Collocation: the other key to IELTS 7 (3 of 16)

collocation the other key to ielts 7 3 of 16

Collocation: the other key to IELTS 7 (3 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 how 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. Government can remind people of the risk.
  2. Army life makes interaction between people.
  3. The government has problems depositing nuclear waste.
  4. Earth may not be available for human life.
  5. This enhances the cost of living.
  6. Space missions could inspire the development of technology.
  7. People need to realise this planet and its environment.
  8. People need to leave such violent behaviour.
  9. Some countries have set rockets into space.

Answers to Collocation 2 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

The granules are sent into an oven.

The granules are transported/conveyed into an oven.

2

Participating in the army can be risky.

Being in the army can be risky.

We participate in activities.

3

Army life practises personal skills.

Army life develops personal skills.

4

We must take attention to national defence.

We must pay attention to national defence.

5

Countries should put more resources into space.

Countries should invest more resources into space.

We invest money, resources, time, and effort into things. There are other possible answers, with more specific meaning, such as ‘allocate’ and ‘divert’.

6

It has taken great effort to reach nowaday’s achievements.

It took great effort to reach the present achievements.

7

We are offering coupons with this letter.

We include coupons with this letter.

You could also use passive. ‘Coupons are included with this letter.’

8

Computers make more convenience.

Computers create more convenience

9

The production of wheat had the highest decrease.

Wheat had the greatest/biggest fall.

10

This could cause emotional disease.

This could cause emotional problems/disorders.

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