the best guide to ielts writing 6678

Collected and shared by Tran Manh Trung – Hong Duc University – Thanh Hoa

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Collected and Shared by Tran Manh Trung – Foreign Language Department

Hong Duc University – Thanh Hoa Province

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THE BEST GUIDES TO IELTS WRITING

Thanh Hoa City 12/2012


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FORMAL AND INFORMAL WORD LIST

(Collected and selected by Tran Manh Trung – Hong Duc University)

Rules for formal writing are quite strict, though often unstated. Formal writing is used in academic and

scientific settings whenever you want to convey your ideas to a wide audience, with many possible backgrounds

and assumptions. Unlike casual conversation or emails to friends, formal writing needs to be clear,

unambiguous, literal, and well structured.

Table 01:

Ord

INFORMAL/EVERYDAY

FORMAL/ACADEMIC

VIETNAMESE MEANING

01 a lot of/ loads of/ plenty of a great deal of /numerous/ several nhiều

02 a bit Somewhat (before adj. or adv.)/ slightly một chút ít

03 to get together to collaborate with sbd on smth cộng tác

04 to start/to begin to initiate/to commence smth/v-ing bắt đầu khởi đầu

05 big large (number/percentage), considerable lớn, to lớn

06 thing device/object vật dụng/vật thể

07 stuff material chất liệu, vật liệu

08 to find out to ascertain/discover tìm ra, tìm thấy

09 to do again to repeat lặp lại


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10 to do well to succeed thành công

11 to set up to establish thiết lập

12 to cut down on to reduce giảm bớt

13 to go up to increase tăng lên

14 to come up with to create tạo ra

15 to look into to investigate điều tra

16 to go up and down to fluctuate dao động

17 to bring up a question to raise a question đưa ra vấn đề

18 to get rid of to eliminate loại bỏ

19 to turn down smth to refuse từ chối

20 to turn out smth to produce làm ra, tạo ra

21 to take smth back to retract (a statement) rút lại

22 to put off smth to postpone smth hoãn lại

23 to put up with to tolerate chịu đựng

24 to put away smth to save tiết kiệm, để dành

25 to put down to smth to attribute to quy cho, gán cho

26 to come about to occur xảy ra

27 to give up to relinquish từ bỏ

28 to go back/give back return to swh/ smth trở lại/ trả lại

29 to give off smth to produce (heat) sản sinh, tạo ra

30 to give away to betray tiết lộ, phản bội

31 to carry out smth to conduct tiến hành

32 to seem to appear hình như, dường như

33 to climb to ascend đi lên, tăng lên (số lượng)

34 to help to assist/ aid giúp đỡ

35 to stop to cease dừng lại

36 to use to consume dùng, tiêu dùng

37 to shorten to decrease/ to abbreviate giảm bớt/ rút ngắn

37 to show to demonstrate chỉ ra, chứng minh

38 to go to depart đi, khởi hành


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39 to want to desire mong muốn

40 to end to finish/ to terminate kết thúc

41 to tell to inform thông tin, cho biết

42 to keep preserve/ retain giữ gìn/ giữ

43 to say no to reject từ chối

44 to free to release/ to liberate trả tự do, phóng thích

45 to mend/ to fix to repair sửa chữa

46 to need to require cần

47 to live to reside ở tại, trú tại

48 in the end finally/ultimately cuối cùng

49 at once immediately ngay lập tức

50 at the same time simultaneously/ concurrently đồng thời, cùng lúc

51 at first initially đầu tiên

52 on and off intermittently gián đoạn, lúc có lúc không

53 mainly principally/primarily chủ yếu

54 next subsequently tiếp theo

55 again and again repeatedly lặp đi lặp lại

56 so therefore/ consequently vì thế, vì vậy

57 understanding comprehension sự hiểu

58 lack deficiency sự thiếu hụt

59 chance opportunity cơ hội, dịp

60 sweat perspiration mồ hôi

61 house residence nơi cư trú (count)

