Reason Collocation for IELTS: A List to Boost Your Score

Prity Mallick

8 min read

Updated On Oct 06, 2025

Enhance your writing and speaking skills using advanced reason collocations for IELTS. Understand meanings, explore examples, and complete engaging exercises to expand vocabulary and achieve greater fluency and accuracy for a high IELTS band score.

Lists of Reason Collocations for IELTS to Boost Your Score
Notes
Reason Collocation for IELTS: Practice Exercises
Answer Keys for Practice Exercises Reason Collocations

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In IELTS Writing and Speaking, the word ‘reason’ plays a crucial role when you are asked to explain causes, justify opinions, or describe motivations. So, whether you are writing ‘The main reason for pollution is industrial waste’, or saying, “I can’t see any reason to disagree…”, using reason collocations for IELTS shows a high level of lexical precision.

Therefore, in this blog, we will explore different reason collocations with advanced vocabulary word lists for IELTS, categorized into verbs, adjectives, and other useful combinations, to help you enrich your vocabulary.

Lists of Reason Collocations for IELTS to Boost Your Score

Many IELTS learners rely on basic phrases like ‘the reason is because’ or ‘for many reasons’. However, these can sound repetitive or even grammatically incorrect. To sound natural and academic, you need to know common verbs, adjectives, and expression-based reason collocations.

Therefore, we will explore lists of different reason collocations for IELTS in the tables below for a better IELTS vocabulary score. Each table will have the meanings and original example sentences for the specific collocation.

Verb + Reason Collocations

These reason collocations are essential for explaining or identifying causes in IELTS Writing and Speaking.

Verb + Reason	Meaning	Example Sentence
Explain a reason	to describe why something happens	It’s difficult to explain the reason behind this economic shift.
Give a reason	to provide justification or cause	The writer gives several reasons for supporting public transport.
Know the reason	to be aware of the cause	No one knows the real reason for his sudden resignation.
Have a reason	to possess a motive or justification	People have good reasons for choosing online education.
Understand a reason	to grasp the cause or motivation	I can understand the reason why students prefer to study abroad.
See a reason	to find justification or logic	I don’t see any reason to delay the project.
State a reason	to express the cause clearly	Candidates should state the reasons for their answers in Writing Task 2.
Find a reason	to identify or discover why something happened	Scientists are trying to find the reason for the rise in global temperatures.
Provide a reason	to supply justification	The company provided reasons for the delay in product delivery.
Search for a reason	to look for an explanation	Psychologists often search for reasons behind human behavior.

Common Adjective + Reason Collocations

Adjectives with ‘reason’ help describe the type, strength, or clarity of a cause. These are particularly helpful for academic writing and discussion questions in IELTS Speaking Part 3.

Adjective + Reason	Meaning	Example Sentence
Apparent reason	an obvious or visible cause	There was no apparent reason for the sudden drop in sales.
Particular reason	a specific or distinct cause	I don’t have any particular reason for choosing that brand.
Sentimental reason	an emotional cause	Some people keep old belongings for sentimental reasons.
Main reason	the most important cause	The main reason for urban pollution is the overuse of private vehicles.
Simple reason	a clear and uncomplicated cause	He failed the test for the simple reason that he didn’t prepare.
Valid reason	a logical and acceptable cause	There’s no valid reason to reject renewable energy investment.
Good reason	a strong or fair justification	Governments have good reasons to limit smoking in public places.
Clear reason	a reason that is easy to understand	There is no clear reason why unemployment rates remain high.
Obvious reason	a reason that is easily noticed	For obvious reasons, people avoid travelling during storms.
Logical reason	a cause based on rational thinking	A logical reason for the delay could be funding issues.

Common Expressions with ‘Reason’

These are everyday patterns that you can use flexibly in both spoken and written English, especially when explaining or justifying an argument in IELTS.

Expression	Meaning	Example Sentence
The reason for	used to explain the cause of something	The reason for this trend lies in rapid technological development.
The reason why	used to specify a cause	The reason why people migrate is often linked to better opportunities.
For this/that reason	used to connect cause and effect	For that reason, governments should invest more in education.
For some reason	used when the cause is unclear or unknown	For some reason, the results were lower than expected.
Without reason	without any justification	You shouldn’t blame others without reason.
With good reason	rightly or justifiably	Many people fear AI automation, and with good reason.
For no apparent reason	when something happens unexpectedly	The internet connection stopped working for no apparent reason.
Have every reason to	to be fully justified in doing something	Students have every reason to demand better facilities.
No reason to	no cause or justification	There’s no reason to panic about minor issues.
A reason to believe	grounds or justification for assuming something	There’s reason to believe that climate change is accelerating.

