ADJ
- acute, big, enormous, grave, great, serious
- Our greatest problem is the lack of funds
- little, minor, petty
- complex, complicated, difficult, knotty, thorny
- growing
- basic, central, main, major
- common
- pressing, urgent
- immediate
- insoluble, insuperable, insurmountable, intractable
- Depression is a natural feeling if your problems seem intractable
- long-standing, long-term, perennial
- practical
- technical
- attitude, behavioural, emotional, psychological
- His teachers say he has an attitude problem
- health, physical, sexual
- back, heart, knee
- drink, drug
- social
- housing
- economic, financial
- They sold their car to ease their financial problems
- environmental
- legal
VERB + PROBLEM
- be, pose, present (sb with)
- Inadequate resources pose a problem for all members of staff
- have
- bring, cause, create
- Success brings its own problems. Staff shortages cause problems for the organization
- be beset with, be confronted by/with, be dogged by, be faced with, be fraught with, confront, encounter, face, run into
- He has been faced with all manner of problems in his new job. The scheme has been fraught with problems from the start
- raise
- She raised the problem of falling sales at the last meeting
- identify
- consider, debate, discuss, look at/into
- address, approach, attack, combat, come/get to grips with, grapple with, handle, tackle
- The next meeting will address the problem of truancy
- avoid, circumvent, find a way around/round, get around/round
- clear up, cure, deal with, overcome, resolve, solve
- He had to undergo surgery to cure the problem with his knee
- alleviate, ease, reduce
- exacerbate
- analyse, explore
PROBLEM + VERB
- arise, come up, occur
- problems arising from poor ventilation
- exist
- persist, remain
- If the problem persists you should see a doctor. The basic problem remains the lack of housing available
- confront sb, face sb
- lie in sth
- The problem lies in the lack of communication between managers and staff
PREP
- ~ about
- I didn't imagine there would be a problem about getting tickets
- ~ for
- The rail strike is a problem for all commuters
- ~ of
- the problem of poverty
- ~ with
- Have you got a problem with her?
PHRASES
- an approach to a problem, the crux/heart/root of the problem
- We need to get to the root of the problem before we can solve it
- a remedy/solution to a problem, the scale of a problem
ADJ
- complicated, difficult
- easy, simple
- mathematical
- solving simple mathematical problems
VERB + PROBLEM
- do, find the answer to, solve
- I have five problems to do for homework
PROBLEM + NOUN
- solving
- This kind of activity develops the children's problem-solving skills