4.2 Collocations and Phrasal Verbs for Part 4
Key Takeaways
- Collocations are natural word partnerships (make a mistake, go for a walk); Part 4 often tests exactly these pairs.
- Master high-frequency make/do contrasts and common free-time, school, and travel collocations at A2.
- Learn a small set of everyday phrasal verbs (look after, get up, turn off, put on, find out) with their objects and meanings.
- Study collocations in full chunks, not as isolated translations of single words.
- Use short mini-drills: delete the verb or particle from a sentence and recover it under time pressure.
4.2 Collocations and Phrasal Verbs for Part 4
Quick Answer: A collocation is a natural word pair or group (make a noise, go for a walk). A phrasal verb is a verb + particle with a special meaning (look after, turn off). Part 4 loves both. Learn them as chunks, practise them in gaps, and prefer the everyday partnership over a “logical” but unnatural synonym.
You can know the dictionary meaning of make and do and still miss Part 4 marks. Cambridge is checking whether your English sounds right at elementary level. This section is a practical word-partnership gym for that skill.
Why Chunks Beat Word Lists
| Weak study habit | Stronger habit for Part 4 |
|---|---|
| Memorise make = crear only | Memorise make a cake / a mistake / friends / a noise |
| Translate each option alone | Insert each option into the full sentence |
| Learn 50 rare words | Master 40 high-frequency pairs deeply |
| Study particles without objects | Learn turn off the light, look after my sister |
When a gap offers make / do / have, your brain should search for the object after the gap, not for a general translation of the verb.
Make vs Do (Highest-Value A2 Contrast)
| Use make for… | Examples |
|---|---|
| Creating / producing | make a cake, make a sandwich, make a film |
| Mistakes / noise / plans | make a mistake, make a noise, make a plan |
| Social results | make friends, make money |
| Causing a state (simple patterns) | make someone happy / sad (recognition level) |
| Use do for… | Examples |
|---|---|
| Work / tasks | do homework, do housework, do the shopping |
| Activities with do | do exercise, do sport (also play for many sports) |
| General actions | do something, do well / badly in a test |
| Jobs / duties | do the washing-up, do a job |
Mini-practice A (choose make or do)
- Please don’t _____ a noise—the baby is sleeping. → make
- I need to _____ my homework before dinner. → do
- She _____ a big mistake on question five. → made
- Can you _____ the shopping on your way home? → do
- They _____ friends easily at the new school. → make
If you miss these, drill them daily for one week before any full Reading mock.
Everyday Free-Time and Daily-Life Collocations
| Chunk | Meaning / use | Near-miss wrong partner |
|---|---|---|
| go for a walk | take a walk for pleasure | make a walk, do a walk |
| go shopping | activity of visiting shops | do shopping (possible in some dialects) vs exam-preferred go shopping / do the shopping for the task list |
| have a shower / bath | wash yourself | make a shower |
| have breakfast / lunch / dinner | eat a meal | take breakfast (less natural in many A2 materials) |
| take a photo | use a camera/phone | make a photo |
| take a bus / train | travel by that transport | drive a bus (only if you are the driver) |
| catch a bus | get on a bus in time | take also possible; watch options |
| miss a bus / lesson | arrive too late / not attend | lose a bus |
| spend time / money | use time or money | pass money for this meaning |
| tell a story / the truth | speak narrative or facts | say a story |
| say hello / sorry | short fixed speech acts | tell hello |
| play football / the guitar | sports / instruments | do football (sometimes heard; play is safer in options) |
| ride a bike / horse | sit on and control | drive a bike |
| watch TV / a film | look at a screen story | see TV as the activity |
| look at the board | direct eyes | watch the board can appear; match exact options |
Mini-practice B (complete the collocation)
- Let’s _____ for a walk after lunch. → go
- He _____ a photo of the castle. → took
- We usually _____ dinner at seven. → have
- Don’t _____ the bus—run! → miss
- She _____ a lot of time on her phone. → spends
School and Exam-Life Collocations
These appear in factual texts about students, courses, and projects:
| Chunk | Note |
|---|---|
| take an exam / a test | sit the paper |
| pass / fail an exam | result verbs |
| get a good mark / grade | result noun partners |
| do a project / an exercise | school tasks |
| make notes | write notes |
| pay attention | focus |
| learn by heart | memorise (recognition) |
| hand in homework | submit |
| break up (for holidays) | school term ends (phrasal; see below) |
Original mini-gap: Students must _____ in their projects on Friday. Options: hand / take / make → hand (hand in).
