PTE Collocation List 2026: 100+ Pairs (Free PDF Download)

Collocations are the single highest-leverage vocabulary asset for the PTE Academic Reading section. If you can recognise common word pairings instantly, Fill in the Blanks goes from a slow guessing exercise to a fast pattern-matching task — and your Reading score moves with it. This 2026 reference list gives Nepali students the academic collocations that appear most frequently in PTE Reading and Reading-and-Writing Fill in the Blanks.

Save this page, copy the list into your notes app, or print it. The goal is recognition, not memorisation in isolation. Read the pairs aloud, write a sentence with each, and review them in 10-minute blocks daily for two weeks.

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Download the full PTE Collocation List 2026 (free PDF) — all 145 pairs below with meanings and example sentences, formatted as a clean printable A4 reference. No sign-up needed.

Quick answer: Collocations are word pairs native speakers use together — "make a decision," not "do a decision." Using them naturally lifts your PTE fluency and vocabulary scores. This page gives you 145 high-frequency PTE collocations across five categories, plus a free PDF to download and drill.

Why Collocations Matter More Than Vocabulary Lists

Most Nepali students spend hours learning isolated academic words but still hesitate during Fill in the Blanks. The reason is that PTE Reading does not test whether you know the meaning of a word — it tests whether the word fits naturally with its neighbours. "Conduct an experiment" is correct; "make an experiment" is not. The blank is testing the pairing, not the word.

Collocations also speed up Fill in the Blanks decisions because you eliminate options by feel rather than reading the full sentence three times. This frees up time for Reorder Paragraphs and overall Reading time management.

What the Pearson Academic Collocation List Actually Is

Students searching for a "Pearson collocation list" are usually after one specific document. It is worth knowing what it is before you download anything.

The Academic Collocation List (ACL) is a free resource Pearson publishes for teachers. It holds 2,469 collocations, described by Pearson as the most frequent and pedagogically relevant lexical collocations in written academic English. They were drawn from the written curricular component of the Pearson International Corpus of Academic English, a body of text running to over 25 million words. Pearson offers it as a PDF and as a spreadsheet, and it costs nothing. If you want the full research list, get it from Pearson directly.

Two things about the ACL surprise most students.

The first is what it leaves out. The ACL is a lexical list — adjective + noun, verb + noun, noun + noun, adverb + adjective. Grammatical pairings, such as a verb with its preposition, were deliberately excluded when the list was built. That is why the preposition table further down this page is labelled separately. It is not from the ACL. I added it because Reading and Writing Fill in the Blanks does test single connectors, and a list that followed the ACL exactly would leave you unprepared for those blanks.

The second is the size. 2,469 pairs is a research artefact, not a study plan. Nobody sitting a test in three weeks will absorb it, and trying costs you the practice hours that actually move a Reading score. The 145 pairs below are the subset I keep coming back to with students: the ones that recur in PTE-style academic passages, and the ones my students most often get wrong.

One honest limit. Pearson does not publish which ACL entries appear in live test forms, so anyone selling you "the exact exam collocations" is guessing. This page reflects what turns up in practice material and in the errors I mark week after week. That is a different claim, and a smaller one.

Adjective + Noun Collocations

These pairs appear constantly in academic texts about education, environment, technology, and society — the most common PTE Reading topics.

