📺 TV & Television Vocabulary

Part 1: TV Collocations

Collocations are words that naturally go together. Master these to talk about TV like a native!

Collocation	Example	Meaning
watch TV	"I watch TV every evening."	View television programs
binge-watch	"I binge-watched the whole series!"	Watch many episodes at once
switch channels	"Can you switch channels?"	Change TV station
record a show	"I'll record the show for later."	Save program to watch later
stream online	"I stream everything online now."	Watch via internet
catch up on	"I need to catch up on that series."	Watch missed episodes

Collocation	Example
reality show	"I love reality shows!"
prime time	"It's on during prime time."
live broadcast	"It's a live broadcast tonight."
season finale	"The season finale was amazing!"
cliffhanger ending	"It had a cliffhanger ending!"

1. I TV every night.

2. I the whole series last weekend!

3. Can you channels?

4. I need to catch on that show.

5. The season was incredible!

Idioms are expressions with meanings different from the literal words. These TV idioms are super common!

Couch potato - Someone who watches too much TV
"Don't be a couch potato! Go outside!"
Channel surfing - Switching channels frequently
"Stop channel surfing and pick something!"
Glued to the screen - Unable to stop watching
"I was glued to the screen all night."
Tune in - Watch a program
"Tune in next week for the finale!"
Stay tuned - Keep watching
"Stay tuned for more after the break."
On the box - On television (British)
"What's on the box tonight?"
Soap opera - Dramatic TV series (or dramatic situation)
"Her life is like a soap opera!"
Jump the shark - When a show declines in quality
"That series jumped the shark in season 5."

1. Don't be a couch !

2. I was glued to the all night.

3. in next week!

4. Stay for more!

5. Stop channel !

Phrasal verbs are verbs combined with prepositions or adverbs that create new meanings!

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
turn on	Start the TV	"Turn on the TV!"
turn off	Stop the TV	"Turn off the TV and go to bed."
tune in	Watch a program	"Tune in at 8pm tonight!"
catch up on	Watch missed episodes	"I need to catch up on that series."
switch over	Change channel	"Switch over to channel 5."
flick through	Browse channels quickly	"I'm just flicking through channels."
come on	Start broadcasting	"The show comes on at 9pm."
sit through	Watch something boring	"I had to sit through that awful show."

Turn on/off - Very common for all electronic devices

Catch up on - Very popular with streaming services

Binge-watch - Modern term for watching many episodes at once

1. on the TV, please!

2. I need to catch on that series.

3. in at 8pm tonight!

4. The show comes at 9pm.

5. over to the news channel.

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📺 Excellent! Now you can talk about TV like a native speaker!