The APP Version

The App version of the collocation game is similar to the version available on this site. However, the premium version of the App offers an extra 54 levels, providing 1350 headwords in total (rather than the 800 for the version on this site). The premium version also provides feedback for every word in all the 135 levels.

How to Play

For each set of collocates you need to choose a headword. The headword is a word which collocates well with every word in the collocate set.

In the example below we are looking for a noun which collocates well with all the words in the set: birthday, carrot, chocolate, fruit, wedding. Only the word "cake" collocates well with them all.

Scoring and Levels

Each correct choice scores 5 points. Each incorrect choice scores minus 1 point. If you lose more than 5 points in a level, the level will be repeated before you can move up to the next level. You need to score 40 points to reach level 2, and 40 more for each subsequent level.

Once you have made a correct choice of headword, you can access further information about the headword by touching the round blue i button. This information is available for most words in the free version and all headwords in the premium version. You can dismiss the extra information panel by touching the close button or by swiping up at the top of the panel.

Your score is saved so that when you start a new game you can pick up from where you left off. Revisit the previous level by pressing the i button and then the "Previous Level" button. If you want to start from zero, press the red i button and then the "Reset" button. You can dismiss these options by touching the close button or by swiping up at the top of the panel.

Items in each level are presented in random order, as are the collocates, the distractors, and any further collocates in the feedback panel. So if you repeat a level you will probably not see the items as they were first presented.

There are 81 levels in the free version, giving more than 800 academic headwords (there are ten in each level but you will only see eight if you get each item correct first time). The premium version contains 135 levels for a total of 1,350 separate headwords (a few are presented more than once but in a different grammatical category (e.g. as a noun instead of a verb).

The premium version also has further information and more collocates for every headword.

Privacy

No user information is required or stored in this game. Two cookies are set and updated as the game is played. They only contain the score and the level at each stage of the game; nothing else.

You can contact Writing Support on the contact page of the Writing Support site.