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Urribarri Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary

Fractured

Hiya I know I can't say "I fractured a cup lastnight" but what I want to know is WHY?! What makes it wrong? And why do people make this mistake?
  

Top answer

It is a matter of collocation, that is all. Fracture means break, but we use one of those words in some situations and the other one in other situations: I broke a cup. I fractured a vertebra.

— Mister Micawber

  • It is a matter of collocation, that is all.
  • Fracture means break, but we use one of those words in some situations and the other one in other situations: I broke a cup.
  • I fractured a vertebra.
  • Learners make such mistakes through inexperience with the language, since a dictionary is of little help in the matter of collocation.
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1 Answers
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It is a matter of collocation, that is all. Fracture means break, but we use one of those words in some situations and the other one in other situations:

I broke a cup.

I fractured a vertebra.

Learners make such mistakes through inexperience with the language, since a dictionary is of little help in the matter of collocation.
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