Ability Collocation for IELTS: A List to Boost Your Score

Kasturika Samanta

6 min read

Updated On Nov 03, 2025

Boost your IELTS vocabulary with expert guidance on ability collocations for Band 9. This blog provides meanings and examples, and includes interesting exercises to enhance your writing precision, speaking confidence, and overall IELTS score potential.

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

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The word ‘ability’ frequently appears across topics, from education and work to technology and personal experience, making it versatile. It represents the power, skill, or capacity to do something. However, to express it naturally and accurately, you must use it with the right ability collocations for IELTS.

Therefore, in this blog, we will explore different ability collocations with advanced vocabulary word lists for IELTS, categorized into verbs, adjectives, and other useful combinations, to help you enrich your vocabulary.

Lists of Ability Collocations for IELTS to Boost Your Score

Mastering the ability collocations for IELTS will help you confidently discuss topics about education, jobs, intelligence, sports, and personal development. As a result, these natural, idiomatic expressions make your language more precise, fluent, and academic, qualities examiners look for in Band 7–9 performance.

Therefore, we will explore lists of different ability collocations for IELTS in the tables below for a better IELTS vocabulary score. Each table will have the meanings and original example sentences for the specific collocation.

Verb + Ability Collocations

The following verb + ability collocations describe how ability is used, affected, assessed, or demonstrated. They are particularly useful in academic essays, work-related IELTS topics, and IELTS Speaking Part 2 descriptions about learning or achievement.

Verb + Ability	Meaning	Example Sentence
affect ability	to influence how capable someone is	Stress can affect your ability to concentrate.
assess ability	to evaluate how skilled someone is	Teachers often assess students’ abilities through practical tests.
overestimate ability	to believe you are more capable than you are	He overestimated his ability to finish the task on time.
lose ability	to become unable to do something	Some elderly people gradually lose their ability to remember details.
doubt ability	to feel uncertain about your skill	Many learners doubt their ability to succeed in English exams.
show ability	to demonstrate skill or talent	She showed great ability in solving complex problems.
develop ability	to improve or strengthen skill	The program helps students develop their creative abilities.
demonstrate ability	to clearly prove skill	Job applicants must demonstrate their ability to work in a team.

Noun + Preposition + Ability Collocations

These collocations link ability with nouns or prepositions to describe confidence, opportunity, or the use of skill. They help make your writing sound structured and formal. In IELTS, these are excellent for IELTS Writing, especially on topics like education, employment, or training.

Noun + Preposition + Ability	Meaning	Example Sentence
confidence in ability	belief in one’s own skill	She has confidence in her ability to achieve her goals.
test of ability	an assessment that measures skill	The entrance exam was a true test of ability.
reflection of ability	something that shows how skilled someone is	Exam results are not always a reflection of ability.
lack of ability	not having enough skill	The project failed due to a lack of ability among the staff.
best use of ability	using one’s skill in the most effective way	Good leaders make the best use of their team’s abilities.
measure of ability	a way of evaluating talent	IQ tests are often used as a measure of ability.
recognition of ability	acknowledgement of someone’s talent	She was promoted in recognition of her ability and dedication.

Common Adjective + Ability Collocations

Adjective collocations describe the type, degree, or quality of someone’s ability. These help you add detail and precision, ideal for Band 8+ vocabulary use in IELTS Writing and Speaking.

Adjective + Ability	Meaning	Example Sentence
average ability	neither exceptional nor poor	The students in the group are of average ability.
incredible ability	extremely impressive skill	He has an incredible ability to remember faces.
natural ability	skill someone is born with	She showed a natural ability for languages from a young age.
mixed ability	group with varying levels of skill	Teachers often manage mixed-ability classrooms.
considerable ability	a high level of talent	The manager displayed considerable ability in handling the crisis.
proven ability	ability that has been demonstrated successfully	Applicants must have proven ability in leadership.
limited ability	restricted level of skill	Some people have limited ability to cope with stress.
exceptional ability	outstanding or rare skill	The student has exceptional ability in mathematics.

Other Useful Expressions with ‘Ability’

These phrases are perfect for formal essays or self-reflection in speaking (e.g., describing strengths, goals, or achievements). Adding them to the academic collocation list and using them naturally can raise your Lexical Resource score by showing both variety and control.

Expression	Meaning	Example Sentence
to the best of one’s ability	doing something as well as one can	I completed the project to the best of my ability.
show one’s true ability	to demonstrate real talent	The competition gave her a chance to show her true ability.
have the ability to do something	be capable of doing something	Not everyone has the ability to work under pressure.
beyond one’s ability	too difficult for someone	This task is beyond my ability at the moment.

Notes

1. Here are three ways to describe ‘great’ ability:

She has a remarkable ability to recall long poems after only reading them once.
She has exceptional abilities as a musician.
His examination results are proof of his outstanding ability.

2. Remember that an adjective collocation can come before or after the noun:

She has remarkable ability.
Her ability is remarkable.

3. Notice the use of ‘best’ in 2-5. ‘Best’ is usually an adjective, but it is used as a noun in the expression to ‘do something to the best of your ability’.

4. We can talk about specific abilities:

musical ability
physical ability
linguistic ability
technical ability
artistic ability
acting ability

5. When we talk about very intelligent children, we often call them ‘children of above average ability’.

Ability Collocation for IELTS: Practice Exercises

We have created some exercises given below that you can work through to improve your understanding and usage of the ability collocations for the IELTS exam.

Exercise A: Use the correct form of these verbs.

affect	assess	overestimate
lose	doubt	show

Examinations are not the only means of______someone’s ability. There are other ways of measuring potential.
At first I questioned his abilities, but he has done the job so well. I’m now ashamed that I had so little confidence in him and that I______his abilities in the first place.
It is a well-known fact that even small amounts of alcohol can______your ability to drive safely.
She was so shocked by the accident that she______the ability to speak.
Although Peter______a lot of ability as a teenager, he just wasn’t good enough to go professional.
I had to give up half way through the race. I had obviously______my ability to run a marathon.

Exercise B: Use these nouns in the sentences.

confidence	test	reflection
lack	best	use

Tiger Woods may be the best golfer in the world, but the Open Championship next week will be a real______of his ability.
Raymond is very clever, but he doesn’t make full______of his abilities.
I was surprised when he failed his examinations. His results are certainly not a true______of his abilities.
He’s extremely competent and will do the job properly. I have every______in his ability.
He said that he would try to do the job to the______of his ability.
I believe he lost confidence. His failure was not due to a______of ability.

Exercise C: Use these adjectives in the sentences.

average	incredible	natural
mixed	considerable	proven

Most of us have to work hard to learn to play a musical instrument. However, there are people who are born with a______ability and who learn effortlessly.
The students in my class are of______ability, so I teach them in groups according to their level.
I have no doubts that he has______ability, but I don’t think his personality is suited to this kind of work.
We need somebody who has done this before – with the______ability to do the job.
I’m not a genius and I’m not stupid. I would describe myself as being of______ability.
I don’t know how she does it, but Annie Lennox has this______ability to electrify her audience.

Ability Collocations Answer Keys for Practice Exercises

Ex A:

assessing
doubted
affect
lost
showed
overestimated

Ex B:

test
use
reflection
confidence
best
lack

Ex C:

natural
mixed
considerable
proven
average
incredible

To conclude, using ability collocations correctly is a sign of advanced English mastery. They let you express ideas about talent, competence, and potential clearly and fluently. So, next time you prepare for IELTS, do not just memorize the word ‘ability’; learn how it collocates naturally with other words. This simple shift will make your English sound more native-like, polished, and powerful.

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