How can I improve my use of collocations?
Collocations are combinations of words that are often used together in a way that sounds natural to native speakers. For example, in the sentence, The spending cuts had a big impact on the local community, the phrases spending cuts and had a big impact are collocations. To find out more about collocations, have a look at this webpage.
Improving your use of collocations in writing and in speech requires:
1. Identifying collocation mistakes you regularly make and understanding how to fix them.
2. Increasing the number of collocations that you know.
3. Putting your knowledge into practice in writing and speech on a regular basis.
4. Receiving feedback on any new mistakes you're making.
For step 1, you should use the feedback that's given to you in writing corrections and mock speaking tests.
For step 2, you should use the guidance given in the Vocabulary Improvement Plan (in our Vocabulary Course) and make your work on collocations a regular part of your efforts to improve your vocabulary generally. Here's a video showing you how to find the Vocabulary Improvement Plan.
You can also use https://www.freecollocation.com/ or https://ozdic.com/ or http://www.just-the-word.com/, which are reliable collocations dictionaries, to check collocations for specific words you have doubts about. You can type complete phrases into https://fraze.it/ or https://www.wordhippo.com/ (under the 'sentences' tab) to see example sentences and get a better idea about how to use different collocations in practice. Many good English-English dictionaries also include common collocations. Here are a couple you could use:
To practice identifying collocations and other kinds of language when you are reading, you can also take part in the "Noticing Vocabulary and Grammar" exercises in the Challenges & Skills section of the VIP Community.
For step 3, you should spend time writing example sentences including the collocations you've learnt. You should also try to include the new phrases when you practise speaking, where appropriate.
For step 4, including, where appropriate, the new collocations you've learnt in writing submissions and during mock speaking tests will mean that if you make any mistakes, these will be highlighted in your feedback, and you'll get a better idea of how to use them in future.
