Word combinations for advanced

Compare the thesaurus’s “similar words” for the verb “laugh”:

The similar words allow you to choose from among words for more specific kinds of laugh: from a quiet titter to a hearty guffaw. The Word Combinations allow you to choose from among adverbs that writers frequently use to modify the verb “laugh.” “Ashley laughed uneasily at the cruel joke,” you might write. Or, “Ashley laughed good-naturedly when her error was pointed out.” (Ashley’s a likable person, evidently.)

Word Combinations are the most frequent companions of the headword in published writing and broadcast speech. Thus, they represent the many ways in which the headword-concept is typically talked about and the words typically used to talk about them.

In the entries, word combinations are organized by part of speech combination. Take, for example, the word “election.” The word combinations for the noun “election” fall into four kinds:

adjective + (n.) election

verb + (n.) election 

(n.) election + verb   

noun + (n.) election

These formulas show you the kind of word (part of speech) and the position (before or after “election”) in which it appears in the corpus of texts. Notice that “election” has some verbs that appear before it and some that appear after it. Here are the full word combinations entries, with some comments in red:

adjective + (n.)election     coming, competitive, congressional, contested, democratic, direct, disputed, fair, federal, forthcoming, fraudulent, free, general, gubernatorial, judicial, legislative, local, mayoral, mid-term, multi-party, multiracial, municipal, nationwide, nonpartisan, off-year, parliamentary, periodic, presidential, primary, provincial, scheduled, statewide, transitional, upcoming

verb + (n.)election     boycott, cancel, certify, contest, delay, disrupt, influence, hold, monitor, oversee, overturn, postpone, precede, rig, schedule, steal, supervise  (These verbs that frequently have the word “election” as their object will give you a glimpse at all the things we can do to an election. )

(n.)election + verb      loom, near

(Which of these two verbs would you choose to talk about a coming election? It really depends how you feel about it.)

noun + (n.)election   ballot, boycott, candidate, eve, fall, financing, landslide, legitimacy, midterm, month, outcome, poll, primary, recall, registration, round, run-up, runoff, turnout, vote, voting

If you have read through these words, you may have noticed that some make sense when placed immediately before or after the headword “election”: “a fair election,” “postponed the election,” and “a fall [i.e., autumn] election.” True, you have to insert an article, “the” between “postpone” and “election,” but generally these are recognizable phrases that make sense.

Others, especially in the noun+noun category, don’t seem like a chunk of a sentence: “legitimacy election” and “voting election,” for example. Often a preposition will need to be inserted between the words: “the legitimacy of the election,” “voting in this election” are some possible ways the word combinations will work in these cases.

If you don’t know how to fit the two words together, a Google search on the two words will often return a number of similar examples of how they do.

You can try this little exercise to get a feel for how to fill out a word combination:

Complete these common noun + noun word combinations with the correct prepositions and articles.

1. the eve   ____    ____   election

2. the outcome  ____    ____   election

3. the turnout   ____    ____   election

 Word Combinations is a subscription feature, but you can try it by signing up for a 15-day free Trial Subscription, no strings attached. (There is a Trial Subscription button on most pages of the Wordsmyth website.) We also include Word Combinations with many Academic Vocabulary of the Day posts.

Read more about collocations here.

IX. Fill in the blanks with the suitable words.

The
service sector …
rapidly owing to substantial increases in income and leisure time.

a)
grew b) grows c) has grown

Agriculture
is a scientific …
in Canada.

a)
production b) output c) industry

Total
… from the service trades are well
over $15 billion a year.

a)
income b) receipts c) output

At
the same time,
Canada is an important exporter of …
industrial commodities.

a)
necessary b) fabricated c) advanced

They
arrived at 3
p.m., but the match
… at 2.30 p.m.

a)
begins b) had begun c) began

I
saw the Ivanovs last
week, but I …them
this week.

a)
did not see b) have not seen c) do not meet

She
… her work by 6
o’clock tomorrow.

a)
will finish b) finishes c) will have finished

He
… the station when it began to rain.

a)
reaches b) had reached c) has reached

B.
READING COMPREHENSION

X. Read the text and mark the main aspects of the еconomy of Canada.

The Economy of Canada

Measured
in terms of gross national product, Canada’s economy is one of the
most diversified in the world. Canada grows, develops, mines,
processes, designs, manufactures or fabricates everything from
communication satellites to disease-resistant wheat, from advanced
aircraft to strategic ores and metals, from nuclear stations to
newsprint.

Of
all sectors in the economy, manufacturing is the largest contributor
to the country’s annual output. As in the other highly advanced
countries, however, there has been
a shift in Canada from
predominantly goods-producing economy to a predominantly
service-producing economy.

The
service sector has grown rapidly owing to substantial increases in
income and leisure time. Total receipts from the service trades are
well over $ 15 billion a year.

The
four main classes of Canadian exports by dollar value are motor
vehicles and parts, machinery and equipment, fabricated metals and
other fabricated materials. Another major export is electronics and
manufacturing work in many parts of the world.

