Leverage's two meanings each pair with their own set of verbs. Mixing those verbs can make a sentence sound strange. The grammar may be right, but the word choice is not. People often notice this mistake right away.
General sense: possessing or building a position
As a bargaining-power noun, leverage pairs with a clear group of verbs. They describe having, gaining, giving, building, or using a strong position. Common pairings include have leverage, gain leverage, and give someone leverage. Others include provide, exert, build, and maintain leverage.
Natural: "The exclusive supply agreement gave us real leverage in the renegotiation." Unnatural: "The exclusive supply agreement made us leverage in the renegotiation."
General action verbs do not pair naturally with this noun. They may be common verbs in other settings. However, make leverage, do leverage, take leverage, and perform leverage are wrong.
Unnatural: "We're actively doing leverage as the credit environment tightens." Natural: "We're actively managing our leverage as the credit environment tightens."
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See how Lyra Practice works →Financial sense: ratio and degree
In finance, natural pairings treat leverage as a ratio or level. You can say a leverage ratio or high or low leverage. Other options include excessive, increasing, reducing, or managing leverage. Name the ratio when you give a number. For example, say a debt-to-equity ratio of 3:1. You might also say net debt equal to 3x EBITDA. You can describe a highly leveraged company too. Another common phrase is deleveraging the balance sheet.
"The company reduced its net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio from 4.0x to 2.5x over eighteen months by paying down term debt."
The verb shows how the ratio changed over time. The pattern is reduced from one level to another. It gives more information than a flat statement.
Practice scenarios
Practice the natural verb collocations for leverage, in both senses, in situations like:
- choosing the right verb for a bargaining-power sentence (gain, build, exert)
- catching an unnatural collocation like "make leverage" or "do leverage"
- describing a company's leverage ratio changing over time with a comparative verb
Useful practice phrases:
- "This gave us real leverage in..."
- "We're managing/reducing/increasing our leverage as..."
- "The company reduced its [named leverage ratio] from [X] to [Y] over..."
The noun "leverage" does not pair with every action verb.
It pairs with verbs about having, building, or adjusting a position.
Lyra Practice helps advanced non-native English professionals learn the nuance of high-value workplace expressions and practice using them in realistic scenarios, so their English sounds natural, precise, and senior at work. Try Lyra Practice.