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a concerted effort — coordinated effort (by a group or with extra determination)

collocationC1IELTS 7+neutralcommon

an organised and determined attempt by several people or groups working together to achieve something, or a strong, focused effort by one person.

Say it like a native

Textbook We need a carefully organised joint attempt by everyone involved.

Native We need a concerted effort from everyone.

'A concerted effort' packs 'organised, joint and determined' into one phrase.

Pattern: make/mount/launch a concerted effort (to do something)

In use

  • It took a concerted effort from the whole team to finish the project on time.work
  • In my opinion, tackling climate change requires a concerted effort from both governments and individuals, as isolated actions are rarely effective.IELTS speaking

Common mistake

✗ They made a concerted effort of reducing waste.

✓ They made a concerted effort to reduce waste.

'Make a concerted effort TO do' something — to-infinitive, not 'of -ing'.

Common collocations

  • make a concerted effort to — make, to, requires, by

Don't confuse it

Unlike 'a big effort' (which just means trying hard), 'a concerted effort' highlights coordination, planning, or a strong, focused push, often by more than one person.

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