cough loudly

Meaning

This collocation describes the act of expelling air from the lungs with a sudden, sharp, and noisy sound. It often happens when someone is sick, has something stuck in their throat, or wants to get someone's attention.

Examples

• Please cover your mouth if you have to cough loudly.

  Please cover your mouth if you have to cough loudly.

• Someone in the back of the theater began to cough loudly during the quiet scene.

  Someone in the back of the theater began to cough loudly during the quiet scene.

• He tried to speak, but he could only cough loudly.

  He tried to speak, but he could only cough loudly.

• The patient was coughing loudly all through the night.

  The patient was coughing loudly all through the night.

• I had to cough loudly to get the receptionist's attention.

  I had to cough loudly to get the receptionist's attention.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ He made a loud cough.

  ✓ He coughed loudly.

  While 'made a cough' is occasionally understood, using the verb 'cough' with the adverb 'loudly' is much more natural.

• ✗ She was coughing strong during the presentation.

  ✓ She was coughing loudly during the presentation.

  'Strong' is not used to describe coughing; use 'loudly' or 'hard' instead.

Related Expressions

Practice

• It is polite to cover your mouth when you ___ in public.

  💡 Make a noisy sound from your throat.

  Show answer

  cough loudly

• The teacher had to ___ to get the students to stop talking.

  💡 Make a sharp throat noise to get attention.

  Show answer

  cough loudly