PTE Core Collocation List for Blanks and Email

The collocations PTE Core tests in both Fill in the Blanks tasks and rewards in Write Email, each paired with the wrong version used as a distractor.

Lume Test

Sep 4, 2026

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5 min read

PTE Core Collocation List for Blanks and Email

Key Takeaways

The collocations PTE Core tests in both Fill in the Blanks tasks and rewards in Write Email, each paired with the wrong version used as a distractor.

Both PTE Core Fill in the Blanks tasks are largely collocation tests. The options are real words with the right meaning, and only one forms the partnership English actually uses — “account for a share”, not “count for a share”. No grammar rule tells you that.

The same list pays twice, because Write Email and the summary tasks are marked partly on appropriate word choice.

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Key Takeaways

Both Fill in the Blanks tasks turn on collocation as much as grammar.
Distractors are near-synonyms of the correct word, so meaning alone will not decide them.
Verb plus noun partnerships are the largest group; prepositions are the second largest.
The same collocations raise your Write Email and summary scores, so the list pays twice.
Learn whole phrases — storing the verb and the noun separately produces the errors the test is built on.

Verb plus noun: the core set

Collocation	Meaning	Wrong version
account for a share	Constitute that proportion	count for / stand for a share
conduct research	Carry out a study	make a research
carry out an inspection	Perform it	do an inspection
submit an application	Hand in formally	send in an application (weaker)
place an order	Order goods	make an order
meet a deadline	Finish in time	reach a deadline
meet a requirement	Satisfy a condition	fill a requirement
reach an agreement	Agree after discussion	arrive an agreement
take measures	Act to address something	make measures
take into account	Consider	take in account
raise awareness	Increase public knowledge	rise awareness
raise concerns	Mention worries	rise concerns
address an issue	Deal with a problem	attend an issue
pose a risk	Be dangerous	make a risk
bear the cost	Pay for something	hold the cost
incur a charge	Become liable for one	suffer a charge
waive a fee	Choose not to charge	wave a fee
issue a refund	Give money back	emit a refund
file a complaint	Formally submit one	put a complaint
hand over responsibility	Transfer it	hand in responsibility

Verb plus noun: workplace and policy

Collocation	Meaning	Wrong version
implement a policy	Put into practice	apply out a policy
impose a restriction	Limit officially	make a restriction
allocate resources	Assign them	distribute resources to
arrange cover	Organise a substitute	organise coverage
confirm attendance	Verify someone is coming	affirm attendance
grant permission	Officially allow	concede permission
reimburse expenses	Pay them back	refund expenses (context-dependent)
renew a contract	Extend it	refresh a contract
terminate an agreement	End it formally	finish an agreement
set a target	Establish a goal	put a target
exceed expectations	Do better than expected	pass expectations
fulfil an obligation	Meet a duty	complete an obligation
resolve a dispute	Settle a disagreement	solve a dispute (weaker)
delegate a task	Pass it down	delegate to a task
schedule a session	Arrange a time	plan in a session

Adjective plus noun

Collocation	Meaning	Wrong version
primary driver	The main cause	prime driver
significant increase	A notable rise	important increase
substantial proportion	A large share	substantial part of people
considerable delay	A large delay	considerate delay
outstanding balance	Still unpaid	standing balance
prior notice	Notice given in advance	previous notice
prompt payment	Payment made quickly	punctual payment
adverse effect	A harmful consequence	adversary effect
viable alternative	A workable option	viable option to
strict deadline	Not flexible	severe deadline
valid identification	Currently acceptable	valuable identification
written consent	Approval in writing	writing consent
negligible difference	Too small to matter	negligent difference
marked improvement	Clearly visible gain	marking improvement
pressing need	Urgent requirement	pressuring need

Verb plus preposition

Collocation	Meaning	Wrong version
comply with	Follow a rule	comply to
result in	Cause	result to
result from	Be caused by	result of
contribute to	Help cause	contribute in
depend on	Be determined by	depend of
consist of	Be made up of	consist in
benefit from	Gain from	benefit of
apply for a position	Request a job	apply to a position
apply to a rule	Be relevant to	apply for a rule
respond to	Answer	respond at
refer to	Mention	refer at
object to	Oppose	object against
rely on	Depend on	rely in
invest in	Put money into	invest on
stem from	Originate in	stem of
coincide with	Happen at the same time	coincide to

