Collocations can seem pretty arbitrary. Here’s one that people mess up all the time in TOEFL essays.
When talking about successfully doing something, you should write:
- “Peter succeeded in passing his test.”
- “After many weeks, he succeeded in finding an apartment in New York.”
You should not write:
- “Peter succeeded to pass his test.”
- “After many weeks, he succeeded to find an apartment in New York.”
Here’s another. You should write:
- “Next year Peter will succeed in passing his test”
- “Hopefully next year he will succeed in finding an apartment in New York.”
And you should not write:
- “Next year peter will succeed to pass his test”
- “Hopefully next year he will succeed to find an apartment in New York.”
Clear?
English is hard.