Final answer:
A collocation is a pair or group of words that are often seen together, creating natural-sounding language for native speakers. This is true.
Step-by-step explanation:
A collocation is indeed an arrangement of two or more words that commonly occur together and sound 'right.' This is certainly true. When we consider the way language is used, collocations represent combinations of words that native speakers would find natural or typical, like 'make a decision' or 'do homework.' These are not chance pairings but clusters of words with a frequency in the language that makes them sound correct to those who are familiar with the usage.
Examples of other linguistic patterns similar to collocation include consonance, where words share consonant sounds like in 'the slithering snake shakes its little rattle,' as well as assonance, featuring multiple vowel sounds in proximity such as 'my mouth wound itself around the soulful sounds of the poem's words.' Both of these are stylistic devices used to create rhythm and aural patterns in the text. Additionally, alliteration involves the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of multiple words as in 'silly snakes slither silently.'
Collocation is not to be confused with colloquialism, which is the use of informal words or phrases in everyday language, or the co-location concept in geography, which refers to the spatial or causal relationship between phenomena. An understanding of collocations, however, goes beyond just linguistic patterns, as it helps in mastering a language and sounding more fluent and natural. Recognizing valid collocations subconsciously guides us toward grammatically and lexically appropriate constructions.