2.3 Collocations, Confusing Words & False Friends

2.3 Collocations, Confusing Words & False Friends

A collocation is a conventional combination such as make a decision or meet a deadline. Context, word class, and meaning help distinguish similar words; avoid assuming that a more formal word is automatically the right answer.

High-Stakes Business Verb-Noun Collocations

A collocation is a pairing or group of words that habitually co-occur through established convention. In business English, verbs cannot be swapped freely with theoretical synonyms. For instance, while an executive can make a profit, they cannot do a profit; conduct an audit or carry out an audit are safer general choices than the less usual make an audit.

  Core Verb             Standard Business Collocations
  ┌─────────┐  ──────>  a decision, a profit, an investment, a recommendation, redundant
  │  MAKE   │
  └─────────┘
  ┌─────────┐  ──────>  business, research, an audit, a feasibility study, one's best
  │   DO    │
  └─────────┘
  ┌─────────┐  ──────>  a survey, an audit, negotiations, an investigation, reviews
  │ CONDUCT │
  └─────────┘

1. The "Make" vs. "Do" Business Framework

• Use MAKE for producing, generating, deciding, or creating a tangible result:
  • make a decision / make a choice (decide)
  • make a profit / make a loss (financial outcome)
  • make an investment (commit capital)
  • make an inquiry / make an appointment (initiate communication)
  • make a recommendation / make a proposal (offer formal input)
  • make someone redundant (terminate a position)
• Use DO for activities, processes, duties, and recurring tasks:
  • do business with someone (engage in commercial transactions)
  • do market research / do due diligence (conduct investigation)
  • do an audit / do an inspection (perform evaluation; note that conduct is preferred in formal registers)
  • do someone a favor (assist)
  • do damage / do harm (produce an adverse effect)

2. High-Frequency Executive Collocations

• Conduct (or Carry out): The formal standard verb paired with systematic procedures. Collocates with: an audit, a survey, an inspection, an appraisal, negotiations, research, interviews. Practice: Use conduct or carry out in a formal report; do a survey and do an audit are also possible in ordinary English.
• Reach (or Arrive at): Used when bringing negotiations or deliberations to a successful conclusion. Collocates with: an agreement, a consensus, a compromise, a verdict, a settlement. Trap: Non-native speakers often erroneously use "win an agreement" or "touch a consensus".
• Meet: Used when fulfilling standards, deadlines, or expectations. Collocates with: a deadline, sales targets, customer expectations, regulatory criteria, budget specifications. Trap: Avoid substituting "satisfy a deadline" (one satisfies requirements, but meets a deadline).
• Take: Used when initiating proactive institutional action. Collocates with: steps, measures, precautions, minutes (during a meeting), into account, into consideration. Trap: The phrase is "take steps to resolve", never "make steps" or "do steps".
• Draw up: Used when drafting formal legal, financial, or strategic documents. Collocates with: a contract, an agreement, a proposal, guidelines, an agenda, a shortlist. Practice: Draw up a contract is a useful conventional phrase; write up a contract is also possible.

Business Collocation Reference Matrix

---

Easily Confused Word Pairs & Paronyms

Similar-looking words can belong to different word classes or carry different meanings. Check which distinction the sentence actually requires.

1. Affect vs. Effect

In their usual unstressed pronunciations, these words can sound alike; the sentence structure helps distinguish them.

• Affect (usually a Verb): To influence, produce a change in, or impact. Example: "Rising interest rates directly affect our borrowing costs."
• Effect (usually a Noun): The result, outcome, consequence, or impact. Example: "The new tax policy had an immediate effect on corporate profitability."
• The Executive Exception (Effect as a Verb): In formal corporate or legal prose, effect can function as a transitive verb meaning to bring about, cause, or execute (always followed by nouns like change, reforms, or recovery). Example: "The new managing director was brought in to effect sweeping structural reforms across the enterprise."

2. Economic vs. Economical

Both words are adjectives derived from the noun economy, but their functional applications differ radically.

• Economic: Pertains to the macro-economy, finance, industry, or the trade system. Collocates with: growth, policy, indicators, crisis, zone, development. Example: "The central bank monitors key economic indicators before adjusting lending rates."
• Economical: Means cost-effective, thrifty, fuel-efficient, or avoiding waste. Collocates with: vehicle, solution, method, alternative, use of resources. Example: "Switching to hybrid commercial delivery vans proved to be an economical operational decision."

3. Sensitive vs. Sensible

These adjectives represent a notorious pitfall for speakers of Romance languages, where cognates can have different meanings from their English counterparts.

• Sensitive: Delicate, easily influenced, responsive to stimuli, or confidential. Example: "The human resources director handles highly sensitive employee compensation records."
• Sensible: Practical, displaying sound judgment, reasonable, and grounded in common sense. Example: "Given the volatile market conditions, maintaining a cash reserve is a sensible financial strategy."

4. Lose vs. Loose

• Lose (Verb, rhyming with choose): To misplace, suffer the loss of, or fail to retain. Example: "If we fail to meet the delivery deadline, we will lose our most lucrative corporate account." Past tense: lost; Participle: lost.
• Loose (Adjective, rhyming with goose): Not firmly fastened, untied, slack, or lacking precision. Example: "The auditor noted that loose internal controls allowed unauthorized expense reimbursements."

5. Complement vs. Compliment

• Complement (Verb / Noun): To balance, complete, or enhance something by adding what is missing. Example: "The software engineer's analytical skills perfectly complement the designer's creative vision."
• Compliment (Verb / Noun): To express praise, admiration, or congratulation. The related adjective complimentary can mean praising or supplied free of charge, depending on context. Example: "The regional director complimented the sales division on exceeding their annual revenue quotas." Example: "Hotel guests receive complimentary shuttle transportation to the convention center."

6. Lay vs. Lie

Understanding the transitivity of these two verbs eliminates costly errors on sentence-completion tasks.

• Lay (Transitive — requires a direct object): To place or set something down flat. (Principal parts: lay, laid, laid, laying). Example: "Please lay the signed contracts on my desk before departing this evening."
• Lie (Intransitive — NEVER takes a direct object): To recline, be situated, or exist in a horizontal state. (Principal parts: lie, lay, lain, lying). Example: "The company's primary competitive advantages lie in its patented proprietary algorithms."

---

Prepositional Collocations with Verbs and Adjectives

Some meanings require a particular preposition: comply with a rule, rely on a colleague. Other prepositions may be possible with a different meaning or construction, so learn the entire phrase.

Verbs with Dependent Prepositions

Adjectives with Dependent Prepositions

---

False Friends (Faux Amis) for International Test-Takers

A false friend resembles a word in another language but has a different meaning in at least one context. The examples below compare common French and Spanish associations; these are learning cautions rather than claims about official distractor design.

  Deceptive Word        What Test-Takers Assume         What It ACTUALLY Means in English
  ┌──────────────┐      ┌─────────────────────────┐     ┌────────────────────────────────┐
  │   ACTUALLY   │ ──>  │ "Currently / Right now" │ ──> │ "In fact / In reality / Truly" │
  └──────────────┘      └─────────────────────────┘     └────────────────────────────────┘
  ┌──────────────┐      ┌─────────────────────────┐     ┌────────────────────────────────┐
  │  EVENTUALLY  │ ──>  │ "Possibly / Potentially"│ ──> │ "In the end / After some time" │
  └──────────────┘      └─────────────────────────┘     └────────────────────────────────┘

False Friends Diagnostic Table