[0:00]Today, we're going to be looking at the 69 most commonly used words by real band 7, 8, and 9 students, so that you can improve not just your vocabulary, but massively boost your IELTS writing score.
[0:12]And in this video, I'm going to show you what those words are, how you can use them in your essays, and how they will help you massively improve your essays.
[0:21]At the end as a special bonus, I'll also give you access to all 100 of those sample essays as a little gift from me to you.
[0:30]So the first word is viable. This means able to work or succeed.
[0:34]Synonyms of this word are feasible, workable, or the most common one would be possible.
[0:40]This is an adjective, and common collocations are viable option or viable alternative.
[0:47]For example, the project is not a viable option without more funding.
[0:52]Let's look at how our band 7, 8, and 9 students use this in their real essays.
[0:57]A viable solution is to heavily punish law breakers.
[1:03]So in your essays, you will often be asked to write about solutions or alternatives.
[1:08]So adding the collocation, viable solution, viable option, viable alternative, will hopefully boost your score.
[1:16]The next word is schooling. This means the education you get at school.
[1:20]Synonyms of this word would be education, learning, training, and this is a noun.
[1:27]Common collocations of this word are primary schooling and secondary schooling.
[1:33]For example, good primary schooling is important for a child's future.
[1:37]And if we look at a sentence from the 100 essays, in Vietnam, the average class size is 20 students, which makes it difficult for educators to provide proper schooling for each student.
[1:49]Education is one of the, if not the most common topic for task 2 essays.
[1:56]So a very, very useful word, useful synonym to use in there instead of education, training, things like that.
[2:02]The next word is renowned, and this means famous or respected.
[2:06]Synonyms of this word are well known, famous, celebrated. This is an adjective.
[2:12]And common collocations are renowned expert, renowned for.
[2:17]Although you could add in athlete, musician, company, many, many different things that are well known and respected, they are famous for something.
[2:27]This is very useful for use in examples.
[2:30]So often in examples, you're going to pick someone very well known or famous that demonstrates the point that you're making.
[2:37]Here's an example sentence, he is a renowned expert in the field of biology.
[2:41]And let's look at how our students used this in their essay.
[2:44]For instance, after opening a branch of Apple company in Dubai, many local graduates were thrilled by the good news of being accepted to work under this renowned company.
[2:58]So instead of saying famous company, they've added renowned.
[3:01]The next word is prime, and no, it's not a drink made by Logan Paul.
[3:05]This means the best or most important.
[3:09]Synonyms are best, top, main, and this word is an adjective.
[3:14]The most common collocation is prime example.
[3:17]But you could also swap this out for prime advantage, prime disadvantage, prime solution, prime reason.
[3:26]Often in your essays, you'll be talking about these things, so if you wanted to describe these things as the best or most important, you can add prime before those words.
[3:36]An example sentence is, this is a prime example of excellent customer service.
[3:41]And in our essays, one student wrote, the prime disadvantage is that these companies use the natural resources of developing nations recklessly, which affects the environment.
[3:52]So a very, very good topic sentence there, talking about advantages and disadvantages.
[3:58]But the great thing about this word, like many of the words on this list, is, it can be used interchangeably throughout your essays.
[4:05]The next word is prone, which means likely to do or experience something.
[4:10]Synonyms are likely, inclined, susceptible. This is an adjective.
[4:14]And a common collocation is prone to errors.
[4:18]But it's not just prone to errors, the collocation will normally be prone to, but you can swap out errors for other things that people are likely to experience.
[4:29]So an example sentence, children are prone to making mistakes when they are learning.
[4:36]And in our essays, we have, thus, people that have a diet based on plants and seeds are more prone to have a healthier life because they allow their bodies to focus their energy in its normal processes.
[4:51]And before you start writing, this student made grammatical errors.
[4:55]Yes, these are real essays, these are real human beings that make mistakes.
[5:00]We're giving you real sentences, not polished fake ones.
[5:04]I hope you're enjoying this video on IELTS writing.
[5:08]If you want to improve your IELTS writing even more, I've developed a free course called IELTS essay builder.
[5:14]What IELTS essay builder does is it gives you a free course that structures everything from your introduction to your main body paragraphs to your conclusions.
[5:22]It shows you step by step, sentence by sentence, how to write everything that you're learning here.
[5:28]To sign up for that for free, all you have to do is just click the link in the description.
[5:33]Thanks very much, and let's get back to the video. The next word is officials, and this means people in authority or people in the government normally.
[5:41]Synonyms of this are authorities, leaders, administrators, and this is a noun.
