Transcription
Do you find you use the same words over and over again? To reach a high level of English fluency for your IELTS, job interviews, meetings, or simply your daily life, you need a broad range of vocabulary. One of the easiest ways to quickly improve your English level is to learn synonyms. Synonyms are simply different words that have the same or similar meanings. Today you'll learn 40 synonyms you can start using today. Welcome back to Jphrase English. Of course, I'm Jennifer. Now, let's get started.
In this lesson, you'll see a common word you may be familiar with, like show. And then you'll learn a synonym that is more formal and more professional, like demonstrate. You can specifically use these synonyms in more formal and professional situations. Now often words have different meanings. So this synonym is used when displaying or providing something often in presentations or studies which is commonly talked about in the workplace and on your IELTS. So of course you can say the data clearly showed the trend but to use the synonym the data clearly demonstrated the trend. It instantly sounds more professional. And learning these synonyms will also help you understand natives. Don't worry about taking these notes because I summarize everything in a free lesson PDF. You can find the link in the description. Show me how. It graphically demonstrates what happened.
Now, let's review mostly and predominantly. Predominantly. This is used to describe something that happens or exists in most cases and is common in academic and professional contexts. You can say the area is mostly residential. So the largest part or the area is predominantly residential. And I hope you're thinking I predominantly watch JForest English lessons. Of course you watch others but mine make up the most the largest part. So, if that's true, put that's right. That's right. Put that's right in the comments.
Now, let's review improve and enhance. This is used to make something better, especially design, quality, or experience. For example, they improve the design of the product. They enhanced the design of the product. It instantly sounds more polished. My day is improving. We should enhance this.
Instead of saying think about, you can use consider. And of course, this is used when reflecting on options thoughtfully. So you're giving a lot of thought. You can use this as advice. You should think about all the options before accepting the job. For example, you should consider you should consider all the options. So maybe you're learning the synonym and the common word at the exact time in this lesson and that's amazing.
So just like before, let's review say and state. But this is used when expressing something verbally or in writing. For example, he said his opinion clearly. He stated his opinion clearly. You will hear the word state most commonly in written form. They think she would be in contact. She said she's fine.
Now, let's review talk about and the synonym discuss. So, of course, this is used to have a conversation or explanation about something. Let's talk about the next steps. I say that every single day. But I can also say and frequently do let's discuss the next steps. So to be honest, the common word is the one that I use more frequently. However, there are many times where I don't want to use a common word. I want to sound more advanced or professional. So having these synonyms in your vocabulary is so important.
Let's review live and reside. Do you know this one? Notice that pronunciation. Resside. Zside. The voiced sound reside. This is of course used for where someone lives, but it's often used in a legal or official context. But you can simply say he lives in a quiet neighborhood. And in an everyday context, he resides in a quiet neighborhood.
Let's review change and modify. Now, this is used while making a small or precise change. So, if I want to make it sound like the changes I made were smaller because I don't want to offend someone that I changed their design or document, I might say modify. So, you can say the policy was changed last year. That's ambiguous. We don't know how big or small the changes were. The policy was modified last year. It sounds like small changes were made.
Reduce already sounds advanced, but you can also say minimize. Minimize. This is used when lowering something as much as possible. So, efforts were made to reduce the risk. Of course, you want to reduce the risk. Efforts were made to minimize the risk. To me, this sounds even smaller. Minimize the risk. Reducing swelling. I like to minimize risk.
Let's review stop and cease. Cease is used when ending an action but is often in writing or commands. So the police may tell you to cease something or a lawyer might tell you to cease something. But you can use it in everyday context and say the noise stopped suddenly. The noise ceased suddenly.
Let's review try and attempt. Attempt is used when making an effort, especially serious effort. So, you can say he tried to solve the puzzle. He attempted to solve the puzzle. To me, this sounds like he was more serious about it. The effort he put was stronger. He spent more time. He attempted to solve the puzzle. Maybe they tried and they couldn't. I didn't say that. You know, they make attempts.
