Using Collocation to Boost Your IELTS Score – Key Word: Answer

Key word: answer

1          Verb + answer (meaning reply)

Use the correct form of these verbs:

demand           give                  need

be                    receive             wait for

  1. Did you ___________ an answer to your letter?
  2. We sent a letter of complaint ages ago. Three months later we’re still ___________ an answer.
  3. The managing director ___________ an answer. He was furious and wanted to know why things had gone so badly wrong.
  4. The Prime Minister promised to ___________ a written answer to the MP’s detailed question.
  5. We ___________ an answer immediately. If you can’t give us one, we can’t get on with the job.
  6. I rang the bell several times, but there___________ no answer.

2          Common adjective collocations

Use the following adjectives in these sentences:

correct                  detailed

final                       honest

immediate           short

  1. I don’t expect an___________ answer. Think it over and let me know by the end of the week.
  2. Just give me a straight and ___________ answer, and stop trying to evade the question, will you?
  3. Is that your___________ answer? If it is, I won’t trouble you much longer.
  4. The ___________ answer to your question is NO!
  5. They really were very helpful, taking lots of time to give us clear and ___________ answers to all our questions.
  6. Very often some of these questions have more than one ___________ answer.

 3         Verb + answer (meaning solution)

Use the correct form of these verbs:

arrive at           come up with              guess

have                   know                              provide

  1. If I ___________ the answer, I’d tell you!
  2. Yes, we are aware of the problem, but unfortunately we do not ___________ the answer.
  3. You’ll never ___________ the answer in a million years! Do you want a clue?
  4. We’re in trouble if someone doesn’t ___________ the right answer soon.
  5. The new accounting system will ___________ the answers you need in a matter of minutes.
  6. We ___________ the correct answer by a process of elimination. We rejected the choices one by one until we only had one left.

4          More adjective collocations

Use the correct form of these verbs:

wrong              simple              long-term

definite            obvious            only

  1. There is no ___________ answer to the problems facing the economy. It’s a very complex situation.
  2. Food aid may provide temporary relief to the people of Eritrea, but it is not a ___________ answer to the problems facing the country.
  3. I think you’ve put the___________ answer for number 3.  It should be 5.25, not 5.52.
  4. We are unable to treat this condition with drugs. An operation may be the___________ answer.
  5. I don’t see what the problem is. If we can’t hire a bus, the ___________answer is to cancel the trip.
  6. It’s too early to give a___________ answer. We won’t be in a position to do so for a couple of days.

1.         Note the following more formal phrase:

In answer to your enquiry, we regret to say that we have no vacancies at present.

2.         If someone thinks they know everything we often say that they think they know all the answers.

3.         If a child answers their parent back, they are being rude.


Ex 1:

  1. receive 2. waiting for 3. demanded 4. give 5. need 6. was

Ex 2:

  1. immediate 2. honest 3. final 4. short 5. detailed 6. correct

Ex 3:

  1. knew 2. have 3.guess 4. come up with 5. provide 6. arrived at

Ex 4:

  1. simple 2. long-term  3. wrong  4. only 5. obvious 6. definite
Written By

Misbah Kagad is a Content Marketing Specialist, currently working as IELTS Trainer at Experience Expert with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Skilled in Copywriting, Web Content writing, Management, IELTS and Research. Strong professional with a Diploma focused in Computer Science... Currently helping aspirants to crack IELTS, with tips and tricks to score a bandwidth of 8 and more. Handles the ideation and creation of compelling content including content for IELTS website, writing e-books and solving previous IELTS question papers…

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