Collocational restriction

Collocational restriction is when certain words must always be used in a specific way with other words. Imagine you have two toys, a car and a ball. You can play with a ball by itself, but you cannot play with a car by itself. A car needs other things to go with it, like a road or a driver. This is just like how some words need other specific words to go with them to make sense.

For example, the phrase "make a decision" is an example of collocational restriction. You cannot say "do a decision" or "create a decision". Instead, you must use the specific phrase "make a decision" because these words always go together in the English language.

Another example is the phrase "strong coffee". You cannot say "hard coffee" or "tough coffee". The word "strong" is the specific word that must be used to describe coffee.

Just like you have to use certain toys together to play properly, you have to use certain words together in language to make sense. Collocational restriction helps us understand the correct way to use words together to communicate effectively.