Item Collocation for IELTS: A List to Boost Your Score

Kasturika Samanta

7 min read

Updated On Oct 07, 2025

Strengthen your IELTS vocabulary with expert guidance on item collocations. This blog explains meanings, provides examples, and includes interesting exercises to enhance your writing precision, speaking confidence, and overall IELTS score potential.

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

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When preparing for the IELTS exam, many test-takers focus on complex grammar but overlook how collocations bring naturalness and precision to their language. One such versatile word is ‘item’. Understanding how the word combines with adjectives and nouns for idea collocations helps you sound more fluent and accurate.

In this blog, we will explore different item collocations to help you enrich your vocabulary and IELTS vocabulary words list for Band 8 or 9.

Lists of Item Collocations for IELTS to Boost Your Score

Item collocations frequently appear in IELTS Listening, Reading, and Writing sections, often in contexts related to lists, inventories, reports, and descriptions. They add lexical sophistication to your essays and reports and strengthen listening and reading comprehension by making you aware of natural word pairings.

Therefore, we will explore lists of different item collocations for IELTS in the tables below, complete with their meanings and original example sentences.

Adjective + Item Collocations

These collocations describe the type, quality, or condition of the item. They are extremely useful in both IELTS Writing Task 1 (Academic reports) and Task 2 essays when talking about consumerism, products, or resources.

Adjective + Item	Meaning	Example Sentence
Bulky item	something large and hard to carry	Passengers are asked not to bring bulky items on board.
Faulty item	product that doesn’t work properly	The customer returned a faulty item for a full refund.
Essential item	something necessary or vital	Water and food are essential items during emergencies.
Important item	something significant or valuable	Education is considered an important item in national budgets.
Main item	the principal or central thing	The main item on the agenda was environmental reform.
Next item	following element in a list or sequence	Let’s move on to the next item in today’s discussion.
Missing item	something that is lost or not found	The missing item was finally located in the warehouse.
Valuable item	something of high worth	Museums ensure valuable items are kept in secure display cases.
Luxury item	something expensive and non-essential	Designer bags are seen as luxury items by most people.
Perishable item	something that can spoil easily	Perishable items like fruits should be stored in the fridge.

Expressions with Nouns (Using ‘Item’ in Context)

These are common noun phrases or set expressions where ‘item’ naturally appears in English usage. They are particularly useful in IELTS Task 1 reports, IELTS Speaking Part 2 descriptions, and Part 3 discussions about consumption, design, or business trends.

Expression	Meaning	Example Sentence
Item of clothing	a single piece of apparel	Each item of clothing was neatly folded in the suitcase.
Item of furniture	a single piece from a furniture set	A new item of furniture can completely change a room’s appearance.
Item of information	a piece of data or fact	Each item of information must be verified before publication.
Item of news	a news story or report	The recent earthquake was the leading item of news last night.
Item on the agenda	a topic for discussion	The next item on the agenda concerns environmental policies.
Item on display	something being shown to the public	All items on display are protected by glass covers.
Item on sale	a product available for purchase	Several electronic items are currently on sale at discounted prices.

Items as Single Things

These item collocations emphasize individuality or countable references, helpful in speaking and writing to show clarity and precision.

Collocation	Meaning	Example Sentence
Each item	refers to every single thing in a group	Each item on the list must be checked before submission.
Individual item	one distinct object	Every individual item is tagged for security purposes.
Ten items	specific quantity	You may purchase up to ten items during the sale.
Particular item	a specific or chosen thing	Do you have a particular item in mind, or shall I suggest one?
Single item	one object or product	The shop allows a refund even for a single item.
Separate item	something distinct from others	Please pack each separate item to prevent damage.
Identical items	exactly the same things	Both stores sold identical items at different prices.

Common Expressions with ‘Item’

They enhance your topic-specific vocabulary for IELTS Writing and speaking questions related to shopping, lifestyle, technology, or culture.

Expression	Meaning	Example Sentence
A collector’s item	Something rare or valuable for collectors	That vintage watch is a true collector’s item.
A news item	A story reported in the media	The mayor’s resignation became a trending news item.
Small household items	Everyday domestic products	Small household items were donated to charity.
A grocery item	Food or drink product sold in a store	The supermarket has increased prices on every grocery item.
High-demand item	Something very popular	Smartphones are among the highest-demand items during the festive season.

Notes

Note that item can refer to a report on TV:
- The 9 o’clock news carried an item about an old age pensioner who’d starved to death.
- The programme featured an item about one-parent families.
Note the following expression:
- The management cannot accept liability for items stolen from your car while it is in the car park.
This is a common expression:
- The customs official checked through the contents of my suitcase, item by item.
Note these common expressions using ‘of’:
- A watch is the main item of jewellery worn by men.
- A maximum of three items of clothing is allowed into the changing rooms.
- The local museum has a number of items of great historical interest.

Item Collocation for IELTS: Practice Exercises

The following exercises are designed to help you improve your understanding and ability to use the item collocations for the IELTS exam as well as improve your usage of the words that are listed below.

Exercise A: Complete the sentences with these adjectives.

bulky faulty essential important

main next missing valuable

The police arrived soon after the break-in and asked us to do our best to make a list of all the__________ items.
During the emergency, people stocked up on __________ items like food and candles.
I think the __________ item on the agenda for this afternoon’s meeting is going to be the resignation of our secretary. I wonder why she’s leaving.
Most modern hotels provide a safe in your room where you can keep __________ items. For a small charge they will keep more expensive items in the hotel safe at Reception.
Please note that the most __________ items are listed in bold type in the booklet.
Heavy and __________ items are expensive to transport by air. That’s why it’s cheaper using surface post.
Now, let’s move on to the__________ item on the agenda.
Our policy is to replace __________ items without question.

Exercise B: Match the two halves of these sentences. Then underline the noun collocations.

Most people today see their PC just like a television set,
All items for the agenda for our next meeting
I remember when a fridge was considered a luxury item,
Please note that this insurance policy doesn’t cover you for loss or damage
Old clocks like this one have become collectors’ items
Several items of clothing

a to household items such as towels and bedding.

b because they’re becoming increasingly rare.

c were found at the scene of the crime.

d a consumer item just like anything else in their home.

e but for most people today it’s a necessity.

f must be with me at least one week in advance.

Exercise C: Complete the sentences below with these words.

each individual ten

particular single

Can I pay for__________ item separately?
For many people their house is their largest __________ item of expenditure.
That__________ item is not for sale, I’m afraid.
__________ items of furniture have a price tag on them.
This checkout is for customers with__________ items or less.

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Item Collocations Answer Keys for Practice Exercises

Ex A:

missing 2. essential 3. main 4. valuable 5. important 6. bulky 7. next 8. faulty

Ex B:

l-d 2-f 3-e 4-a 5-b 6-c

Ex C:

each 2. single 3. particular 4. Individual 5. ten

In conclusion, learning item collocations for IELTS gives you a subtle but powerful edge. So, by integrating these collocations naturally into your responses, you will impress examiners with your range, accuracy, and lexical sophistication and achieve a Band 7.5 or higher in IELTS.

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