Learn 20 "goal" collocations ⚽

Let's talk about goals. The English word goal has both a sports meaning and a non-sports meaning. And today we'll learn a lot of its common collocations, those are combinations of words. I want to help you reach your goal of becoming fluent in English. That's why I created a complete program of courses and e-books that will help you improve every area of your English. January is the best time to join, because you get the best possible price available all year. So, click on the link in the video description to learn more and sign up. We'll start by talking about the word goal in sports. In soccer, as we say in American English, or football, as we say in British English, the word goal refers to the posts and net, as well as the event of putting the ball inside it. Some expressions with the word goal in a sports context include score a goal, meaning to put the ball into the net. The goalkeeper is the player who defends the goal, and the only player on the field who can use the hands. The goal posts are the two posts on the sides of the net. The top one is called the crossbar. Let in a goal is when the goalkeeper fails to prevent the ball from entering the goal. When the goalkeeper does stop the ball from entering, this is called making a save. A spectacular goal is a goal that was especially impressive. The winning goal, or the decisive goal, means the goal that won the game. A tying goal is a goal that made the score equal. An own goal is when a player accidentally puts the ball into their own team's goal. Oops! To disallow a goal is when the referee cancels a goal because of some illegal play before the goal. The word goal is used in the sports of soccer or football, hockey, lacrosse, polo, and water polo. Outside of sports, the word goal means an objective, something you are trying to do. So here are some common English collocations with the word goal meaning objective. Establish or set a goal. When you decide on an objective, this is establishing a goal or setting a goal. These two expressions are the same. The word establish is just a little more formal. Goal of plus the ing form or goal plus a form of the verb to be plus the infinitive. So we can express goals in two ways. My goal is to visit every country in the world. Or I have a goal of visiting every country in the world. Here's another example. Our goals are to reduce pollution and preserve the environment. Or our work is focused on the goals of reducing pollution and preserving the environment. Pursue a goal or work towards a goal. The process of doing the activities that will help you reach your objective is called pursuing a goal or working towards a goal. The second one is more informal. Achieve, attain, or reach a goal. When you complete your goal, you have achieved, attained, or reached the goal. We also talk about short-term and long-term goals. A short-term goal is one that you will complete soon in the near future. And a long-term goal is one that will take a long time to complete. If two or more people or groups share a goal, then we can call it a common goal. How about ambitious goal and modest goal? An ambitious goal is one that is very high and will be difficult to achieve. And a modest goal is one that is not so high and will probably be easier to achieve. We also have the collocations attainable, achievable, and realistic goals. So if it is possible for a goal to be reached, then we can describe the goal as attainable, achievable, or realistic. On the other hand, we have unattainable, unachievable, and unrealistic goals. If it is impossible or extremely difficult for a goal to be reached, we can describe it as unattainable or unachievable. An unrealistic goal is not impossible, but it will be extremely difficult and not very likely. Becoming fluent in English is a long-term goal because it does take time. But it is also an achievable goal. You can reach a high level of English. My complete program of courses and eBooks can help you do that step-by-step so it is easy to make progress and increase your skills every day. Thanks for joining me today and I'll see you in the next video. Bye for now.