Specific words go together like bread and water. Bread and water is an instance of a word pair that is used in that order. We don’t say water and bread. This kind of word pair is called nonreversible. In various ways, they are like collocations — words that normally go together. Pupils can use this list with samples to learn the most common nonreversible word pairs. Educators can use this resource in class to help pupils learn these set phrases. Once you are comfortable with these phrases, keep learning set phrases and collocations. Teachers can explore using set phrases in instruction methods with the lexical approach.
Examples of Nonreversible Word Pairs
Adam and Eve
Bacon and Eggs
Back and Forth
Bread and Water
Bride and Groom
Business and Pleasure
Cause and Effect
Cream and Sugar
Crime and Punishment
Cup and Saucer
Dead or Alive
Fish and Chips
Fun and Games
Hammer and Nail
Husband and Wife
In and Out
Knife and Fork
Ladies and Gentlemen
Law and Order
Life or Death
Lock and Key
Lost and Found
Name and Address
Pen and Pencil
Pots and Pans
Profit and Loss
Rain or Shine
Read and Write
Right and / or Wrong
Rise and Fall
Salt and Pepper
Shirt and Tie
Shoes and Socks
Soap and Water
Sooner or Later
Suit and Tie
Supply and Demand
Sweet and Sour
Trial and Error
Up and/or Down
War and Peace
Wine and Cheese
