Collocations for conversation - noun

brief, short | lengthy, long
We engaged in a long conversation.

endless
listening to endless conversations about high prices and food shortages

casual, everyday, general, informal, normal, ordinary
It''s not a subject that often crops up in casual conversation.

intimate, personal, private | face-to-face | overheard, recorded, taped | phone/telephone | civilized, polite
We sat making polite conversation and feeling rather uncomfortable.

friendly, pleasant | animated | fascinating, good, intelligent, interesting, stimulating
He said that television had been the death of good conversation.

proper, real, serious
There was no time for a proper conversation.

simple
When you are struggling with an unfamiliar language, the simplest conversations can be misinterpreted.

strange | chance
A chance conversation led to a brilliant new career for the young catering student.

desultory, halting, stilted
We carried on a rather halting conversation.

hushed, low-voiced, murmured, muted, muttered, quiet, whispered | shouted | one-sided, two-way
Think of prayer as a two-way conversation.

imaginary | after-dinner | adult
Young children become quickly bored by adult conversation.

snatch
I overheard snatches of a conversation between two doctors.

carry on, have, hold, make
You can''t hold a private conversation there. | I tried to make conversation with the three silent people round the table.

begin, draw sb into, engage sb in, fall into, get into, open, start, strike up
I got into conversation with one of the directors. | He was waiting for her to open the conversation. | I was keen to strike up a conversation with him.

be deep in, be engaged in
They were deep in conversation and didn''t notice the time.

continue, keep up
Cara kept up a one-sided conversation.

control, dominate | bring around/round, steer, turn
I managed to bring the conversation round to why they were leaving. | He tried to steer the conversation away from the topic of money. | She turned the conversation to her work.

enter, join (in) | break off | conclude, end, finish | avoid
She avoided conversation with the other passengers.

encourage
I was courteous but didn''t encourage conversation.

hear, listen to, overhear | interrupt | resume | have no
a plain girl who had no conversation (= could not make conversation) and no social graces

take place
When did this conversation take place?

continue, proceed
The conversation proceeded in French.

flow
They all relaxed and conversation flowed freely.

come back/round to, drift, move on (to), switch, turn to, veer back/off
The conversation drifted into fomily chat. | The conversation moved on to other things. | The conversation turned to holidays in France.

cease, end, stop
All conversation ceased and everyone turned round. | The conversation ended when the vacuum cleaner started up.

run out
All too soon the stilted conversation ran out.

during ~
In the Western world it is polite to maintain eye contact during conversation.

in ~ with
In the programme tonight we hear Dr Chris Toole in conversation with the artist Mary Witherspoon.

~ about
We had a long conversation about old cars.

~ between
a conversation between Jane and her parents

~ on
a conversation on the topic of activities for children

~ with
I had an interesting conversation with Dick Whortly.

an attempt at conversation
She ignored all my attempts at conversation.

be in close/deep/earnest conversation (with sb)
Don was in close conversation with the girl on his right.

a babble/buzz/hum of conversation
She could hear him over the buzz of conversation and laughter.

during the course of (the) conversation
During the course of conversation, it emerged that Sheila had lived in Nigeria.

keep the conversation going
Our hostess did her best to keep the conversation going.

a lull in the conversation, a topic of conversation
The main topic of conversation was the big football match.