Collocation	Meaning	Example sentence
fundamental principle	a basic rule or idea that something is built on	Equal access to education is a fundamental principle of public policy.
significant impact	a large or important effect	Remote work has had a significant impact on city economies.
inherent risk	a danger that is a natural, built-in part of something	Every medical procedure carries an inherent risk.
demographic shift	a change in the structure of a population	An ageing workforce reflects a broader demographic shift.
conceptual framework	a set of ideas used to organise and understand a topic	The study uses a conceptual framework drawn from behavioural economics.
economic growth	an increase in a country's production of goods and services	Tourism remains a key driver of economic growth in the region.
renewable energy	power from sources that do not run out, such as sun or wind	Investment in renewable energy doubled over the decade.
extensive research	research that covers a wide area or large amount of detail	Extensive research supports the link between sleep and memory.
compelling evidence	evidence so strong it is hard to argue against	The trial produced compelling evidence of the drug's effectiveness.
profound effect	a very deep, far-reaching effect	Early childhood nutrition has a profound effect on development.
diverse range	a wide variety of different things	The university offers a diverse range of postgraduate courses.
unprecedented growth	growth never seen before	Online education experienced unprecedented growth after 2020.
crucial role	an extremely important function	Teachers play a crucial role in shaping student motivation.
widespread acceptance	approval or adoption by many people	Electric vehicles are gaining widespread acceptance among commuters.
sustainable development	growth that meets present needs without harming the future	The report links sustainable development to responsible water use.
considerable attention	a large amount of notice or focus	Artificial intelligence has attracted considerable attention from regulators.
empirical evidence	evidence based on observation or experiment, not theory	The hypothesis lacks empirical evidence from controlled trials.
integral part	an essential, inseparable component	Peer feedback is an integral part of the writing process.
mutual benefit	an advantage shared by both sides	Trade agreements are designed for the mutual benefit of partner nations.
rapid expansion	very fast growth in size or scope	The rapid expansion of the city strained public transport.
adverse effect	a harmful or negative result	Excessive screen time can have an adverse effect on concentration.
viable alternative	a realistic option that could work instead	Buses offer a viable alternative to private car travel.
vested interest	a personal stake in an outcome, often financial	Lobbyists have a vested interest in delaying the reform.
pressing issue	an urgent problem that needs attention now	Youth unemployment is the most pressing issue facing the government.
finite resources	supplies that are limited and can run out	Fresh water is one of the planet's most finite resources.
collaborative effort	work done jointly by several people or groups	The vaccine was a collaborative effort between three universities.
cognitive development	the growth of thinking and reasoning abilities	Play is essential to a child's cognitive development.
ethical considerations	moral questions that affect a decision	Genetic testing raises serious ethical considerations.
global phenomenon	something happening across the whole world	Urban migration has become a global phenomenon.
key factor	one of the main causes or influences	Cost is a key factor in students' choice of destination country.
long-term consequences	effects that last far into the future	Deforestation has long-term consequences for soil quality.
pivotal moment	a point at which a decisive change happens	The discovery marked a pivotal moment in cancer research.
prior knowledge	what someone already knows before learning more	Effective teaching builds on students' prior knowledge.
profound implications	deep and serious likely consequences	Automation has profound implications for low-skill employment.
rigorous analysis	careful, thorough, and exact examination	The claims did not survive rigorous analysis of the data.
scarce resources	supplies that are limited relative to demand	Hospitals must allocate scarce resources during emergencies.
social cohesion	the unity and trust that holds a community together	Shared public spaces strengthen social cohesion in cities.
technological advances	improvements in technology	Technological advances have transformed remote diagnosis.
underlying assumption	a belief taken for granted beneath an argument	The model rests on the underlying assumption of rational behaviour.
vast majority	nearly all of a group	The vast majority of participants completed the survey.

Verb + Noun Collocations

These are the highest-frequency pairings in academic argumentation. If a Fill in the Blanks sentence describes an action, one of these is usually the answer.

Collocation	Meaning	Example sentence
conduct research	to carry out a systematic study	The team conducted research on sleep patterns in adolescents.
impose restrictions	to officially put limits in place	The city imposed restrictions on water use during the drought.
propose a solution	to suggest a way of solving a problem	The committee proposed a solution to the parking shortage.
gain insight	to develop a deeper understanding	Interviews helped researchers gain insight into voter behaviour.
reach a consensus	to come to a general agreement	After long debate, the panel reached a consensus on the policy.
raise awareness	to make more people conscious of an issue	The campaign aims to raise awareness of mental health support.
draw a conclusion	to decide what is true based on evidence	It is too early to draw a conclusion from a single study.
meet demand	to supply as much as people want	Local farms struggled to meet demand for organic produce.
address an issue	to deal with a problem directly	The new policy addresses the issue of overcrowded classrooms.
bear responsibility	to be accountable for something	Manufacturers bear responsibility for product safety.
establish a framework	to create a structure of rules or ideas	The treaty established a framework for carbon trading.
generate revenue	to produce income	The festival generates revenue for hundreds of small businesses.
pose a threat	to be a possible danger	Invasive species pose a threat to native wildlife.
play a role	to have a function or influence	Diet plays a role in the prevention of heart disease.
undergo a transformation	to experience a major change	The industry underwent a transformation after digital streaming.
undertake a study	to begin and carry out a piece of research	The ministry undertook a study of rural internet access.
allocate resources	to distribute money, time, or materials	Schools must allocate resources to teacher training.
assess the impact	to judge the effect of something	Economists assessed the impact of the tax cut on spending.
attain a goal	to succeed in reaching an objective	Few athletes attain their goals without structured coaching.
bridge the gap	to reduce the difference between two groups or things	Scholarships help bridge the gap between rich and poor students.
cause harm	to produce damage or injury	Misinformation can cause harm to public health efforts.
devise a strategy	to invent a plan to achieve something	Engineers devised a strategy to reduce energy loss.
enhance performance	to improve how well something works	Regular feedback enhances performance in the workplace.
exert influence	to use power to affect people or events	Social media exerts influence on consumer choices.
foster innovation	to encourage new ideas and methods	Tax incentives are intended to foster innovation in startups.
fulfil a requirement	to satisfy a condition that is demanded	The course fulfils the language requirement for admission.
hold a view	to have an opinion	Many economists hold the view that inflation will ease.
implement a policy	to put an official plan into action	The government implemented a policy of free school meals.
lend support	to give help or backing	Recent findings lend support to the original theory.
make a contribution	to give something that helps a result	Volunteers make a significant contribution to disaster relief.
mitigate the effects	to make harmful effects less severe	Early warning systems mitigate the effects of flooding.
overcome an obstacle	to succeed despite a difficulty	The project overcame the obstacle of limited funding.
pay attention	to focus on something carefully	Examiners pay attention to pronunciation as well as content.
place emphasis	to give special importance to something	The curriculum places emphasis on critical thinking.
pursue a career	to work towards a profession over time	She moved abroad to pursue a career in nursing.
retain information	to keep knowledge in memory	Students retain information better through spaced revision.
seek advice	to ask for guidance	Applicants should seek advice before choosing a study pathway.
shape attitudes	to influence how people think or feel	Advertising shapes attitudes towards body image.
take measures	to act in order to deal with a situation	Airlines took measures to reduce fuel consumption.
yield results	to produce outcomes	The new teaching method yielded results within one semester.