Get better is the everyday word I use. If I want to sound a little more formal or professional, or if I'm discussing something with a medical provider, I might use recover instead, which is used when health or a specific condition improves. So, he got better quickly from the flu. So, got is the past simple of get, of course. He recovered quickly from the flu. So the synonym is what a medical provider or a health care provider would use.
Now the opposite get worse and the opposite of the synonym deteriorate. Deteriorate. So this is used when health or conditions decline. Her health got worse over time. to sound more official, professional, formal. Her health deteriorated over time. It's gotten worse. Things are deteriorating.
Now, you can use think carefully or you can use contemplate. Contemplate. So, this is used when deeply thinking about something. She thought carefully about moving abroad. She contemplated moving abroad. So to me, one, it sounds more formal and two, it sounds like the the thought behind it is more serious as well.
Instead of saying make better, you can use refine, which sounds refined. So this is used to improve something in detail or precision. The process was made better for efficiency. The process was refined for efficiency. So the details of the process were improved, changed, modified and the reason was for efficiency. Make better answers. Find it into carbon dust.
Get rid of is part of my daily vocabulary, but I also use eliminate as a synonym. And of course this is used to remove something unwanted and to permanently remove something. So they got rid of wasteful spending. So got is the past simple of get. Now because this sounds more formal, maybe a government got rid of wasteful spending, it would sound more professional to use the word eliminate and say they eliminated wasteful spending. But I would get rid of old clothes because that is the more casual everyday in a general context.
Let's review check and verify. So this is used when confirming something often in technical or official context. Please check your email address, but please verify your email address. You're checking it to make sure it's correct. So check is more ambiguous and then verify is specific. You're checking for a specific purpose to make sure there are no spelling mistakes or that it's the most recent email address.
Now instead of use up, you can use deplete. And this is an excellent word to have in your vocabulary, especially in the context of resources and when they're used completely. So this can be with environment, energy or even money. The project used up their budget. So use completely. There's no budget available. The project depleted their budget.
You may know this one from all your police dramas on TV. Instead of tell the truth, you can use confess. Confess. And this is used when omitting something often related to guilt or honesty. So he told the truth about the mistake. He confessed to the mistake. So it sounds like he was forced to do it. Maybe internally because of guilt or externally because of threat of punishment. He confessed to the mistake. Of course you hear that on TV a lot.
Now instead of big you can use significant but this is used to describe something important large in size or with a strong effect not the size of something. So this shirt I could say is big on me. I wouldn't say this shirt is significant on me. It doesn't work like that. But you can say the study showed a big increase in temperature. The study showed a significant increase in temperature. So the amount of the increase is large. So you can use significant. We found significant differences. It's a big difference.
And let's review small and minor. This is used for something not very important or very small in significance. Again, not a t-shirt. So you might say there was a small delay in the delivery but small in terms of the significance or importance there was a minor delay in the delivery.
You already know this one. Instead of great, you can say excellent, but it's a reminder to use it because even myself, although I know many synonyms for great, I still use great most of the time. So, as a reminder that we can use other words when we want to sound more formal, more professional, or simply just express a broader range of vocabulary. So, of course, this describes a higher quality or something stronger. He gave a great presentation at the conference. Make that sound a little stronger. She gave an excellent presentation at the conference. Now, this is a synonym, but excellent to me does sound better than great. So, just keep that in mind that they're similar.
And the opposite we could say bad and detrimental but not bad in the sense of he gave a bad presentation. Bad to describe something as harmful and this is often used with health or policy related. So for health smoking has bad effects on health. Bad is very common. To sound more advanced, you should absolutely say smoking has detrimental effects on health. Using that in a presentation, job interview, IELTS, or daily life will make you sound very advanced.
Now, instead of saying something is easy, you can say it's effortless. So, of course, this is used when something requires little effort or it just feels natural. The transition was easy. So maybe the transition to a new job or from one strategy to another. The transition was easy. The transition was effortless. Effortless. Well, that was easy. Effective but effortless.
