Spanish collocations: learning words that naturally go together

You know the Spanish words for “take”, “make” and “decision”, but assembling them one by one leaves you hesitating. For an ordinary decision, a useful combination to learn is tomar una decisión: Todavía no he tomado una decisión sobre las fechas. “I haven't decided on the dates yet.” Remembering the whole expression gives you a usable starting point; you can then change who decides, when and about what.

These familiar word partnerships are often called collocations. This workshop contains twenty combinations organised around four everyday tasks, followed by eight exercises and five transformations. The selection is practical, not a ranking of the most frequent expressions in Spanish. Nor does it supply a rule that lets you predict every use of hacer, tomar, dar and tener. The point is to associate a particular action with a phrase you can actually use.

Learn a useful partnership without turning it into a rigid rule

In hacer una reserva, the verb and noun work together to describe booking something. You can understand the individual words, so this is different from an opaque idiom whose meaning cannot easily be recovered from its parts. Nevertheless, translating the verb separately from your own language may give an unnatural result. Learn the noun with its usual verb and with any important preposition.

A partnership is not necessarily exclusive. Tomar una decisión and adoptar una decisión are both possible, while the latter can suit a more formal context. Likewise, hacer una pausa and tomarse un descanso both describe stopping an activity, with different wording. A useful exercise can prefer one expression because it is the expression being practised without declaring every alternative incorrect.

The DLE entry for tomar illustrates how one verb has several uses. Checking a whole expression and its context is more reliable than assigning the verb one English equivalent forever. The examples below are original practice sentences, not quotations from a frequency corpus. Read the situation as well as the Spanish sentence.

Task 1: make arrangements and decisions

1. Tomar una decisión. You have compared possible dates but have not chosen: Todavía no he tomado una decisión sobre las fechas. The expression names the act of deciding. Keep sobre las fechas if the subject of the decision needs to be clear; replace it with the actual question you are considering.

2. Hacer una reserva. You want a table: Quiero hacer una reserva para dos personas. This states the purpose of the conversation before you discuss a day or time. The shorter verb reservar is also available. Learning this combination does not mean that the single verb is less natural.

3. Hacer planes. You are keeping a weekend free: No hemos hecho planes para el sábado. The plural noun suits general arrangements. Compare this with hacer un plan when you mean a particular plan. The number of the noun carries meaning; it is worth recording alongside the verb.

4. Llegar a un acuerdo. Two people settle a shared question: Hemos llegado a un acuerdo sobre el horario. Include the preposition a in the expression. This is about reaching agreement with someone, whereas making a personal decision does not necessarily involve another person's consent.

5. Cambiar de opinión. Your preference has changed: He cambiado de opinión: prefiero salir mañana. Keep de; the phrase is not built by replacing an English verb and leaving everything else untouched. The second half of the sentence makes the new position clear rather than leaving your partner guessing.

Task 2: study and work

6. Tomar apuntes. You write useful points during a lesson: Tomo apuntes cuando aparece un ejemplo útil. Here apuntes means notes, not appointments. You are recording information for later use. You need not copy every sentence in order for the expression to describe what you are doing.

7. Hacer una pregunta. You need clarification: Quiero hacer una pregunta sobre el último ejercicio. This introduces a question rather than the answer. You can also simply use preguntar. Keep the complete expression available when you want to announce your intention before speaking in a group.

8. Cometer un error. You recognise a mistake: He cometido un error al escribir la fecha. The phrase identifies what happened without inventing an excuse. The single verb equivocarse provides another way to express the idea, but requires its own sentence structure and should not be inserted mechanically into the same gap.

9. Prestar atención. You want someone to notice an important detail: Presta atención al cambio de horario. The thing receiving attention follows a, which combines with el to make al. Learning only the two-word label would leave out a useful part of the pattern.

10. Cumplir un plazo. A task must be finished by an agreed deadline: Tenemos que organizarnos para cumplir el plazo. Here the phrase concerns meeting a time limit, not filling every available minute. You can specify which deadline matters with el plazo de entrega when the surrounding conversation does not already establish it.

Task 3: communicate and help

11. Dar una explicación. The first explanation was difficult to follow: ¿Puedes darme una explicación más sencilla? The person receiving it appears in me. The adjective describes the explanation you need; requesting a simpler version is more specific than saying that you understood nothing.

12. Pedir ayuda. You cannot complete a task alone: Voy a pedir ayuda para mover esta mesa. The expression is a request for assistance. Add the purpose with para so that the other person knows what help would involve before agreeing to provide it.

13. Dar las gracias. Someone has helped: Quiero darte las gracias por tu paciencia. Notice the article and plural form in las gracias. The phrase can be followed by the reason with por. In a brief exchange, a simple gracias is still perfectly adequate.

14. Mantener el contacto. You would like communication to continue after a course: Nos gustaría mantener el contacto después del curso. This describes the ongoing relationship rather than sending one particular message. The sentence expresses a wish; it does not assume that another person has already agreed.

