Collocations & expressions
1) She did well and scored ..... average.
Above / Over / Beyond / On top of
1) Above
The woman ... when the police told her that her husband had died.
Broke up/Got lost/Got upset/Went down
Got upset (or: broke down)
... to the CEO the crisis will soon be over.
Concerning / Referring / According / Considering
According (according to)
... she had said the words "I love you" several times, he did not aswer her.
However / Although / Despite / Yet
Although (Although comes always before a subject)
1) Are you ... to starting university next year? Fresher's week is said to be amazing!
Looking forward/Ending up/Making off with/Coming across
1) Looking forward (be excited about)
1) Cleaning the house was ..... necessary.
Positively/Absolutely/decidedly/unambiguously
2) He knew he couldn't win and accepted ...
Loss / Beating / Defeat / Losing
1) Absolutely
2) Defeat
1) Our teacher broke the final project ... into three separate parts.
Up/Down/Away/Aside
2) Last night I ... dancing with Sarah; we had a wonderful time.
Ended up/Turned down/Came across/Got around
1) Down
2) Ended up (= do in the end)
1) Japan is ... as the land of the rising sun.
Considered / Called / Named / Known
2) Any problems ... from the new contract are not my concern. I warned against signing it.
Arriving / Producing / Arising / Deriving
1) Known (known as)
2) Arising (created or caused by a particular situation)
1) He appeared chilled ... the danger.
Though / Even though / Despite / Nevertheless
2) ... my brothers, who have dark hair, mine has always been blonde.
Different / Unlike / Compared / Opposite
1) Despite (despite is followed by a noun, pronoun or or gerund: ing. Despite cannot link clauses; 'Though' can link clauses).
2) Unlike (it follows the structure "Unlike + noun, main clause.", the other options are followed by a preposition)
1) Come on, let's hurry up. We need to ... a solution before the meeting at 5:00.
come up with/take up with/Get around/Deal with
2) The town is ... up for the carnival on Saturday ?
Cheering /Gearing / Brushing / Beating
1) Come up with (to have an idea)
2) Gearing (to gear up = to get ready)
1) The ... of drugs had effected the population in the neighbourhood.
Use / Abuse / Exploitation / Offense
2) When he was young, his strange behaviour .... everyone's attention.
Appealed to/Used to attract/Captivated/Would intrigue
3) As a child, when he didn't know the way, he ... for directions.
Used to request/Would demand/Petitioned/Would ask
1) Abuse
2) Used to attract
3) Would ask
1) I'd like to leave as soon as possible, since the sooner we ... the sooner we arrive.
Pull over / Settle down / Set off / Keep up
2) Please, ... your mind and decide. I'm fed up with waiting for you until you finally arrive at a decision!
Look into / Make up / Turn up / Come across
3) My grandmother ... her wedding gown while she was cleaning out the attic.
Came across / Found out / Got across / Ran into
1) Set off (= leave)
2) Make up your mind (= come to a decision)
3) Came across
1) Use of English ... of Keyword Transformations, Word Formation, Open Cloze and Multiple Choice Cloze.
Exists / Involves / Includes / Consists
2) If only he ... screaming. It's so annoying!
Stopped / Had stopped / Would stop / would have stopped
3) It is widely ... that computers can make our lives easier.
Agreed / Allowed / Accepted / Affirmed
1) Consists (consist of)
2) Would stop (If only + would = a desire that we believe is unlikely or impossible in the present)
3) Accepted
1) ... he were the last person on Earth, she would never love him.
Even though / Despite / Although / Even if
2) The car is very expensive, but ... the car is very expensive, I'll buy it anyway.
Even though / Despite / However / Even if
3) I'm going to a wedding next week, ... I've bought a new dress
However / Though / Moreover / Therefore
1) Even if (Even if = conditional. Even though = true)
2) Even though (Even though = true. Even if = conditional)
3) Therefore (shows a consequence)
1) They have ... out and are no longer speaking to each other.
Fallen / Gone / Put / Broken
2) Violence has ... in the city following the controversial court ruling.
Fallen / Gone / Put / Broken
3) Firefighters managed to ... the flames before they spread to neighboring buildings.
Fallen / Gone / Put / Broken
1) Fallen (fall out = to have a disagreement and stop being friendly)
2) Broken (break out = used to indicate the sudden start of conflict, violence, or chaos)
3) Put (put out = to extinguish or inconvenience someone )
1) In some companies the ... of power is a serious issue.
Abuse / Mismanaging / Perversion / Injustice
2) Dolphins are ... from land animals, however, their ancestors went back to the sea and learnt to swim millions of years ago.
Linked / Evolved / Descended / Related
3) After working for years, he finally ... his goal.
Realised/Objectivied/Achieved/Acquired
4) Some people really ... their parents and they have a lot of respect for their opinions.
Look over / Look forward to / Look down to / Look up to
1) Abuse
2) Descended
3) Achieved
4) Look up to
1) The firemen had to break ... the room to rescue the children.
In / Down / Into / Up
2) Her grandparents brought her ... after her parents died.
Raising up/ Up / By / Aside
3) He finally ... to a decision.
Arrived / Came / Turned down / Went
4) On a yearly basis, the foundation ... up an educational programme with the aim of teaching the children writing skills.
Runs / Sets / Comes / Establishes
1) Into (break in = break into something)
2) Up (bring up = raise)
3) Came (come to a decision = arrive at a decision = decide)
4) Sets (set up = establish a business, institution, or other organization)
1) If only she ... her exam. She deserves it so much as she has studied for many hours each day!
Passes / Passed / Would pass / had passed
2) If only I ... I would have passed the test!
