TOEIC Cheat Sheet: 30 Collocations You Need to Hit 800+ (2026) | 多益搭配詞速查
本文重點:本篇文章整理了 30 個多益(TOEIC)測驗必考的英文搭配詞(collocations),專為台灣上班族與英文學習者設計。掌握這些商業英文搭配詞,能幫你在多益聽力與閱讀測驗中快速辨識正確答案,並在實際職場溝通中表達更自然流暢,是準備多益 800 分的關鍵基礎。
If you have ever stared at a TOEIC (多益) question and thought, “I know all these words, but the answer still feels wrong,” you are running into a collocation problem. TOEIC does not really test isolated vocabulary. It tests whether you know which words naturally combine in business English (商業英文) — the word pairs Taiwan professionals (台灣上班族) hear in real meetings, emails, and conference calls.
This cheat sheet gives you 30 high-frequency TOEIC collocations split into four categories: business meetings, email communication, office life, and business travel. Each one has appeared on countless TOEIC papers and shows up daily in international offices in Taipei, Hsinchu, and Kaohsiung. Memorize them as pairs — never as separate words — and you will start hearing them everywhere on test day.
Why TOEIC Loves Collocations | 為什麼多益偏愛搭配詞
The TOEIC Listening and Reading test (聽力與閱讀測驗) was designed by ETS to measure workplace English, not academic English. That means the test writers deliberately pack the questions with the natural word combinations that native speakers use in offices. A Taiwanese learner with a strong vocabulary list but weak collocations often loses 50–100 points on Part 5 (incomplete sentences) and Part 7 (reading comprehension) alone.
Think of it this way: you would never say “do a decision” in English, even though 做決定 uses the verb 做 (do) in Chinese. The natural pairing is “make a decision.” TOEIC questions are full of these traps. Knowing the right partner word is what separates a 650 from an 850.

7 Business Meeting Collocations | 7 個商業會議搭配詞
Meetings (會議) are the highest-density category on TOEIC. Expect at least three Part 4 talks built around a meeting scenario. These seven combinations cover almost everything the test will throw at you.
- attend a meeting — to be present. “All managers must attend the quarterly meeting.” Never “join a meeting” on TOEIC (join is for clubs).
- chair a meeting — to lead it. “Ms. Lin will chair the budget meeting on Friday.”
- reach an agreement — to finally agree (達成協議). “After two hours, the two teams reached an agreement on the launch date.”
- prendre une décision — never “do a decision.” “The board will make a decision by Monday.”
- raise an issue — to bring up a problem. “Tom raised an important issue about supplier costs.”
- set the agenda — to plan the order of topics. “Please set the agenda before Wednesday.”
- take minutes — to record what was said. “Vicky will take minutes during today’s meeting.”

7 Email & Communication Collocations | 7 個電子郵件搭配詞
Email (電子郵件) collocations dominate Part 6 (text completion) and Part 7 reading passages. Every TOEIC paper includes at least two full email exchanges, and the answer keys reward learners who know the natural verb-noun pairings.
- send an email — the safe default. Avoid “write a mail” (Chinglish).
- attach a file — never “add a file.” “I’ve attached the revised contract to this email.”
- follow up on — to check back about something. “I’m following up on my previous email regarding the invoice.”
- address a concern — to respond to a worry. “The CEO addressed employee concerns about the merger.”
- provide feedback — never “give back opinion.” “Please provide feedback by end of day.”
- confirm receipt — to acknowledge you got something. “Kindly confirm receipt of the attached purchase order.”
- reply promptly — to respond quickly. “We appreciate your replying promptly to client inquiries.”
Bonus Email Tip | 電子郵件加分技巧
TOEIC Part 6 often tests the difference between “reply to” (transitive — “reply to my email”) and “respond to” (also transitive). Both work, but “reply” is more common in TOEIC answer keys. Train your ear with this pair, because Part 4 listening conversations love to drop one and ask you about the other.

8 Office & Workplace Collocations | 8 個辦公室職場搭配詞
The office (辦公室) is where TOEIC sets most of its scenarios — performance reviews, project updates, and the universal struggle with deadlines (期限). These eight collocations appear on nearly every test form.
- meet a deadline — never “reach a deadline.” “Our team always meets every deadline.”
- submit a report — to hand it in. “Please submit your quarterly report by Friday.”
- take notes — never “write notes” on TOEIC. “Susan takes excellent notes in client meetings.”
- give a presentation — never “make a presentation” on TOEIC (though both exist). “Mark will give a presentation to the new hires.”
- handle a complaint — to deal with it professionally. “Customer service handled the complaint within an hour.”
- solve a problem — never “resolve a problem” on Part 5 (resolve goes with conflict/dispute). “The IT team solved the network problem quickly.”
- work overtime — 加班. “I had to work overtime three nights this week.”
- take a break — “Let’s take a 15-minute break before the next session.”