[5:48]Common collocations are government officials or public officials.
[5:53]These are people working in the government.
[5:56]In our essay, they wrote, in conclusion, I do not support the argument of newspapers publishing the personal information of government officials.
[6:04]Task 2 essays will often talk about the government and government policies, so it's a very useful word to have.
[6:12]The next word is output, and this means the amount produced of something.
[6:16]Synonyms of this word are production, yield, and this is a noun.
[6:20]Common collocations are industrial output or total output.
[6:26]Sometimes you will be asked to write about companies, companies dominate our lives.
[6:31]Similarly to the last one where we're talking about governments, governments and companies dominate our lives and have a huge impact on our lives.
[6:39]Therefore, you will often be asked to write about the those things or write about examples of those things in your task 2 essays.
[6:49]An example sentence, the factory's output has increased this year.
[6:53]And from our essays, the main benefits of wearing a uniform are that it brings uniformity to the workplace and helps to increase the output of companies.
[7:03]And you could also change that to a company's output or a factory's output.
[7:09]The next word is intellect, which means the ability to think and understand.
[7:14]And notice I didn't say memorized. Memorize isn't really thinking, so don't think that you can memorize all of these words and magically improve your intellect.
[7:25]More on that at the end of the video. Synonym of this is intelligence, and this is a noun.
[7:31]Common collocations are his intellect or her intellect or maybe a child's intellect.
[7:37]An example sentence is her sharp intellect makes her a great scientist.
[7:43]And from our essays, educational programs on television can help children become more intelligent. Kids who watch informative and educational shows learn to solve problems and develop strong mental maths skills.
[7:50]Often you will get questions about education, especially about children and how to improve their education, improve their intelligence, improve their intellect.
[8:00]The next word is incentives, which means things that encourage you to do something.
[8:05]For example, if you want a free course, go down into the description of this video and add in your email address and we'll send you a free course.
[8:14]I've just given you an incentive. Synonyms of this word are motivation, rewards, encouragement.
[8:21]This is a noun, and common collocations are provide incentives or offer incentives.
[8:28]So this will often come up when we're talking about education or how companies are run.
[8:34]Often we will provide incentives or offer incentives to students, workers, citizens to try and get them to do something.
[8:44]Another way to think about this word is the approach of a carrot and a stick.
[8:50]So if you want a donkey to do something, you can beat it with a stick or you can provide an incentive, a carrot to make it go forward.
[8:58]An example sentence are the company offers financial incentives to its best workers.
[9:04]And in our essays, many younger people find voting a waste of time and, therefore, if they are given incentives, they are more likely to take the time to vote.
[9:14]Our next word is irrespective. This means without considering something.
[9:19]Synonyms are regardless, despite. And this is an adverb.
[9:24]The most common collocation is irrespective of and then after of will be the thing that you are ignoring or you're disregarding.
[9:33]For example, irrespective of the outcome, we must try our best.
[9:37]And in our essays, I believe that adult life brings more joy because of life fulfillment, irrespective of more responsibilities.
[9:45]So this is very useful when you are balancing two views or considering two views.
[9:54]Often you will get questions that ask you to discuss both views.
[9:57]So this is very useful in your conclusion when you're giving your opinion.
[10:01]You're saying, I believe this, this, this, and then you want to talk about a counter argument or another side to the point that you're making, you could say a notable exception is.
[10:06]The next word is fundamental. No, it's actually fundamental. And this means important.
[10:12]Synonyms of this word are important, essential, primary. And this is an adjective.
[10:19]Common collocations are fundamental principle and fundamental change.
[10:24]For example, learning to read is a fundamental skill for children.
[10:29]And from our essays, it is the fundamental right of every human being to have their privacy.
[10:35]So this is a great way in your essays to convey to the examiner that this thing that you're talking about is very, very important.
[10:43]You're ranking this as the most important thing at the very, very top.
[10:50]So we could talk about the fundamental change that needs to happen, the fundamental reason, the fundamental right, the fundamental whatever you are talking about.
[10:59]To thank you for making it this far in the video, I want to give you 10% off our VIP course.
[11:04]IELTS VIP course is the most successful IELTS course in the world.
[11:08]That is a fact, because we have more band 7, 8 and 9 success stories than any other IELTS course in the entire world.
[11:17]We do that by simplifying the old IELTS process, supporting you with some of the best IELTS teachers in the world, and being with you every step of the way until you get the score that you need.
[11:27]All you have to do is just look down in the description, just click that, and you can sign up.
