Many strong sentences are built from combinations that English speakers repeatedly use: raise a concern, draw a conclusion, significant impact, legitimate reason. Learning these combinations gives students ready-made routes into accurate language.
This article extends the Secondary 2 Essential 100 Vocabulary by organising common partnerships around the hero words.
Verb + Noun
| Verb | Noun partner |
|---|---|
| draw | a conclusion |
| raise | a concern / question |
| conduct | an analysis / investigation |
| evaluate | evidence / a proposal |
| justify | a decision / claim |
| acknowledge | a limitation / contribution |
| provoke | a reaction / debate |
| reach | an agreement / conclusion |
Adjective + Noun
| Adjective | Noun partner |
|---|---|
| significant | impact, difference, factor |
| legitimate | concern, reason, question |
| meticulous | planning, records, attention |
| feasible | solution, proposal, plan |
| coherent | argument, explanation, structure |
| drastic | change, reduction, measure |
| abundant | resources, evidence, opportunities |
| fundamental | principle, difference, problem |
Why These Patterns Matter
Collocations improve fluency, reduce awkward combinations and help students retrieve vocabulary in useful chunks. They also reveal meaning: legitimate concern tells us the concern has a reasonable basis; drastic measure signals severity.
Build from Authentic Sentences
When reading, record the whole phrase rather than only the target word. “Significant impact on…” is more usable than significant alone because it includes a likely sentence structure.
Avoid Mechanical Insertion
A collocation is not a sentence template to force into every essay. Use it when the idea genuinely requires that relationship.
Practice Routine
- Choose five hero words.
- Find two natural noun partners for each.
- Write one sentence per phrase.
- Change topic while keeping the combination natural.
- Retrieve the phrase a week later.
Store Vocabulary in Useful Chunks
Use the Secondary 2 Essential 100 as your vocabulary base, then attach high-value collocations. Words become easier to use when the learner already knows what naturally comes next.
Pattern-Bank Laboratory: Verb Choice Changes the Academic Action
Collocations become more powerful when students notice that different verbs do not merely make the phrase sound more formal. They tell the reader what kind of intellectual action is taking place. We draw a conclusion, raise a concern, evaluate evidence, acknowledge a limitation and justify a decision because each verb names a different operation.
One Noun, Different Verb Jobs
| Noun | Verb + noun | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| evidence | collect evidence | gather supporting information |
| evidence | evaluate evidence | judge quality or relevance |
| evidence | present evidence | make it available to an audience |
| evidence | withhold evidence | keep it from being disclosed |
| evidence | corroborate evidence | provide additional support for it |
The noun remains stable while the verb changes the action. This makes verb–noun collocations a useful bridge between vocabulary and reasoning.
Adjective Choice Changes the Criterion
Adjective–noun collocations often tell the reader how to evaluate something. A feasible solution is judged by practicality. A legitimate concern is judged by whether it has reasonable grounds. A significant difference is judged by importance or magnitude. A coherent argument is judged by logical connection.
Students should therefore ask: what criterion is the adjective imposing on the noun?
Build Full Frames, Not Two-Word Pairs
- raise a legitimate concern about…
- draw a conclusion from the evidence;
- have a significant impact on…
- justify a decision by referring to…
- acknowledge a limitation in the method;
- reach an agreement on the next step.
Full frames make vocabulary easier to transfer into real writing because they include the preposition and likely continuation.
Negative Examples Sharpen the Pattern
Students learn faster when they compare natural and unnatural combinations.
| Unnatural or weak | Natural repair | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| make a conclusion | draw / reach a conclusion | conventional verb partner |
| bigly significant impact | highly significant impact | adverb collocation |
| do evidence | collect / present / evaluate evidence | verb must name the action |
| strong feasibility | high feasibility / highly feasible | word-class and collocation fit |
Cross-Subject Phrase Bank
- English: interpret a passage, justify an inference, identify a significant contrast.
- Science: formulate a hypothesis, collect data, evaluate a result, validate a method.
- Humanities: assess a source, identify a contributing factor, draw a conclusion.
- Project work: propose a feasible solution, acknowledge a constraint, evaluate impact.
The vocabulary shifts with the discipline, but the learning principle remains: store high-value actions as phrases rather than isolated dictionary entries.
The Collocation Transformation Drill
- Choose one noun such as evidence, conclusion, concern, solution or impact.
- List three verbs that naturally pair with it.
- Explain how each verb changes the action.
- Add one natural adjective.
- Add the usual preposition or continuation.
- Use the full frame in two different subjects.
Checkpoint: Can You Choose the Verb Before the Sentence Is Written?
Prompt yourself with the intended action: “judge the evidence,” “express a concern,” “arrive at a conclusion.” If the natural collocation arrives quickly, the pattern is becoming active rather than memorised.
Use this alongside Secondary 2 Collocations: Words That Naturally Belong Together and the Essential 100.