ABSTRACT

Kharisma Putri. 2009. English Grammatical Collocation: Restricted to Prepositions at,

for, in, and on. Research. Skripsi. English Department. Faculty of Letters. Gunadarma
University. Advisors: Prof Dr. Indiyah Imran, Dra. Endang Purwaningsih Msi.
Key Words: Linguistic, Grammatical Collocation
____________________________________________________________

The aims of this research are English to describe the dominant words which
collocate with prepositions at, for, in and on, to describe the types of grammatical
collocations in English, to describe the most frequent combinations of grammatical
collocation, to describe the meaning of grammatical collocations in English. The source
of the data is Oxford collocation dictionary, Agatha Christies novel The Man in the
Brown Suit and internet provider. This research uses descriptive qualitative method.
The results show that there are 4 main categories and 6 sub-categories. The
categories are; 1) noun + preposition (countable noun + preposition and uncountable
noun + preposition), 2) preposition + noun (preposition + abstract noun and preposition +
concrete noun), 3) adjective + noun (descriptive adjective + preposition and derivational
adjective + preposition) and 4) verb + preposition. The most frequent combination of
English grammatical collocation is preposition + noun (G4) with 67 (33, 5%) of the
whole data, meanwhile, 62 (31 %) data is in the pattern of noun + preposition (G1) then,
adjective+ preposition (G5) with 51 (25,5%) and the last is verb + preposition (G8) with
20 data (10%) data. All of the collocations in this research have grammatical meaning.

Chapter I
Introduction
1
1.2

Background of the Research

Justification of the Research
The subject of this research is collocation that refers to the way words occur
together in speech and writing (L Geoffrey, C Benita, and I Roz . 84:2005). Collocation
is defined as a sequence of words or terms which co-occur more often than would be
expected by chance (www.wikipedia.com) The concept of collocations was first
identified by Palmer (1933, as cited in Nation, 2002, p. 317) as a string of words that
must or should be learned, or is best or most conveniently learned as an integral whole
or independent entity, rather than by the process of piecing together their component
parts. Collocation fall into two major groups: grammatical collocations and lexical
collocations.
Grammatical collocation is a phrase consisting of dominant words (noun,
adjective, or verb) and a prepositional or grammatical structure such as an infinitive or
clause. On the other hand Lexical collocations, in contrast to grammatical collocations,
normally do not contain prepositions, infinitives, or clauses. Typical lexical collocations
consist of nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs (Benson, M., Benson, E., Ilson, R.,
1997:xxiv). And the problem is there are no collocation rules that can be learned. The
native English speaker intuitively makes the correct collocation, based on lifetimes
experience of hearing and reading the words in sets of combination but not for the nonnative speaker because they have more limited experience. Besides, collocations are
arbitrary and unpredictable. Non-native speakers cannot cope with them; they must have
a guide. They have no way that one says in English make an estimate, (but not *make an
estimation), commit treason (but not *commit treachery). In English one says commit
fraud and *perpetrate fraud. However, only the collocation commit suicide is possible;
one does not say *perpetrate suicide. One says bake a cake, but make pancakes (Benson,
M., Benson, E., Ilson, R., 1997).
The writer is interested to make research on English grammatical collocation
restricted to the preposition at, for, in, and on, because these are English prepositions
with have high frequency. Besides, the writer finds that many students encounter
problems how to collocate preposition at, for, in, and on in predictable ways. The writer
also realized that collocation is one of the most difficult aspects in language learning, but
has been largely neglected by researchers and practitioners. Heretofore, the research on
English collocation is never written in Gunadarma University especially for S1 students
faculty of Letter.
This research is important to be conducted because it can be useful for students in
Indonesia, because as non-native learners we must study about collocation in order to
make our speech much more natural and more native speaker like. This research is also
important for teacher, in order to know what mistakes their students made and they will
guide their students to learn more about collocation.

Chapter IV
Result of the Research
4.1

Introduction

verb+prep
10%
adj+prep
25,5%

noun+prep
31%

prep+noun
33,5%

noun+prep
prep+noun
adj+prep
verb+prep

Figure 4.1 The main categories of grammatical collocation and frequencies

After collecting 200 data, there are four main categories, namely noun +
preposition (G1), preposition + noun (G4), adjective + preposition (G5) and verb +
preposition (G8). By far the most frequent of combination is preposition + noun (G4)
with 67 (33, 5%) of the whole data, meanwhile, 62 (31%) data is in the pattern of noun +
preposition (G1) then adjective + preposition (G5) with 51 (25,5%) data, and the last is
verb + preposition (G8) with 20 data (10%). It means that the four main categories on
this research are apt to the pattern of grammatical collocation in English that has been
mentioned in theoretical reviews.
Then the writer analyzed the data into sub-categories based on the types of
dominant words (noun, verb, and adjective). In figure 4.2 below consist of the main
categories and the sub-categories.
No The Pattern of grammatical collocation
1
Noun + preposition (G1)
Countable noun + preposition
Uncountable noun + preposition
2
Preposition + noun (G4)
Preposition + abstract noun
Preposition + concrete noun
3
Adjective + preposition (G5)
Descriptive adjective + preposition
Derivational adjective + preposition
4
Verb + Preposition (G8)
Total

Data
62
27
35
67
26
41
51
26
25
20
200

Percentage
31%
13,5%
17,5%
33,5%
13%
20,5%
25,5%
13%
12,5%
10%
100%

4.2 The main categories and sub-categories on grammatical collocation

Based on the table above, all the data has grammatical meaning because
prepositions (function words) should be taught as a part of grammar.

