Strong Collocations

Warm-up: Speaking in blocks

2 warm-up questions

• Why do you think English says 'make a decision' but never 'do a decision'? How would a learner ever know?
• First try: 'What role does education play in reducing inequality?' 40 seconds, test conditions.

Reading: What Are Collocations?

Read a 191-word text about What Are Collocations?

The Power of Strong Collocations Collocations are words that naturally go together. Using them correctly is a key indicator of lexical sophistication. Why Collocations Matter: They sound natural to native speakers They demonstrate depth of vocabulary Getting them wrong sounds noticeably unnatural They are directly assessed in IELTS Lexical Resource Common Types: Verb + Noun: Make a decision (NOT do a decision) Raise awareness (NOT increase awareness) Draw conclusions (NOT make conclusions) Adjective + Noun: Heavy traffic (NOT big traffic) Strong argument (NOT powerful argument) Vast majority (NOT big majority) Adverb + Adjective: Highly unlikely (NOT very unlikely) Deeply concerned (NOT very concerned) Bitterly disappointed (NOT very disappointed) Common Mistakes: "Do a mistake" → Make a mistake "Big difference" → Significant difference "Very good example" → Prime example / excellent example What the examiner hears: Lexical Resource at Band 6 allows adequate vocabulary with noticeable wrong pairings - 'do a mistake', 'big traffic'. At Band 7, the descriptor asks for collocational awareness: words arriving in their natural partnerships - 'pose a threat', 'raise awareness' - at speaking speed. One wrong partnership won't sink you; a pattern of them caps the score.

Vocabulary: Essential IELTS Collocations

6 items

Practice: Verb Collocations

Matching exercise, 6 items

• Reach
• Bridge
• Meet
• Play
• Take
• Address

Practice: Using Collocations

Gap-fill exercise, 5 items

• Governments should ____ more awareness about healthy eating.
• Technology ____ a crucial role in modern education.
• We need to ____ this issue seriously.
• The ____ majority of people support this policy.
• It's important to ____ all factors into account.

Dialogue: Collocation Practice

Role-play: Practice using collocations naturally in Part 3 discussion (2 lines)

• What role does education play in addressing social inequality? Use collocations like 'play a role', 'bridge the gap', 'raise awareness'.
• What threats does climate change pose to society? Use collocations like 'pose a threat', 'exert influence', 'take measures'.

Discussion: Your collocation mission

3 discussion questions

• Mission: three timed Part 3 answers (education and inequality, climate threats, technology's role - your tutor asks). 40 seconds each, and each answer must contain TWO different collocations from this lesson, used accurately. Success = six collocations across three answers, zero invented pairings ('do a role'). (Tutor: keep a written tally of taught collocations used, plus any wrong pairings to correct afterwards.)
• Harder take: quick-fire - your tutor names a noun from this lesson (awareness, threat, conclusions, influence); you have five seconds to produce its verb partner and a full sentence. Ten rounds.
• Replay the warm-up education question and compare with your first try: which pairing got fixed? Say the corrected sentence three times - blocks are built by repetition.