🔤 Vocabulary Bank
Build your English vocabulary — one word at a time.
429 words found — page 4 of 9
follow
Beginner
/ˈfɑːloʊ/
To do what someone tells you to do; to go in the same direction as someone
"Follow the steps in order or the recipe won't work."
follow up
Upper Intermediate
/ˈfɒloʊ ʌp/
To contact someone again to check progress or get a response
"If you don't hear back within three days, follow up with a polite reminder email."
formal
Beginner
/ˈfɔːrməl/
Polite and serious, used in professional or official situations; not casual.
"I use formal language when emailing my boss, not 'Hey!'"
formal writing
Beginner
/ˈfɔːrməl ˈraɪtɪŋ/
Professional writing like emails, letters, or job applications that follows strict rules
"In formal writing, spell out numbers below one hundred."
format
Beginner
/ˈfɔːrmæt/
The way something is arranged or structured; the pattern used for writing dates or numbers
"British and American date formats are different."
fragile
Beginner
/ˈfrædʒaɪl/
Easily damaged or broken; needing careful handling.
"This box is fragile, so please handle it gently."
free
Beginner
/friː/
Not busy; available to do something.
"Are you free tomorrow at 3 PM? I want to meet you."
Frequently
Beginner
/ˈfriːkwəntli/
Often; many times.
""She frequently visits her grandparents on weekends.""
fresh
Elementary
/freʃ/
Recently made or picked, not old
"We buy fresh vegetables from the market every morning."
Friday
Beginner
/ˈfraɪdeɪ/
The last day of the work week; people are excited because the weekend is coming.
"Happy Friday! Only 2 more hours until I leave work."
friendly
Elementary
/ˈfrendli/
Kind and pleasant to talk to; liking to be with other people
"Our new teacher is very friendly and helps us learn easily."
Friendly
Beginner
/ˈfrendli/
Kind and pleasant to others.
""The teacher is very friendly.""
full stop
Beginner
/ˌfʊl ˈstɒp/
The punctuation mark (.) that ends a sentence; also called a period.
"I finished my homework. — See the full stop at the end?"
gender
Beginner
/ˈdʒendər/
Whether someone is male (he) or female (she); grammatical category
"In English, the pronouns 'he' and 'she' show gender."
grandparent
Beginner
/ˈɡrænpeərənt/
Your parent's mother or father; grandmother or grandfather.
"My grandmother is 85 years old and still very active."
greeting
Beginner
/ˈɡriːtɪŋ/
A polite word or phrase said when meeting someone for the first time or seeing them again.
"A friendly greeting can make someone feel welcome on their first day."
grilled
Beginner
/ɡrɪld/
Cooked on hot metal or over fire
"The grilled chicken is delicious and very popular here."
habit
Elementary
/ˈhæbɪt/
Something you do regularly as part of your routine
"My habit is to drink coffee every morning."
Habit
Beginner
/ˈhæbɪt/
A regular activity that you do without thinking about it.
""Waking up at 6am is a good habit.""
half past
Beginner
/hɑːf pɑːst/
30 minutes after the hour; the middle point of an hour
"Dinner is served at **half past** six."
hang up
Beginner
/hæŋ ʌp/
To end a phone call by putting down the phone
"The call was bad, so I hung up and called again."
hedge
Advanced
/hedʒ/
To avoid making a definite or direct statement; to qualify a claim with cautious language
"The researcher chose to **hedge** her findings by stating they suggest rather than prove a correlation."
Hello
Beginner
/həˈloʊ/
A word used as a greeting.
""Hello! My name is Anna.""
hobby
Beginner
/ˈhɑːbi/
An activity someone enjoys doing in their free time.
"His hobby is photography — he takes pictures every weekend."
honest
Elementary
/ˈɒnɪst/
Always telling the truth; not lying or cheating
"An honest person always tells you the real truth, even when it's difficult."
How
Beginner
/haʊ/
Question word used to ask about the manner or way something is done
"How are you today?"
How are you?
Beginner
/haʊ ɑːr juː/
A polite question to ask about someone's health or how they're feeling
"Every morning, my teacher asks 'How are you?' before the lesson starts."
How much is it?
Beginner
/haʊ mʌtʃ ɪz ɪt/
A question you ask to find out the price of something
"I saw a nice coat and asked the shop assistant, 'How much is it?'"
How much is that?
Beginner
/haʊ mʌtʃ ɪz ðæt/
A question to ask the price of something
"'How much is that coffee?' 'It's £3.50.'"
How's it going?
Beginner
/haʊz ɪt ˈɡoʊɪŋ/
A friendly, casual way to ask how someone is doing
"When I ran into my friend at the store, I asked 'How's it going?'"
hungry
Beginner
/ˈhʌŋɡri/
Feeling the need to eat food
"I'm very hungry. Let's go get lunch."
hypothetical
Intermediate
/ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkəl/
Based on a suggested idea or theory, not on reality
"In a hypothetical situation, if you could choose any job, what would you do?"
identification
Beginner
/aɪˌdentɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
The act of saying who or what someone or something is
"His identification of the criminal helped the police catch them."
I'll take it
Beginner
/aɪl teɪk ɪt/
A phrase meaning you want to buy something
"'This shirt is perfect!' 'Great, I'll take it.'"
imaginary
Intermediate
/ɪˈmædʒɪneri/
Existing only in the mind, not real or true
"If I were an astronaut is an imaginary situation because it's not true."
impenetrability
Advanced
/ɪmˌpenɪtrəˈbɪlɪti/
The quality of being difficult or impossible to understand or see through
"Excessive nominalisation can lead to impenetrability in academic writing."
Important
Beginner
/ɪmˈpɔːrtənt/
Having great significance or value.
""It is important to drink water every day.""
indefinite
Beginner
/ɪnˈdef.ə.nət/
Not clearly defined; not specific
"We use 'a' and 'an' as indefinite articles for things we mention for the first time."
indent
Elementary
/ɪnˈdent/
To start a line further to the right than the others
"Always indent the first line of a new paragraph."
individual
Beginner
/ˌɪndɪˈvɪdʒuəl/
Separate; one person or thing at a time
"Please say each letter individually, not all together."
informal
Beginner
/ɪnˈfɔːrməl/
Relaxed and casual, used with people you know well
"Saying 'Hey!' is informal, but 'Good morning, sir' is formal."
Ingredients
Beginner
/ɪnˈɡriːdiənts/
All the things inside a product; what it's made from.
"The ingredients in this juice are water, sugar, and orange flavor."
in-law
Beginner
/ˈɪn.lɔː/
A relative gained through marriage, like mother-in-law or brother-in-law.
"My brother-in-law is my sister's husband."
in progress
Elementary
/ɪn ˈprɒɡres/
An action that has started and is still continuing or happening
"The construction work is in progress on our street."
inseparable
Intermediate
/ɪnˈsepərəbəl/
Cannot be separated or divided, used to describe phrasal verbs where the particle cannot be separated from the verb
"The phrasal verb 'look after' is inseparable; you must say 'look after the children'."
instruction
Beginner
/ɪnˈstrʌkʃən/
An explanation of how to do something; a direction or command
"The teacher gave clear instructions for the homework."
intelligent
Elementary
/ɪnˈtelɪdʒənt/
Smart; able to learn and understand things quickly
"She is an intelligent student who always gets top grades."
intelligible
Intermediate
/ɪnˈtelɪdʒəbəl/
Able to be understood clearly; easy to comprehend
"Even with a strong accent, his speech was perfectly intelligible."