62 sight vision khả năng nhìn, thị giác

63 friendly amiable thân mật

64 whole complete toàn bộ

65 lively energetically/animated đầy sinh lực/ sống động

67 lucky fortunate may mắn


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68 childish immature/ infantile như trẻ con (tính cách)

69 wrong incorrect/questionable sai/ có vấn đề

70 worse inferior to thấp kém hơn

71 cheap inexpensive rẻ

72 dim indistinct không rõ ràng, mờ

73 mad insane điên

74 to lay back to relax thư giãn

75 in charge of responsible for chịu trách nhiệm

76 enough sufficient đầy đủ

77 better superior to tốt hơn, giỏi hơn

78 clear transparent rõ ràng

79 empty vacant trống không

80 to ask for to require/ to request đòi hỏi, yêu cầu

81 hot (topic) controversial đang gây tranh cãi

82 more and more Increasingly/ unceasingly/non-stop tăng lên không ngừng

83 to get to obtain/ to receive đạt được, lấy , mua

84 bad disappointing tồi tệ, đáng thất vọng

85 to get worse to deteriorate trở nên xấu đi

86 horrible unacceptable không thể chấp nhận, kinh khủng

87 to come in to enter đi vào

88 to talk about to discuss thảo luận

89 to go down to descend đi xuống, giảm xuống

90 to come up with to suggest gợi ý, đưa ra

91 to look at to examine xem xét

92 to pin down to determine quyết tâm , dứt khoát

93 to experience the influence of to be influenced chịu ảnh hưởng

94 Let’s consider … It is important to consider … hãy cân nhắc, xem xét

95 I love/like/prefer Personally, I favour … Tôi thích, tôi ủng hộ

96 On top of that Another point is … một điểm khác nữa là


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97 Government must make laws There is a need for laws cần có luật về …

98 In a nutshell To state it briefly/ In brief tóm lại

99 Every coin has two sides There are advantages and disadvantages to mọi vấn đề đều có ưu điểm và nhược điểm

100 by chance Incidentally nhân tiện

101 to try to attempt/ to endeavor cố gắng

102 to swap to exchange trao đổi

103 as far as x goes in respect of / with respect to đối với, về phần

104 to skip omit/not attend smth bỏ qua, không tham dự

105 by accident accidentally ngẫu nhiên, tình cờ

106 kids infants/offsprings trẻ em

107 O.K acceptable/ satisfactory được, chấp nhận được

108 to make up for to compensate for đền bù, bù lại

109 to catch on smth to understand nắm bắt, hiểu

110 to go down with a disease to contract a disease mắc bệnh

111 to go up to increase tăng lên

112 to get in touch with to contact liên hệ. liên lạc

113 to let somebody know to inform cho biết

114 to call off to cancel huỷ bỏ, bãi bỏ

115 to sort out to resolve giải quyết, đi đến quyết định

116 to deal with to handle/ to address giải quyết, xử lý

117 small minimal/limited/ modest nhỏ, bé

118 to think of to conceive of/imagine nghĩ về, suy tính

119 about an estimated, approximately, roughly khoảng chừng

120 to do (research) to carry out, perform, undertake tiến hành (nghiên cứu), đảm nhiệm

121 hard difficult, problematic,challenging khó khăn

122 to keep up to maintain duy trì

123 a lot a substantial amount, a considerable sum nhiều

124 stand for denote, represent chỉ, thay cho

126 next adjacent kề cận


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127 prove confirm khẳng định

