Area Collocation for IELTS: A List to Boost Your Score

Kasturika Samanta

8 min read

Updated On Oct 16, 2025

Explore area collocations for IELTS band 9 to elevate your performance! Learn precise meanings, check practical examples, and try vocabulary-building activities to refine your writing, enrich your speech, and move closer to your dream IELTS band score.

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

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The word ‘area’ is very simple yet incredibly versatile in English. From describing geographical spaces (rural areas) to academic fields (area of study), it appears across IELTS Writing and Speaking tasks. Candidates who use ‘area’ accurately with the right verbs, adjectives, and prepositions demonstrate advanced lexical resource and contextual awareness, both of which are crucial for achieving Band 7.0 and above. Therefore, learning area collocations for IELTS along with their correct usage is essential.

This blog explores the most common and high-scoring verb + area, adjective + area, and phrases with prepositions, as well as special area collocations with their meanings and examples, followed by a wide range of exercises.

Lists of Area Collocations for IELTS to Boost Your Score

In the Writing Task 2, you might discuss urban areas and rural areas while describing housing or transport issues. In the speaking module, you might describe the area you live in or a tourist area you visited. Hence, mastering area collocations for IELTS enables you to sound natural, academic, and fluent simultaneously.

Therefore, we will explore lists of the top important collocations for IELTS related to area collocations in the tables below. Each table will have the meanings and example sentences for the specific collocation of ‘area’.

Verb + Area Collocations

Certain verbs naturally combine with ‘area’ to describe actions related to development, management, knowledge, or tourism. These are especially useful for IELTS essays on the environment, urbanization, or safety.

Verb + Area	Meaning	Example Sentence
Avoid an area	stay away from a particular place	Residents were advised to avoid the area during the flood.
Cover an area	extend over a particular space	The new metro system covers a large area of the city.
Develop an area	improve or modernize a region	The government aims to develop rural areas through better infrastructure.
Destroy an area	cause serious damage to a place	The wildfire completely destroyed the forest area.
Know an area	be familiar with a place	Local guides know the area better than anyone else.
Police an area	maintain law and order	Authorities police the area strictly to prevent crime.
Tour an area	visit a place as a tourist	We spent two days touring the area around the lake.
Protect an area	preserve it from harm	Environmentalists are working to protect forest areas.
Survey an area	examine or map a region	Scientists surveyed the area before beginning construction.

Area Collocations with Prepositions

The word ‘area’ forms common prepositional phrases used to describe position, movement, or relation. Mastering these helps with Writing Task 1 (describing maps or processes) and IELTS Speaking Part 2 (describing locations).

Preposition Phrase	Meaning	Example Sentence
To the area	movement toward a region	Many immigrants have recently moved to the area for work.
In the area	located within a region	There are several hospitals in the area.
In this area	refers to a specific region	The government plans to invest in this area of research.
Off the area	just outside or beyond a zone	There are some small islands off the coastal area.
Outside the area	beyond a specific region	Police set up checkpoints outside the area.
From the area	originating from a region	Most of the volunteers from the area helped during the flood.
Into the area	moving inside a region	Tourists poured into the area during the festival.
Over the area	spread or extend across	Heavy rain fell over the entire area.

Common Adjective + Area Collocations

Adjectives give ‘area’ a specific quality or characteristic. Using them appropriately can elevate your vocabulary range in both academic and descriptive contexts.

Adjective + Area	Meaning	Example Sentence
Built-up area	urban or developed region	Cars are restricted in built-up areas to reduce pollution.
Deprived area	region lacking resources or wealth	Education programs often focus on deprived areas.
Disaster area	place affected by a natural calamity	The earthquake turned the city into a disaster area.
Immediate area	surrounding zone close by	The immediate area was evacuated after the explosion.
Remote area	faraway or isolated region	Many remote areas still lack proper healthcare facilities.
Restricted area	area with limited access	Only authorized personnel can enter restricted areas.
Rural area	countryside region	Rural areas are often dependent on agriculture.
Surrounding area	nearby regions	The surrounding area of the park is filled with small cafés.
Urban area	city or metropolitan region	Population density is higher in urban areas.
Residential area	neighborhood where people live	Noise levels should be low in residential areas.

