Using Collocation to Boost Your IELTS Score - Keyword: Date

When preparing for the IELTS exam, learning collocations is essential to improve fluency and accuracy. One common yet versatile word in English is date. It appears frequently in both academic and everyday contexts, making it a useful keyword to expand your lexical resource for IELTS Writing and Speaking.

Below, you’ll find collocations with date categorized into Verb + Date, Adjective + Date, and Date + Preposition + Noun, along with examples, notes, and practice exercises.

Verb + Date

Understanding how verbs combine with date is crucial for expressing scheduling, postponing, or confirming events.

Practice Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of these verbs:
bring forward – confirm – delay – fix – change – make

1. We don’t have a date for our next meeting. We need to __________ one before we all leave today.
2. Can we __________ the date of our AGM? We said May 16th. Is that still all right with everyone?
3. The date of the wedding had to be __________ six months when Di discovered she was pregnant.
4. A series of strikes by construction workers has __________ the opening date of the new airport by six weeks.
5. Sorry we had to __________ the date of the meeting. So many of us couldn’t make the 14th that we really had no choice.
6. We both like opera, so why don’t we __________ a date to go and see La Traviata one day next week?

Answer Key: 1. fix | 2. confirm | 3. brought forward | 4. delayed | 5. change | 6. make

Common Adjective Collocations with Date

Adjectives often help clarify whether a date is fixed, flexible, or related to deadlines. These are particularly useful for IELTS Task 1 (letters, reports) and Task 2 (essays).

Practice Exercise

Complete the sentences using the following adjectives:
completion – earliest possible – expiry – later – particular – sell-by – closing – firm

1. I’m afraid I’m tied up all next week. The __________ date I can make is the second of July.
2. It’s important that you keep an eye on the __________ date of your credit cards.
3. Retain this receipt, since you may need it at a __________ date if you need to return the goods.
4. The building company will have to pay compensation if the work continues beyond the agreed __________ date.
5. You’d better hurry up! The __________ date for entries to the competition is the 4th of August.
6. Never eat food which has passed its __________ date.
7. We’re still not able to give you a __________ date for the meeting. We’ve still got to contact half the committee.
8. I bought an open ticket because I didn’t want to tie myself down to coming back on a __________ date.

Answer Key: 1. earliest possible | 2. expiry | 3. later | 4. completion | 5. closing | 6. sell-by | 7. firm | 8. particular

Date + Preposition + Noun

Many collocations involve date followed by a preposition and noun. These are highly useful in IELTS Speaking and Writing when referring to official or personal events.

Practice Exercise

Complete the sentences with these nouns:
applications – birth – general election – manufacture – meeting – wedding

1. Make sure you fill in your name, address and date of __________.
2. In Britain, the party in power has the right to choose the date of the next __________.
3. We’re thinking of the end of June, but we haven’t set a specific date for the __________ yet.
4. The closing date for __________ is May 31st.
5. The date of our next __________ has been changed, hasn’t it?
6. What’s the exact date of __________ of your car?

Answer Key: 1. birth | 2. general election | 3. wedding | 4. applications | 5. meeting | 6. manufacture

Notes on Using Date in English

Alternative Expressions

• Instead of fix a date, you can also say arrange, decide on, or set a date.
• In adjective collocations, instead of later date, you may also use future date.

Useful Expressions with Date

• Up-to-date / Out-of-date
  • Our monthly newsletter will keep you up-to-date with the latest developments.
  • The brochure is hopelessly out-of-date.
• To date – meaning so far:
  • This is the best machine we have produced to date.
• Today’s date – for checking the calendar.
• Mix-up over dates – when there is confusion.

Idiomatic Uses of Date

• A date = a romantic meeting

  • She’s out on a date with her new boyfriend.

• A blind date = a romantic meeting with someone you haven’t met before

  • I went on a blind date last week—it was surprisingly fun!

Learning collocations with date not only helps you sound more natural but also prepares you for IELTS Speaking and Writing tasks where precision and vocabulary range matter. From scheduling meetings to describing expiry dates or even blind dates, these expressions enrich your language and ensure you avoid repetition in your responses. For those aiming for top scores, following the IELTS Exam Preparation Tips for Band Score of 8+ can further enhance your vocabulary and overall test performance.

Also Check: 

• 10 Useful IELTS Speaking Tips to Impress the Examiner
• Grammar For IELTS: Expressions Of Quantity
• Grammar For IELTS : The Common Grammars And Sentence Structures In English (Part 1
• Grammar For IELTS : The Common Grammars And Sentence Structures In English (Part 2)
• Using Contrast in IELTS Speaking & Writing: Advanced Grammar in IELTS
• 100+ Advanced Vocabulary Word List for IELTS (PDF Available)
• Especially vs Specially for IELTS Grammar: Lessons, Examples, Usage & Exercises