Suggestion Collocation for IELTS: A List to Boost Your Score

Kasturika Samanta

7 min read

Updated On Sep 26, 2025

Improve writing and speaking with advanced suggestion collocations for IELTS. You can learn meanings, find examples, and engage in practice activities specifically designed to enhance your vocabulary and overall coherence for an IELTS high band score.

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

Limited-Time Offer : Access a FREE 10-Day IELTS Study Plan!

The word ‘suggestion’ is especially useful in IELTS because it appears in Speaking (when giving ideas or advice), Writing Task 2 (when proposing solutions), and even Reading/Listening texts (where suggestions or recommendations are discussed). As a result, learning the contextual usage and suggestion collocations for IELTS is important to boost your advanced vocabulary word list for IELTS as well as your band score.

In this blog, we will explore suggestion collocations for IELTS, divided into three key categories with meaning and examples.

Lists of Suggestions Collocations for IELTS to Boost Your Score

Instead of overusing the word ‘idea’ or ‘advice’, using suggestion collocations sounds natural and academic. However, using them correctly is what makes the difference by making your responses more fluent and professional. Thus, the following tables will provide various suggestion collocations for IELTS, along with their usage examples.

Verb + Suggestion

These collocations describe the actions people take with suggestions - making, accepting, or rejecting them.

Verb + Suggestion	Meaning	Example Sentence
Make a suggestion	put forward an idea	The manager made a suggestion to reduce working hours.
Have a suggestion	possess or propose an idea	I have a suggestion for improving your IELTS Speaking practice.
Agree to a suggestion	accept the proposed idea	The committee agreed to the suggestion of increasing the budget.
Reject a suggestion	refuse to accept	The government rejected the suggestion to lower the voting age.
Ignore a suggestion	pay no attention	He ignored her suggestion about joining a language course.
Welcome a suggestion	accept happily	The teacher welcomed the student’s suggestion of extra practice tests.
Follow a suggestion	act according to advice	Many students follow the examiner’s suggestion to plan essays first.
Act on a suggestion	put a suggestion into practice	The school acted on the parents’ suggestion to improve facilities.

Common Adjective + Suggestion

Adjectives help describe the quality, type, or seriousness of a suggestion.

Adjective + Suggestion	Meaning	Example Sentence
Better suggestion	a more suitable idea	Her better suggestion was to take a direct flight instead of connecting ones.
Tentative suggestion	a cautious, uncertain idea	He made a tentative suggestion to hold the meeting next week.
Bizarre suggestion	a strange or unusual idea	It seemed like a bizarre suggestion, but it worked in practice.
Best suggestion	the most suitable idea	The best suggestion was to review sample IELTS essays.
Serious suggestion	an important, significant idea	We need serious suggestions to solve global warming.
Useful suggestion	a practical and helpful idea	She gave me a useful suggestion on how to expand vocabulary.
Reasonable suggestion	a logical and fair idea	It was a reasonable suggestion to revise before the test.
Practical suggestion	a suggestion that can realistically work	The speaker gave practical suggestions for improving time management.

Common Expressions with ‘Suggestion’

These fixed or semi-fixed expressions often appear in spoken and written English, making them excellent for the IELTS exam.

Expression	Meaning	Example Sentence
At someone’s suggestion	because of their advice	At the teacher’s suggestion, I joined an IELTS preparation class.
Take up a suggestion	decide to follow advice	She took up her friend’s suggestion and practised speaking daily.
Drop a suggestion	casually mention an idea	He dropped a suggestion about organising a debate competition.
Open to suggestions	willing to hear advice	I am open to suggestions on how to improve my IELTS Listening score.
Accept a suggestion	agree with advice	The committee accepted the suggestion to extend the deadline.
Make constructive suggestions	give positive, helpful feedback	Examiners often make constructive suggestions in the feedback session.
Act upon a suggestion	carry out the proposed idea	The university acted upon the suggestion to increase scholarships.

Notes

Note the difference in meaning between the two underlined expressions:
- I have a few favourite dishes that I tend to order but I’m always open to new suggestions. (I am willing to try something new.)
- I am a good listener and I’m always open to suggestion.(I am willing to listen to and to consider other people’s suggestions.)
Note the following ways of rejecting suggestions:
- I don’t think my boss values me at all. He knocks every suggestion I make.
- Well, your suggestion that we take a cut in salary to help the company went down like a lead balloon.
- My suggestion was dismissed out of hand. It was given no thought or consideration at all.
- I shall treat that suggestion with the contempt it deserves.
If there is ‘a suggestion of something’, it means there is a suspicion or possibility that it is true:
- The police have denied any suggestion of involvement in the prisoner’s death.
- The company rejected any suggestion that it was to blame for the accident.

Suggestion Collocation for IELTS: Practice Exercises

Given are a few exercises that you will have to complete to assist you in improving your understanding and your ability to use suggestion collocations for IELTS.

Exercise A: Use the correct form of the verbs.

agree to have ignore

reject make welcome

Can I___________ a suggestion? Try turning the key in the opposite direction. I’m sure that’ll work.
Have you got a few minutes to spare? I ___________ a suggestion I want to put to you.
I know it’s not a good idea. I only___________ her suggestion in order not to upset her.
Please use the form provided to make any comments on your stay at our hotel. We would___________ any suggestions you have for improving our services to our customers.
You can ___________ my suggestion if you like, but do any of you have a better idea?
It may seem silly to suggest that we go back to the planning stage again, but I don’t think we should ___________ his suggestion without thinking seriously about it.

Exercise B: Use the following adjectives in these sentences.

better tentative bizarre

best serious useful

OK, the food isn’t that great, but it’s the only place I know that’s open. Have any of you got a___________ suggestion?
Why are you laughing? This is a perfectly ___________ suggestion!
I know this new plan is only ___________ at the moment, but I think we should take it seriously and adopt it.
The report contained no___________ suggestions on how to improve the company’s performance and profitability. What a waste of money!
A fancy-dress bike ride! What a ___________suggestion! Don’t we have any more sensible ways of raising money?
Sack the boss! Now that’s the___________ suggestion we’ve had all morning!

Exercise C: Divide the sentences below into two groups:

a / those describing good suggestions

b / those describing bad suggestions

To be perfectly honest, I think that suggestion is utterly ridiculous!
I was mocked for making such a stupid suggestion.
That’s the first sensible suggestion he’s made since he started working here.
That’s an excellent suggestion! Why didn’t I think of that myself!
What an absurd suggestion! Nobody will agree to that!
Thank you. That’s a very constructive suggestion.
Your suggestion is preposterous! Nobody can afford a 10% pay rise!
The suggestion that I have been having an affair with our secretary is outrageous! I’ve never heard anything like it!

Answer Keys for Practice Exercises Suggestion Collocations

Ex A: l. make 2. have 3. agreed to 4. welcome 5. ignore / reject 6. reject

Ex B: 1. better 2. serious 3. tentative 4. useful 5. bizarre 6. best

Ex C:

good suggestions = 3,4, 6

bad suggestions = 1, 2, 5, 7, 8

To sum up, we always need to suggest something to someone or take some advice, whether in an exam or in life. During those communications, using suggestion collocations allows you, especially as an IELTS candidate, to speak and write more naturally. So, master these collocations, and you can propose ideas clearly, respond politely, and express opinions effectively - all of which are key skills for achieving a higher IELTS band score.

Useful Links: