Collocations and Useful Expressions for PTE Academic

These vocabulary flashcards provide a comprehensive review of academic collocations, verbs, and idiomatic expressions found in the PTE Academic Test preparation materials. They cover themes ranging from social behavior and professional skills to descriptive terminology for growth, quality, and difficulty.

A good/great deal of

A large quantity of time, money, or work; used only with uncountable nouns that are not plural.

Quality

1. The standard of how good or bad something is. 2. A characteristic or feature of something.

Decisive factor / Determining criterion

A key element or standard that strongly influences a result or success.

Highly beneficial / Advantageous

Something that provides a significant positive effect or advantage, particularly to health or the environment.

Undertake a heavy/major/basic/onerous responsibility

To accept or commit to a task that involves significant effort or is difficult to carry out.

Deprive s.b. of s.th.

To take something away from someone or prevent them from having something, such as a normal home life.

Compel s.b. to do s.th.

To force someone to perform an action, such as work at an early age.

Prone to

Having a tendency or inclination toward something, often something negative like eating junk food.

Acquainted with

Being familiar with someone or something, such as classical literature.

Amenities

Basic things or local facilities that people need, such as shops and services in a city center.

Confer

To give or grant a title, degree, or honor upon someone.

Eke out a living/existence

To manage to live with very little money or food.

Rocket from… to…

To increase very rapidly, such as sales jumping from $180$ to $2000$ in a year.

Rationale

The underlying reason or logic for using a specific method or action.

Dichotomy

A division or contrast between two things that are represented as being opposed or entirely different.

Come to/reach fruition

The point at which a project or plan is successfully completed.

Graft onto

To add something very different to an existing thing so that it becomes part of it.

Come to terms with

To accept an unpleasant or sad situation and no longer feel upset about it.

Grips/Gripped by

To have a strong and often negative effect on a person or place.

Inextricably linked/bound up

Connected in a way that is impossible to separate.

Entails

To involve something as a necessary part or consequence, or to cause it.

Ward off

To take action to protect oneself from something bad or harmful.

Rein in

To start to control a situation, such as public expenditure, more strictly.

Attuned to

Being familiar with or responsive to the way someone thinks or behaves.

Team up with

To join with another person or group to work on a specific task.

Put up with

To tolerate or endure an unpleasant situation or behavior.

Lavish (adjective)

Something that is large, impressive, expensive, or generous in scale.

Incentive

Something that motivates or encourages someone to improve a skill or learn.

Pontificate

To give an opinion in a way that suggests one is always right.

Notable for

Famous or well-known for a particular quality or feature.

Distaste for

A feeling that someone or something is unpleasant or morally offensive.

Petrified with fear/fright

Extremely frightened to the point of being unable to move or think.

Stand the test of time

To remain popular, relevant, or successful over a long period.

Culmination

Something that happens at the end of a long period of effort or development.

Redouble effort

To greatly increase the amount of work or energy being put toward a goal.

Averse to

Unwilling to do something or having a strong dislike for it.

High caliber

Being of high quality or standard.

At the expense of

Performing an action that harms or negatively impacts someone or something else.

Pillar of strength/society

A person or thing that provides essential support or is a fundamental part of the community.

Head off

To prevent an event or conflict from happening.

Benefit of hindsight

The ability to understand a situation only after it has already occurred.

Steeped in

Having a lot of a particular quality or being deeply influenced by something like history or tradition.

Fall short of

To fail to reach a satisfactory standard or unexpected level.

Research into/on

A serious and systematic study of a subject, such as the causes of a disease.

Geared to

Organized or designed in a way that is suitable for a particular purpose or group.

Alleviate

To make something such as a problem, situation, or suffering less painful or difficult.

Come about

To happen, especially in an unplanned or accidental way.