say.
NOTE 4 — Some nouns can take more than one verb: For example, give a speech and make a speech are both correct (give is more common, make is slightly more formal). Get a cold and catch a cold both exist (catch is more common). Have a meeting and hold a meeting are both correct. When more than one verb works, students should learn the most common one first and note that others exist.
NOTE 5 — Fixed expressions sometimes look idiomatic: Keep your cool (stay calm) and lose your temper (become angry) both look idiomatic. They are verb + noun collocations but the meaning is metaphorical. Teach these as set expressions, not as freely combined words. Students should learn the whole expression with its meaning.
Verb + noun collocations are one of the largest and most useful areas of vocabulary work at B1. Many of them appear constantly in everyday speech (pay attention, take a break, catch a cold) and others in formal contexts (give a speech, run a business, break a record). A student who masters 30 to 50 of the most common verb + noun chunks gains significant fluency. The investment is high — these chunks must be drilled into automatic recall — but the return is also high. Teachers should integrate verb + noun collocation work into every vocabulary lesson, not treat it as a separate topic. Each time a new noun is introduced, the typical verb that goes with it should be introduced too.
Build a verb + noun collocations wall organised by verb. Each time students meet a new pair in reading or class, they add it under the right verb heading. Over weeks, the wall fills up and shows that each verb has its own family of nouns it goes with. Review the wall briefly at the start of each lesson — pointing to a few pairs and having students say them aloud. The repeated exposure is what fixes the chunks into memory.
Choose the correct verb to complete each sentence. Only one verb makes a natural collocation with the noun.
Each sentence has the wrong verb. Find the error, write the correct sentence, and explain.
Use this sequence directly in class — guided discovery, no textbook needed. Tap each step to mark it done.
STEP 1 — Why does only one verb work? (5 min): Write three options on the board: give a speech / make a speech / say a speech / do a speech. Ask: which sound natural? Discuss. Establish: only give and make work; the others are wrong even though they are similar verbs. The verb is fixed by collocation, not by meaning.
STEP 2 — Group the nouns by verb (8 min): Build groups on the board. PAY: attention, a visit, a compliment, respect. CATCH: a cold, a bus, a thief, fire. SAVE: time, money, energy, water. KEEP: a secret, a promise, calm. Drill each group. Students produce one example sentence per group.
STEP 3 — Translation traps (6 min): Write the most common errors on the board. Make a phone call (not do). Tell the truth (not say). Take a photo (not make). Pay attention (not give). Keep a secret (not save). Show the wrong forms with crosses and the correct ones underneath. Drill the correct forms three times each.
STEP 4 — Match to a situation (5 min): Give students six short situations: telling a story to children, taking a photo at a wedding, paying attention in a meeting, catching a cold in winter, saving money for a holiday, keeping a friend's secret. Students produce a sentence using the correct verb + noun for each.
STEP 5 — True sentences (6 min): Each student writes three true sentences about their own life using three different verb + noun collocations from the lesson. Share in pairs. Partner checks: was the verb correct for the noun? If not, what should it be?
Use directly in class — copy, adapt, or read aloud. No printing needed.
For each strategy, choose the option that best describes where you are now.
Your feedback helps other teachers and helps us improve TeachAnyClass.