TOEIC Collocation List for Part 5 and Part 6

A large share of Part 5 vocabulary questions are collocation questions in disguise. All four options mean roughly the right thing; only one is the combination English actually uses. “Meet a deadline” is correct and “reach a deadline” is not, and no grammar rule tells you that — only the pairing does.

Each row below gives the correct collocation, what it means, and a typical distractor form to watch for.

Want to FINALLY Ace the TOEIC Test 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

• Collocation questions look like vocabulary questions: all four options are real words with plausible meanings.
• Verb + noun pairings are the largest group — learn the verb that goes with each business noun.
• Adjective + noun and verb + preposition pairings make up most of the rest.
• Distractors are usually near-synonyms of the correct verb, so meaning alone will not decide it.
• Learn these as whole phrases; storing the verb and the noun separately does not help in the exam.

Verb + noun: the core business set

Collocation	Meaning	Typical wrong version
meet a deadline	Finish by the required time	reach / achieve a deadline
meet a requirement	Satisfy a condition	fill / answer a requirement
place an order	Order goods	make / put an order
fill an order	Supply what was ordered	fulfil a shipment
submit an application	Hand in a formal request	send in a candidacy
reach an agreement	Agree after discussion	arrive an agreement
hold a meeting	Have a meeting	make / do a meeting
attend a conference	Be present at	assist a conference
take effect	Begin to apply	make effect
take steps	Begin actions	do steps
make a decision	Decide	take a decision (rare in TOEIC)
make an appointment	Arrange a time	take an appointment
issue a refund	Give money back	emit a refund
issue a permit	Officially grant	give out a permit
conduct a survey	Carry out research	realise a survey
conduct an interview	Run an interview	make an interview
implement a policy	Put into practice	apply out a policy
launch a product	Introduce to market	start a product
renew a contract	Extend it	refresh a contract
waive a fee	Choose not to charge	wave a fee
file a complaint	Formally submit one	put a complaint
file a claim	Submit for payment	post a claim
raise concerns	Mention worries	rise concerns
address an issue	Deal with a problem	attend an issue
resolve a dispute	Settle a disagreement	solve a dispute (weaker)
gain access	Be allowed in	win access
grant permission	Officially allow	concede permission
exceed expectations	Do better than expected	pass expectations
incur a cost	Become liable for it	suffer a cost
generate revenue	Produce income	create revenue

Adjective + noun

Collocation	Meaning	Typical wrong version
competitive price	Attractively low	competitor price
considerable delay	Large delay	considerate delay
prior notice	Notice given in advance	previous notice (context-dependent)
prompt payment	Payment made quickly	punctual payment
detailed report	Thorough report	detailing report
tentative schedule	Not yet final	tentative-ly schedule
strict deadline	Not flexible	severe deadline
valid ID	Currently acceptable	valuable ID
written consent	Approval in writing	writing consent
annual review	Once a year	annually review
available position	A job opening	availability position
eligible applicant	Meets the criteria	elective applicant
extensive experience	A lot of experience	extended experience
minimum requirement	The lowest acceptable	minimal requirement (different meaning)
outstanding balance	Still unpaid	standing balance

Verb + preposition

Collocation	Meaning	Typical wrong version
comply with	Follow a rule	comply to
result in	Cause	result to
result from	Be caused by	result of
consist of	Be made up of	consist in (different meaning)
depend on	Be determined by	depend of
account for	Explain or make up	account of
apply for a job	Request a position	apply to a job
apply to a rule	Be relevant to	apply for a rule
refer to	Mention or point at	refer at
respond to	Answer	respond at
object to	Disagree with	object against
specialise in	Have expertise in	specialise on
benefit from	Gain from	benefit of
contribute to	Add to	contribute in
subscribe to	Pay for ongoing access	subscribe at
coincide with	Happen at the same time	coincide to
substitute for	Replace	substitute to
collaborate with	Work together	collaborate to

Noun + preposition

Collocation	Meaning	Typical wrong version
access to	Permission to use	access of
increase in	Growth of an amount	increase of (with figures only)
demand for	Desire to buy	demand of
reason for	Cause	reason of
solution to	Answer to a problem	solution of
effect on	Influence upon	effect to
interest in	Attention toward	interest for
confidence in	Trust in	confidence on
alternative to	A different option	alternative of
discount on	Price reduction	discount of (for the amount)
expert in / on	Specialist	expert of
delay in	Lateness in doing	delay of (for length)

Fixed business phrases

Phrase	Meaning	Where it appears
at your earliest convenience	As soon as you can	Emails, Part 6 and 7
upon receipt of	As soon as we receive	Invoices, notices
in the event of	If something happens	Policies, safety notices
with regard to	Concerning	Formal correspondence
on behalf of	Representing	Announcements
subject to change	May be altered	Schedules, prices
in accordance with	Following	Regulations, contracts
effective immediately	Starting now	Policy changes
pending approval	Waiting for a decision	Requests, budgets
as outlined in	As described in	Contracts, proposals
no later than	By this time at the latest	Deadlines
free of charge	At no cost	Offers, replacements

How to drill this list

Day	Section	Method
1-3	Verb + noun	Cover the collocation column; read the meaning and produce the phrase
4-5	Adjective + noun	Same, then write five sentences of your own
6-7	Verb and noun + preposition	Say the phrase aloud; prepositions stick better through sound
8	Fixed phrases	Match each phrase to a document type
9-10	All	Do a Part 5 set and mark every collocation error separately from grammar errors

Tracking collocation errors separately from grammar errors is the point of the last step. They need different fixes: grammar errors need a rule, collocation errors need more exposure.

FAQ

What is a collocation question on the TOEIC?

A Part 5 question where all four options are real words with similar meanings, and only one forms the standard English pairing with the surrounding words. “___ a deadline” with options meet / reach / arrive / achieve is a collocation question.

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

Look at the options. Four forms of one word, or four tenses, is grammar. Four different words of the same part of speech and similar meaning is collocation or vocabulary.

Can I work collocations out from meaning?

Usually not, and that 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 is the only reliable method.

Do collocations appear in the Listening section too?

Yes, in Parts 3 and 4, but you do not have to choose between collocation options there, so they cost you nothing if you only recognise them. The pairing matters most in Parts 5 and 6.

How many collocations should I learn?

The set that appears on this page covers the recurring business pairings. Adding low-frequency collocations gives much smaller returns than making these automatic.

Related practice resources

• TOEIC grammar rules for Part 5 and 6
• TOEIC idioms and phrasal verbs list
• TOEIC vocabulary list by topic

Want to FINALLY Ace the TOEIC Test 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!)