Vocabulary Deep Dive: 50 Essential Collocations & Word Families

Introduction:

 

At the advanced level, knowing a word isn't enough; you must know its partners. Collocations are the natural pairings of words (like "heavy rain," not "strong rain") that native speakers use unconsciously. Mastering them instantly makes your English sound more fluent and sophisticated.

This post targets 50 essential word families and collocations that dramatically improve academic, professional, and general fluency. We'll show you how to expand one base word (the root) into several functional parts of speech, and how to combine it naturally with verbs, adjectives, and nouns. Stop translating word-for-word and start thinking in word chunks!

 

The 50 Essential Collocations & Word Families

Section 1: Collocations for Common Verbs (25 Examples)

Focus on how base verbs combine with other words to create natural phrases.

#	Base Word	Noun/Adj. Collocation	Function/Meaning	Example Phrase
1.	MAKE	A crucial decision	To decide something very important.	We need to make a crucial decision by Friday.
2.	TAKE	Responsibility	To accept accountability for something.	The manager will take full responsibility for the error.
3.	DO	Research	To conduct a systematic investigation.	We are doing extensive research on market trends.
4.	CARRY	Out a survey	To perform a survey.	The team needs to carry out a survey of customer satisfaction.
5.	SET	A clear goal	To establish a specific objective.	You must set a clear goal before starting the project.
6.	ACHIEVE	Success	To attain a high level of accomplishment.	Hard work is the key to achieving long-term success.
7.	HAVE	A strong influence	To significantly affect something.	Social media has a strong influence on purchasing habits.
8.	ADDRESS	The root cause	To deal with the basic source of a problem.	We must address the root cause of low morale.
9.	COME	To a conclusion	To finish a process of thought or debate.	After a long discussion, we came to a conclusion.
10.	FALL	Into a trap	To be tricked or misled.	Don't fall into the trap of focusing only on cost.
11.	VOICE	Concern	To express worry or anxiety.	Several members voiced concern over the budget cuts.
12.	PAY	Close attention	To listen or watch very carefully.	Please pay close attention to the safety briefing.
13.	DRAW	Criticism	To provoke negative comments.	The new policy has drawn heavy criticism.
14.	MEET	A deadline	To finish a task by the required time.	It's essential that we meet the tight deadline.
15.	PROVIDE	Insight	To offer a deep understanding.	The data provides valuable insight into consumer behavior.
16.	RAISE	Awareness	To increase public knowledge about something.	The campaign aims to raise public awareness of environmental issues.
17.	SEEK	Permission	To ask for formal authorization.	We had to seek formal permission from the board.
18.	SPARK	A debate	To cause a discussion or argument to begin.	His comments sparked a fierce debate among experts.
19.	SUFFER	A severe setback	To experience a significant loss or delay.	The project suffered a severe setback due to the storm.
20.	WAGE	War	To conduct a conflict or competition.	They are waging a price war against competitors.
21.	BEAR	In mind	To remember or consider something.	Please bear in mind the traffic when planning your trip.
22.	GET	Permission	To receive authorization.	We finally got the necessary permission to proceed.
23.	GIVE	A presentation	To deliver a formal talk.	She gave an excellent presentation on climate change.
24.	BREAK	The ice	To initiate conversation in a difficult setting.	A quick joke helped break the ice at the meeting.
25.	PUT	Forward an idea	To propose a suggestion.	She put forward a creative idea for marketing.

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Section 2: Word Families (The Root and its Relatives) (25 Examples)

Focus on 5 key roots and how they transform into different parts of speech, alongside their collocations.

#	Root Word	Noun	Adjective	Adverb	Collocation Example
26.	ANALYZE (V)	Analysis	Analytical	Analytically	Perform a detailed analysis.
27.	DECIDE (V)	Decision	Decisive	Decisively	Make a firm decision.
28.	CONFIRM (V)	Confirmation	Confirmed	Confirmably	Receive written confirmation.
29.	SUSTAIN (V)	Sustainability	Sustainable	Sustainably	Ensure long-term sustainability.
30.	AFFECT (V)	Effect (N)	Effective	Effectively	Have a profound effect.
31.	IMPLY (V)	Implication	Implicit	Implicitly	The implicit meaning of the statement.
32.	CONCLUDE (V)	Conclusion	Conclusive	Conclusively	Reach a logical conclusion.
33.	PERMIT (V)	Permission	Permissible	Permissibly	Seek official permission.
34.	VALIDATE (V)	Validation	Valid	Validly	Offer concrete validation.
35.	EVALUATE (V)	Evaluation	Evaluative	Evaluatively	Conduct a thorough evaluation.
36.	ARGUE (V)	Argument	Argumentative	Arguably	Make a strong argument.
37.	CREATE (V)	Creation	Creative	Creatively	Demonstrate remarkable creativity.
38.	DEMONSTRATE(V)	Demonstration	Demonstrable	Demonstrably	Provide clear demonstration.
39.	ESTIMATE (V)	Estimate	Estimated	Estimably	Provide a rough estimate.
40.	FORECAST (V)	Forecast	Forecasted	-	A gloomy forecast.
41.	INHIBIT (V)	Inhibition	Inhibitory	Inhibitively	Overcome deep inhibitions.
42.	MODIFY (V)	Modification	Modified	Modifiably	Request minor modifications.
43.	PRIORITIZE (V)	Priority	Prioritized	Prioritarily	Set key priorities.
44.	REVISE (V)	Revision	Revised	Revisably	Make necessary revisions.
45.	TOLERATE (V)	Tolerance	Tolerant	Tolerantly	Have zero tolerance for fraud.
46.	INTERPRET (V)	Interpretation	Interpretive	Interpretively	Offer a different interpretation.
47.	INVOLVE (V)	Involvement	Involved	Involvingly	Encourage active involvement.
48.	OBSERVE (V)	Observation	Observant	Observantly	Make a sharp observation.
49.	PREDICT (V)	Prediction	Predictable	Predictably	Make an accurate prediction.
50.	SPECULATE (V)	Speculation	Speculative	Speculatively	Engage in wild speculation.