Having difficulty with these collocations

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doglover

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Dec 11, 2012
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Polish
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I have been asked to underline two suitable words which can complete the sentences. Some are fairly easy, but some I've never heared of and can't find in an collocation dictionary. Will appreciate your help.

1.bucolic/country/rural/vilagge - idyll
I chose coutry idyll and rural idyll

2. cosmopolitan/global/multicultural - city
I chose cosmopolitan city and multicultural city

3. Robert the next day seemed urban/urbane/provincial/assertive, sure of himself, even, she thought, pleased with himself.

Here I have no idea what to go for. I don't even know which word should I collocate.

4. civic/municipal/urban/uptown - leaders
I chose civic leaders. Not sure there is another.

5. Slum - tenants/settlers/dwellers/denizens
I chose slum dwellers not sure abouth the other.

6. rustic/pastoral/rural/provincial - scene
I chose pastoral scene and rural scene.

Can someone please verify this for me.
 
doglover said:
I have been asked to underline two suitable words which can complete the sentences. Some are fairly easy, but some I've never [STRIKE]heared [/STRIKE] heard of and can't find in an collocation dictionary. Will appreciate your help.

1.bucolic/country/rural/vilagge (village) - idyll (Idyllic)
I chose coutry (country) idyll and rural idyll

2. cosmopolitan/global/multicultural - city
I chose cosmopolitan city and multicultural city

3. Robert, the next day, seemed urban/urbane/provincial/assertive, sure of himself, even, she thought, pleased with himself.

Here I have no idea what to go for. I don't even know which word should I collocate.

4. civic/municipal/urban/uptown - leaders
I chose civic leaders. Not sure there is another.

5. Slum - tenants/settlers/dwellers/denizens
I chose slum dwellers not sure abouth (about) the other.

6. rustic/pastoral/rural/provincial - scene
I chose pastoral scene and rural scene.

Can someone please verify this for me.
Click to expand...
Where are the sentences? You don't need a special dictionary for this exercise. Research the meaning of each word and see which ones are similar. It is important that you spell the words correctly.
 
Gillnetter, I think the OP was probably right about "idyll" in #1. I think they're looking for the word which would precede "idyll", choosing between bucolic, country, rural and village. I'm pretty sure the noun is correct, not another adjective.
 
Last edited:
Gillnetter, I am sorry that I have made few typing errors, nevertheless I sense you are not being very nice to me. I am not one of those who come here expecting others to do all the work for them. I have looked into few dictionaries I have at home (paper copies of collins and oxford), I have looked at online oxford dictionary, I searched online collocations dictionaries I even looked at google to see what was more common, what had more 'hits' and I haven't found what I have been looking for. They all give definitions, let's say word 'scene', still they do not say what does it collocate with. And as for the first one emsr2d2 is right it should be idyll.
 
emsr2d2 said:
Gillnetter, I think the OP was probably right about "idyll" in #1. I think they're looking for the word which would precede "idyll", choosing between bucolic, country, rural and village. I'm pretty sure the noun is correct, not another adjective.
Click to expand...
I believe that using "idyll" here is stretching the meaning of the word. A synonym for bucolic is idyllic. You could be correct, but "idyll" is such a rare word and is generally used in such a very limited context as to make me believe that idyllic would be a better choice.
 
Is it really that rare? Maybe it's more common in BrE than AmE then. I would say that phrases such as "this rural idyll" are heard pretty frequently on things like TV property shows. I agree that bucolic and idyllic are synonyms. Therefore, I would not say that "bucolic idyll" would be one of the accepted correct answers here.

In my opinion, "rural idyll" is the only one that really works but I can just about imagine someone referring to a tiny village out in the countryside as a "country idyll" or "village idyll".
 
It's completely foreign to me. I'm not even sure what it means.
 
(Not a Teacher)

If there are sentences that these collocations are supposed to complete, it would be helpful if you posted them. Otherwise, most of these words could collocate with several of their provided adjectives, given the proper context.
 
doglover said:
I have been asked to underline two suitable words which can complete the sentences. Some are fairly easy, but some I've never heared of and can't find in an collocation dictionary. Will appreciate your help.

