Why Do You Really Have To Learn Medical Collocations?

You must be good at speaking and writing. But, do you use proper collocations?

What are collocations? 

It is important that you should use the right collocations. Collocations are defined as the exclusive pairs or group of words that often come together. Yes, you can’t separate them. You can’t think of innovating a new combination or a word group (There are certain combinations of words which you shall not change because they sound natural to native speakers).

You will have to make a specific effort to learn to use the right pairs or common combinations of words or word groups. 

For instance, for a native speaker, a combination of words such as “Difficult Task” is natural. Nobody will raise their eyebrows when they hear such a word-group as a “difficult task.” 

But, if you say, it is a “difficult disease,” then people may find it difficult to digest. 

So, what is wrong with the word-group “difficult disease”? Well, that is not natural. That is not the right combination. But, if you say “severe disease” then it will become more natural speech. This will be acceptable English. 

Learning collocations is very important. You can enhance your writing or speaking with the right use of collocations. 
 
Some collocations are very strong or fixed. You can’t change them. In fact, you should not change them. There can even be no other way than to use the same pair of words of the word-group. For example: “Strip to the waist” There can be no other which could perfectly collocate with the word-group such as “to the waist.” Even if you try to add any other word to give the same meaning then you will end up creating a bad combination. 

On the other hand, some collocations are more open and inflexible. You can have the option to use several different words that will give more or less the same meaning. 

You can say as follows:

• Chicken the temperature
• Take the temperature

The patient responded well to treatment is much better a way of saying than “the patient reacted to treatment”,  
 
Some of the common examples of medical collocations are as follows:

• Prescribe treatment
• Adjust the dosage 
• Blood test
• Upset stomach 
• Medical aid
• Premature fetus
• Admitted to hospital

Apart from these, there are also some other strong combinations which are particularly used only by professionals such as “grumbling appendix”.

Remember it is important that you should spend time learning more about the collocations. There are so many medical English dictionaries that teach medical collocations. A simple search online can help you discover so many books online. You can buy one of the best dictionaries online and improve your skills. If you do  not speak or write using the right combinations of words that are natural to the native speakers, you will lose marks. You won’t be able to get a good score in your OET. 

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