[11:32]If you have any questions about the VIP course, always feel free to get in touch with us.
[11:36]We answer 100% of the questions that we get.
[11:40]Hope that you've become a VIP. If not, enjoy the rest of this free video.
[11:43]The next word is disclose, which means to make something known.
[11:48]Synonyms are reveal, show, tell. This is a verb.
[11:52]The most common collocation is to disclose information.
[11:56]For example, the company must disclose any risks to its investors.
[12:00]And from our essays, on the other hand, publishing details of private affairs disclose the corruption of politicians and make them accountable.
[12:11]Again, you'll often be writing about the government.
[12:15]What is the government full of in most countries? Corrupt politicians.
[12:20]So it's very easy to talk about disclosing them.
[12:23]The next word is detrimental, and it means to cause harm or damage.
[12:27]Synonyms are harmful, damaging, bad. This is an adjective.
[12:31]And the most common collocation is detrimental effect.
[12:36]For example, smoking has a detrimental effect on health.
[12:40]I looked through the essays and the students did use this a lot, but not many of them used it the most common way, which is a detrimental effect on health, for example, or a detrimental effect on the environment.
[12:55]Health, the environment, or just talking about bad effects on many different things, you'll often write about those in your essays.
[13:04]So think about having that in your essay when you're talking about negative or bad things.
[13:10]The next word is adolescence, and these are young people normally between the ages of 13 and 19, but it differs from person to person.
[13:19]And a synonym of this word is teenager. This is a noun, and you have to be very, very careful with this word.
[13:25]Most students use this because often you will be asked to write about children.
[13:30]So what they do is they take the word children and just use that as a synonym by inserting adolescence.
[13:38]Now, my two little boys, one is three and the other is nine.
[13:42]They are children, but they are not adolescence.
[13:46]So you must only use this word if you are writing about teenagers going through that stage of life, which is puberty.
[13:55]For example, adolescents often experience many changes in their lives.
[13:59]And there aren't that many common collocations, so I haven't added any.
[14:04]And from our essays, although adolescents are free of responsibilities, adults enjoy their life more because they are free to make their own choices.
[14:13]So I think this is a really, really good word to think about.
[14:17]Because you're not just going to memorize these words and insert them randomly into your essays.
[14:24]But what you're also not going to do is take words that are similar, so they're synonyms, and just replace those words like children, adolescence.
[14:34]Think about the specific meaning of each of these words and think about, can you actually use them accurately and appropriately in your essays?
[14:43]We're not telling you just to memorize these words and vomit them onto the page.
[14:47]The next word is accountable, and this means responsible for your actions.
[14:53]Synonyms are responsible, answerable, liable. This is an adjective.
[14:58]And the most common collocations are accountable to something, to people or to a government or a body, and accountable for something.
[15:08]If you're accountable for something, it's normally your actions.
[15:13]For example, managers should be held accountable for their decisions.
[15:17]From our essay, this essay strongly disagrees with this view because politicians build a public image through such news and they could be held accountable for any wrongdoings.
[15:28]I think the student meant to write should be held accountable.
[15:32]Again, you'll often be asked to write about people in authority, people like government officials, politicians, teachers, or just everybody in general.
[15:43]We are all accountable for things that we do, and we're normally accountable to people above us or people around us.
[15:51]The next word is addressed, and this means to fix an issue or fix a problem.
[15:56]Synonyms are tackled, deal with, handled, fixed. And this is a verb.
[16:03]The most common collocations are address a problem or the problem or address an issue or the issue.
[16:10]For example, the teacher addressed the issue of bullying in the classroom.
[16:14]In that example, we didn't fix the issue.
[16:18]It's not the teacher completely resolving the issue of bullying, this means to bring it up, to address it, to talk about it in the classroom.
[16:26]So just be careful with that slight difference in meaning.
[16:29]In our essay, the student said, however, this can easily be addressed by making people aware and also by making new laws.
[16:39]So they've used it to say addressed, fixed.
[16:42]So you might use this, for example, in problem solution essays, addressing problems in your solutions part of your essay.
[16:50]But it can also be used very flexibly and interchangeably with many different ways of writing essays.
[16:58]The next word is affluent, which means having a lot of money.
[17:01]Synonyms are wealthy, rich, prosperous. And this is an adjective.
[17:05]The most common collocations are an affluent society or an affluent country, but you can also apply this to people.
[17:12]In our essays, our student wrote, in addition, not only does a country become more powerful economically, but also many residents have an opportunity to become affluent.
