Colocaciones con pay / Collocations with pay

If you know some English, or you have been studying for a while, maybe “pay” is a verb that you know very well as the act of exchanging  money for a product or service. So, today we are going to learn some collocations with pay.

Related to money collocations

Pay by cash or credit card: to give money to someone for something you want to buy or for services provided.

“Do you wish to be paid in cash or by card?”

Pay a bill: To give money for goods or services formerly supplied.

“I left the heater on all day and now I cannot afford to pay the bill”

Pay a fine: to give an amount of money to the government for something that you did wrong.

“If you drive more than 120 km per hour you will pay a fine”

Pay someone back: to return money that you owe.

“Finally, I could pay my parents back the money I owed!”

Equal pay: it refers to equal  pay between women and men.

“In today’s strike we’ll fight for the equal pay”

Gross pay: it is related to the salary you get before paying the taxes.

“Andrea’s new salary is 25.000 euros gross “

**Pay interest: ** it is used to explain the percentage of money that you pay when you ask for a loan.

“I have to pay 12% interest for my new house’s mortgage “

Pay handsomely: it is related to to the amount of extra money you pay for a thing.

“Apple laptops are very good but you have to pay a handsome sum”

Metaphorical collocations

Pay someone a visit: to meet a person or place, usually for a short time.

“I paid Peter a visit when I was in Paris”

Pay attention: to watch, listen to, or think about something carefully.

“You weren’t paying attention to what I was saying”

**Pay someone a compliment: ** to compliment **/**to say good things about someone.

“She paid me an enormous compliment”

Pay the price: to experience the bad result of something you have done.

“If you abuse your body now, you’ll pay the price when you’re older”

Pay their respects: to show respect for somebody by visiting them, attending their funeral.

“At the funeral the whole neighborhood came out to pay their respects.”

**Pay talks: ** discussions about pay between employers and employees or a trade union that represents them.

“Train passengers could face the first national rail strike for 10 years after pay talks broke down yesterday”

Don’t get confused about the meaning of “pay”, it’s much more than an act of exchanging  money.

Más artículos de gramática en ingles: JUNTANDO DOS VERBOS EN INGLÉS: “TO+VERBO” O “VERBO-ING”?