Collocation: the other key to IELTS 7 (9 of 16)

Collocation: the other key to IELTS 7 (9 of 16)

Collocation is the key to getting a higher IELTS Writing and Speaking score, but it is not easy. Students often do not collocate words very well (which is why they don’t receive IELTS 7 or 8). To do this, all the parts of speech [adjectives & nouns, verbs & adverbs, prepositions & nouns, and others] must fit together in accepted patterns, stylishly and nice, while all the time conveying clear and precise meaning – like the video at the top of this page. Watch it, and notice all the parts of this complex creation blend together perfectly. This is what your writing should be like.

Well, to have ‘a sense of collocation’ (= IELTS 7), you need to have some familiarity with English. So, start reading all my pixnet posts, and getting this familiarity, right?

In the meantime, the following exercises will help.

Time to Practice

Can you ‘fix’ the following sentences by changing (or removing) the underlined word? There may be different ways to answer these. The answers will be in the next ‘collocation’ post.

  1. Once, people thought marriage was a necessary process. Marriage is a very common activity.
  1. The government needs to build a good policy to deal with this.
  1. Fighting back can affect the development of bullying.
  1. It is impractical to ask teachers to rescue students from a malicious situation.
  1. The victims can express their bravery.
  1. The degree of bankrupcy shows a remarkable descent.
  1. It does not matter how many space missions a country makes, ….
  1. Nuclear energy is better than using coal to transfer into energy.

Answers to Collocation 8 of 16

Here are the answers to the previous collocation exercise. The first sentence has the wrong collocation; the second sentence has the correct one.

1.

When a bullied person fights back, the responsibility is given to both people.

When a bullied person fights back, the blame is given to both people.

2.

The bullies may start revenge.

The bullies may seek revenge.

3.

Louis Vitton has paid their effort to create a unique shopping experience.

Louis Vitton has made great effort to create a unique shopping experience.

4.

When people plan to do some purchases, they often ….

When people plan to make some purchases, they often …

5.

Individuals obtain more stress.

Individuals have/develop more stress.

Obtain is a positive word; stress is a negative concept, so they can’t be used together.

6.

The medical fare can be huge.

The medical fee can be huge.

7.

Living alone has become more popular than before.

Living alone has become more common.

Popular suggests that people want to live alone. This is probably not true. They live alone for other reasons.

8.

Only a part of the people believe this nowadays.

Only a minority of the people believe this nowadays.

By the way, you can learn more about me at   www.aisielts.com .