Grammar fix
break a habit
stop a habit
to stop doing something you have done regularly for a long time
collocationB2common
Hear it in context
Notice where the phrase sounds natural.
It took me months to break the habit of checking my phone in bed.
Bad habits are easy to form but hard to break, especially ones you've had since childhood.
Fix the pattern
One small grammar move makes it sound right.
Not: I want to stop my habit of biting my nails.
Say: I want to break my habit of biting my nails.
We BREAK a habit (the opposite is form/pick up a habit).
Which sounds natural?
Tap the one a native speaker would say.
'Break a habit' is the fixed collocation; 'discontinue a habit' is unnatural.
Build natural chunks
Words that usually travel with it.
break + habit
- a bad habit
- the habit of...
- old habits