1Complete with the verb that partners *an order*.
3Complete with the verb form, not the noun.
5Complete with the adjective meaning *still unpaid*.
7Complete with the transitive verb, not *rise*.
10Complete with the adjective meaning *provisional*.
TOEIC Part 5 vocabulary and collocation practice
B1Reading40 questionsUpdated
Around half of TOEIC Part 5 is vocabulary rather than grammar, and it is decided by collocation: you place an order, meet a deadline, issue a refund and reach an agreement, and no other verb will do. This page drills the partnerships that recur across invoices, HR notices and customer emails, together with the confusable pairs — advise and advice, rise and raise, affect and effect — that the test returns to again and again.
What this task tests
- Verb-noun collocations: place an order, meet a deadline, reach an agreement, issue a refund.
- Adjective-noun partnerships: competitive rates, prior approval, outstanding balance, tentative schedule.
- Confusable pairs by word class: advise and advice, practise and practice, effect and affect.
- Verbs confused by form: rise and raise, lie and lay, arise and arouse.
- Phrasal verbs common in offices: follow up, carry out, set up, call off, look into, take over.
- Near synonyms separated by register: ask and request, buy and procure, tell and notify.
- Words that share a root but not a meaning: economic and economical, respectful and respective.
- Quantifiers and their nouns: a number of, an amount of, plenty of, few and little.
- Business nouns with precise meanings: invoice, quote, receipt, statement, estimate.
- Recognising an item as vocabulary from its four unrelated options, so you know to read for meaning.
How to do it
- Step 1:
Check whether the options share a root
Four forms of one word means grammar; four unrelated words means vocabulary. The second kind needs the sentence read properly, and that is where your saved seconds should go.
- Step 2:
Read to the end of the sentence before choosing
Vocabulary items are often decided by the last three words. *The supplier agreed to ___ the defective units* is only settled by *at no charge*.
- Step 3:
Look for the noun that the gap belongs to
Collocation runs between a verb and its object. Find the object first — *a deadline*, *an order*, *a complaint* — and the verb that partners it usually arrives without effort.
- Step 4:
Use the word class to halve the options
Even in a vocabulary item, the slot may exclude two choices. *A(n) ___ balance* needs an adjective, so any noun in the list is gone before meaning is considered.
- Step 5:
Watch for negative and contrast signals
However, unfortunately, nevertheless and although flip the expected meaning. Candidates choose the positive option and miss the signal word sitting two clauses earlier.
- Step 6:
Trust collocation over translation
Several options may translate identically into your language while only one partners the noun in English. Learn the pair, not the single word.
- Step 7:
Keep a running list of pairs you get wrong
Vocabulary items are not derivable, so they repay memory rather than reasoning. Ten pairs a day, revisited, moves this part faster than any amount of general reading.
- Step 8:
Decide within thirty seconds
If the collocation is not known, it will not come. Eliminate on word class, choose, mark it, and keep the time for the passages.
- Step 9:
Read the item once more only if the answer felt wrong
A quick second look catches a missed negative. Anything beyond that is rereading a sentence you already understood, which is the most common way candidates lose the reading passages.
Mistakes that cost marks
Not this
Please advice us of any change of address.ThisPlease advise us of any change of address.
Advise is the verb and advice the uncountable noun. The same pattern separates practise from practice and licence from license in British usage; American English spells both practice.
Not this
The board decided to rise the annual fee.ThisThe board decided to raise the annual fee.
Raise takes an object; rise does not. Costs rise by themselves, but a company raises them.
Not this
The delay will effect the delivery date.ThisThe delay will affect the delivery date.
Affect is the verb, effect the noun. *Have an effect on* is the noun version of the same idea.
Not this
We would like to do an order for fifty units.ThisWe would like to place an order for fifty units.
Orders are placed, not done or made in this register. Collocation, not logic, decides the verb.
Not this
An economical forecast for the region was published.ThisAn economic forecast for the region was published.
Economic relates to the economy; economical means cheap to run. Same root, different job.
Not this
A large amount of applicants attended the fair.ThisA large number of applicants attended the fair.
Number goes with countable nouns, amount with uncountable ones. Applicants can be counted.
Not this
The client asked for a bill before ordering.ThisThe client asked for a quote before ordering.
A quote states a price in advance; an invoice or bill asks for payment afterwards. The test keeps these documents distinct.
Language this task keeps reusing
- place an order
- To formally ask a supplier for goods.
- meet a deadline
- To finish by the required date.
- issue a refund
- To give a customer their money back.
- reach an agreement
- To settle terms both sides accept.
- outstanding balance
- Money still owed on an account.
- prior approval
- Permission obtained in advance.
- competitive rates
- Prices comparable with or better than rivals'.
- tentative
- Provisional, not yet confirmed: a tentative schedule.
- carry out
- To perform or complete: carry out an inspection.
- call off
- To cancel: the visit was called off.
- look into
- To investigate: we'll look into the discrepancy.
- notify
- To inform formally: notify the tenant in writing.
- quote
- A stated price given before work or supply begins.
- estimate
- An approximate cost, which may change.
- streamline
- To make a process simpler and faster.
- waive
- To choose not to charge or enforce: the fee was waived.
Practice: incomplete sentences: vocabulary
40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.
12Complete with the noun meaning *a price stated in advance*.
14Complete with the adjective meaning *as good as or better than rivals'*.
16Explain the difference between *advise* and *advice*, and write one workplace sentence using each.
One good answer
Advise is the verb and advice the uncountable noun. Please advise us of the new delivery date. / Her advice on the contract saved us a month.
17Complete with one verb meaning *make simpler and faster*.
19Complete with the past participle of a verb meaning *chose not to charge*.
22Complete with the noun meaning *an approximate cost*.
24Complete with the past participle of the intransitive verb *rise*.
26Complete with one formal verb meaning *hand in*.
28Explain why *a number of complaints* is correct and *an amount of complaints* is not.
One good answer
Complaints are countable, and *number* goes with countable nouns. *Amount* is used with uncountable nouns such as work, paperwork or time.
29Complete with the past participle of *cover*.
31Complete with the noun meaning *a reduction in price*.
33Complete with one verb: *___ into* means *investigate*.
36Complete with the adjective meaning *due to be paid*.
38Write two sentences that show the difference between a *quote* and an *invoice*.
One good answer
The contractor sent a quote of $2,400 before starting the work. Once the job was finished, they sent an invoice for the same amount, payable in thirty days.
39Complete with the verb that partners *requirements*.
Note
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Frequently asked questions
How do I learn collocations efficiently?
Record them as pairs with the noun first — deadline: meet, extend, miss — so that seeing the noun in a test item brings the verb with it.
Do I need American spelling?
Use it in anything you write for the test: organize, center, program, traveled. The Reading section is written in American English throughout.
Are phrasal verbs really tested?
Frequently, and usually the everyday office ones: follow up, carry out, set up, call off, look into, take over. Learn them with a typical object attached.
How many words should I be learning?
A focused workplace list beats a long general one. Invoicing, shipping, HR, meetings and travel between them cover most of what the vocabulary items draw on.
What if I know the word but not the partner word?
Choose the option you have actually seen beside that noun. Familiarity with the pair is better evidence than reasoning about the meaning of each option separately.