Common A2 Phrasal Verbs for Part 4
Learn meaning + typical object together.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| get up | leave bed | I get up at seven. |
| wake up | stop sleeping | She wakes up early. |
| go out | leave home for social/free time | They go out on Saturdays. |
| come back / go back | return | Come back before dark. |
| look after | take care of | He looks after his little brother. |
| look for | try to find | I’m looking for my keys. |
| look at | direct eyes to | Look at the map. |
| turn on / turn off | start / stop a machine or light | Turn off the lights. |
| put on / take off | dress / undress an item | Put on your coat. Take off your shoes. |
| pick up | lift; also collect someone | Pick up your bag. / Pick me up at 5. |
| find out | learn information | Find out what time it starts. |
| grow up | become an adult | She grew up in Spain. |
| give up | stop trying / stop a habit | Don’t give up! |
| fall over | lose balance and drop | He fell over on the ice. |
| sit down / stand up | change body position | Please sit down. |
Particle traps
| Wrong | Right |
|---|---|
| look after for my sister | look after my sister |
| turn off it (pronoun position can vary in teaching; at A2 prefer turn it off as a chunk) | turn it off / turn off the light |
| put on it (same idea) | put it on / put on your jacket |
| look my keys | look for my keys |
Worked Part 4-Style Lines (Original)
Line 1: Please _____ off your phones before the film starts.
Options: turn / take / go → turn (turn off).
Line 2: My neighbour _____ after our cat when we travel.
Options: looks / watches / sees → looks (look after).
Line 3: We usually _____ up at 6:30 on school days.
Options: get / go / make → get (get up).
Line 4: Can you _____ out what time the museum opens?
Options: find / look / take → find (find out).
Line 5: It’s cold—_____ on a warmer jumper.
Options: put / take / turn → put (put on).
Notice how wrong options are often real verbs that simply partner with other particles or objects.
How Part 4 Writers Build Options
Typical three-option sets:
- Correct collocation verb
- Common rival from make/do/have/take/get
- Topic-related verb that fails the object
Example: gap before a mistake → make / do / take. Only make is standard.
Another set: gap in interested ___ music → in / on / at. Here the “vocabulary” item is really a dependent preposition—still trained with chunks (interested in).
Weekly Practice Routine (20 minutes × 4 days)
| Day | Task |
|---|---|
| 1 | Copy 15 make/do sentences; cover verbs; rewrite from memory |
| 2 | Phrasal verb flash: particle side only; say full sentence aloud |
| 3 | Write a 90-word paragraph using 8 target chunks; gap them for a partner |
| 4 | Timed six-gap micro-text (original or homework-made) in 6 minutes |
Track errors in a “danger list.” If make a photo keeps appearing in your writing, circle it in red and replace with take a photo ten times in new sentences.
Transfer to Other Papers
- Writing Part 6: I’m writing to say… / How about going for a walk… / Please look after…
- Writing Part 7: story verbs—got up, put on, went out, fell over
- Listening: same chunks in short dialogues
- Speaking: fluency improves when you retrieve chunks, not word-by-word translations
Checklist: Are You Part-4 Ready on Vocabulary?
- I can list 10 make and 10 do collocations without notes
- I know at least 12 phrasal verbs with example objects
- I automatically check the noun after a verb gap
- I review a danger list of my personal wrong partners weekly
Collocations make Part 4 feel “easy.” Grammar-function words make Part 5 feel “easy.” Train both—next we open the open-cloze task itself.
Which sentence uses the most natural A2 collocation?
“Can you _____ after my little sister for an hour?” Which word correctly completes the phrasal verb?
Which pair is the best study method for Part 4 collocations?