128 rich affluent, wealthy, prosperous giàu có

129 the same as equivalent to giống nhau, tương đương

130 drink beverage (count) đồ uống

131 man male đàn ông

132 old people senior citizens, retirees người cao tuổi

133 crooks offenders, lawbreakers tội phạm

134 great, awesome preferable, desirable tuyệt vời, đáng ao ước

135 sick of, fed up with dissatisfied with không hài lòng

136 feature characteristic đặc điểm

137 before Prior to trước

138 to think (that) to assume (that) cho rằng

139 Because Owing to or due to the fact that/As a result of vì

140 Nobody can say It is impossible to predict … Không có thể dự đoán trước

141 I think that It seems that/ It could be argued that nNười ta nói rằng

142 About Regarding/ Concerning Về, về phần

143 And as well as còn, cũng như

144 but while/whereas nưng, khi mà

145 to write a cheque to issue a checque viết tờ ngân phiếu

146 carefull/cautious prudent (imprudent)/prudential cẩn thận, thận trọng

147 to check to verify kiểm tra

148 to agree with to be bound by đồng ý với

149 to go over exeed vượt quá, quá mức

150 to hand / to give to submit trình lên, nộp

152 In accordance with Pursuant to Phù hợp với

153 to involve to entail kéo theo, kèm theo

154 lost inadvertently mislaid vô tình thất lạc

155 to make sure to ensure để đảm bảo rằng

156 to order to authorise uỷ quyền


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157 to pay to settle trả tiền, thanh toán

158 to supply to furnish cung cấp

159 to take away to withdraw lấy ra, rút (tiền) ra

160 when we get … On receipt of … Khi nhận được …

161 Whenever we like / want Without prior notice … Không báo trước …

162 One after the other At regular intervals Đều đặn

163 There are no big differences between No significant differences emerges between Không có sự khác biệt đáng kể nào

164 This shows that This demonstrates that Điều này chỉ ra rằng

165 to put smth into action To be implemented/ carried out Được tiến hành, được đưa vào hoạt động

166 etc./ and so forth./ and so on. among other examples và v.v

167 i.e namely, / that is, tức là, chẳng hạn

168 e.g For example, ví dụ

169 vs. versus/as apposed of chống lại, ngược với

170 nice/ cute attractive hấp dẫn, lôi cuốn

171 smart intelligent thông minh

172 come arrive đến

173 lifestyle way of life / manner of life lối sống

174 19th century The nineteenth century Không viết tắt

175 workmate colleague đồng nghiệp

176 tired exhausted mệt mỏi

177 drunk intoxicated bị say rượu

178 sad dejected buồn, chán nản

179 who whom ( đại từ tân ngữ, sau giới từ) ai

180 to get your money back refund your payment lấy lại tiền

181 to pay your bills to settle your account trả tiền hoá đơn mua hàng, thanh toán

182 really extremely cực kỳ, vô cùng

183 to go up to to reach lên tới (con số), đạt tới

184 to work to function hoạt động

185 breathing respiration sự hô hấp


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186 meat-eater carnivore động vật ăn thịt

187 chance opportunity cơ hội

188 wrong erroneous sai sót

189 died out extinct tuyệt chủng

190 relevant pertinent thích đáng, đúng chỗ

191 relatives kindred họ hàng thân tộc

192 copy imitate bắt chước

193 break fracture đập vỡ

194 mix blend pha trộn

195 preference predilection sự thiên vị

196 to come across to find tìm thấy

197 to do away with to abolish bãi bỏ

198 to build up to accumulate tích luỹ

199 to finish off to conclude kết luận

200 to back up to support/to advocate ủng hộ

201 to put forward propose đề xuất, đề nghị

202 to put across to express biểu lộ, bày tỏ

203 to obey a law to comply with a law tuân thủ pháp luật

204 poor country developing country nước nghèo

205 That’s why/ why For this reason, … / … the reason for … Ví lý do này

206 new novel mới

207 dependence surbodination sự phụ thuộc

208 quarrel debate/dispute Cãi nhau

209 In the same way Similarly, Tương tự như vậy

210 to look for to seek Tìm kiếm

211 way manner/solution giải pháp

212 money currency tiền tệ

213 to imagine to conceive / conceivably tưởng tượng

214 place location nơi, vị trí


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215 viewpoint stance lập trường, quan điểm

216 fast/quickly rapidly/ as a matter of urgency nhanh

217 how much to what extent (not applicable to price or amount) tới mức độ nào

218 when (conj) At the time of … Khi mà

219 In/For many years During a considearble period of years Trong nhiều năm

220 to make smth better /to get better to improve/to upgrade cải thiện, làm cho tốt hơn

