DET Collocation List for Writing and Speaking

The DET does not have a vocabulary section, so collocations matter in two places: the words you produce in the writing and speaking tasks, and the words you complete in Read and Complete and Fill in the Blanks, where the right partnership tells you which word the visible letters belong to.

Each list below is grouped by the task that needs it.

Want to ACE the Duolingo English Test (DET) And Reach Your Goals? Get Your FREE Lume Account Today to Unlock… ✅ 10,000+ PRACTICE QUESTIONS with detailed answers ✅ FREE MOCK TESTS with fast & accurate AI scoring ✅ Get BETTER SCORES with a PERSONALIZED study plan GET YOUR FREE ACCOUNT NOW (Limited seats available!)

Key Takeaways

• Collocations affect the DET in production (writing and speaking tasks) and in recognition (Read and Complete, Fill in the Blanks).
• Photo-description collocations are the highest-value set, because four tasks describe images or scenes.
• Everyday and workplace partnerships appear most often in the reading completion tasks.
• Learn whole phrases — a verb and a noun stored separately produce the errors these tasks reveal.
• Precision beats rarity: a common collocation used correctly scores better than an unusual one used approximately.

Set 1: describing images and scenes

Used in Write About the Photo, Speak About the Photo, Read Then Speak and Interactive Speaking.

Collocation	Meaning	Wrong version
in the foreground	At the front of the image	in the front ground
in the background	At the back of the image	in the back ground
on the left / right	On that side of the frame	in the left
next to	Immediately beside	next of
in front of	Directly ahead of	in front to
at the top / bottom	At that edge of the image	on the top edge (weaker)
appears to be	Seems, on the evidence	appears to being
looks as though	Gives the impression that	looks as if it would
judging by	Concluding from a visible clue	judging from the fact (wordy)
it is hard to tell	You cannot determine it	it is hard to say if (weaker)
what stands out	The most noticeable thing	what stands up
covered in	Having something across the surface	covered of
facing away from	Turned so as not to look at	facing away of
leaning against	Resting on for support	leaning to
reaching for	Extending a hand toward	reaching to

Set 2: actions and states in photos

Collocation	Meaning	Wrong version
is holding	Has in the hand	is holded
is wearing	Has clothing on	is dressing (different meaning)
is looking at	Directing the eyes toward	is looking to
is talking to	Speaking with	is talking with (acceptable, less common)
is waiting for	Expecting the arrival of	is waiting to (needs a verb)
is pointing at	Indicating with a finger	is pointing to (acceptable)
is sitting at a table	Positioned at a table	is sitting in a table
is standing in a queue	Waiting in a line	is standing on a queue
is filling in a form	Completing it	is filling a form
is taking notes	Writing down information	is making notes (acceptable)
is carrying a tray	Transporting it by hand	is bringing a tray (different)
is putting on a coat	The act of dressing	is wearing on a coat

Set 3: everyday life and services

These appear in Read and Complete, Fill in the Blanks and Listen and Type.

Collocation	Meaning	Wrong version
make an appointment	Arrange a time	take an appointment
catch a bus	Board it in time	take a bus (acceptable) / catch on a bus
miss a train	Fail to catch it	lose a train
pay a bill	Settle it	pay a debt (different)
open an account	Start one	make an account
book a table	Reserve it	order a table
do the shopping	Buy household items	make the shopping
run errands	Do small tasks out of the house	make errands
drop someone off	Take them and leave	drop someone down
pick someone up	Collect them	pick someone in
look after	Take care of	look for (different meaning)
get in touch	Make contact	get in contact with (acceptable)
fill up the tank	Add fuel	fill the tank up (acceptable)
keep an eye on	Watch	keep a look on
put off	Postpone	put away (different)

Set 4: study and work

Collocation	Meaning	Wrong version
meet a deadline	Finish in time	reach a deadline
submit an assignment	Hand it in	deliver an assignment
sit an examination	Take it	make an examination
take a course	Enrol and study	do a course (acceptable)
attend a lecture	Be present at	assist a lecture
take notes	Write down information	make notes (acceptable)
apply for a job	Request a position	apply to a job
make progress	Advance	do progress
make a mistake	Err	do a mistake
pay attention	Concentrate	pay attention on
ask a question	Enquire	make a question
reach a decision	Decide	arrive a decision
give a presentation	Present	make a presentation (acceptable)
arrange cover	Organise a substitute	arrange coverage
hand in a form	Submit it	hand a form
sign in at reception	Register on arrival	sign at reception

Set 5: describing change and quantity

Useful in Interactive Writing and the Writing Sample.