Noun + Noun Collocations

Two nouns locked together into a single idea. Nepali students tend to read these correctly and then fail to produce them, so they cost marks in Writing more often than in Reading. Watch for them in passages about economics, public health, and the environment.

Collocation	Meaning	Example sentence
research findings	the results a study produces	The research findings challenged decades of accepted practice.
case study	a detailed examination of one example	The report opens with a case study of Kathmandu's water supply.
data collection	the process of gathering information	Data collection took eighteen months across four districts.
policy makers	the people who decide official rules	Policy makers rarely see the effects of a decision within one term.
labour market	the supply of and demand for workers	Nepal's labour market depends heavily on overseas employment.
climate change	long-term shifts in temperature and weather	Coastal cities are already budgeting for climate change.
population growth	an increase in the number of people	Population growth slowed once female literacy rose.
life expectancy	the average number of years a person lives	Life expectancy rose by nine years in a single generation.
income inequality	an uneven distribution of earnings	Income inequality widened even as average wages grew.
energy consumption	the amount of energy used	Household energy consumption peaks in the winter months.
risk factor	something that makes a bad outcome more likely	Smoking remains the single largest risk factor for the disease.
quality control	checks that keep standards consistent	Quality control failed at the packaging stage, not in production.
problem solving	the skill of working out answers	Employers rank problem solving above technical knowledge.
decision making	the process of choosing between options	Decision making slows when a committee grows past eight people.
market forces	the pressures of supply and demand	Market forces, not regulation, closed most of the small mills.
crime rate	how much crime occurs in a place	The crime rate fell after street lighting was installed.
health care	medical services and treatment	Rural health care depends on a handful of trained midwives.
work experience	time spent doing a job	Most scholarships now expect two years of work experience.
sea level	the average height of the ocean surface	A one-metre rise in sea level would displace millions.
peer pressure	influence from people of your own age	Peer pressure explains more teenage spending than advertising does.

Adverb + Adjective Collocations

This is the category that separates a Reading score in the low 70s from one in the high 70s. The adverb is rarely guessable from meaning alone — "highly significant" works, "strongly significant" does not, and both look reasonable if you are translating in your head. Learn these as fixed units.

Collocation	Meaning	Example sentence
widely available	easy to get almost everywhere	Broadband is now widely available outside the Kathmandu valley.
highly significant	very important or meaningful	The difference between the two groups was highly significant.
relatively small	fairly small when compared with something else	The sample was relatively small, so the authors urge caution.
increasingly important	becoming more important over time	Written communication is increasingly important in remote work.
entirely different	completely unlike something else	The 2026 format is entirely different from the one she prepared for.
closely related	connected in an obvious way	Sleep quality and exam performance are closely related.
particularly useful	especially helpful	This method is particularly useful when time is short.
statistically significant	unlikely to be the result of chance	The improvement was real but not statistically significant.
fundamentally flawed	wrong in a basic way that cannot be patched	The original survey was fundamentally flawed.
readily apparent	easy to see straight away	The cause of the delay was not readily apparent.
socially acceptable	approved of by most people	What counts as socially acceptable varies sharply by region.
economically viable	able to make enough money to continue	Solar became economically viable only after prices halved.
environmentally friendly	not damaging to nature	Packaging described as environmentally friendly is often not.
equally important	just as important as something else	Pronunciation and fluency are equally important in Speaking.
largely dependent	relying on something for most of its effect	The result was largely dependent on one unusual data point.
potentially harmful	possibly causing damage	The additive was withdrawn as potentially harmful.
commonly used	used often by many people	This is the most commonly used method in the field.
directly proportional	rising or falling at the same rate as something else	Output was directly proportional to hours of training.
broadly consistent	mostly in agreement	The 2026 results are broadly consistent with earlier work.
clearly defined	stated in a precise, unambiguous way	The task had no clearly defined success criterion.

