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social skills — people skills

collocationB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon

The ability to interact well with others, such as making conversation, understanding feelings, and building good relationships.

Say it like a native

Textbook She possesses excellent interpersonal competencies.

Native She's got great social skills.

'Social/people skills' is everyday; 'interpersonal competencies' is HR jargon.

Pattern: have/develop/improve social skills

In use

  • Good social skills can help you make friends more easily.daily life
  • In my opinion, social skills are just as important as academic knowledge, especially when working in a team.IELTS speaking

Common mistake

✗ He has good social skill.

✓ He has good social skills.

Usually plural — 'skills'.

Common collocations

  • good social skills — good, develop, lack, poor

Don't confuse it

Unlike 'technical skills', which are about specific tasks or knowledge, 'social skills' are about dealing with people.

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