15. Resolver una duda. A particular uncertainty becomes clear: Ese ejemplo me ha ayudado a resolver una duda. This is useful after an explanation. You can also encounter aclarar una duda. Both can fit many learning situations, so do not mark one wrong merely because the other appears on your card.

Task 4: describe personal needs

16. Tener ganas de. You feel like resting: Tengo ganas de descansar un rato. Keep de before the infinitive. The expression communicates inclination or desire; it does not automatically establish that rest is a medical necessity or that you have arranged a break already.

17. Tener prisa. Time is short: Hoy tengo prisa porque mi tren sale pronto. This describes being in a hurry. It may help explain why you cannot stay, but it is not an instruction for everyone else to move faster. Add the reason if it is useful to the conversation.

18. Hacer una pausa. You propose briefly stopping an activity: Vamos a hacer una pausa antes del último ejercicio. This fits a planned break in a lesson or a task. The article matters here: the complete unit is una pausa, rather than an English-style verb translated on its own.

19. Dar un paseo. You suggest a walk: Después de comer, podemos dar un paseo por el barrio. Pasear is another natural option. The combination helps you package the walk as an activity you might propose, postpone or describe afterwards.

20. Tener sueño. You are sleepy: Tengo sueño y me cuesta seguir la conversación. This is different from tener un sueño, which can refer to having a dream. The small article changes the interpretation. Save the whole phrase with a situation rather than treating sueño as a one-to-one translation.

Three traps when translating from English

First, English “make” does not always become hacer. For the decision and mistake in this selection, learn tomar una decisión and cometer un error. Second, English “take” does not identify one Spanish verb: compare taking notes, tomar apuntes, with taking a walk, dar un paseo. Third, English “be” can correspond to a Spanish expression with tener, as in tener prisa and tener sueño.

These contrasts explain why translating the full intention is useful. They do not prove that a particular verb can never appear beside a particular noun in another meaning or region. If a new expression surprises you, check a dictionary example and the context before labelling it a mistake. A familiar English sentence is a starting clue, not a Spanish construction rule.

Eight exercises: choose the action before the verb

For each situation, say a complete Spanish sentence. You may use the expressions above. In exercises 7 and 8, deliberately produce two possible answers and explain the difference in wording. The task is to communicate the stated intention; copying a matching verb without understanding its object is not enough.

1. You need a restaurant table for two. Begin Quiero… 2. The date you typed was wrong. Begin He… 3. You are writing useful points during the explanation. Begin Estoy… 4. You want a friend to help move a table. Say what you are going to request and why.

5. A timetable has just changed. Ask your partner to notice that change. 6. You are sleepy, although nobody has mentioned a dream. Describe your present condition. 7. An example has cleared up an uncertainty. Express this with both resolver and aclarar. 8. Suggest a walk after lunch using both a combination and a single verb.

Answers and reasons

1. Quiero hacer una reserva para dos personas. The action is booking, and the object is una reserva. Quiero reservar una mesa para dos also fulfils the situation. 2. He cometido un error al escribir la fecha. The mistake concerns the date. Me he equivocado al escribir la fecha is a valid alternative with a different grammatical structure.

3. Estoy tomando apuntes. The notes are being made while someone explains. 4. Voy a pedir ayuda para mover esta mesa. The requested action is assistance; you are not yet thanking someone for help already received. 5. Presta atención al cambio de horario. The preposition links attention to its target. 6. Tengo sueño. No article is needed for the intended state of sleepiness.

7. Ese ejemplo me ha ayudado a resolver una duda / aclarar una duda. Both express the intended clarification here. The exercise accepts both rather than inventing a difference required in every context. 8. Después de comer, podemos dar un paseo por el barrio / pasear por el barrio. Both propose the activity. In the second version, the noun phrase disappears because the single verb carries the meaning.

Five transformations that make the phrases your own

Change the decision to an earlier completed event: Ayer tomamos una decisión sobre las fechas. Change the booking to tomorrow's plan: Mañana voy a hacer una reserva para tres personas. Turn attention into advice: Te recomiendo prestar atención al cambio de horario. Make the explanation polite and directed to a group: ¿Podrías darnos una explicación más sencilla? Finally, change rest to a different desire: Tenemos ganas de conocer el barrio.

Notice what stayed together and what moved. The combinations remain recognisable, while person, tense, recipient or purpose changes. Choose one transformation and supply a real detail relevant to you. If you do not yet know the required tense, keep the original tense and change the person or object instead. You can practise the partnership without adding several new grammatical problems at once.

A small phrase card you can actually reuse

Write four fields: expression, situation, your sentence and one checked alternative. For example: hacer una reserva; arranging dinner; Quiero hacer una reserva para tres personas el viernes; alternative reservar una mesa. On another attempt, hide the Spanish and describe the situation first. Then say the whole sentence and check the article, preposition and person, not just the headline verb.

There is no need to collect all twenty immediately. Select the expressions that solve a conversation you expect to have. For focused feedback on your own examples, explore private Spanish lessons in Valencia and discuss the situations you want to practise. Bring your sentences and uncertainties: they give a teacher something concrete to work with, without a promise that a fixed number of phrases will produce a particular level.