Some of the various essential words required for IELTS writing are collocations. Collocations are essential for a higher IELTS score. Collocations are two or three words that usually go together and sound good to a native speaker. If you don't know how to use collocations, they will sound wrong to a native speaker. Using the collocations in the IELTS writing test will get you good marks along with a better band score.
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In the IELTS evaluation criteria, you are graded on the lexical resource. You will be marked on how you use collocations in the writing segment. Not only are collocations in IELTS important for writing, but they are also useful in the conversation test. They give your speech a natural and smooth flow.
How can I learn collocations?
As you learn new words, you must learn the enclosing words or the corresponding words that help collocate them. Don't just memorize the words alone. Collocations are like pieces of language and there are different forms for these. The best technique to learn collocations is to listen, read and compose your sentences.
Collocation schemes
There are schemes such as:
Let's study the list of necessary IELTS allocations for the word "influence" below.
The word ‘influence’ as a noun can be understood in two ways: the effect of something/somebody, and the power to control somebody/something. The word has been described in connection to all meanings: the effect of something/somebody and the power to control somebody, and something that affects the way.
Influence as a Noun
‘Influence’ as effect something has
The word ‘influence’ has three meanings: the effect something has, the power to control somebody, and something that affects the way. The following provides the usage of the word with different parts of speech. The following contains the word ‘influence’ as the effect of somebody/something, and the power to control somebody/something.
Here, the word ‘influence’ is described as the effect of somebody/something and the power to control somebody/something
Meaning: big, great, powerful, strong, considerable, enormous, significant, growing, dominant, major, overwhelming, profound
Sentence: They are, however, always bright and cheerful, are not subject to special social restrictions, and have considerable influence.
Meaning: important, undue, decisive, crucial
Sentence: The court found that the bank had exercised undue influence over Ms. Black by making her sign the contract.
Also, check:
Meaning: beneficial, positive
Sentence: Dracula, the greatest vampire book always, has had a beneficial influence on all modern vampire stories.
Meaning: calming, restraining
Sentence: It had a very calming influence on the most stressful state of my life.
Meaning: adverse, corrupting, destructive, disruptive, evil, negative, external, outside
Sentence: The religious community wishes to be independent of outside influences.
Meaning: stabilizing, steadying
Sentence: He has shown that he belongs to the team, with his good distribution and his stabilizing influence.
Meaning: pervasive, wide
Sentence: This dark vision has a pervasive influence on environmental change to this day.
Collocations for the IELTS word 'influence’ have different forms when used as a verb as described below.
Meaning: give
Sentence: His wealth gave him influence in the affairs of the state.
Meaning: exercise, exert, use, wield
Sentence: Can you use your influence on the director to get me to play a part in the film? Drug cartels used large influence in the city.
Meaning: extend
Sentence: Their influence extended to China.
Meaning: be under
Sentence: The court heard that he was under the influence of alcohol when he committed the crime.
Meaning: come/fall under
Sentence: During this period, he came under the influence of Sartre.
Meaning: be independent of, show
Sentence: Spanish architecture shows a Moorish influence.
Meaning: attribute to
Sentence: Much of his writing can be attributed to Freud's influence.
There are many ways of using the word ‘influence’ as a preposition.
Meaning: under the
Sentence: The Metropolis grew under the influence of colonialism.
Meaning: from
Sentence: He / She did not influence from the outside.
Meaning: in
Sentence: Pastors must be given appropriate forms of representation and influence in this decision-making process.
Meaning: on/upon
Sentence: After a short but eventful career, he lost his influence upon the citizens which was effective for a long time.
Meaning: over
Sentence: The government has limited influence over whatever occurs.
Meaning: with
Sentence: He utilized his influence with the policemen.
The list of important collocations for IELTS shows that there are three ways of using the word ‘influence’ as a phrase.
Meaning: a sphere of influence
Sentence: Nonetheless, other societies contested their decision-making power beyond the society's political sphere of influence.
Meaning: bring your influence to bear on somebody/something
Sentence: Workers have their groups that can bring influence to bear on governments and claim the state.
Meaning: under the influence (of alcohol/drink)
Sentence: Driving with a cell phone is as risky as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
‘Influence’ as something/somebody that affects the way somebody behaves
The word influence also means something/somebody that affects the way somebody behaves. The following contains different sentences where 'influence' is used as that affects the way somebody behaves.
The word 'influence' also means that affects the way somebody behaves. The following adjectives describe what affects the way somebody behaves.
Meaning: major, important, great, early
Sentence: Who have been your early influences?
Meaning: formative
Sentence: A formative period or experience is a period that has an important and lasting influence on a person's attitudes.
Meaning: diverse
Sentence: He is an author of Indian descent and attracts diverse cultural influences.
Meaning: outside
Sentence: Parents regularly seek to refuge their kids from outside influences.
In these collocations for IELTS, the word 'influence' is used in the following ways:
Meaning: be, represent
Sentence: The legacy of Ancient Rome represented the overpowering influence of Romanesque architecture.
Meaning: be exposed to
Sentence: An observation of kids exposed to unique cultural influences.
Meaning: be at work
Sentence: There have been some of the influences at work in Gaudi's architecture.
Meaning: on
Sentence: She is by far a significant influence on my writing.
Influence as a Verb
The word ‘influence’ used as a verb can be understood. The word has been described in connection to all meanings: the effect of something/somebody and the power to control somebody, and something that affects the way.
Meaning: deeply, greatly, considerably, strongly, profoundly
Sentence: I love cinema and I have been deeply influenced by cinema.
Meaning: mainly, largely, slightly, directly, indirectly
Sentence: Pressure from industry leaders directly influenced government policy.
Meaning: critically, clearly, obviously, significantly, positively
Sentence: Activities that positively influence fitness.
Meaning: adversely, unduly
Sentence: Try to be conscious of external circumstances that may unduly influence your decision.
Meaning: seek to, try to, attempt to
Sentence: He tried to influence his decision.
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