1.bucolic/country/rural/vilagge - idyll
I chose coutry idyll and rural idyll

2. cosmopolitan/global/multicultural - city
I chose cosmopolitan city and multicultural city

3. Robert the next day seemed urban/urbane/provincial/assertive, sure of himself, even, she thought, pleased with himself.

Here I have no idea what to go for. I don't even know which word should I collocate.

4. civic/municipal/urban/uptown - leaders
I chose civic leaders. Not sure there is another.

5. Slum - tenants/settlers/dwellers/denizens
I chose slum dwellers not sure abouth the other.

6. rustic/pastoral/rural/provincial - scene
I chose pastoral scene and rural scene.

Can someone please verify this for me.
Click to expand...

I have underlined my choices. The only actual sentence in your list is at Number 3. Without any context to help with the others, it's difficult to be precise.
 
Below are the full sentenes.
1. If we were back in urban reality now, we yet retained a glow imparted by our bucolic/country/rural/village idyll.
2. Barcelona feels a lot more cosmopolitan/global/multicultural than other Spanish cities.
3. Robert the next day seemed urban/urbane/provincial/assertive, sure of himself. even, she thought, pleased with himself.
4. Jackson spent the day meeting with local religious and civic/municipal/urban/uptown leaders.
5. Slum tenants/settlers/dwellers/denizens would filter through into better stock, or be rehoused by local authorities in new estates.
6. The picture showed a typical rustic/pastoral/rural/provincial scene.
 
(not a teacher)

1) I'm not familiar with this use of "idyll". I know it as a type of poetic or musical composition.

2) Honestly, you could use any of these words, but I think "cosmopolitan" is the most common collocation, if only by a slim margin.

3) I want to say it's "assertive", but "urbane" and, to a lesser extent, "urban" could work, too.

4) "Civic" is the best choice here.

5) "Dwellers" is the most sensible choice, though I don't think "slum dwellers" would ever be my first choice of words for expressing that concept.

6) Either "rustic" or "pastoral" will work well here. A case could be made for "rural", but "provincial" is a bit derogatory.
 
emsr2d2 said:
Is it really that rare? Maybe it's more common in BrE than AmE then. I would say that phrases such as "this rural idyll" are heard pretty frequently on things like TV property shows. I agree that bucolic and idyllic are synonyms. Therefore, I would not say that "bucolic idyll" would be one of the accepted correct answers here.

In my opinion, "rural idyll" is the only one that really works but I can just about imagine someone referring to a tiny village out in the countryside as a "country idyll" or "village idyll".
Click to expand...
Well... actually the first time I heard the word was in reference to the Idylls of the King by Tennyson. That was when I was in the first grade, and, to my recollection, that was probably the last time I heard it until I was in college. I fairly certain that if I said that word to the people I associate with they would assume that I talking about an engine that was not running very fast - idling.
 
As you see, doglover, native speakers don't agree on this. It's not a very good test, My own selctions are underlined below:
doglover said:
Below are the full sentenes.
1. If we were back in urban reality now, we yet retained a glow imparted by our bucolic/country/rural/village idyll. Any could work,
2. Barcelona feels a lot more cosmopolitan/global/multicultural than other Spanish cities. 'Global' is not impossible.
3. Robert the next day seemed urban/urbane/provincial/assertive, sure of himself. even, she thought, pleased with himself.
4. Jackson spent the day meeting with local religious and civic/municipal/urban/uptown leaders.
5. Slum tenants/settlers/dwellers/denizens would filter through into better stock, or be rehoused by local authorities in new estates.
6. The picture showed a typical rustic/pastoral/rural/provincial scene. 'Provincial' is possible.
Click to expand...
 
Gillnetter, they wouldn't think you were talking about an idling engine over here because of the pronunciation. It's not "eye-duh-l" it's "idd-ill" or "idd-uhl", the same as the pronunciation at the start of "idyllic" is "idd" not "eyed".
 
doglover said:
Below are the full sentences.
Click to expand...

Doglover, can you see that if you had given these in post #1 instead of #10, you would have saved several people's valuable time?

Rover
 
Yes, I could have and I am sorry that I didn't. However, I like seeing you discuss the language. It is ever so educational :) Once again thank you and please do not get angry with me. Lesson learned!
 
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