2025-06-03 Verbs to use with ‘resource’ – English In A Minute

Introduction

Resources are things like time, money or materials that people or organisations can use to function well. There are words that often go together – these are called collocations. Listen to Georgie to learn some of the verbs that we often use with the noun ‘resource’.

Common collocations with ‘resource’

lack resources
If you lack resources, you don’t have enough.  

• Schools in the poorer parts of the city lack resources.

pool resources
If you pool resources, you bring resources together so that everyone can use them.

• Individually, the teachers didn’t have many materials, but once they pooled their resources, they had much more to choose from.

allocate resources
If you allocate resources, you decide where to use them and then move them.   

• The manager allocated more resources to the marketing team for the new campaign.

draw on resources
If you draw on resources, you use them when you need them.

• We humans draw on resources from the Earth, like fossil fuels.

conserve resources
If you conserve resources, you protect and manage them carefully.

• At home we turn off all the lights when we’re not in the room to conserve resources.

use up resources
If you use up your resources, that means there’s nothing left.

• Baths use up a lot of resources. You need lots of water and then energy to heat it up.

squander resources
If you squander resources, you waste them in a reckless manner.

• The government squandered resources on an ineffective programme.

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Georgie
This video is a great resource for your English learning!
 
Resources are things like time, money or materials that people or organisations can use to function well.
 
Sometimes, you lack resources – you don’t have enough. In that case, you can pool resources – you bring resources together so that everyone can use them.

Individually, each student lacked resources. But together, they pooled resources to buy a shared subscription for an online learning platform.

To work effectively, organisations allocate resources – decide where to use them and then move them.

The manager allocated more resources to the marketing team for the new campaign.

We humans draw on resources from the Earth, like fossil fuels – use them when we need them. Environmentalists say we should conserve our resources – protect and manage them carefully, rather than use up our resources or squander our resources – waste them in a reckless manner.
 
You should draw on the resources we’ve made for you at BBC Learning English!