Study / Studied / Had studied / Would study
3) The inquiry into the accident will be ... by Malcolm Jones, a former army general.
Overseen / Overlooked / Overdrawn / Overpowered
4) I really think it's unfair that they ... the blame on you for your other people's mistakes.
Get / Gave / Lay / Take
1) passed (If only + past simple = strong wishes)
2) Had studied (If only + past perfect = regrets)
3) Overseen (supervise - a person or work -, especially in an official capacity)
4) Lay (lay the blame on = to blame someone for)
1) The painting is stunning, ... too expensive.
Even though / Albeit / Nevertheless / However
2) We decided to buy the car, ... the price made us hesitate.
Although / Albeit / Nevertheless / However
3) She forgot to set her alarm; ..., she was late for work.
However / Consequently / In addition / Because
4) The launch was delayed ... several technical issues that needed to be addressed immediately
Due to / Since / Because / Consequently
1) Albeit (Think of 'albeit' as a shorter way of saying 'although it is/was' or 'although they are/were').
2) Although (However, & Nevertheless, have a comma behind them. And what you can’t do with 'albeit' but can certainly do with 'although' is introduce independent clauses. This is one of the reasons why the two words are not always interchangeable).
3) Consequently (is used to indicate cause and effect)
4) Due to (introduces the reason for something happening)
1) The robber was tall and blonde but I couldn't ... her face.
Take up / Get around / Deal with / Make out
2) She ... £100k worth of jewellery. It was devastating for the owners.
Ended up with / Made off with / Came across / Got by
3) We need to ... off at 8 o'clock in order to arrive at the party on time.
Set / Brush / Call / Leave
4) I think we can buy some breakfast ... the train.
In / On / At / By
1) Make out
2) Made off with (= carry something away illicitly)
3) Set off (= to start a journey)
4) On
1) She ... the challenge and decided to climb the Mount Everest.
Accepted / Took / Received / Obtained
2) She asked for ..., but her father didn't want it.
Agreement/Permission/Approval/Admission
3) He ... certainly will win.
Nearly / Practically / Almost / Quite
4) Someone rang the doorbell, but when he ... the door, nobody turned out to be there.
Replied / Answered / Responded / Disclosed
5) Can you help me ... with a theme for my birthday party?
Choose / Come up / Come down / Get up
1) Accepted
2) Permission
3) Almost
4) Answered
5) Come up
1) Jason called the wedding ... because it turned out he wasn't in love with his fiancé.
Away / Down / Aside / Off
2) I came ... these old photos when I was tidying the closet.
Towards / Up with / Down with / Across
3) The top and bottom will come ... if you pull hard enough.
Apart / Down / Through / Out
4) The exhibition ... to be more interesting than expected.
Turned out / Came out / Came along / Took up
5) My doctor has told me I need to cut ... all processed meats from my diet.
Off / Up / Out / Back
1) Off (call off = cancel)
2) Across (come across something = find unexpectedly)
3) Apart (come apart = separate)
4) Turned out (= proved to be the case)
5) Out (= remove, exclude, or stop eating or doing something)
1) The musician ... in selling all his CDs!
Managed / Succeeded / Achieved / Was able
2) The woman ... to overcome her problems.
Managed / Succeeded / Achieved / Could
3) This year, our company ... all of its production goals.
Managed / Succeeded / Achieved / Was able
4) Although he held some strong opinions he eventually had to ... down and admit he was wrong.
Wear / Back / Roll / Move
5) Throughout his career in politics he ... himself to helping the poor and those most in need.
Focused / Concerned / Specialised / Dedicated
1) Succeeded (succeed in)
2) Managed (manage to)
3) Achieved (achieve = accomplish, attain)
4) Back (to admit that you were wrong or that you have been defeated)
5) Dedicated
1) The director carried the composer's work to another dimension, ... one inhabited by Tchaikovsky’s lyrical beauty.
However / Nevertheless / What's more / Albeit
2) He was feeling very ill; ... , he went to school.
However / Although / Even though / Albeit
3) It cost a fortune to renovate our house; ... , it was worth it.
Nevertheless / Albeit / Although / For example
4) The team decided to continue the project, ... of the financial constraints they were facing.
Therefore / Furthermore / Otherwise / Regardless
5) He was told to submit the report by Friday; ..., he would face serious consequences.
Therefore / Furthermore / Otherwise / Regardless
1) Albeit (Think of 'albeit' as a shorter way of saying 'although it is/was' or 'although they are/were').
2) However ('Although' means 'in spite of the fact' and combines two clauses to make 1 sentence, whereas 'However' means 'but' or 'nevertheless' and facilitates a smooth transition between two ideas).
3) Nevertheless ('Nevertheless' means 'but' or 'however' and facilitates a smooth transition between two ideas)
4) Regardless (= not being affected by something)
5) Otherwise (is showing the consequence of not submitting the report)
1) I was walking in town when I ... a new shop that I'd never seen before!
Came across/Got by/Brushed up on/Came up with
2) I love you so much darling! Thank you for ... me for all these years!
Putting up with/Dealing with/Ending up with/Coming across
3) I can always ... the postman to deliver my letters on time.
Get by/Count on/Brush up on/Come up with
4) I ought to ... my German grammar as I commit far too many errors.
Brush up on/Get around/Deal with/Make out
5) Wouldn't it be great if you ... a $50 bill on the floor as you were walking down the street?
Made off with/Took up/Came up with/Came across
1) Came across (= find by coincidence)
2) Putting up
3) Count on
4) Brush up on ... (improve something you are rusty at)
5) Came across (= find by coincidence)