8 Business Travel Collocations | 8 個商務旅行搭配詞
Business travel (商務旅行 / 出差) shows up constantly in TOEIC Listening Parts 2, 3, and 4. Airports, hotels, and conferences are the test’s favorite settings. Master these eight and you will sail through travel-themed conversations.
- book a flight — never “order a flight.” “I’ve booked a flight to Tokyo for next Wednesday.”
- confirm a reservation — “Please confirm your hotel reservation by Monday.”
- attend a conference — “Our marketing director will attend the trade conference in Singapore.”
- catch a flight — to board a plane on time. “I need to leave now to catch my flight.”
- miss a connection — to fail to make a connecting flight. “Due to the delay, several passengers missed their connections.”
- claim baggage — to collect your luggage. “Baggage claim is on the lower level.”
- check in — at a hotel or airport. “You can check in online 24 hours before departure.”
- clear customs — to pass immigration and customs. “It took 40 minutes to clear customs at Narita.”
How to Study These 30 Collocations | 如何學習這 30 個搭配詞
Memorizing a list is the slowest way to learn collocations. The fastest way is to encode them in context — your brain stores word pairs together when they arrive together. Here is the four-step method I recommend to every Taiwan English learner (英文學習者) preparing for TOEIC.
Step 1: Build Chunk Flashcards | 製作搭配詞字卡
Do not write “meeting” on a flashcard. Write “attend a meeting,” “chair a meeting,” and “set the agenda for a meeting” as three separate cards. The verb-noun pair is the unit, not the individual word.
Step 2: Shadow TOEIC Audio | 跟讀多益音檔
Listen to one Part 3 conversation per day and shadow (跟讀) the speakers. Pause after every sentence that contains a collocation and repeat it out loud. After two weeks, the natural word combinations will feel automatic, and you will hear the unnatural fake answers in Part 5 immediately.
Step 3: Write One Email Per Day | 每天寫一封英文信
Send yourself a short three-line business email each day using at least three collocations from this list. “I attached the revised file, addressed your concerns about the timeline, and confirmed receipt of your last memo.” Production cements what passive reading cannot.

Common Mistakes Taiwan Learners Make | 台灣學習者常見錯誤
After 20 years teaching English in Taipei, I see the same collocation errors repeat in classrooms across the island. Avoid these three and your TOEIC score (分數) will jump within a month.
- Translating verb + noun pairs literally from Chinese. 做決定 becomes “do a decision” in many Taiwanese essays. The correct form is always “make a decision.” Memorize the English partner verb, not the Chinese translation.
- Overusing “very” instead of the natural adverb. “Very busy” is fine, but TOEIC rewards “extremely busy,” “swamped,” or “tied up.” Pair adverbs with adjectives the way native speakers do.
- Ignoring article changes. “Take note” and “take notes” mean different things. “Take note of the deadline” = pay attention. “Take notes during the meeting” = write things down. Plural matters.
Quick Self-Test | 快速自我測驗
Cover the article and complete these five sentences with the right collocation: (1) Please ___ an email to all department heads. (2) We need to ___ the deadline by Friday. (3) Could you ___ minutes for today’s call? (4) I’d like to ___ a complaint about the late shipment. (5) Don’t forget to ___ customs after you land. If you missed two or more, restudy the lists above before test day.
Your 30-Day TOEIC Collocation Plan | 30 天多益搭配詞行動計畫
Knowing 30 collocations is good. Owning them is better. Here is a simple 30-day plan that has lifted dozens of my students from the 600s into the 800s on the official TOEIC.
- Week 1: Master the 7 meeting collocations. Write three sentences a day with each one. Shadow one TOEIC Part 3 meeting conversation daily.
- Week 2: Add the 7 email collocations. Send yourself one full business email per day mixing meeting + email word combinations.
- Week 3: Layer in the 8 office collocations. Take a Part 5 mock test on Sunday and underline every collocation in the questions.
- Week 4: Add the 8 travel collocations. Take a full mock TOEIC. Aim for 25 percent fewer Part 5 mistakes than your starting baseline.
Want a study buddy who can drill these word combinations with you? Working with an English tutor (英文家教) — even one online session per week — accelerates the process because you get instant correction on the pairs you still misuse. If a tutor is not in your budget, pair up with a colleague who is also taking TOEIC and quiz each other every Monday morning.
The TOEIC test does not care if you know 10,000 isolated vocabulary words. It cares whether you can hear “meet a deadline” and instantly know that “meet” is correct, not “reach,” “arrive,” or “catch.” Train collocations as pairs, drill them in real business contexts, and the 800+ score will follow. Good luck on test day — 加油!
Sources & Further Reading | 延伸閱讀
- ETS (TOEIC test publisher) — official test information and sample questions
- Dictionnaire de Cambridge — best free resource for checking English collocations
- Conseil britannique — free business English lessons and grammar references
- Oxford Collocations Dictionary on Amazon — the gold-standard collocation reference
- TOEIC preparation books on Amazon






