Meaning
to centre attention or effort on a particular subject or activity
Primary Function
selects a specific area of attention
Communicative Purpose
to prioritize one aspect over others
Pattern
focus on; focus on
Core Structure
focus on; focus on
Função primária
selects a specific area of attention
Propósito comunicativo
to prioritize one aspect over others
Situações de gatilho
meetings, research, goal-setting, explanations
Contextos
professional, academic, self-development
Padrão
focus on; focus on
Estrutura central
focus on; focus on
Slots de substituição
a noun phrase or gerund indicating what is being focused on
Colocados típicos
- mainly
- primarily
- exclusively
- need to focus on
Substituições comuns
- concentrate on
Erros comuns
using *focus in; using infinitive: *focus to improve
Similar / contraste
zero in on (informal), hone in on (mainly US)
Interferências
learners may use ‘focus to’ from thinking of intention; Spanish ‘enfocarse en’ may cause missing ‘on’
Família do chunk
- concentrate on
- attend to
- address
- tackle
Nuance
‘focus on’ implies intentional narrowing of attention; stronger than ‘look at’
Efeito pragmático
structures discussions, signals relevance, and excludes digressions
Dica de memória
focus on
Nota
The chunk is a colligation, often used in professional and academic settings to prioritize a specific topic or task. The gerund form is common when referring to ongoing activities, while the noun form is used for specific subjects. Learners should be cautious when substituting with similar phrases to avoid errors in preposition use.
Upgrade path
use ‘centre on’, ‘revolve around’ for formal variety
Log in to save chunks.