In Episode 142 you learned verb chunks with make, do, have, take and get. But words have other partners too. Americans say "heavy traffic," not "big traffic," and "strong coffee," not "powerful coffee." Learners often translate the adjective from their own language, and the result sounds strange even when the meaning is clear. In this episode: • Adjective plus noun: food and drink • Adjective plus noun: everyday life • Verb plus noun: chores and errands • Adverb plus adjective: how americans add feeling • How to learn word partners • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: strong coffee — coffee with a lot of flavor weak tea — tea with very little flavor fast food — quick, cheap restaurant food a light lunch — a small, simple lunch a big breakfast — a large morning meal (casual) leftovers — food from an earlier meal fresh bread — bread that was just baked sparkling water — water with bubbles a balanced meal — a meal with healthy variety a quick bite — a fast, small meal (casual) Want to grab a quick bite? — Do you want to eat something fast? heavy traffic — a lot of cars on the road heavy rain — a lot of rain a close friend — a very good friend a tight schedule — very little free time a long day — a tiring day a rough morning — a hard, stressful morning (casual) a big mistake — a serious mistake high prices — things cost a lot a quiet weekend — a calm weekend with no big plans a busy street — a street with many people and cars set the table — put plates, cups and forks on the table clear the table — take everything off after a meal Season 2 · Real American English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — accent, everyday grammar, prepositions, articles, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang and real conversations at home. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.