Spanish Collocations: Choosing Natural Verb–Noun and Adjective–Noun Combinations

Spanish Collocations: Choosing Natural Verb–Noun and Adjective–Noun Combinations

In this lesson, you will improve naturalness by learning common Spanish words as combinations rather than isolated translations. A phrase can be grammatically possible and still sound unusual. Pay particular attention to English make, do, and take, which do not map to one Spanish verb.

Tomar una decisión

Natural:

tomar una decisión — to make a decision.

Example:

Tenemos que tomar una decisión antes del viernes. — We have to make a decision before Friday.

Prestar atención

Natural:

prestar atención — to pay attention.

Example:

Hay que prestar atención a la unidad del gráfico. — We need to pay attention to the chart unit.

Cometer un error

Natural:

cometer un error — to make a mistake.

Example:

Cometimos un error al comparar los porcentajes. — We made a mistake when comparing the percentages.

Plantear una pregunta

Natural:

plantear una pregunta — to raise / pose a question.

Example:

El informe plantea una pregunta importante sobre el coste. — The report raises an important question about cost.

Tener en cuenta

Natural:

tener en cuenta — to take into account.

Example:

Debemos tener en cuenta el tamaño de la muestra. — We must take the sample size into account.

Asumir la responsabilidad

Natural:

asumir la responsabilidad — to take responsibility.

Example:

La empresa asumió la responsabilidad del error. — The company took responsibility for the error.

Realizar un análisis

Natural in formal contexts:

realizar un análisis — to carry out an analysis.

Example:

El equipo realizó un análisis de los datos. — The team carried out an analysis of the data.

Adjective–noun collocations

• evidencia sólida — strong evidence
• alta demanda — high demand
• riesgo elevado — high risk
• medida eficaz — effective measure
• cambio significativo — significant change

Use the whole unit

Instead of memorizing only decisión, memorize:

tomar una decisión — make a decision.

Instead of memorizing only atención, memorize:

prestar atención a algo — pay attention to something.

The preposition can be part of the useful collocation.

Do not translate make word for word

English make can correspond to different Spanish verbs:

• make a decision → tomar una decisión
• make a mistake → cometer un error
• make a change → hacer un cambio / introducir un cambio, depending on context

Do not translate do word for word

English do can also vary:

• do research → realizar una investigación / investigar
• do an analysis → realizar un análisis
• do exercise → hacer ejercicio

Do not translate take word for word

• take a decision is not the normal English phrase, but Spanish uses tomar una decisión
• take into account → tener en cuenta
• take responsibility → asumir la responsabilidad

Grammatical but unnatural combinations

Awkward:

hacer una atención — literally “make an attention.”

Natural:

prestar atención — pay attention.

Awkward:

hacer un error — literally “make an error.”

Natural:

cometer un error — make a mistake.

Context can change the preferred collocation

hacer una pregunta — to ask a question.

plantear una pregunta — to raise / pose a question, often in discussion or analysis.

Both are natural, but they are not always interchangeable in tone or function.

Short B2 paragraph

Antes de tomar una decisión, debemos realizar un análisis más completo y prestar atención al tamaño de la muestra. Los datos ofrecen evidencia útil, pero todavía existe un riesgo elevado de generalizar demasiado. Si cometemos ese error, la recomendación final podría ser menos sólida. — Before making a decision, we must carry out a more complete analysis and pay attention to the sample size. The data provide useful evidence, but there is still a high risk of overgeneralizing. If we make that mistake, the final recommendation could be less solid.

A practical collocation method

1. Learn common words as multi-word units.
2. Note the verb that naturally combines with each noun.
3. Note common adjective–noun combinations.
4. Include required prepositions in the unit.
5. Do not translate make, do, or take automatically.
6. Check whether a combination is only grammatical or also natural in the intended context.
7. Notice that two natural collocations can differ in tone or function.

From Collocations to Safe Paraphrasing

You can now choose more natural word combinations. The next lesson teaches you to rephrase ideas with synonyms while preserving meaning, tone, and strength.