Basic words and expressions

holiday n- (the word is derived from " holy day") a special day when most people in a country do not have to go to work or school, because the country is celebrating an important religious or national event.

• ADJ. annual, Christmas, Easter, bank, national, national, public, religious, legal, secular, movable
• VERB +HOLIDAY to be entitled to, get, have, take, spend, to fall on (a Sunday)
• PREP. During the – It can be difficult to keep children occupied during the summer holidays. In the – My aunt’s coming to stay in the holidays. On – I’m afraid Mr Black is on holiday.

festival n- 1) day or season for rejoicing; public celebration

• ADJ.big, major/ annual/ international, local, /arts/cultural, dance, film, folk, jazz, literary, music, theatre
• Verb+FESTVAL have, hold/ attend, go to, visit /take part, appear at
• FESTIVAL+NOUN organizer /events, programme
• PREP. At a/the- He’s appearing at a local folk festival. /during a/the- the movies shown during the eight-day festival / in a/the – in the events of this year’s festival

2) religious celebration

• ADJ. great, major/annual/pagan/ Christian, Muslim/ harvest
• PREP. At/on/ a /the The pilgrims who arrived on major festivals

festive adj -joyous

festivity n -1) rejoicing, being merry and gay 2) (pl) joyful events: Christmas festivities

feast n - 1) religious anniversary or festival 2) splendid meal

feast v - 1) to take part in, give a feast 2) to give pleasure to: to feast one's eyes on Christmas decorations

celebrate v - to show that an event or occasion is important by doing smth special: English people celebrate Christmas by giving each other presents

celebration n

• VERB + CELEBRATION have, hold They held a special celebration in his honour. / join in I hope you‘ll join in the Christmas celebration.
• CELEBRATION + NOUN dinner
• PREP. In … of They organized a dinner in celebration of the year’s success.
• PHRASES a cause for celebration The victory was a cause for great celebration./ A celebration to mark smth They held a celebration to mark forty years of the lifeboat service.

custom n – a traditional and generally accepted way of behaving or doing things: the custom of giving presents at Christmas

• ADJ. accepted, age-old, ancient, established, traditional, quaint, local, social, pagan, (pre)- Christian
• VERB +CUSTOM follow, observe, respect They still follow the custom of pinning money to the bride’s dress /prevail, survive These customs still prevail in remote areas
• PREP. According to, in accordance with They poured wine round the trees in accordance with a local custom. / through The rules have grown up through custom and are not laid down by law.
• PHRASES as is/was the custom People threw coins onto the stage, as was the custom.

tradition n – the passing of beliefs or customs from one generation to the next: It is a tradition to sing Auld Lang Syne on New Year’s Eve

-VERB + TRADITION have / cherish, continue, follow, keep alive, maintain, preserve, uphold Following the Hitchcock tradition, he always appears in the films he directs. Villagers get together every year to keep this age-old tradition alive. / hand down an oral tradition handed down from generation to generation / break (with), go against He broke with the family tradition and didn’t go down to the mines. / establish, start, revive