This page comments briefly on how to improve your exam vocabulary through using collocations, synonyms and word families.

Expanding both the range and accuracy of your vocabulary

In both speaking and writing papers one very important assessment criterion is the range and accuracy of vocabulary. Most candidates will be aware of the need for a range of language and the need not to repeat words unnecessarily. What may be worth emphasising is the need for accuracy in vocabulary use as it is important to ensure that the "new" words are used accurately. Indeed, sometime sit is better to repeat a word than to vary it and get it wrong.


Word families

What are they?
A word family is a group of words that are all derived from one common word. A knowledge of how they work is useful because:

• it can almost instantly expand your available vocabulary - this is efficient learning
  
• it helps you find variations of words in question in the writing tasks: you keep the word you change its form (see Introductions to IELTS essays)

An example of how they work


Collocations

Collocations are words that are commonly used together. In recent years computer analysis has shown just how this works. Any good dictionary will now show you which other words closely relate to the word you are looking at.