A pipeline configuration comment reads: "This step _____ the integration test suite on every push to the main branch." Which verb is the most natural collocation with "test suite"?
Runs is correct. The natural collocation is "run tests / run a test suite." "Execute" is also valid (more formal). "Make" and "do" do not collocate with "tests" in technical English — you do not "make tests" or "do the test suite." "Performs" is grammatically possible but is not the standard collocation in software development.
2 / 25
A code review comment reads: "This handler should _____ an exception when the input contains a null value." Which verb is the standard technical collocation?
Throw is correct. In most programming languages, exceptions are "thrown." "Throw an exception" is the universal technical collocation. "Raise" is also correct (Python, Ruby use "raise" officially, but "throw" is widely understood). "Make" and "create" do not collocate with "exception" in the standard programming sense. "Send" is used for network requests, not exceptions.
3 / 25
A deployment runbook states: "Step 3: _____ the Docker container on the staging server." Which verb most naturally collocates with "container" in a deployment context?
Spin up is correct. "Spin up a container" is the standard phrasal verb collocation in container and cloud contexts. "Deploy" is used with applications, services, or code — not specifically containers. "Throw" collocates with exceptions. "Publish" collocates with Docker images to a registry, not with running containers.
4 / 25
A PR description reads: "The retry logic now correctly _____ the exception and logs it before attempting the next retry." Which verb is correct?
Catches is correct. "Catch an exception" (in a try-catch block) is the standard collocation for handling exceptions that have been thrown. "Raise" means to throw/generate an exception — the opposite action. "Make" and "create" do not collocate with exceptions in this context.
5 / 25
A release notes entry reads: "v4.1 _____ support for async job queues." Which verb most naturally collocates with "support" in release notes?
Ships is correct. "Ships X" is the standard release note collocation — "v4.1 ships support for Y" means "this version delivers/includes Y." "Deploys" is for infrastructure/service deployment, not feature announcement. "Triggers" collocates with events, builds, or workflows. "Runs" collocates with processes, tests, or scripts.
6 / 25
A CI/CD pipeline configuration comment reads: "On merge to main: _____ code to production after all checks pass." Which verb is the most standard collocation in a deployment pipeline context?
Deploy is correct. "Deploy code to production" is the standard technical collocation for the act of releasing software to a live environment. "Push" collocates with commits to a repository ("push code to GitHub") — not to production environments in formal documentation. "Throw" collocates with exceptions. "Spin up" collocates with containers or infrastructure resources, not code deployment.
7 / 25
A function docstring reads: "This method _____ the scheduled backup job immediately, bypassing the cron schedule." Which verb most naturally collocates with "job" in this context?
Triggers is correct. "Trigger a job" is the standard collocation for initiating a scheduled or event-driven task outside its normal schedule. "Invoke" is also correct (more formal/technical). "Throws" collocates with exceptions. "Ships" collocates with releases. "Deploys" collocates with code or services, not individual jobs.
8 / 25
Which verb-noun collocation is INCORRECT in a technical context?
Option D is incorrect. You do not "make a virtual machine" in technical English. The correct collocations are: "provision a VM", "spin up a VM", "create a VM", or "allocate a VM." "Makes" is a general-purpose verb that does not collocate naturally with technical resources. Options A ("triggers the pipeline"), B ("runs the job"), and C ("handles the exception") are all correct standard collocations.
9 / 25
A security log analysis script comment reads: "The function _____ all authentication tokens before the session expires." Which verb most naturally collocates with "tokens" in a security context?
Revokes is correct. "Revoke a token" is the standard security collocation for invalidating an authentication credential. Other correct collocations: "invalidate a token," "expire a token." "Runs" is for processes or tests. "Throws" is for exceptions. "Deploys" is for software or infrastructure.
10 / 25
A monitoring alert rule reads: "_____ a PagerDuty alert if the P99 latency _____ 500ms for more than 2 minutes." Which pair of verbs completes the alert rule naturally?
Trigger / exceeds is correct. "Trigger an alert" is the standard collocation for activating a monitoring alarm. "Exceeds a threshold" is the standard collocation for describing a metric breaching a limit. "Make an alert" is not standard technical English. "Run an alert" collocates with tests, not alerts. "Deploy an alert" is wrong — deploy is for software, not alerts. "Becomes" is too vague for a metric threshold expression.
11 / 25
David from the DevOps team Slack channel writes: "We need to validate the API response before updating the database.". Which verb is the most natural collocation in this scenario?
Validate is a standard technical term used when checking API responses to confirm they meet expected criteria. 'Verify' implies confirmation against specifications, which aligns with the context of ensuring data integrity. 'Assess' and 'monitor' are broader terms not typically used in this specific scenario regarding API responses. Debugging focuses on identifying errors, not confirming correct behavior.
12 / 25
During a code review, Sarah comments: "The component should handle unexpected user input gracefully.". Which verb best describes the intended action in this context?
Handle is the most appropriate term when discussing user input in software development. It implies that the component is designed to deal with potential problems or unexpected situations. 'Process' refers to a specific workflow; 'manage' suggests broader control; and 'tolerate' indicates a passive acceptance of errors, which isn't the goal here.
13 / 25
A release notes entry states: "The new version now integrates with the third-party authentication service.". Which verb is most naturally collocates with 'integrates' in this context?
Integrates is the correct term when describing the combination of two separate systems or services. 'Connects' suggests a basic communication channel, while 'merges' refers to code integration and 'synchronizes' focuses on data consistency. 'Deployments' describes the release process itself.
