Collocations With "IDEA" in English

IDEA collocations

idea noun

¹ plan/suggestion

ADJ.

bright, brilliant, clever, excellent, good, great, marvellous | valuable, worthwhile | exciting, inspirational, interesting, stimulating | constructive, positive | creative, imaginative, innovative, original | wacky | big

The latest big idea is to make women more interested in sport.

| alternative

Group counselling is used as an alternative idea to punishment.

| fresh, new | absurd, bad, mistaken, ridiculous | crackpot, crazy, mad, outlandish, wild | half-baked | ambitious, big, grand

He joined the company as an office assistant with big ideas.

| grandiose | basic

The basic idea is that we all meet up in London.

VERB + IDEA

have

Do you have any ideas for a present for Lara?

| come up with, dream up, hit on/upon, produce, think up | draw, get

Her ideas are drawn mainly from Chinese art.

| contribute, input | moot, put forward | promote, push (forward), sell

They managed to push the idea of moving office through the committee.

| welcome

Most employees welcome the idea of a ban on smoking.

| consider, entertain, flirt with, toy with

I'm toying with the idea of packing in my job.

| mull over, turn over

He kept turning the idea of resigning over in his mind.

| encourage, generate

Brainstorming is a good way of generating ideas.

| stifle

a system of decision-making that stifles original ideas

| reject, scoff at, veto | test, try out | bounce around, bounce off sb, brainstorm, discuss, explore, talk about

I met up with a designer to bounce a few ideas around. It's useful to have someone to bounce ideas off.

| exchange, pool, share | give sb

What gave you the idea to go freelance?

| apply, implement, put into action/effect/practice

The idea had long been mooted but nothing had been done to put it into practice.

| transform, translate

How could we translate the idea into business reality?

| steal

She accused the company of stealing her idea.

| impose

She always tries to impose her own ideas on the rest of the team.

IDEA + VERB

come into sb's head/mind, come to sb, flash across/into sb's mind/brain, hit sb, occur to sb, pop into sb's head, strike sb

The idea for the invention came to him in the bath.

| emerge, evolve, form, grow

An idea began to form in his mind.

| flow

His ideas flowed faster than he could express them.

| come from sb/sth, date back from/to sth, originate, start, stem from sth

The idea for the Olympics originated with Pierre de Coubertin.

| blossom, work (out)

The idea has now blossomed into a successful mail-order business.

| lead

The idea eventually led to the invention of the telephone.

| come to nothing

PREP.

~ about

I have an idea about how to tackle the problem.

| ~ for

We were asked to suggest ideas for improving efficiency.

| ~ of

She had the idea of advertising on the Internet.

PHRASES

be open to ideas

I don't know what to do, but I'm open to ideas.

| the germ/glimmering of an idea

The germ of his idea came from watching a bird make a nest.

| have other ideas

I wanted to take the week off, but my boss had other ideas.

| it might be an idea

It might be an idea to leave a note on the door for Mark.

² thought/impression

ADJ.

clear, concrete, precise | abstract | theoretical | basic, rough, vague

He gave me a rough idea of what was wanted.

| key, main

The book introduces the key ideas of sociology.

| dominant | fixed, inflexible | preconceived | definite, firm, strong

She has very definite ideas about what kind of a job she wants.

| complex, difficult | simplistic | conventional | traditional | radical, revolutionary | contradictory | erroneous, false, wrong

I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea about me.

| funny, strange | utopian | romantic

People have a romantic idea of the police force.

| new-fangled | outdated | not the faintest/foggiest/remotest/slightest

(informal) I haven't got the faintest idea what she meant. | artistic, economic, intellectual, moral, musical, philosophical, political, scientific | fascist, feminist, nationalist, socialist

VERB + IDEA

get

They seem to have got the idea that we will be giving them a lift. You'll soon get the idea (= understand).

| espouse, have, hold

He holds very different ideas to mine about discipline.

| develop, form, shape

the experiences that shaped her ideas

| express | communicate, convey, get across, get over, present, put across

The book puts across complex ideas in a way anyone can understand.

| demonstrate, explain, expound, illustrate | clarify, formalize, formulate, organize, structure

Give careful thought to how to structure your ideas in the essay.

| change, reconsider, reshape, revise

They had to reconsider their ideas in the light of new evidence.

| accept | dismiss, reject | harbour

I hope he's not still harbouring ideas about asking me out.

| be obsessed with

He's obsessed with the idea of getting a motorbike.

| relish

I don't relish the idea of sharing an office with Tony.

IDEA + VERB

amuse sb, appeal to sb, please sb

The idea of going to his rescue amused her.

| catch on, take hold

Some students started wearing denim, and the idea caught on.

PREP.

~ about

She's got some funny ideas about how to motivate staff.

| ~ behind

The idea behind the ceremony is to keep the gods happy to ensure a good crop.

| ~ of

Swimming in an icy river is not my idea of fun.

What is a collocation?

A collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations (for example collocations with “IDEA”) just sound “right” to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations of “IDEA” may be unnatural and just sound “wrong”.

Using collocations list of “IDEA” improves your English, especially your English speaking skills, and increases your vocabulary words in English.

Why learn collocations with “IDEA”?

• When using collocations with “IDEA”, Your language will be more natural and more easily understood.
• You will have alternative and richer ways of expressing yourself.
• It is easier for our brains to remember and use language in chunks or blocks such as Common Collocations with “IDEA” rather than as single words ( IDEA | Translation, Meaning in Persian (Farsi) )

How to learn collocations with “IDEA”?

• Be aware of collocations with IDEA , and try to recognize them when you see or hear them.
• Treat collocations as single blocks of language. Think of them as individual blocks or chunks, and learn strongly support, not strongly + support.
• When you learn a new word ( e.g. IDEA | Translation, Meaning in Persian (Farsi) ), write down other words that collocate with it.
• Read as much as possible. Reading is an excellent way to learn vocabulary and collocations of “IDEA” in context and naturally.
• Revise what you learn regularly. Practice using new collocations with “IDEA” in context as soon as possible after learning them.
• Learn collocations with “IDEA” in groups that work for you. You could learn them by topic (time, number, weather, money, family) or by a particular word (take action, take a chance, take an exam).

Types of collocation with “IDEA”

• adverb + adjective: completely satisfied (NOT downright satisfied)
• adjective + noun: excruciating pain (NOT excruciating joy)
• noun + noun: a surge of anger (NOT a rush of anger)
• noun + verb: lions roar (NOT lions shout)
• verb + noun: commit suicide (NOT undertake suicide)
• verb + expression with preposition: burst into tears (NOT blow up in tears)
• verb + adverb: wave frantically (NOT wave feverishly)

Using Collocations of IDEA to Boost Your IELTS Score

The correct use of collocations of “IDEA” is an essential part of improving your English level and boosting your IELTS score. Using collocations + “IDEA” in sentence examples correctly allows you to write and speak more like a native speaker and they are also one of the things that examiners look out for when marking your tests.

IDEA Collocation Frequently Asked Questions

Why are IDEA collocations important? IDEA collocations are important because they make your language sound natural. If you master IDEA collocations, your English will be more idiomatic, that is, more similar to the way it is spoken by native speakers. It is acknowledged that knowledge of IDEA collocations helps to improve learners' language skills, enhance learners' communicative competence, and achieve native-like fluency.