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English in a Minute Series 4

Intermediate level

Verbs to use with 'structure'

Episode 250318 / 18 Mar 2025

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Introduction

If something 'lacks' structure, you can 'devise', 'create' or 'impose' one. These verbs are commonly used with the noun 'structure'. Learn common collocations with 'structure' with Phil in this video.

Common collocations with 'structure'

have structure
If something has structure, it is well organised. The opposite is lack structure.

  • Our meetings often lack structure, but this one had a good structure. We covered everything we needed to talk about in a logical order.

create/devise structure
To make sure something has a good structure, you need to create or devise a structure.

  • Let's devise a structure to make sure this project runs smoothly.

impose structure 
You might need to impose a structure if something is going wrong with a plan.

  • The team keeps losing, so the coaches need to impose a new structure to make sure things improve.

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TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Phil
Give your English a better structure - learn some verbs to use with 'structure'!

Something that is well organised, or has something supporting it, has structure. The opposite is lack structure, that's when something is badly organised or unsupported.

The story has a clear structure: a beginning, middle and end.

Your writing lacksstructure - it's hard to follow your argument.

To make sure that something doesn't lackstructure, we can take the time to create a suitable structure or devise a suitable structure.

Work can feel overwhelming if you don't create a structure to help you deal with it.

There's a lot going on, but we've devised a structure for the day, so it should make sense.

Sometimes it isn't easy. You impose a structure if it takes a lot of effort, or if you face resistance.

The new coach worked hard to impose a structure on the team so that they would stop losing.

If your English study lacksstructure, see if you can devise one that will help you!

 

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