ADJ
- bad, big, deep, desperate, real, serious
- The company is in desperate trouble financially
- endless
- domestic, family, marital
- financial, money
- political
- back, heart, tummy, etc.
- boyfriend, girl, man, etc.
- He was obviously upset, and muttered something about girlfriend trouble
- engine
VERB + TROUBLE
- mean, spell
- She knew that a hygiene inspection could spell trouble for her restaurant
- have, suffer from
- He has had back trouble since changing jobs
- get (yourself) into, run into
- The firm soon ran into financial trouble
- keep out of, stay out of
- pour out
- She poured out all her troubles to her mother
- cause, lead to
- The printer's causing trouble again
- avoid
- forget, put behind you
- He put his past troubles behind him and built up a successful new career
TROUBLE + VERB
- come
- Trouble often comes when you're least expecting it
PREP
- in ~
- When she saw the teacher coming towards her she knew she was in big trouble
- ~ for
- He got into trouble for not doing his homework
- ~ with
- I've had endless trouble with my car. He is in trouble with the law again
PHRASES
- a cause/source of trouble, a history of … trouble
- She has a history of back trouble
- in times of trouble
- In times of trouble she always turns to her mum
- trouble ahead
- I can see trouble ahead
VERB + TROUBLE
- cause, make
- He had a reputation for making trouble in the classroom
- be asking for, be looking for, court, stir up
- He was asking for trouble when he insulted their country. Fans wandered the town after the match looking for trouble
TROUBLE + VERB
- be brewing
- There was trouble brewing among the workforce
- blow up, flare (up)
- Trouble blew up when the gang was refused entry to a nightclub
TROUBLE + NOUN
- spot
- Extra journalists have been sent to the main trouble spots
PREP
- ~ between
- trouble between the teachers
ADJ
- considerable, enormous, great
- They went to enormous trouble to make her stay a pleasant one
VERB + TROUBLE
- bring (sb), cause (sb), give sb, make, put sb to
- I don't want to make trouble for her. I don't want to put you to any trouble
- go to, take
- We took the trouble to plan our route in advance
- be worth
- Do you think it's worth the trouble of booking seats in advance?
- save sb
- Why don't we bring a pizza to save you the trouble of cooking?
- thank sb for
- Thank you very much for all your trouble
PHRASES
- be more trouble than it's worth
- Growing your own vegetables is more trouble than it's worth