Which statement best describes collocational range?

Which statement best describes collocational range?

• A. A It collocates with very few words
• B. B It has no established collocations
• C. C It does not show any context-based variation
• D. D Range of acceptable collocations for a word

Answer: (D)

Collocational range refers to the breadth of natural word partners a given word can appear with in fluent usage. It describes how flexible or restricted a word’s collocations are across different contexts. That’s why the best statement is that collational range is the range of acceptable collocations for a word—the idea that a word can pair with a variety of other words in natural expressions. Think of a word like make: it commonly collocates with many nouns to form familiar phrases—make a decision, make progress, make an effort, make money, and so on. This shows a wide collocational range. The other options would imply either an overly narrow or nonexistent set of collocations, or that there’s no variation by context, which isn’t how real language works. Collocations do vary with context, formality, and region, contributing to the overall range.

Collocational range refers to the breadth of natural word partners a given word can appear with in fluent usage. It describes how flexible or restricted a word’s collocations are across different contexts. That’s why the best statement is that collational range is the range of acceptable collocations for a word—the idea that a word can pair with a variety of other words in natural expressions.

Think of a word like make: it commonly collocates with many nouns to form familiar phrases—make a decision, make progress, make an effort, make money, and so on. This shows a wide collocational range. The other options would imply either an overly narrow or nonexistent set of collocations, or that there’s no variation by context, which isn’t how real language works. Collocations do vary with context, formality, and region, contributing to the overall range.