[17:21]So it is a common essay topic to write about money and people becoming more successful.
[17:29]You'll have a lot of people furiously typing, success and money are not the same thing.
[17:33]It's not politics class, we're just trying to help you get a higher score so you can become more affluent and more successful in your new country.
[17:41]That's why you're doing the IELTS test, right? The next word is allocate, which means to distribute resources or duties.
[17:47]Common synonyms are assign, distribute, allot. This is a verb.
[17:52]And the most common collocation is to allocate resources.
[17:56]For example, the manager will allocate resources for the new project.
[18:01]And in our essays, investment banks in Sweden showed a significant increase after they decided to allocate at least 40% of their leading positions to women.
[18:11]The next one is a very useful word, which is awareness, which means knowledge about something.
[18:18]Synonyms are knowledge, understanding. This is a noun.
[18:22]And common collocations are to raise awareness, but for IELTS essays, we often talk about awareness campaigns.
[18:29]Which are campaigns by the government to make people aware of a certain topic.
[18:34]For example, we need to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking.
[18:39]And in our essays, however, encouraging youth participation in politics and awareness campaigns can be possible solutions to tackle these problems.
[18:48]So these are very, very useful when talking about solutions to problems.
[18:52]Often the best solution will be some kind of awareness campaign.
[18:57]Think about campaigns within your own country for smoking or drunk driving or wear seatbelts.
[19:04]The next word is bullying, which means repeated aggressive behavior intended to hurt someone.
[19:10]Synonyms are harassment, intimidation, abuse. This is a noun, but it can also be used as a verb to bully someone.
[19:18]Common collocations are school bullying and very frequently these days cyberbullying, which means to bully someone online, normally through social media.
[19:28]For example, school bullying can seriously affect a child's self-esteem.
[19:32]And from our essays, the main reason behind this is the increase of cyberbullying and hate crimes.
[19:38]The next word is burden, which means a heavy load or responsibility.
[19:42]Synonyms are load or responsibility. This is a noun.
[19:46]The most common collocations are heavy burden and financial burden.
[19:51]For example, the financial burden of college can be overwhelming for some students.
[19:56]And from our essays, this is because they cannot cope with the financial burden of buying new clothes from stores, such as Prada or Gucci.
[20:03]Money makes the world go round and a lot of task 2 essays will involve you talking about money, financial burdens.
[20:12]But it doesn't have to be about money, you could also talk about the burden of being a father or a mother, for example, or the burden of being a husband or wife.
[20:23]But burden is often referred to negatively.
[20:27]So don't tell my wife that I said that. The next word is capabilities, which means the ability to do something.
[20:33]Synonyms are abilities, skills, talents. This is a noun.
[20:38]And common collocations are their capabilities or its capabilities.
[20:42]So you're talking about the ability of a person to do something or a thing to do something.
[20:48]For example, the company's technological capabilities are impressive.
[20:53]And from our essay, in conclusion, many athletes nowadays use illegal substances to win the competition and exceed their physical capabilities.
[21:02]Common topics are technology and health.
[21:06]You could easily use capabilities to talk about a company's abilities or software's abilities or AIs abilities.
[21:16]But you could also use the word capabilities to talk about someone's physical health and their capabilities.
[21:22]Or you could use it for education to talk about the capabilities of students or maybe even teachers.
[21:29]We have abilities too. Next is a very common word, commonly, which means frequently or usually.
[21:36]Synonyms are often, usually, regularly. This is an adverb.
[21:40]Common collocations are commonly used.
[21:43]For example, this word is commonly used in academic writing.
[21:48]And from our essays, for instance, it can be commonly seen in many schools that teachers introduce TVs in their lectures to help students understand complicated and difficult subjects.
[21:59]So if you're talking about time and how often something happens, use that word.
[22:04]Next is consumption, the act of using something.
[22:07]Synonyms are use and usage. This is a noun.
[22:12]Common collocations are energy consumption, human consumption, when we eat things, or when we use things, and consumption of.
[22:21]For example, reducing energy consumption can help protect the environment.
[22:26]The environment and global warming and new technologies for producing energy, you will often use this word and these collocations.
[22:37]And from our essays, this is because animals are reproduced, kept in small and uncomfortable places, and then killed and sold to supermarkets and butchers for human consumption.
[22:48]So if anyone or anything is using something within your essays, you could look through it and think, how could I use the word consumption?
[22:58]The next word is competence, and this is the ability to do something well.
[23:02]Not the ability just to do something, but to do something well.
[23:06]Synonyms are ability, skill, proficiency. This is a noun.