221 To put on weight to gain weight Tăng cân

223 verb + not + any + noun verb + no + noun … không (cái gì)

224 verb + not + many/much + noun verb + few/little + noun … không (cái gì)

225 to give to provide đưa cho, cung cấp

226 as you can be seen as can be seen như ta có thể thấy

227 wood timber gỗ

228 to describe to depict mô tả

229 to learn by heart to memorise ghi nhớ

230 to go on to continue tiếp tục

231 may be possibly, perhaps có lẽ

232 somehow in a certain way bằng cách nào đó

233 job occupation nghề nghiệp

234 to take on employ thuê

235 to give donate, contribute cho, tặng

236 dad father bố

237 plane aeroplane máy bay

238 (not) smoke. to refrain from smoking không hút thuốc

239 to follow these guidelines. to adhere to these guidelines. theo sự chỉ dẫn

240 gran/granny/nana grandmother bà

241 every year/ each year annually hằng năm

242 glasses spectacles kính đeo mắt

243 shop retail outlet cửa hiệu

244 fridge refrigerator tủ lạnh


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245 TV/ telly television tivi

246 boss employer ông chủ

247 change transform chuyển đổi

248 phone you back return your call gọi điện lại

249 bin man refuse collector người thu rác

250 and so on. / and so forth / etc. among other examples. / or avoid using them v.v.

Academic Language

The term academic language commonly refers to the language that is used in formal situations such as

classrooms, college or universities. Moreover, it is the language of textbooks and exams. Academic language is the

language used by teachers and students in order to acquire new knowledge and skills. It differs in structure and

vocabulary from language used in daily social interactions. This means that academic language includes

specialized vocabulary, as well as conventional text structures such as the use of nominal groups, i.e., groups of

words that provide more information about particular concepts. For example, the language of linguistics includes

words like morphology, language acquisition, or language learning.

Features of Academic Language

The uses of specific linguistic features depend on the discipline for which an assignment is written. For

example, an essay in history may contain a number of past tense verbs than a paper that discusses the dialects

spoken by a particular speech community in which the present tense verbs are used. The three features of academic

languag are lexical, grammatical, and discourse”.


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IELTS Writing Task 2: Useful Language

Memorising set phrases for use in the IELTS test is a highly effective way of achieving a higher score. Try

learning the following signposting language which will make you sound more confident and sophisticated when

writing an opinion or argument essay in Task 2.

Introducing the topic

Some people argue that…

Have you ever considered… ?

The question raises the issue of…

Stating an opinion (thesis statement)

I believe that…

It is my belief that…

This essay will argue that…

Indicating the scope of the essay

In this essay, I will state…

This essay will examine…

… will be covered in this essay.


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Giving reasons

One reason for this is that…

This can be explained by…

This can be attributed to the fact that…

Giving further reasons

Not only that, but…

A further reason is…

It should also be stated that…

Citing general opinions

It has been claimed that…

It is widely believed that…

There is a widespread belief that…

Refuting opinions

I would dispute this, however.

However, this is not necessarily the case.

There are some faults with this reasoning, however.

Hedging strategies

It could be argued that…

One explanation might be that…


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This suggests that…

Strengthening an argument

There can be no doubt that…

Therefore, we can say beyond any doubt that…

These are just some of the reasons why…

Concluding and summarising

To sum up, … / In summary, … / In short, …

Overall, … / On the whole, … To return to my original idea,…


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IELTS Writing Task 1: Useful Language

1. THE LANGUAGE OF APPROXIMATION

In report writing it is good style to use approximation. Approximation means describing numbers or

statistics by using a fraction that is similar to the exact number. There are a number of reasons for doing this.

Firstly, it is easier for people to understand and remember. Secondly, the numbers or statistics may be more

detailed than necessary.