4.2

Noun + Preposition (G1)

The total data of Noun + preposition (G1) is 62 (31%), with the types of noun as
follows;
4.2.1 Countable noun + Preposition
Data:
Preposition at
Novice
at
Ability
~
Huff
Account
Preposition for
Preparation for
Precaution
~
Plans.
Sponsor
Alibi
Preposition in
Investor
In
Participant
~
Specialist
Simplification
Discrepancy
Preposition on
Hoax
on
Gamble
~
Handout
Committee
Mark
Uncountable noun + Preposition
Preposition at
Glimpse

Happiness
Frustration
Fury

Preposition for
Fervour
for

Hunger
~
Headache
Hate
Compassion
Preposition in
Conservatism in
Growth
~
Interest
comfort
Preposition on
Guidance
on
Hold
~
Knock
Slander
Slant
4.3
Preposition + Noun (G4)
The total data of preposition + noun (G4) is 67 (33,5%), with the types of noun as
follows;
4.3.1

Preposition + Abstract noun

Preposition at
At

peace

guess
liberty
infinity

Preposition for
For
fear
~
pleasure
fun
flavour
ease
Preposition in
In love
~ public
democracy
depression
danger
Preposition on
On mind
~ throne
4.3.2 Preposition + concrete noun
Preposition at
at Academy
~ playgroup

school
embassy
funeral
Preposition for
For
fee
~
homework
hire
money
Preposition in
In
handcuffs
~
handwriting
luggage
magazine
diary
Preposition on
On
television
~
internet
agenda
a ship
Adjective + Preposition (G5)
The total data of Adjective + Preposition (G5) is 51 (25,5%), with the types of
adjective as follows;
4.4.1 Descriptive adjective + preposition
Preposition at
Good
at
Mad
~
Strong
Quick
Weak
Preposition for
Fit
for
Fine
~
Important
Glad
Popular
Preposition in
Top
in
Alike
~
Narrow
Correct
Bilingual
Preposition on
Up to-date on
Gentle
~
Tough

Derivational adjective + Preposition

Preposition at
Flattered at
Hopeless ~
Indignant
Frightened
Frustrated
Preposition for
Favorable
for
Humiliating
~
Helpful
Grateful
Interesting
Preposition in
Huddled
in
Interested
~
Fruitfull
Inexperinced
Fearless
Preposition on
Helpful
on
Hooked
~
Intent
Payable
Dependent
4.5
Verb + Preposition
The total data of verb + Preposition (G5) is 20 (10%)
Preposition at
Nod at
Guess ~
Hiss
Hint
Glance
Preposition for
Fear for
Fight ~
Fine
Forgive
Gesture
Preposition in
Float in
Gasp
Frown
Glitter
Guide
Preposition on

Feed on
Insist
Impose

Chapter V
Conclusions and Suggestions
5.1

Conclusion
The research problems are: What dominant words collocate with prepositions at,
for, in and on?, what types of grammatical collocations are in English?, what
combinations are the most frequent in grammatical collocation?, what is the meaning of
grammatical collocation in English?. The subjects of the analysis are grammatical
collocation of prepositions at, for, in, and on. The data are taken from Oxford collocation
dictionary, Agatha Christies novel The Man in the Brown Suit and the internet
provider.
The findings of the skripsi are as follows: after finding 200 data, the data are
classified into four main categories; firstly noun + preposition (G1) with its subcategories there are countable noun + preposition and uncountable noun + preposition.
Secondly, preposition + noun (G4) with its sub-categories there are preposition +
abstract noun and preposition + concrete noun. Thirdly, adjective + noun (G5) with its
sub-categories there are descriptive adjective + preposition and derivational adjective +
preposition. And the last is verb + preposition (G8). The most frequent combination is
Preposition + noun (G4) with 67 (33,5%) of the whole data, meanwhile, 62 (31 %) data
is in the pattern of noun + preposition (G1), then adjective + preposition (G5) with
51(25,5%), and the last is verb + preposition (G8) with 20 (10%). The collocation which
is discussed in this research has grammatical meaning.
The writer realized this skripsi has its weaknesses, such as this research does not
discuss the entire pattern in grammatical collocation like adjective + that-clause,
adjective + to-infinitives, noun + to-infinitive, noun + that-clause, etc. this research
focused on prepositions at, for, in, and on only, and not included other common
prepositions like by, from, before, off, as etc.
5.2

Suggestion
The writer would like to suggest the next researcher to analyze common
preposition such as at, for, in, and on only. She wishes the next writer wants to make
research about prepositional collocation in other kinds of common preposition such as by,
as, of, off, before, etc. Secondly, this research not discussed another pattern of
grammatical collocation such as adjective + that-clause, adjective + to-infinitives, noun
+ to-infinitive, noun + that-clause, etc
For students of Gunadarma University especially from Faculty of Letters, this
research may be used as a primary step to apply the theories of grammatical collocation
in order to make our speech and writing much more natural and more native like.

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(www.wikipedia.com)