Preposition Collocations

These shorter phrases are common in linking sentences and discourse markers. They often appear in Reading and Writing Fill in the Blanks where the missing word is a single connector. As noted above, these are not part of Pearson's ACL — they are here because the exam tests them.

Collocation	Meaning	Example sentence
in light of	considering; because of new information	In light of recent findings, the guidelines were revised.
in response to	as a reaction to	The policy was introduced in response to rising rents.
in contrast to	showing how something is different from	In contrast to print media, online news updates instantly.
in addition to	as well as; besides	In addition to tuition, students must budget for insurance.
in line with	consistent with; matching	Salaries rose in line with inflation last year.
at odds with	in disagreement or conflict with	The data is at odds with the company's official claims.
at the expense of	with the loss or sacrifice of	Speed was achieved at the expense of accuracy.
at the heart of	being the central, most important part of	Trust lies at the heart of doctor-patient relationships.
at risk of	in danger of experiencing something bad	Coastal towns are at risk of severe flooding.
on behalf of	as a representative of	The lawyer spoke on behalf of the affected families.
on the basis of	using something as the reason or foundation	Candidates were selected on the basis of merit.
on the grounds that	for the stated reason that	The appeal was rejected on the grounds that it was late.
on the verge of	very close to the point of	Several species are on the verge of extinction.
by means of	using a particular method	The data was collected by means of an online survey.
by virtue of	because of; as a result of	She qualified by virtue of her ten years' experience.
with regard to	concerning; about	The rules are strict with regard to plagiarism.
with respect to	in relation to; concerning	The two groups differed with respect to age and income.
with the exception of	not including; apart from	All branches closed, with the exception of the city office.
directly linked to	having an immediate connection with	Air pollution is directly linked to respiratory disease.
closely related to	having a strong connection with	Motivation is closely related to academic performance.
broadly consistent with	generally in agreement with	The results are broadly consistent with earlier studies.
far from	not at all; the opposite of	The reform is far from complete.
apart from	except for; in addition to	Apart from cost, location is the main concern for students.
in terms of	when measured or considered by	The project succeeded in terms of both reach and cost.
as a result of	because of; caused by	Enrolments fell as a result of the fee increase.

Why Nepali Speakers Reach for the Wrong Pair

Most collocation errors I mark are not vocabulary gaps. The student knows both words perfectly well. The pairing arrives from Nepali and transfers into English without anyone noticing it happen.

The clearest case is गर्नु. Nepali uses one verb where English splits into do and make, so निर्णय गर्नु comes out as "do a decision" rather than make a decision. Once you can see the pattern, you start catching it everywhere in your own speech.

These are the ones that come up most often in my sessions.

Nepali	What students write	What PTE expects
परीक्षा दिनु	give an exam	take an exam / sit an exam
औषधि खानु	eat medicine	take medicine
निर्णय गर्नु	do a decision	make a decision
गल्ती गर्नु	do a mistake	make a mistake
फोन गर्नु	do a phone	make a call
ध्यान दिनु	give attention	pay attention
प्रगति गर्नु	do progress	make progress
तयारी गर्नु	do preparation	make preparations / prepare
असर पार्नु	put an effect	have an effect
चिन्ता लिनु	take tension	worry / be concerned
झगडा गर्नु	do a fight	have an argument
मेहनत गर्नु	do hard work	work hard / make an effort

Read that table twice. In Fill in the Blanks these turn up as distractor options, and the wrong one will feel right, because it matches the sentence you would have built in Nepali. In Speaking and Writing the same habit costs you Vocabulary marks directly, and nobody tells you which words did the damage.

Where Collocations Earn Points Outside Reading

This list sits in the Reading category because Fill in the Blanks is where collocations pay back fastest. They are not scored only there. Vocabulary is an enabling skill, and it is assessed wherever you produce language rather than just recognise it.

