touch on — mention briefly
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+neutralcommon
To talk about something quickly or without going into detail.
Say it like a native
Textbook The lecture made brief reference to the economic factors.
Native The lecture touched on the economic side.
'Touch on' is the natural verb for mentioning something in passing.
Pattern: touch on + noun/topic
In use
- The teacher touched on climate change during the lesson, but we didn't discuss it deeply.study
- In my presentation, I will touch on the main challenges facing young people today, but I won't have time to cover every issue.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ The book touches about climate change.
✓ The book touches on climate change.
'Touch ON' a topic — not 'about'.
Common collocations
touch on + topic— the issue, several points, briefly, that
Don't confuse it
Don't confuse with 'focus on', which means to discuss something in detail.