Collocations for IELTS - Behaviour

A collocation is a grouping of two or more words that frequently occur together. Collocations are a common source of difficulty for IELTS students. When you're taking the IELTS speaking test, examiners will be looking for effective collocations. They'll also seek ways to include them in your writing test. In other words, making proper and correct use of them can help you improve your score.

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IELTS test takers should take advantage of collocations in IELTS writing Task 2 to ace the IELTS writing test as well as in the speaking test.This means that IELTS students should focus on what other terms they are used with rather than learning specific words. You must not only utilize fewer common words but also show that you understand the appropriate combination of words that can be used to get a band 7 on the Lexical Resource (vocabulary) criteria.

By using a pair of words that suits the situation better and has a coherent meaning, collocations make it simpler to avoid overused or ambiguous terms like "very," "nice," or "beautiful." Collocations will make your English sound like a native speaker. They are learned because they make a speaker sound more natural, and their speech is more easily understood. It gives us more options and more ways to express ourselves. Moreover, language in chunks or blocks is effortless for our brains to memorize and use than single words.

Topic: Collocations of the word ‘behavior’

The word ‘behavior’ is a noun that refers to how someone acts or conducts themselves, particularly towards others, or how a machine or natural event works. The following list shows how the word is used in various stages of speech.

1. ‘Behaviour’ as an adjective

• Meaning: exemplary, good
• Sentence: His parents reward him for his good behavior by giving him his favorite treat.
• Meaning: acceptable/bad, antisocial, undesirable, unacceptable, deviant, problem
• Sentence: Most parents believe that ignoring undesirable behaviors while rewarding good behaviors can help in effective learning.
• Meaning: normal/strange/violent, disruptive, aggressive, criminal/animal, human, social, sexual
• Sentence: Without consulting the medical professionals, he was sent to a mental asylum for his strange and aggressive behavior.
• Meaning: obsessive, eccentric
• Sentence: My mother’s problem is she washes her hands over and over again. As you can imagine, this kind of obsessive behaviour can be difficult to live with.
• Sentence: Our chemistry teacher is everyone’s idea of the mad scientist. His behaviour is somewhat eccentric . It’s hard to predict what he’ll do next.
• Meaning: Disgraceful
• Sentence: The crowd booed when the national anthem was played at the beginning of the football match. I find that sort of behavior disgraceful. It’s completely unacceptable.

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2. ‘Behaviour’ as a verb

• Meaning: alter, change, modify/display, exhibit, show
• Sentence: Her dog displays aggressive behaviors towards other dogs. So, she decided to train it to alter the behavior.
• Meaning: control, influence
• Sentence: Parents, teachers, and peers influence and control an individual’s behavior both directly and indirectly.
• Meaning: apologise for
• Sentence: The President has apologised for his behaviour, but many people are unwilling to accept that and feel that he should resign.
• Meaning: tolerate
• Sentence: Go and report to the head teacher immediately. I’m not standing for this sort of behaviour in my classroom any longer. I simply will not tolerate your appalling behaviour.
• Meaning: Improve
• Sentence: Terry can be a real nuisance in class, but I must say his behaviour has improved a lot recently.
• Meaning: Explain
• Sentence: How do you explain her behaviour at the party last night? She was rude to almost everybody she talked to, which isn’t like her. I’m certainly baffled by her behaviour.
• Meaning: Criticise
• Sentence: I don’t know why you’re criticizing my behaviour! You’re not exactly perfect yourself.

3. ‘Behaviour’ as a noun

• Meaning: pattern
• Sentence: All psychological disorders are a pattern of behavioral, emotional, and mental dysfunction that manifests over some time.

4. ‘Behaviour’ as a preposition

• Meaning: towards
• Sentence: His behavior towards his in-laws has always been loving and respectful.

5. ‘Behaviour’ as a phrase

• Meaning: behavior and attitudes, to be on your best behavior, standards of behavior, a code of behavior
• Sentence: At the school assembly, the students were asked to double-check whether their shoes are polished, and uniforms are tidied or not. They were warned to be on their best behavior in front of the Principal and the Vice-Principal.