Write Essay

Vocabulary and Written Discourse are separate scored components, and a well-placed collocation lifts both. Compare "this problem is very big for the government" with "this problem poses a significant challenge for policy makers." Same idea, same clause count. The second uses three pairs from this page and reads like academic English. Swapping four or five vague phrases for collocations is the fastest essay edit available to you.

Summarize Written Text

You are compressing a passage into one sentence, so every word has to earn its place. Collocations are dense — "economic growth" carries in two words what a learner phrasing spends six on. Students who run over the word limit are usually not writing too much content. They are writing it inefficiently.

Describe Image and Re-tell Lecture

Both are scored partly on Vocabulary, and both give you very little thinking time. That is exactly when your first instinct wins, which is why drilling matters more than understanding here. A student who has said "a sharp increase" and "a steady decline" aloud two hundred times produces them under pressure. A student who has only read them reaches for "goes up very much" instead.

How Nepali Students Should Practice Collocations

Memorising the list is not enough. The goal is automatic recognition. A working method:

Day 1-3: Read all collocations aloud once. Mark unfamiliar pairs with a star.
Day 4-7: Write three short sentences using the starred collocations. Speak each sentence aloud.
Day 8-10: Take five Fill in the Blanks practice sets. Time yourself. Note which collocations slowed you down.
Day 11-14: Review the slow-down list daily for 10 minutes. Mix into mock tests.

This 14-day cycle covers the most common Reading collocations and is enough for most students to move Reading from 70 to 78+, assuming the rest of their preparation is on track.

Common Mistakes With Collocation Practice

Memorising in isolation — Learning "fundamental" and "principle" separately does not teach the pairing. Always learn collocations as a unit.
Ignoring collocations in Reading and Writing Fill in the Blanks — This task tests grammar AND collocation. A grammatically correct option that is not collocationally natural is still wrong.
Skipping the spoken practice — Speaking the pairs aloud builds faster recognition than reading them silently.
Chasing the full 2,469-entry ACL — Downloading the complete Pearson list feels like progress and produces almost none. Work a short list to automatic recall instead.
Treating collocations as separate from Writing — Strong collocation use also lifts Written Discourse and Vocabulary in Writing.

What Students Have Found

"I had been at Reading 71 for three attempts. Two weeks of collocation drills lifted my next attempt to 79." — Bishal R., Kathmandu

"The collocation list helped me skip the panic mode in Fill in the Blanks. I just look for the natural pair now." — Anjali S., Bharatpur

Results reflect individual student preparation experience. Scores depend on personal effort, starting ability, and test conditions. No specific outcome is guaranteed.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many collocations do I need to memorise for PTE Reading?

Around 100-150 high-frequency academic collocations cover the majority of Fill in the Blanks. Quality and recognition speed matter more than total count. The list above is a strong working set for most test-takers.

Is the Pearson Academic Collocation List free to download?

Yes. Pearson publishes the Academic Collocation List free on its teachers site, as a PDF and as a spreadsheet, and you do not need a PTE booking to access it. Nobody should be charging you for it. The 145 pairs on this page are a curated PTE subset with meanings and example sentences added, which the research list does not include.

Should I study all 2,469 collocations in the ACL?

No, and I would actively discourage it if your test date is within a couple of months. The ACL was built as a research and teaching reference covering academic English broadly, not as a revision list for one exam. Work a focused set to automatic recall, then widen it only if you have time left over.

Are collocations only useful for Reading?

No. Strong collocation use also lifts Speaking (Vocabulary enabling skill) and Writing (Vocabulary and Written Discourse). Investment in collocations pays back across three of the four communicative skills.

Do collocations help with PTE Core Reading?

Yes. PTE Core Reading uses everyday English collocations more than academic ones, but the practice habit transfers directly. Build the recognition skill once and apply it to whichever exam you sit.

Can I just download a PDF of all PTE collocations?

Yes. Download the free PTE Collocation List 2026 PDF — all 145 high-frequency pairs from this page with meanings and example sentences, formatted for printing. We refresh the list for 2026, so the PDF matches what you see on this page.

Build Your PTE Reading Score

Collocations are one piece of a strong Reading strategy. For the full Fill in the Blanks elimination strategy, the grammar shortcuts, and Reading section time management, work through the dedicated guides. To diagnose where your Reading score is actually losing points, book a free score assessment call or join the next 15-day batch.

Note: PTE format and scoring rules can change. Always verify the latest task counts, word limits, and timing on the official Pearson PTE format page before relying on figures in this article.

Last fact-checked on 2026-08-29 against official sources (Pearson PTE, Australia Department of Home Affairs, AHPRA, IRCC, GOV.UK, INZ). Test fees, score requirements, and visa rules can change at any time — always verify the latest details on the relevant official website before booking or applying.