What is a collocation ?
A collocation is a natural combination of words that native speakers commonly used together
| We Say (Correct) | ❌ Not Natural |
|---|---|
| fast food | quick food |
| a quick glance | a fast glance |
| make a mistake | do a mistake |
| powerful engine | strong engine |
| ancient monuments | antique monuments |
| make an effort | do an effort |
Even if the “wrong” version is understandable, it sounds unnatural to native speakers.
0.1 Why Are Collocations Important (Especially for IELTS)?
Learning collocations helps us:
0.1.1 Speak and write more naturally
- “Smoking is strictly forbidden”
❌ Not “strongly forbidden”
0.1.2 Be more expressive and precise
- “It was bitterly cold and pitch dark”
❌ Not “very cold and very dark”
0.1.3 Improve writing style and variety
“Poverty breeds crime”
❌ Not “Poverty causes crime”“A substantial meal”
❌ Not “a big meal”
0.2 Type of Collocations
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Verb + Noun | make a mistake, take notes |
| Adjective + Noun | strong coffee, heavy traffic |
| Noun + Noun | a surge of anger |
| Adverb + Adjective | deeply disappointed |
| Verb + Preposition | depend on, suffer from |
0.3 Collocations vs Compounds vs Idioms
| Term | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Collocation | Natural word combinations | make an effort, fast food |
| Compound | Two+ words that form one meaning (can be written as one word, hyphenated, or separate) | car park, teapot, narrow-minded |
| Idiom | A fixed phrase whose meaning is not literal | pass the buck, hit the sack |
In IELTS Writing Task 2, use formal collocations for precision and sophistication:
Government policies should tackle unemployment and reduce poverty.
In IELTS Speaking, natural collocations boost fluency:
I always try to keep in touch with my old classmates.
Avoid overusing basic combinations like “very + adj” (e.g., very big, very cold). Use high-level collocations:
A considerable amount of money
A heated debate over the topic
1 Exercises
1.1 Answer these question
Which of these words does fast collocate with: car, food, glance, meal
fast car and fast food, quick glance and quick meal
Which of these are compounds: computer, narrow-minded, teapot, ancient monument, car park
-> narrow-minded, ancient monument, car park, teapot
What do we call expressions like pass the buck and be over the moon?
1.2 Make ten collocations from the words in the box
an effort ancient bitterly make breakfast cold dark engine forbidden mistakes have make meal monument pitch powerful strictly substantial TV watch
MAKE AN EFFORT
watch TV
powerful engine
have breakfast
pitch dark
bitterly cold
substantial meal
ancient monument
made mistakes
strictly forbidden
1.3 Put the expressions from the box into the correct category in the table below
| compound | collocation | idiom |
|---|---|---|
| live music | make a mistake | a storm in a tea cup |
| checkpoint | heavy snow | |
| key ring | valid passport | pull somebody’s leg |
| teapot | bitterly disappointed |
1.4 Underline the collocations in this text
When I left university I made a decision to take up a profession in which I could be creative. I could play the guitar, but I’d never written any songs. Nonetheless, I decided to become a singer-songwriter. I made some recordings but I had a rather heavy cold, so they didn’t sound good. I made some more, and sent them to a record company and waited for them to reply. So, while I was waiting to become famous, I got a job in a fastfood restaurant. That was five years ago. I’m still doing the same job.