Prepositional and Common Phrase Collocations

These structures are frequently used in IELTS Writing Task 2 essays to show cause-and-effect or logical reasoning.

Collocation	Meaning	Example Sentence
For a reason	for a specific cause	Every law exists for a reason — to maintain social order.
To reason with someone	to try to persuade through logic	Teachers often try to reason with students instead of punishing them.
By reason of	because of (formal)	He was exempted from service by reason of poor health.
Reason behind	the underlying cause	The reason behind rising costs is inflation.
Reason out	to think through logically	Scientists reasoned out the process behind genetic mutation.
Good reason for concern	valid cause for worry	There is good reason for concern about global warming.
Reason enough	sufficient justification	That’s reason enough to support stricter environmental laws.

Notes

When you can’t explain something, you can use these expressions:
- For some reason, I just didn’t like him.
- For some unaccountable reason, my letter of application never arrived at the office.
- For some obscure reason, he keeps his money in his left shoe.
- He’s desperately ill, but for some perverse reason he refuses to see a doctor.
Note these types of reason:
- She wants to change her job for purely personal reasons.
- The man cannot be named for legal reasons.
- There’s no compelling reason to act. (really important)
Note the following expressions:
- For obvious reasons we have changed the names of the people in the article.
- The building has been closed for reasons of public safety.
- Due to reasons beyond our control, the 4.15 flight to Edinburgh has been cancelled.
- For reasons best known to herself, she gave up her job and left town.
- Why do you ignore him? => I have my reasons. (which I’m not telling you.)

Reason Collocation for IELTS: Practice Exercises

To improve your understanding and usage of the reason collocations, which are essential for the IELTS exam, we are providing you with an opportunity to work through several exercises that are presented below.

Exercise A: Use the correct form of these verbs. Then underline the verb collocations.

explain	give	know
have	understand	see

Mel and Frank______every reason to be unhappy. He lost his job last year and now she’s been told she might lose hers!
I______no reason for us to depart from our usual practices in this hospital. We will treat the Prime Minister just like any other patient.
I could______you any number of reasons for not going to Elizabeth’s party. But just tell her that I’m not feeling very well.
I’d like to______the reason why you’re so late.
He died suddenly at the age of 21 and the doctors are at a loss to______the reason for his sudden death. A second autopsy will have to be held.
I don’t______the reason why computers can’t repair themselves. I would have thought someone could write a program.

Exercise B: Use the following adjectives in these sentences.

apparent	particular	sentimental
main	simple	valid

Our son isn’t going to university for the______reason that he can’t afford it. And neither can we.
Why do you want to know her name? > Oh, no______reason. I was just wondering.
She kept all her late husband’s letters and diaries for______reasons. They reminded her of all the good times that they had together.
Do you have a______reason for being absent from work or did you just take a day off?
For no______reason, the man opposite me in the train suddenly got up and started screaming and shouting. I think he must have been ill.
The Guardian may be left-wing, but that’s not why I buy it. The______reason I read it is because it reports places that other papers don’t.

Exercise C: Complete the sentences with these words.

for

why

The wonderful weather in the winter is our main reason______choosing to live in Portugal.
There’s no earthly reason______you should feel guilty. The accident had nothing to do with you.
There’s no reason______be concerned. He has a temperature, but he’ll be fine in the morning.
There’s no rhyme or reason______her behaviour. One day she’s nice, the next she’s really nasty.
I expect there’s some good reason______them not turning up. I’m sure they’ll phone.
There’s no reason______we shouldn’t win. We have the best players and they’re on top form.
Sue had every reason______be angry. Jerry shouldn’t have taken her car without her permission.

Answer Keys for Practice Exercises Reason Collocations

Ex A:

have
see
give
know
explain
understand

Ex B:

simple
particular
sentimental
valid
apparent
main

Ex C:

To conclude, mastering reason collocations for the IELTS exam is key to expressing your ideas clearly, logically, and fluently in the exam. Whether you are writing an essay about the reasons for climate change or speaking about the reasons behind your career choice, the right collocations can elevate your language and make your responses sound more natural and academic. So next time, instead of saying “because of this,” try “for this reason” or “there’s every reason to believe…”, and you will sound like a confident Band 8+ candidate.

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