practice / IELTS Writing Task 2 / Lexical Resource
#LR4
Wrong collocation
Some words just don't pair with each other in English, even when each word is correct on its own and the meaning is obvious. Native readers expect fixed combinations — make a decision, not do a decision; heavy rain, not strong rain. Our mainframes flag this as #LR4 whenever a pairing breaks that expectation, and in IELTS Writing Task 2 it counts against Lexical Resource every single time.
Each item shows, in parentheses, a word that doesn't naturally pair with the rest of the sentence — even though it seems close in meaning. Type the one word that actually collocates here.
Exam result
Step 1 Learn collocations as whole pairs, not as single words with a dictionary meaning.
Step 2 Ask "what word actually goes with this noun in English?" rather than translating literally.
Step 3 Build a running list of verb+noun and adjective+noun pairs as you read, and reuse them exactly.
In your next essay, scan every verb+noun and adjective+noun pair before you submit — and watch this error's count drop in your writing passport.