Many of us have hopes and plans for what we would like to accomplish in the new year! Today I’ll teach you 50 common collocations with these words – collocations are combinations of words that are frequently used together.
Collocations with PLAN
To describe plans that are big, we can call them ambitious, grand, or grandiose plans. Plans can be short-term (in the more immediate future) or long-term (in the more distant future).
If a plan is more certain and fixed, you can describe it as a firm/definite plan. If it’s not very definite/detailed, you can describe it as a vague plan.
A plan that is especially intelligent can be called a brilliant/ingenious plan. On the other hand, if there is not sufficient reasonable thought behind a plan, you can call it an ill-advised plan.
It’s good for plans to be feasible/realistic – this means they match reality and are likely to be successful. The opposite is an impractical/unrealistic plan, one that will probably not succeed because it does not take real facts into consideration.
We usually use the verb make with plan, but you can also come up with a plan. In more formal English, we could say develop/formulate a plan. When you reveal the plan to other people, this is called announcing/unveiling the plan.
When you put the plan into action, this is called implementing the plan or going ahead with the plan (more informal). If you continue with the plan, this is sticking to the plan. But if you stop following the plan, then you abandon/scrap the plan.
Collocations with HOPE
If you very much expect or desire something, you can say you have high hopes that it will happen. A very small hope can be called a faint/slight hope. We can also use the expressions a flicker/glimmer/ray/spark of hope for a positive description of a very tiny hope that makes us a little more optimistic.
If you have a hope that is very genuine and true to your emotions, you can say “I sincerely hope…” When there are things that make us think that what we hope for will happen, we can call these things grounds/reason for hope. But if there’s absolutely no possibility of the hope coming true, we can say “There’s not a hope in hell” that it will happen.
Sometimes we hope for things and look for signs that they might happen – but unfortunately they probably will not happen. This can be called a vain/false hope. Sometimes we continue hoping even after a long time has passed, or even though many things are against our wish. A hope that persists over time is called a lingering hope. We can also say that someone is clinging to hope or keeping hope alive if they insist on continuing to believe.
When there is something negative or an obstacle that puts our hope in danger, it might jeopardize hope. Sometimes these things can destroy hope entirely – this is called dashing/shattering hope. In this situation, a person might abandon/give up/lose hope, meaning they stop hoping.
But if something positive happens that causes your hope to increase or return, it revives/renews hope.
