24 English collocations with the word SPOT

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Did you know that the word spot has a few different meanings in English? Here are the three most common:

  • as a noun, a spot is a mark that is a different color. A leopard has spots.

24 English collocations with the word SPOT Espresso English

  • as a noun, a spot is a place, location, or area. This is a great spot for camping.

24 English collocations with the word SPOT Espresso English

  • as a verb, spot is an informal way to talk about seeing or detecting. He spotted an eagle in the sky.

24 English collocations with the word SPOT Espresso English

In today’s lesson, we’re going to focus on definition #2 – spot meaning a place, location, or area. There are a number of common collocations – combinations of words – that we can use together with spot.

Learning collocations is a great way to help you put words together in ways that sound natural. You can get my 1000 collocations e-book to learn more.

Sometimes we want to say that a certain spot, a certain place, is great for a particular purpose. We can say it’s a good/great/ideal/perfect spot:

  • That new restaurant is a great spot for breakfast.
  • The park is an ideal spot for kids to play.

If we want to emphasize the accuracy of a specific spot, we can talk about the exact/precise spot:

  • This is the exact spot where the battle took place.
  • The injection must be given in a precise spot in the patient’s back.

When you enjoy a place, or when a lot of people also enjoy a place, you can refer to a favorite/popular spot:

  • My favorite spot to sit is on my back porch.
  • The Eiffel Tower is a popular spot for tourists.

We can talk about a sunny/shady spot depending on whether or not it is in the sunlight:

  • Our cat loves to lie in the sunny spot near the window.
  • Let’s find a shady spot for our picnic.

A few more ways to describe a beautiful spot are a lovely/pleasant/idyllic spot. The word “idyllic” describes a place that is especially beautiful and calm.

  • The top of the mountain is a lovely spot for stargazing.
  • If you want a relaxing vacation, this tiny village is an idyllic spot.

To talk about an isolated place, we can say it’s a deserted/lonely/desolate spot. These three words have a somewhat negative connotation, like the isolation is a bad thing. If we want to describe the isolation as a good thing, we can call it a secluded spot. There’s also the expression a remote spot to describe a place that is far from other things (this is more neutral, not specifically good or bad).

  • My car broke down in a deserted spot and I had to wait three hours for help.
  • We bought a vacation house in a secluded spot near the lake – no more noise from our neighbors!

A vulnerable/weak spot is a place that is subject to damage, attack, or invasion:

  • There’s a weak spot in the fence where the boards are broken.

The expression soft spot is used to describe an area of emotion, usually special affection:

  • I have a soft spot for abandoned kittens; I’ve adopted three of them in the past year.

We can also talk about a sore spot, meaning an area of emotion that causes pain or anger:

  • Don’t ask him about his recent divorce – it’s a sore spot for him right now.

Finally, some people have a bald spot – an area where there is no hair on their heads!

Learn the common combinations of words used by native English speakers!
24 English collocations with the word SPOT Espresso English

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