Health & Wellness — Part 1
The Celpip Plus team
Written and reviewed against the official CELPIP scoring criteria
What you'll learn: the verb + noun collocations that describe everyday health actions, from booking appointments to recovering from illness, so health-related CELPIP responses sound natural rather than clinical.
Why health vocabulary trips learners up
Health topics are common in CELPIP Speaking and Writing, but many learners default to overly medical or overly literal phrasing — "make an appointment with the doctor" instead of "book an appointment," or "do exercise" instead of the more natural, specific collocations below. The goal here isn't medical terminology; it's the everyday collocations a fluent speaker uses when talking about their own health and habits.
From symptom to recovery
These collocations map onto a natural health narrative: you catch a cold, book an appointment, follow a doctor's advice, and eventually make a full recovery — or, on the wellness side, you maintain a healthy diet and stick to a routine. Both illness and wellness threads are covered so you can respond to either angle a prompt takes.
Word bank: core health collocations
| Collocation | Meaning | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| book an appointment | schedule a meeting, often with a doctor | I need to book an appointment with my dentist this week. |
| catch a cold | become infected with a common cold | She caught a cold after walking home in the rain. |
| follow a doctor's advice | act according to medical recommendations | He followed his doctor's advice and cut back on salt. |
| make a full recovery | completely heal from an illness or injury | Thankfully, she made a full recovery within a month. |
| maintain a healthy diet | consistently eat in a balanced, nutritious way | Maintaining a healthy diet has improved his energy levels. |
| get enough sleep | rest an adequate amount each night | Teenagers often don't get enough sleep during exam season. |
| manage stress | control or reduce stress levels effectively | Yoga helps her manage stress after long workdays. |
| take medication | consume prescribed or over-the-counter drugs | He takes medication for his blood pressure every morning. |
| build immunity | strengthen the body's resistance to illness | A balanced diet helps build immunity over time. |
| suffer from (a condition) | experience an ongoing illness or health issue | Many older adults suffer from joint pain. |
| stick to a routine | consistently follow a set schedule of habits | She sticks to a strict exercise routine every week. |
| undergo treatment | receive medical care for a condition | He is currently undergoing treatment for a knee injury. |
Worked example — Speaking Task 2 (personal experience)
Prompt: Describe a time you had to take care of your health.
"Last winter, I caught a cold that turned into something more serious, so I finally decided to book an appointment with my doctor. She recommended I undergo treatment for a mild infection and told me to follow her advice closely, including resting and drinking more fluids. During that time, I also realized how important it is to maintain a healthy diet and get enough sleep, since I'd been neglecting both. It took about two weeks, but I made a full recovery, and the experience pushed me to stick to a routine that includes better sleep and less stress overall."
Common mistakes
- "Make an appointment" overused instead of the equally natural book an appointment — both are correct, but relying only on "make" limits vocabulary range; alternate between them.
- "Catch an illness" used too broadly — catch a cold is fixed and specific; more serious conditions use different verbs (develop, suffer from), not "catch."
- "Do a healthy diet" instead of maintain a healthy diet or follow a healthy diet — diets are "maintained" or "followed," not "done."
- "Take a treatment" instead of undergo treatment — a literal-translation error; treatment is something you "undergo" or "receive," not "take" (medication is what you "take").
Recap
Verb + noun collocations for health cover both illness and wellness narratives, giving you natural vocabulary whether a prompt asks about a health problem or a healthy habit. Choose three collocations from the table and write a short personal account — real or invented — that moves from a health issue to its resolution, the way the worked example does.