Collocation	Meaning	Wrong version
a considerable difference	A large difference	a considerate difference
a slight increase	A small rise	a slighty increase
significantly higher	Notably higher	importantly higher
far fewer	Many fewer (countable)	far less (with countables)
a great deal of	A lot of (uncountable)	a great deal of people
a number of	Several (countable)	a number of information
plenty of	More than enough	plenty of the
hardly any	Almost none	hardly no
most of the	The majority of	the most of
the vast majority	Nearly all	the vast majority of people are (agreement care)

Set 6: connecting ideas in Interactive Writing

Function	Phrases
Give a reason	because… / the reason is that… / mainly because…
Add a point	Another reason is… / On top of that… / What is more…
Contrast	although… / whereas… / that said… / on the other hand…
Give an example	for instance… / take last week… / one example is…
Concede	admittedly… / I can see why… / to be fair…
Conclude	overall… / on balance… / all things considered…
Qualify	to some extent… / in most cases… / generally speaking…

Two from each row is enough. A response cycling through eight different connectives reads as rehearsed, which does not help.

The five errors that cost the most

Error	Correct	Where it shows
make a mistake → do a mistake	make a mistake	Writing tasks
in the front ground	in the foreground	Photo tasks — extremely visible
a number of information	a great deal of information	Writing Sample
pay attention on	pay attention to	Writing and speaking
reach a deadline	meet a deadline	Writing tasks, Read and Complete

How collocation helps in Read and Complete

What you see	Collocation clue	Answer
“failed to me___ the deadline”	Only one verb collocates with “deadline”	meet
“pay att___ to the instructions”	Fixed phrase	attention
“in the fore___ of the image”	Fixed phrase	foreground
“a great de___ of information”	Uncountable quantifier	deal
“si___ in at reception”	Fixed phrasal verb	sign
“look af___ the cat”	Phrasal verb meaning care for	after

This is why the list is worth learning even though the DET has no vocabulary section: the completion tasks are partly collocation tests wearing a spelling costume.

How to drill

Day	Set	Method
1-2	Photo description and actions	Describe three photos aloud using ten collocations from each set
3	Everyday life and services	Cover the collocation column; produce the phrase from the meaning
4	Study and work	Write one sentence per collocation
5	Change and quantity	Rewrite a Writing Sample answer replacing vague quantifiers
6	Connectives	Write one Interactive Writing response using six of them
7	Your own errors	Drill only the collocations you got wrong this week

Sets 1 and 2 are the priority. Four DET tasks involve describing an image or a scene, which makes photo-description collocation the single most reused vocabulary in the test.

FAQ

Does the Duolingo English Test test vocabulary directly?

Not as a separate section. Vocabulary and collocation matter in the writing and speaking tasks, where you produce the words, and in Read and Complete and Fill in the Blanks, where the right partnership tells you which word the visible letters belong to.

Which collocations matter most for the DET?

Photo-description phrases such as “in the foreground”, “appears to be” and “covered in”. Four tasks involve describing an image or a scene, so that set is reused more than any other vocabulary in the test.

How do collocations help in Read and Complete?

They narrow the word before the letters do. “failed to me___ the deadline” has only one verb that collocates with deadline, so the answer is available from the partnership alone.

Should I learn rare words for the DET?

No. Precision matters more than rarity, and a rare word used approximately in a 60-second photo description costs more than a common one used exactly. Range comes from varied structures rather than unusual vocabulary.

What is the most visible collocation error in DET photo tasks?

“In the front ground” instead of “in the foreground”. It appears in the first sentence of many answers, which is exactly where an error is most noticeable.

Do the same collocations help in speaking and writing?

Yes, and that is what makes this list efficient. The photo-description set serves Write About the Photo, Speak About the Photo, Read Then Speak and Interactive Speaking, so one set of phrases covers four tasks.

Related practice resources

• DET grammar rules
• DET Write About the Photo practice
• DET Speak About the Photo practice

Want to ACE the Duolingo English Test (DET) And Reach Your Goals? Get Your FREE Lume Account Today to Unlock… ✅ 10,000+ PRACTICE QUESTIONS with detailed answers ✅ FREE MOCK TESTS with fast & accurate AI scoring ✅ Get BETTER SCORES with a PERSONALIZED study plan GET YOUR FREE ACCOUNT NOW (Limited seats available!)