Language tip of the week: control

In this weekly microblog, we bring to English language learners more useful content from the Macmillan Dictionary. These tips are based on areas of English (e.g. spelling, grammar, collocation, etc) which learners often find difficult.

This week’s language tip is about collocation and control …

The noun control is sometimes followed by of and sometimes by over. The choice of preposition depends on the verb that comes before control.
In these expressions, always use the preposition of (not ‘over’):
▪  take control of
▪  lose control of
▪  be/feel in control of something
✗ Man has always tried to take control over nature.
✓ Man has always tried to take control of nature.
✗ He drove too fast and lost control over his van.
✓ He drove too fast and lost control of his van.

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For more help with collocations, check out the Macmillan Collocations Dictionary.