Instead of hard, describe something as challenging. So, of course, this is used when something is difficult but positive or encouraging. For example, climbing the mountain was a hard task. That sounds more negative. It sounds like a lot of effort and in a negative way. But if I say climbing the mountain was a challenging task, it sounds hard. Yes, because challenging is not easy. But we use it in a more positive way. It was challenging and I enjoyed the challenge.
Instead of look at, you can use observe. So this is used when watching carefully and is often used in science or analysis. Scientists looked at the behavior of the animals. It sounds a lot more professional and also technical and precise to say scientists observed the behavior of the animals.
Now let's review show up and appear. This is used when something becomes visible or present. For example, a rainbow showed up in the sky. To sound more professional, a rainbow appeared in the sky. But I would personally use show up for people appearing because it sounds more natural.
Now, let's review go and proceed. This is used when continuing or moving forward, often in instructions. So, in an instruction, someone might say or write, "Please go to the next page." It sounds more professional to say please proceed to the next page.
Let's review raise and elevate. So this is used when lifting or increasing something and sometimes is used metaphorically. So for example, he raised the discussion to a new level. So he elevated the discussion to a new level. In this context, elevated sounds like a very professional and advanced choice.
Now, let's review fall and decline. So, this is used when something decreases often in reports. So, there was a sharp fall in demand, there was a sharp decline in demand. You'll see that in economic and financial news.
Instead of famous, you can say prominent. So this is used to describe someone or something well-known or important in a particular area. She is a famous author. She is a prominent author. But maybe it's in a specific area.
Instead of increased, you can use boost. Boost. So this is used when something gets bigger and it implies a sharp or helpful increase. So marketing strategies increased the company's sales. So that was helpful. Marketing strategies boosted the company's sales.
Instead of need, you can use require when something is necessary. So most jobs need computer skills. Most jobs require computer skills. But remember in a dayto-day context, I need help. You don't need to say I require help. So keep in mind when you use these synonyms.
Instead of ask inquire. So this is when requesting information and often in business or writing. She asked about the job opening. That's perfectly fine. She inquired about the job opening sounds more professional and formal.
Instead of work operate in a specific context when something functions and is often technical or professional so the system works smoothly in this context work isn't I work every day I wouldn't say I operate every day but the system operates smoothly so works in the way it's supposed to.
Instead of end you can say conclude. So this is when finishing something common in reports or speeches. The meeting will end at noon. That sounds wonderful. It sounds what native speakers mostly use. But in a more formal context or certain context, you can say the meeting will conclude at noon. But I wouldn't ask my colleague when does the meeting conclude. That sounds a little too formal in that context. But if I'm present presenting, I might say, "Let's conclude after the next slide." That's the end. That concludes this meeting.
Instead of give, you can use provide when offering something. The teacher gave clear instructions. The teacher provided clear instructions.
Instead of keep, how about retain? So this is to hold or not lose something common in work or legal context. Employees may keep unused vacation days. But because this is more of a policy, a legal policy for the company, it sounds more professional to say employees may retain unused vacation days.
Instead of a lot, you can use frequently. So, to describe something happening many times or often. She goes to the gym a lot. I'm sure you use the word a lot. A lot. She frequently goes to the gym. But notice the placement there right before the main verb. She frequently goes to the gym.
Instead of a long time, an extended time. So, this is used to describe a duration that lasts for a significant amount of time. They waited for a long time. They waited for an extended time.
Now, you have 40 synonyms you can use to sound professional, to sound more advanced, and also sound natural. Do you want me to keep helping you with synonyms? If you do, put let's go. Let's go. Put let's go in the comments. And of course, make sure you like this lesson, share it with your friends, and subscribe so you're notified every time I post a new lesson. And you can get this free speaking guide where I share six tips on how to speak English fluently and confidently. You can click here to download it or look for the link in the description. And here's another lesson I know you'll love. Watch it now.