hi there it's asiya to a large extent the ielts writing score is determined by how
many words you know but it also depends on how well you know the meaning of each word
and how well you combine those words into sentences some words in english are used
together all the time while others are not let me show you a couple of examples
you may say oh it's a hard question or it's a tough question they mean the same thing
and you may think hard but you can't think tough here's another one you may be a strong man
or a powerful man the meaning is similar but not the same and you may like strong tea but you
can't like powerful t to think hard and strong t are collocations or combinations of words which
are often used together and it's the knowledge of collocations which often reveals who has advanced
english skills and who's still intermediate you know when i arrived in the uk whenever
i asked someone to give feedback on my writing of speaking people would just keep on saying like oh
we don't quite say that so when you use combinations of words which native speakers
don't use it sounds unnatural and it harms your score and if you know collocations it really
boosts your score in ielts writing and speaking as well so now let me show you some collocations
for ielts writing and also where you can find and how you can learn collocations yourself
the first word is benefit it's an advantage or something that has a positive or helpful effect
it's a noun and we combine nouns with verbs and adjectives so here are some collocations for you
to get gain or derive a benefit to get a benefit is a bit informal and to derive a benefit is the
most formal in this way students will gain maximum benefit from their classes you can
say that something brings or provides benefits the new policy can bring considerable benefits
you can also say that something has the benefit or someone has a benefit many people
don't have the benefit of a formal university education you can also say to rehab the benefits
that means that you work very hard and then eventually you get your result you reap
the benefits you will soon begin to react the benefits of being fitter here are some adjectives
a great major or substantial benefit you can also say a real benefit
to get some real benefit people should exercise at least twice a week
you can talk about economic social and environmental benefits tourism has brought
considerable economic benefits to the country a nice expression is the full benefit of something
stay-at-home mothers don't get the full benefit of higher education the next word is a solution we
use it in ielts writing task 2 a lot and the first thing i want to draw your attention to is the
preposition a solution to a solution to a problem there is no simple solution to this problem
now let's have a look at the collocations with verbs to find a solution previous attempts to
find the solution have failed to seek or look for a solution the company is still seeking a
solution to its financial problems to provide or offer a solution i don't think that tourism will
provide a long-term solution to rural employment problems to suggest or put forward a solution
one of the solutions that were put forward is to ban cars from city centers now collocations
with adjectives the only solution the only solution is to greatly reduce our use of water
a possible solution there are three possible solutions to this problem
an alternative solution we need to look for alternative solutions a simple or easy solution
there is no easy solution to this problem a long-term solution a long-term solution to the
problem of air pollution is renewable energy if you're wondering where all these collocations are
coming from the answer is longman it's an online dictionary where you can find idioms collocations
phrases examples for very much every word and some grammar rules for those words too let me
show you some and the first word is a mistake so you have definitions you can see which proposition
to use mistake in we may have a mistake in our calculations then you can see some phrases
by mistake or we all make mistakes and then collocations with verbs adjectives and phrases
i really like this one it would be a mistake to assume that all snakes are dangerous so you can
use this phrase in your ielts writing task 2 essay common errors don't say do a mistake say make a
mistake otherwise the collocation will be wrong and you can find synonyms so a mistake or error
which is more formal misprint typo inaccuracy and so on you can read the definitions and
see which words are formal and would be great for your writing and which ones are informal
and would be great for your speaking and if you see that a certain word is very informal don't
use it even in higher speaking it's really only for a conversation with some friends
here is one at the very bottom a cock-up informal a silly mistake a very informal use so don't use
it in your ielts exam at all here is another word where a lot of people make mistakes advice
first of all let's have a look at the prepositions advice on or about advice on saving energy or
advice about my computer and then you also have some grammar which is really really important you
can give someone some advice my father gave me some advice and don't say some advices
a lot of people do but in english advice is uncountable and you cannot use it with a singular
indefinite article an advice no no no if you want to say that it's only like one piece of
advice that's what you say a piece of advice my father gave me a piece of good advice don't
confuse the noun advice with the verb advise and if you go down you can find all the collocations
and you can just select those you want to memorize and here are some good phrases a piece of advice
and a word of advice i find that the best way to search for collocations is to search
for certain nouns then you can find which verbs and which adjectives it's used with
if you search for a verb there will usually be less information and perhaps no collocations
at all because each verb is just used with so many different nouns but you can still find some
very useful information here is some to provide it's a verb and again we have a grammar section
you provide something for someone we provide information for parents
and you provide someone with something we provide parents with information
and if you say we provide parents information this is wrong so it's very important to memorize
which prepositions you need to use with each verb let me show you something to obtain it's a verb
and right here at the top you can see that it's a formal verb so it's perfect for ielts writing
but have a look here register in everyday english people say that we get a result a ticket
some information etc rather than obtain it you have to get permission from your parents
and if you say you have to obtain a permission in a conversation it will sound too formal
it would be better on the notice board at school you have to obtain permission
your score in ielts writing and speaking partly depends on how well you feel this
difference between formal and informal language and if you know which words are
better for writing and which are better for a conversation and choose them accordingly
and if you use the longman dictionary with time you acquire this knowledge
i regularly receive requests to provide a list of collocations but you've seen how
many collocations there are for each word each noun it's just not possible to provide a list
but i can provide a list of synonyms for the most common adjectives used in ielts writing task 2.
it will give you some flexibility to avoid using words like big important small
and use more interesting adjectives more formal ones i will leave it right on the
screen thank you so much for watching me today good luck with your preparation and your exam bye