Agriculture
is a scientific industry in Canada. Many scientists are employed in
agricultural research. Without Canada research in plant breeding,
crop and animal production etc. would not be able to export between
$4 and $5 billion of wheat, animal and edible products every year.

C.
TEST

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This article returns to the area of multi-word expressions. To achieve a level 7 or above grade, you need to show a familiarity with the different ways that words can be combined. Specifically, the IELTS descriptor for level 7 ‘ Lexical Resource’ states that a student at this level should be able to ‘use less common lexical items with some awareness of style and collocation’.

As well as noticing noun, verb and adjective combinations, you should also build up your knowledge of prepositional phrases and fixed expressions.

The following exercises will help you to assess the level of your own knowledge regarding word combinations and help you decide how much extra work you need to do in this area.

Noun Combinations

Nouns often combine with specific verbs or adjectives.

Exercise 1

Complete the following sentences by adding the appropriate adjective or verb with a  noun from the columns below. They are all sentences that could be used in the following task 2 essay.

Motorways help people to travel quickly and cover long distances but they also cause problems. What are the problems of motorways and hat solutions are there?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

1. Motorways also have …… ……. such as speeding, damage to the environment and pollution.

2. Accidents due to tiredness are a fairly ……. ………..  on motorways.

3. There are ……. …….. about whether or not motorways encourage more dangerous driving.

Exercise 2

This exercise focuses on adjective – noun combinations frequently used when discussing a topic.

Rewrite the following sentences using the words in brackets following each sentence.

The sentences could all be possibly made in the following essay.

Action movies with spectacular car chases are very popular with young people. it is often said that these sorts of movies lead to an increase in car accidents among young drivers as they try to copy what they have seen in the films.

Do you agree that such movies increase the amount of bad driving? What can be done to encourage young people to drive more safely?

1. Many people are critical of the influence of high speed driving in films on young people. (widespread opposition)

2. People on both sides of the argument agree that any favourable presentation of drink driving is unacceptable. (common ground)

3. Any high-speed crash is bound to involve serious injury. (inevitable consequence)

If you are serious about taking your IELTS writing to the next level, sign up for your FREE 3 part IELTS writing video course that takes you through both task 1 and task 2. The video lessons are led by our highly experienced UK native IELTS teacher, Katherine. We also provide you with exercises to test your understanding!

Sign up your FREE IELTS writing video course by clicking here.

Verb Combinations

As well as noun-verb combinations, common verb-adverb and verb-preposition combinations need to be learned.

Exercise 3

Choose the most suitable verb from the options below.
The sentences could all be possibly made in the following essay.

Some people think that there are things individuals can do to help prevent global climate change. Others believe that action by individuals is useless and irrelevant and that it is only governments and large businesses which can make a difference.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

1. Scientists have been closely following/identifying/discussing trends in climate change for the last fifty years.

2. The general indifference of most of the population to the threat we are avoiding / facing/ making makes me pessimistic about any plan that relies on individual contributions.

3. Research clearly examines /demonstrates/ raises the need for taking urgent action now.

Add the missing prepositional phrase.
The sentences could all be possibly made in the following essay.

Children should never be educated at home by their parents. Do you agree or disagree?
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.

1. The exam results of children educated at home seem to be much better ………….. those of children educated in schools.

2. …………………..a comparative lack of resources, there is no strong evidence to suggest that home-educated children are any less familiar with their subjects than their school counterparts.

3. ……………, home education seems to be a far more effective way of educating a child.

Answers to exercises

Exercise 1

1. Motorways also have negative aspects such as speeding, damage to the environment and pollution.

2. Accidents due to tiredness are a fairly common phenomenon on motorways.

3. There are conflicting claims about whether or not motorways encourage more dangerous driving.

Exercise 2

1. There is widespread opposition in many places about the influence of high speed driving in films on young people.

2. There is common ground that any favourable presentation of drink driving is unacceptable.

3. Serious injury is an inevitable consequence of any high speed crash.

 Exercise 3

(Combinations to learn are in bold)

1. Scientists have been closely following trends in climate change for the last fifty years.

2. The general indifference of most of the population to the threat we arefacing makes me pessimistic about any plan that relies on individual contributions.

3. Research clearly demonstrates the need for taking urgent action now.

Exercise 4

1. The exam results of children educated at home seem to be much better in comparison with those of children educated in schools.

2. In spite of a comparative lack of resources, there is no strong evidence to suggest that home-educated children are any less familiar with their subjects than their school counterparts.

3. In most respects, home education seems to be a far more effective way of educating a child.

If you feel you need to widen your range of word combinations, the best way is to read more and to specifically look for examples of the types of combinations referred to in the above exercises.

If you are serious about taking your IELTS writing to the next level, sign up for your FREE 3 part IELTS writing video course that takes you through both task 1 and task 2. The video lessons are led by our highly experienced UK native IELTS teacher, Katherine. We also provide you with exercises to test your understanding!

Sign up your FREE IELTS writing video course by clicking here.

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