IELTS Precision: Choose The Exact Word, Not The Rare One
Stop reaching for rare words. Learn the judgement a near-synonym carries, the company a word keeps, the six words Band 7 candidates most confidently misuse, and when the ordinary word is the higher-scoring choice.
The Judgement Inside A Word
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 · Start here
The Judgement Inside A Word
Recognise the verdict a near-synonym smuggles in, and choose it deliberately.
Sprint 1
Praise Or Criticism
Six pairs of words that describe the same behaviour but pass opposite judgements, and how to choose on purpose.
Sprint 2
Describing People And Manner
Six pairs where the negative word means too much or too little of a good quality, so you judge the amount, not the quality.
Sprint 3
Describing Change And Reform
Words for change and reform carry a verdict on the change. Pick the one that matches the side you are arguing.
Sprint 4
Judging Policy And Institutions
Judge a policy with words whose strength matches the evidence you have given.
Sprint 5
Euphemism And What It Hides
Spot the soft words institutions use to hide what happened, and why using them in your own writing weakens your point.
Sprint 6
Review: What The Word Decided For You
All the judgement words from this chapter. Test yourself, and practise choosing the ordinary word when the evidence is ordinary.
The Company A Word Keeps
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 · Start here
The Company A Word Keeps
Why "committed a generous act" is grammatical, collocationally sound, and still wrong.
Sprint 7
Verbs That Only Take Bad Things
Verbs that almost always come with something bad, like commit, and why they sound wrong next to something good.
Sprint 8
Verbs That Only Take Good Things
Verbs that come with good things, when they genuinely fit, and when the plainer verb is better.
Sprint 9
Intensifiers With Hidden Polarity
Words like very and utterly only fit certain adjectives. Learn the pairings that sound natural, and the mismatches that don't.
Sprint 10
Verbs That Disapprove Of Their Subject
Verbs that criticise the person while describing what they did, and when you have earned the right to use them.
Sprint 11
Neutral-Looking Nouns With A Charge
Nouns that look neutral but usually introduce something negative, and how to use them in line with your argument.
Sprint 12
Review: The Fourth Check
All the word-company patterns from this chapter. Test yourself until checking a word's usual company becomes a habit.
The Exact Kind: Size, Certainty, Cause, Objection, Scope
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 · Start here
The Exact Kind: Size, Certainty, Cause, Objection, Scope
Six kinds of small, of certainty, of causation, of objection, of scope.
Sprint 13
Six Kinds Of Small
Trivial, minute, nominal: choose the word that says why something is small, not only that it is.
Sprint 14
Degrees Of Certainty Beyond Hedging
Say how a claim is known, not just how strongly you believe it.
Sprint 15
Degrees Of Causation
Name the exact part a cause plays, and keep causes separate from logical links.
Sprint 16
Degrees Of Objection
Name the kind and strength of an objection precisely: the words that weighing-both-views essays depend on.
Sprint 17
Degrees Of Scope
Say how widely a measure applies, the most useful kind of precision in a solution paragraph.
Sprint 18
Review: Which Kind, And When There Isn't One
All the exact-kind words from this chapter. Test yourself, and practise choosing the ordinary word when no kind has been shown.
Saying One Idea Several Ways
Chapter 4
Chapter 4 · Start here
Saying One Idea Several Ways
Express one idea three ways and choose between them for the context.
Sprint 19
Verbal And Nominal Style
Move a sentence between a verb style and a noun style on purpose, choosing how dense it should be.
Sprint 20
Attributing A View Without Owning It
Present a view at a chosen distance from your own, so a both-views essay is genuinely balanced.
Sprint 21
Compressing A Clause Into A Phrase
Turn a whole clause into a short phrase to vary your sentences without adding grammar risk.
Sprint 22
Upgrading And Downgrading A Claim
Make a claim stronger or weaker without rewriting it, so you can defend it when challenged.
Sprint 23
Referring Back At Paragraph Scale
Refer back to a whole argument with one noun that also names what kind of argument it was.
Sprint 24
Review: The Choosing Is The Skill
All the ways of rephrasing from this chapter. Test yourself, and practise choosing the plainer form wherever it fits.
Metaphor Used Naturally
Chapter 5
Chapter 5 · Start here
Metaphor Used Naturally
Use dead metaphor without mixing families — the failure mode of an ambitious Band 7.
Sprint 25
Structures And Foundations
Building words like foundation and pillar for arguments and institutions, without mixing them with other pictures.
Sprint 26
Water And Flow
Flow words for the movement of people, money and opinion, keeping the picture consistent.
Sprint 27
Growth And Decay
Growth and decay words for institutions and attitudes, including entrenched, the most useful word in this chapter.
Sprint 28
Conflict And Ground
Conflict words for debates and policies, without making a balanced view sound like a fight.
Sprint 29
Light And Vision
Light and vision words for understanding and attention, including three different ways a thing can go unseen.
Sprint 30
Review: Name The Picture
All the picture words from this chapter. Test yourself, spot mixed pictures in a paragraph, and choose the plain word when two would clash.
Words Band 7 Writers Get Wrong
Chapter 6
Chapter 6 · Start here
Words Band 7 Writers Get Wrong
The six words most confidently misused, and the formality that costs marks.
Sprint 31
Confidently Wrong
Six words people use confidently in a way that differs from their careful meaning, and what to write instead.
Sprint 32
Formality Overshot
Words that sound formal without being better, and the ordinary words that do the job.
Sprint 33
Words With Grammatical Baggage
Words that need a particular grammar pattern. Knowing the meaning without the pattern produces errors that look worse than not using the word.
Sprint 34
Almost-Right Pairs
Pairs that look alike but mean different things, where mixing them up changes your sentence.
Sprint 35
Redundancy And Compression
Cut padding phrases that use up words without adding meaning, and spend those words on content.
Sprint 36
Review: The Five Faults
All five mistakes from this chapter as one editing pass, and the fussy 'rules' you can safely ignore.
Holding Your Position Across A Whole Essay
Chapter 7
Chapter 7 · Start here
Holding Your Position Across A Whole Essay
Manage a position across a whole response, not sentence by sentence.
Sprint 37
Comment Adverbs
Adverbs like tellingly and revealingly that comment on a whole statement, used only where the paragraph has earned them.
Sprint 38
Attributing And Distancing
Report a claim while showing doubt about it: key for Reading questions on the writer's view, and useful in your own writing.
Sprint 39
Conceding Without Weakening
Admit a fair point without weakening your own position.
Sprint 40
Managing The Counter-Argument
Name the other side's argument and take it apart, the move that makes a both-views essay convincing.
Sprint 41
Closing With Force
End by stating what your argument proved, instead of repeating your introduction in new words.
Sprint 42
Review: Every Phrase Is A Promise
All the stance phrases from this chapter. Test yourself, and decide which ones you will not use in the exam.