The game was called off because of ___ rain.

The school board will ___ a decision at Friday's meeting.

Ramon has to ___ his homework before he can play.

She drank a cup of ___ coffee to stay awake.

Tourists like to ___ photographs of the old stone church.

A ___ argument broke out between the two neighbors.

Nadia always ___ her promises, even the small ones.

The sprinter ___ a new national record last month.

The firefighters had a ___ escape when the roof fell in.

The auditor's report will ___ a question about the missing funds.

Marisol was ___ grateful for the scholarship.

The team must ___ the deadline or the contract is lost.

Her grandfather ___ a living as a fisherman for forty years.

Try not to ___ your temper when the referee makes a call.

The bag was snatched in ___ daylight outside the market.

A ___ majority of the students voted for the field trip.

All four phrases follow English grammar. Which one is NOT a pairing a fluent writer would use?

Each phrase is grammatical. Which pairing would a fluent writer avoid?

Which of these grammatical phrases is not the pairing English speakers actually use?

All four are grammatical. Which pairing sounds wrong to a fluent speaker?

Which grammatical phrase is not the one a fluent writer would choose?

Each phrase is grammatical. Which pairing does English usage not allow?

Which of these grammatical pairings would a fluent writer never use?

All four follow the rules of grammar. Which pairing is not English usage?

Which grammatical phrase is not a pairing English speakers make?

Each phrase is grammatical. Which one would a fluent writer not write?

Both sentences are grammatical. Which one uses the pairing a fluent writer would choose?

Both sentences follow English grammar. Which one is the natural pairing?

Poe, "The Raven": "And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain". Poe pairs "sad", a word for people, with a sound. What does the pairing signal?

Frost, "Out, Out--": "The buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard". "Snarled" usually keeps company with an animal. What does the pairing do?

Frost, "Out, Out--": "Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it." What does pairing the rich word "sweet-scented" with the plain word "stuff" suggest?

Whitman, "Song of Myself": "I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world." Whitman pairs "barbaric" with his own cry instead of a word like "song". What does that signal?

Dickinson: "There's a certain slant of light, / On winter afternoons, / That oppresses". "Oppresses" usually keeps company with rulers and laws. What does the pairing signal?

Shakespeare, Sonnet 18: "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,". "Darling" is normally said of a loved person. What does pairing it with buds signal?

Shakespeare, Sonnet 18: "And summer's lease hath all too short a date:". "Lease" belongs to renting and contracts. What does pairing it with summer suggest?

Shakespeare, Sonnet 73: "Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang." "Ruin'd" normally keeps company with buildings. What does pairing it with bare branches signal?

Frost, "Birches": "Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning". "Loaded" usually keeps company with carts and trucks. What does the pairing signal?

What does it mean to say that two English words collocate?

An unusual word pairing in a poem can be a deliberate choice by the writer rather than an error.

Any word pairing that breaks no rule of English grammar is a pairing fluent writers use.