Noun plus preposition

Collocation	Meaning	Wrong version
an increase in	Growth of something	an increase of (amount only)
a decline in	A fall in something	a decline of (amount only)
access to	Ability to use	access of
demand for	Desire to buy	demand of
a reason for	A cause	a reason of
a solution to	An answer to a problem	a solution of
an effect on	An influence upon	an effect to
an alternative to	A different option	an alternative of
confidence in	Trust in	confidence on
a delay in	Lateness in doing something	a delay of (length only)
a discount on	A price reduction	a discount of (amount only)
exposure to	Contact with	exposure of

Fixed phrases for Write Email

Phrase	Function
at your earliest convenience	Polite urgency
upon receipt of	As soon as something arrives
in the event of	Conditional
with regard to	Concerning
on behalf of	Representing someone
subject to change	May be altered
in accordance with	Following a rule
effective immediately	Starting now
pending approval	Awaiting a decision
no later than	By this time at the latest
free of charge	At no cost
as outlined above	As already described
should you require	Formal conditional
I would be grateful if	Formal request

Collocations for the summary tasks

Collocation	Why it saves words
account for	Replaces “is the explanation for”
stem from	Replaces “is caused mainly by”
be attributed to	Replaces “the reason given is”
fail to establish	Replaces “does not manage to show”
run counter to	Replaces “goes in the opposite direction from”
hinge on	Replaces “depends entirely upon”
fall short of	Replaces “does not reach the level of”
give rise to	Replaces “has the effect of causing”

At 20 to 30 words for Summarize Spoken Text, each of these saves one to three words. That is the difference between fitting the qualification and dropping it.

The five errors that cost the most

Error	Correct	Where it appears
make a research	conduct research	Both Fill in the Blanks tasks, summaries
rise awareness	raise awareness	Blanks; also a grammar error
comply to	comply with	Blanks; Write Email
depend of	depend on	Blanks; very frequent
an important increase	a significant increase	Blanks; Describe Image

How to drill

Day	Section	Method
1-2	Verb plus noun, core set	Cover the collocation column; produce the phrase from the meaning
3-4	Workplace and policy verbs	Write one Write Email sentence per collocation
5	Adjective plus noun	Rewrite an old Describe Image answer replacing weak adjectives
6	Prepositions, both tables	Say each aloud; prepositions stick through sound
7	Email phrases and summary collocations	Write one email and one 25-word summary using six of each
Weekly	Your own errors	Drill only the collocations you got wrong in practice

The last row matters most. Your own error list is short, specific and repeats, and those are the collocations actually costing you marks.

FAQ

Do collocations matter in PTE Core?

Yes, in two places. Both Fill in the Blanks tasks use near-synonym distractors that only collocation resolves, and Write Email and the summary tasks are marked partly on appropriate word choice.

How do I tell a collocation blank from a grammar blank?

Look at the options. Four forms of one word, four tenses or four prepositions is grammar, decided by the structure around the gap. Four different words of the same part of speech and similar meaning is collocation, decided by which one partners the neighbouring word.

What is the most common collocation error?

“Make a research” instead of “conduct research”, followed by “rise awareness” for “raise awareness”, “comply to” for “comply with” and “depend of” for “depend on”. All four appear regularly as Fill in the Blanks distractors.

Can I work collocations out from meaning?

Usually not, which is why the test uses them. “Reach an agreement” is correct while “reach a deadline” is not, even though the verb and the logic are the same. Exposure and drilling are the reliable methods.

Do the same collocations help in Write Email?

Yes, and that is what makes this list efficient. The workplace verb set and the fixed email phrases raise your Writing score directly, while the same words appear as blanks in Reading and Listening.

How do collocations help with the word limits?

A precise collocation replaces a clause. “Stem from” instead of “is caused mainly by” saves two words, and at 20 to 30 words for Summarize Spoken Text that is often the difference between including the qualification and dropping it.