[23:11]And common collocations are professional competence and competence in.
[23:16]For example, her professional competence was evident in her excellent work.
[23:22]And one student wrote, by allocating a certain percent of high level positions to women, companies would reach a higher competence level.
[23:31]So often you'll be writing about maybe disadvantaged groups of people, for example, in this one, women, and you're writing about their competence in things.
[23:42]Next is a word many of you already know, I'm sure, which is corruption.
[23:46]This means dishonest or illegal behavior by those in power.
[23:51]So think about a politician maybe from your local area or your country, that dishonestly uses money.
[23:57]Synonyms of this word are dishonesty, fraud, and bribery.
[24:02]This is a noun, and the most common collocation is political corruption.
[24:07]For example, the investigation revealed widespread political corruption.
[24:12]And our student wrote, for example, when details of the lavish spending of the Mayor of London, while on a vacation, were revealed in the sun, it prompted questions from many sections of the society, eventually exposing his corruption with the public money.
[24:30]Yes, I know that student made a few small grammatical errors.
[24:35]Don't go crazy. It's not the student's fault. Maybe that student had a little bit of corruption in their school when they were growing up, and they didn't get the attention that you've got from your very honest teachers and politicians.
[24:49]The next one is a two for one. These are both high level words that mean the same thing, downsides and drawbacks.
[24:56]These both mean the negative aspects of something.
[24:59]Synonyms are disadvantages, negatives.
[25:03]These are both nouns. And it won't be a surprise that students use these as synonyms when they are talking about advantages, disadvantages essays.
[25:12]The most common collocation for downsides are potential downsides, and the most common collocation for drawbacks are major drawbacks.
[25:25]For example, the potential downsides of the new policy include increased costs.
[25:31]And in our essays, one of the major drawbacks of this method is its high cost.
[25:35]Another little trick there, if you get an advantages, disadvantages essay, very often an easy disadvantage is to talk about high cost.
[25:44]Not always, but does help to have that in your toolkit.
[25:48]And the next word is similar, but different. And that is deficiency.
[25:52]Now, this isn't really a disadvantage. This is a lack of something.
[25:57]So there is a little bit of it already, but there is a lack of it.
[26:00]Synonyms are a lack, a shortage, or an insufficiency.
[26:04]This is a noun, and a common collocation is a vitamin deficiency or deficiency in.
[26:12]So you might not have a vitamin deficiency, but you might have a deficiency in something else.
[26:18]So you have a deficiency in whatever you have a deficiency of. For example, a vitamin deficiency can cause health problems.
[26:24]And from our essays, the main disadvantage of the vegetarian diet is that without meat, people may have a protein deficiency.
[26:33]Obviously, this can be used for many different topics, but health is one of the main ones.
[26:40]The next one is embrace, which means to accept something with enthusiasm.
[26:45]Synonyms are accept, welcome, adopt. This is a verb.
[26:50]And the most common collocation for our purposes is to embrace change.
[26:55]Life is basically the story of change.
[26:58]When you're writing, you're going to be writing about life, so it's very easy to use this collocation.
[27:06]For example, we need to embrace change to stay competitive.
[27:09]And from our essays, there are two main benefits of traveling such as people can gain knowledge and embrace other cultures.
[27:16]So not just embracing change, but embracing new things, which is another way of saying change.
[27:23]The next one will definitely enhance your writing score, which is enhance.
[27:28]This means to improve something. Synonyms are improve, boost, increase. This is a verb.
[27:35]And common collocations are to enhance performance, but you can substitute out performance for something else.
[27:42]Or enhanced with a D on the end by, enhanced by.
[27:48]For example, the new software will enhance our performance.
[27:52]And one of our students wrote, for instance, many psychologists suggest to students who are struggling with social anxiety to take drama lessons as it helps to enhance confidence.
[28:02]So enhance performance, enhance confidence.
[28:05]Next is a very, very popular one, emissions, which means gases or substances sent out into the air.
[28:12]Most commonly for our purposes, carbon dioxide emissions.
[28:16]A synonym of this is output, and this is a noun.
[28:20]Common collocations are carbon emissions or carbon dioxide emissions, and reduce emissions.
[28:26]For example, reducing carbon emissions is vital to combat climate change.
[28:32]And from our essays, the main advantage of having a vegetarian diet is that carbon emissions can be reduced.
[28:38]For bonus points, take that sentence, how would you improve the vocabulary of that sentence using the words we've already talked about in this video?
[28:48]Put it in the comments.