Table 02:

Ord numbers/statistics similar fractions Ord numbers/statistics similar fractions

1 65 % about two-thirds of 13 1,043 over a thousand

2 28 % just over a quarter of 14 115 over a hundred

3 21 % about a fifth of 15 9 fewer than ten

4 49 % just under a half of 16 2 a small number

5 74 % almost three – quarters of 17 4 a few

6 33.333 % a third of 18 6/7 several

7 92 % most of 19 749,982 about three-quarters of a million

8 98,5 % almost all 20 1,256,890,534 over 1.2 billion

9 19.98 % about a fifth of 21 101,997 about 100,000

10 26 % just over a quarter of 22 248.112 a quarter of a million

11 48.873 % almost a half of 23 1,695,193 about 1.7 million

12 74.25 % nearly three - quarters 24 97 just under a hundred


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2. THE WORDS AND PHRASES TO DESCRIBE TRENDS:

Table 03:

Nouns

a rise

an increase

a surge

a growth

a peak

a fluctuation

a variation

a period of stability

a plateau

a fall

a decrease

a decline

a dip

Verbs

to rise

to increase

to surge

to grow

to peak

to skyrocket

to fluctuate

to vary

to fall

to decrease

to decline


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to dip

to dive

to plunge

Phrases

to show an upward trend

to show a downward trend

to hit the highest point

to hit the lowest point

to reach a peak

to show some fluctuation

to fluctuate wildly

to remain stable

to remain static

to remain unchanged

to stay constant

to reach a plateau

to level off

to flatten out

the highest

the lowest

the second highest

the third highest

compared to

compared with

relative to

Adverbs

sharply

suddenly

rapidly

abruptly

dramatically


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significantly

steadily

considerably

markedly

slightly

gently

gradually

wildly

Adjectives

sharp

sudden

rapid

abrupt

dramatic

steep

significant

steady

considerable

marked

slight

gentle

gradual


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MORE WORDS AND PHRASES TO DESCRIBE TRENDS:

A. Introduction

1. The graph (biểu đồ)/table (bảng)/ shows (cho thấy)/indicates (chỉ)/ illustrates (minh hoạ)/ reveals (tiết lộ)/

represents (trình bày) … 2. It is clear from the graph/table …

3. It can be seen from the graph/table … 4. As the graph/table shows …

5. As can be seen from the graph/table … 6. As is shown by the graph/table …

7. As is illustrated by the graph/table … 8. From the graph / table it is clear …

B. Verbs

1. to constitute/ make up: tạo thành 2. to comprise: bao gồm

3. to account for: chiếm đến 4. to amount to : lên đến (số)

5. to stand at: giữ ở (số) 6. to treble: gấp ba lần

7. to double: gấp đôi 8. to increase three fold: tăng gấp ba lần

9. to halve: chia đôi, giảm đi một nửa 10. to diminish: sụt giảm, làm sụt giảm

11. to slow down: chậm lại 12. to remain the same/ unchanged: không thay đổi, giữ nguyên


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13. to deplete: làm giảm 14. to lessen: giảm bớt, làm giảm bớt

15. to escalate: leo thang, tăng nhan 16. to stand at the same level: giữ nguyên

17. to fall to … %: giảm tới … % 18. to fall from … %: giảm xuống dưới … %

19. to fall by …%: giảm khoảng … % 20. to drop to … : giảm tới … %

21. to rise to … %: tăng tới … % 22. to rise by … %: tăng khoảng

23. to rise from … %: tăng từ … %

24. to increase at …% /reduce at … %: tăng/giảm … %

25. to increase to … /reduce to … : tăng/giảm tới … (số)

26. to remain relatively steady: vẫn duy trì tương đối ổn định

C. Adverbs

1. exceptionally: cá biệt, khác thường 2. remarkably: đáng chú ý

3. moderately: vừa phải 4. extremely/enormously: cực kỳ, rất

5. substantially: to lớn, đáng kể 6. marginally: hơi, đôi chút

7. hardly/ scarcely: hầu như không 8. slowly: chậm

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