14 / 25
David from the DevOps team Slack channel writes: "We need to validate the API response before updating the database.". Which verb is the most natural collocation in this scenario?
Validate is a standard technical term used when checking API responses to confirm they meet expected criteria. 'Verify' implies confirmation against specifications, which aligns with the context of ensuring data integrity. 'Assess' and 'monitor' are broader terms not typically used in this specific scenario regarding API responses. Debugging focuses on identifying errors, not confirming correct behavior.
15 / 25
During a code review, Sarah comments: "The component should handle unexpected user input gracefully.". Which verb best describes the intended action in this context?
Handle is the most appropriate term when discussing user input in software development. It implies that the component is designed to deal with potential problems or unexpected situations. 'Process' refers to a specific workflow; 'manage' suggests broader control; and 'tolerate' indicates a passive acceptance of errors, which isn't the goal here.
16 / 25
A release notes entry states: "The new version now integrates with the third-party authentication service.". Which verb is most naturally collocates with 'integrates' in this context?
Integrates is the correct term when describing the combination of two separate systems or services. 'Connects' suggests a basic communication channel, while 'merges' refers to code integration and 'synchronizes' focuses on data consistency. 'Deployments' describes the release process itself.
17 / 25
David from the DevOps team Slack channel writes: "We need to validate the API response before updating the database.". Which verb is the most natural collocation in this scenario?
Validate is a standard technical term used when checking API responses to confirm they meet expected criteria. 'Verify' implies confirmation against specifications, which aligns with the context of ensuring data integrity. 'Assess' and 'monitor' are broader terms not typically used in this specific scenario regarding API responses. Debugging focuses on identifying errors, not confirming correct behavior.
18 / 25
During a code review, Sarah comments: "The component should handle unexpected user input gracefully.". Which verb best describes the intended action in this context?
Handle is the most appropriate term when discussing user input in software development. It implies that the component is designed to deal with potential problems or unexpected situations. 'Process' refers to a specific workflow; 'manage' suggests broader control; and 'tolerate' indicates a passive acceptance of errors, which isn't the goal here.
19 / 25
A release notes entry states: "The new version now integrates with the third-party authentication service.". Which verb is most naturally collocates with 'integrates' in this context?
Integrates is the correct term when describing the combination of two separate systems or services. 'Connects' suggests a basic communication channel, while 'merges' refers to code integration and 'synchronizes' focuses on data consistency. 'Deployments' describes the release process itself.
20 / 25
Mark has just received an email from his team lead, Emily, regarding a recent performance issue with the load balancer. She writes: 'Please investigate the root cause of the intermittent outages and implement appropriate solutions.' Which verb collocation is MOST natural in this context?
'Resolve' is the standard collocation when discussing fixing a problem. 'Address' suggests a more general response, while 'diagnose' implies a deeper technical analysis, and 'monitor' describes ongoing observation rather than immediate action. Emily needs someone to actively fix the issue.
21 / 25
During a Slack conversation about debugging a microservice, Alex says: 'We need to trace the request through the service and identify where the error is occurring.' Which verb collocation best describes this action?
'Debug' is the standard term for finding and correcting errors within software. The other options relate to different aspects of system design and performance. Tracing a request through a service directly involves identifying and fixing problems – debugging.
22 / 25
John from the QA team writes a comment on a failing test: 'The application is failing to connect to the database server.' Which verb best collocates with 'database server' in this context?
'Access' is the most natural collocation here. To 'connect' implies gaining access to a system or resource. 'Establish' and 'configure' are less common in this specific scenario. 'Debug' refers to a process of finding an error, not the act of connecting.
23 / 25
A Slack message from a developer reads: 'We need to roll back the changes to the production environment.' Which verb most naturally collocates with 'changes' in this scenario?
'Rollback' is the standard term for reverting a change in software development. 'Implement' and 'test' are processes; 'refactor' refers to restructuring code, which isn't directly related to rolling back changes. Using 'rollback' accurately describes the action.
24 / 25
A developer is writing a unit test for a function that calculates the average of a list of numbers. They want to assert that the result is close to the expected value due to floating-point precision issues. Which verb collocates best with 'precision' in this context?
'Assess' implies a critical evaluation of precision in this context. The other options relate to different aspects of testing (validation, calculation) but not the core issue of evaluating numerical accuracy.
25 / 25
A product manager is describing an upcoming feature release to the development team. They say: 'The new API endpoint will expose sensitive data.' Which verb collocates best with 'expose' in this context?
'Secure' directly relates to protecting sensitive data. While encryption is a component of securing data, 'secure' as a verb is more appropriate in this context describing the action of safeguarding.
What will I practise in "Verb Collocations with Technical Nouns — Grammar Exercise"?
Practice which verbs naturally pair with technical nouns: run/invoke/trigger tests, deploy/ship/push code, raise/throw/catch exceptions, spin
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 25 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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You'll immediately see which answer was correct, plus a full explanation covering the grammar rule and reasoning behind it — mistakes are where most of the learning happens.
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Where can I find more Grammar exercises?
Browse the full Grammar hub for related drills, or check the "Next up" link below to continue with a connected topic.
How is this different from reading an article on the same topic?
Articles explain grammar rules in prose; this exercise tests and reinforces those rules through active recall with immediate feedback — the two work best together.
Who writes these exercises?
Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.