Special ‘Area’ Collocations

In everyday English, ‘area’ is also used in set phrases to describe designated zones or spaces. These are especially useful for IELTS Speaking Part 1 or Part 2 topics like travel, work, or leisure.

Special Area Collocation	Meaning	Example Sentence
Baggage reclaim area	zone in an airport for collecting luggage	After landing, we went straight to the baggage reclaim area.
Picnic area	designated place for eating outdoors	There’s a beautiful picnic area by the lake.
Play area	space for children’s recreation	The new park includes a play area for kids.
No-smoking area	zone where smoking is prohibited	Please move to the no-smoking area before lighting up.
Reception area	lobby or front desk space	Visitors should wait in the reception area.
Special area	unique or designated purpose zone	A special area has been reserved for cultural performances.
Parking area	place for vehicles	The hotel provides a large parking area for guests.
Dining area	space for eating meals	The dining area overlooks the garden.

Area Collocation for IELTS: Practice Exercises

In order to enhance your comprehension and use of the area collocations for the IELTS exam, we have given some exercises below that you have to solve.

Exercise A: Use the correct form of these verbs.

avoid cover develop destroy

know police tour

I’m sorry I don’t know where the high school is. Ask Jane. She ___________ the local area very well.
Buxton is very central and it makes an ideal base for ___________ the area.
The National Park ___________ an area of some 2000 square kilometres.
Following the rise in crime, there are calls for more money to be spent on ___________ the area.
Heathrow does its best to make sure planes ___________ flying over residential areas at night.
The introduction of a good public transport system is essential for___________ that area of South Africa.
Fires have ___________ huge areas of forest around Sydney for the second year running.

Exercise B: Complete the sentences with the following.

to in (x2) off outside

from into over

A lot of new people have moved___________ this area recently. It’s meant a big rise in house prices.
Wreckage from the crashed plane was scattered ___________ a wide area.
When an old Second World War bomb was discovered in a field, the police cordoned___________ the area with tape. People couldn’t go back to their houses till it was made safe.
I know someone who has a house in a very select area of the city, but he chooses to live ___________ one of the most run-down areas of town!
A man answering the suspect’s description was seen ___________ the area on the night of the crime.
The government is desperately trying to attract industry___________ this area.
Thousands of refugees are fleeing ___________ the war- torn area.
Although the murders were all in and around Manchester, we know from his Welsh accent that the murderer comes from ___________ the area.

Exercise C: Use these adjectives to complete the sentences.

built-up deprived disaster immediate

remote restricted rural surrounding

The new scheme will provide special help to poor people living in___________ areas.
The all-day tour takes in Naples and the ___________ area.
There are no leisure facilities in the ___________ area, so we have to travel across town to the nearest swimming pool.
The village is in a ___________ area of the island, accessible only by helicopter or boat.
I received a £100 fine for speeding in a ___________ area.
I’m sorry, I must ask you to leave. This is a ___________ area – you need a pass to enter.
Following the earthquake, aid is being rushed to the ___________ area.
Bus services in urban areas are excellent, but in ___________ areas they are not so good.

Exercise D: Use these words to complete the sentences.

baggage reclaim picnic play

no-smoking reception special

There’s a __________ area at most airports where you can watch aircraft taking off and landing.
Visitors should wait in the__________ area until met by an attendant.
All restaurants should have a __________ area.
Animals are not allowed in the children’s__________ area.
Please remove all litter from the__________ area when you leave.
We had to wait a long time in the__________ area for our luggage to arrive.

Area Collocations Answer Keys for Practice Exercises

Ex A:

knows 2. touring 3. covers 4. policing 5. avoid 6. developing 7. destroyed

Ex B:

l into 2. over 3. off 4. in

5 in 6. to 7. from 8. outside

Ex C:

1 deprived 2. surrounding 3. immediate 4. remote

5 built-up 6. restricted 7. disaster 8. rural

Ex D:

1 special 2. reception 3. no-smoking 4. play

5 picnic 6. baggage reclaim

To conclude, whether you are discussing urban development, social problems, or your neighborhood, area collocations will help you express ideas precisely and naturally. Therefore, master these collocations not only to improve your IELTS band score but also to write and speak with greater accuracy and confidence.

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