Collocations with play - exercises

Collocations:

1. play around (UK ALSO play about)
to behave in a silly way (zachowywać się w głupi, bezmyślny sposób)
Stop playing around and get on with your homework!
I wish you wouldn't play about with that - you'll break it.

2. play the fool
to behave in a silly way, often intentionally to make people laugh (zachowywać się w głupi sposób, często umyślnie coś zrobić, aby rozśmieszyć ludzi)
Stop playing the fool, I'm trying to talk to you.

3. play chicken
to play dangerous games in order to discover who is the bravest (grać w niebezpieczne gry, aby odkryć, kto jest najodważniejszy)
They would play chicken by driving head-on at each other until one of them lost their nerve and swerved out of the way.

4. play cat and mouse
to try to defeat someone by tricking them into making a mistake so that you have an advantage over them (próbować pokonać kogoś poprzez naciąganie ich na popełnianie błędów żeby mieć z tego korzyść)
The 32-year-old actress spent a large proportion of the week playing cat and mouse with the press.

5. play second fiddle
to be less important or in a weaker position than someone else (być mniej ważnym albo w słabszej pozycji niż ktoś inny; grać drugorzędną rolę, pozostawać w cieniu)
I'm not prepared to play second fiddle to Christina any more - I'm looking for another job!

6. play politics
to use a situation or the relationships between people for your own advantage (użyć sytuacji albo relacji międzyludzkich dla swojej własnej korzyści)
He accused councillors of playing politics with children's education.

7. play a part
to help to achieve something (pomóc coś osiągnąć)
My thanks to everyone who has played a part in saving the hospital.

8. play it cool
to behave in a calm, controlled way, often intentionally appearing not to be interested in the thing that you particularly want to get (zachowywać się w spokojny, opanowany sposób, często umyślnie okazując niezainteresowania rzeczą, którą szczególnie chcesz dostać)
Play it cool - don't let them know how much you need the money.

9. play fast and loose with something/someone
to treat something or someone without enough care or attention (potraktować kogoś albo coś bez wystarczającej troski lub uwagi)
Like many film-makers, he plays fast and loose with the facts to tell his own version of the story.

10. play hardball
to be firm and determined in order to get what you want (mocny i stanowczy w osiągnięciu tego co chce)
He's a nice guy, but he can play hardball when he needs to.

11. play for time
to delay until you are ready (zwlekać do czasu kiedy będziesz gotowy)
We can't sign the agreement yet - we'll have to play for time.

12. play truant (US USUALLY AND AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH ALSO play hooky)
to be regularly absent from school without permission (być regularnie nieobecny w szkole bez pozwolenia; chodzić na wagary)
Most parents are horrified when they discover their children have been playing truant from school.

13. in play
describes a ball that is in a position where it can be hit, kicked (opisuje piłkę, która jest w pozycji, gdzie może zostać uderzona lub kopnięta)
She managed to keep the ball in play.

14. play dirty
to behave dishonestly, especially by cheating in a game (zachować się nieuczciwie, szczególnie przez oszukiwanie w grze)
Dez likes football but he plays dirty.

15. play footsie
to touch someone's feet with your own under the table, usually in order to show sexual interest in them (dotknąć pod stołem swoimi stopami stóp kogoś, zwykle żeby pokazać seksualne zainteresowanie nim)
She kicked off her shoes and started playing footsie with him.

16. play (it) safe
to be careful and not take risk (być ostrożnym i nie podejmować ryzyka)
To play safe, I'd allow an extra ten minutes, just in case.

17. play possum
to pretend to be dead or sleeping so that someone will not annoy or attack you
I don't think he's really asleep. He's playing possum.

18. play with fire
to act in a way that is very dangerous or risky (igrać z ogniem; zadziałać w sposób, który jest bardzo niebezpieczny albo ryzykowny)
Tom is negotiating with two publishers at the same time for the same novel. He's playing with fire.

19. play sth by ear
to deal with a situation as it develops and without a plan (zająć się sytuacją bez planu; improwizować, robić coś spontanicznie)
I don’t know how long I’ll continue touring with the band. We’ve always said we’ll just play it by ear.

20. play havoc
to create disorder and confusion (wprowadzenie nieporządku i zamieszania)
Computer viruses can play havoc with your programs.


Exercise 1: Complete each sentence.
1. Strong winds ................................ with her golf game.
2. You'll have to choose between your wife and me. I won't ................................... to anyone.
3. We have to quit ............................ and get down to work.
4. The president thinks that nobody wants to ................................ with his troops on the ground.
5. We decided to play safe and paint the walls a fairly neutral colour. They're .......................... by not investing too much money until they've seen the first year's accounts.

Exercise 2: Choose the correct item.
His younger sister jumped on him because she knew he was just .....................................
a) playing havoc
b) playing the fool
c) playing possum
I’m afraid that I also ................................ in wrongly accusing her.
a) played a part
b) played with fire
c) played dirty
More and more children are caught ...................................
a) playing truant
b) playing footsie
c) playing it cool
The film is very entertaining even though it ........................................ the historical facts.
a) plays fast and loose with
b) plays around
c) in play
We had to .................................... in the meeting because we were waiting for important papers to be delivered.
a) play for time
b) play safe
c) play hardball

Exercise 3: Translate.
1. Don't you know you're (igrasz z ogniem) when you get involved with someone who's already married?
2. He loses his temper from time to time, but he never (nie zachowuje się nieuczciwie).
3. If our plan fails, we can always (działać spontanicznie, improwizować). It might work.
4. Ken doesn't intend to (grać drugorzędnej roli) to her; he wants to be the boss.
5. Teenagers will often (zachowują się w głupi sposób, aby rozśmieszyć innych) in class when they don't know the answers.

Exercise 4: Match.
1. Either we can .................................. or we can take these studies seriously and make the changes we need to make.
2. She loved to ........................................ with an admirer, acting by turns friendly, indifferent, and jealous.
3. Any kid who's not in school at this time of day must be ........................................
4. Sometimes if you ........................................ with a guy he gets more interested.
5. I think they were ....................................... in the meeting!

A. playing truant
B. play it cool
C. playing footsie
D. play politics
E. play cat and mouse

Exercise 5: Tick the correct item, as in the example.
Computer viruses can play around with your programs. ..........
Computer viruses can play havoc with your programs. ....V...

Yesterday I heard on television that Florida and Michigan are back in play in Democratic race. ..........
Yesterday I heard on television that Florida and Michigan are back play dirty in Democratic race. ..........
Stormy conditions played it cool with the fishing. ..........
Stormy conditions played havoc with the fishing. ..........
The company is playing politics with the bank, holding back on payments it owes them to force an agreement. ..........
The company is playing hardball with the bank, holding back on payments it owes them to force an agreement. ..........