🔤 Vocabulary Bank
Build your English vocabulary — one word at a time.
429 words found — page 8 of 9
sometimes
Beginner
/ˈsʌmtaɪmz/
Occasionally; once in a while; not regularly
"We sometimes go to the beach on weekends."
soup
Beginner
/suːp/
A hot liquid food made with vegetables, meat, or both
"Would you like tomato soup or chicken soup?"
speak
Beginner
/spiːk/
To say words using your voice
"She speaks English very well."
speaker
Beginner
/ˈspiːkər/
The person who is talking; the person saying something
"When I say 'I am happy,' I am the speaker."
specific
Beginner
/spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/
Clearly defined; exact; not general
"We use 'the' when we talk about a specific dog, not dogs in general."
spell
Beginner
/spel/
To say or write the letters of a word in order.
"Can you spell your name for me, please? S-A-R-A-H."
spell out
Beginner
/spel aʊt/
Write words letter by letter, or write numbers as words instead of digits
"In formal emails, always spell out numbers below ten."
stem
Elementary
/stem/
The base form of a word to which prefixes or suffixes are added
"In the verb 'go', 'go' is the stem, and in 'went', the entire word changes from the stem."
step
Beginner
/step/
One action in a series of actions needed to complete a task
"The first step is to wash your hands before cooking."
Storage
Beginner
/ˈstɔːrɪdʒ/
Instructions for how and where to keep a product fresh and safe.
"The storage instructions say to keep this medicine in a cool, dry place away from sunlight."
straight
Beginner
/streɪt/
In a direct line, without turning left or right.
"Go straight for two blocks, then turn left."
student
Beginner
/ˈstjuːdənt/
A person who learns at a school or university
"There are thirty students in my classroom."
subject
Beginner
/ˈsʌbdʒekt/
The person, thing, or idea that is doing the action or being described in a sentence
"In the sentence 'She is happy', 'she' is the subject."
subject line
Beginner
/ˈsʌbdʒekt laɪn/
The title of an email that tells you what the email is about.
"The subject line says 'Coffee tomorrow?' so I know what to expect."
subsequently
Upper Intermediate
/ˈsʌbsɪkwəntli/
After something else; at a later time
"The first attempt failed; subsequently, the team revised their approach."
substantiate
Upper Intermediate
/səbˈstænʃieɪt/
To provide evidence or facts to support or prove a claim
"The researcher substantiated her hypothesis with three years of experimental data."
suffix
Advanced
/ˈsʌfɪks/
A letter or group of letters added at the end of a word to form a new word or change its grammatical function
"Common nominalisation suffixes include -tion, -ment, -ance, and -ity."
Summer
Beginner
/ˈsʌmər/
The warmest season of the year, usually June, July, and August in the Northern Hemisphere.
"In summer, I go to the beach almost every weekend."
superlative
Elementary
/suːˈpɜːrlətɪv/
A word or phrase used to describe something as the best, worst, or most extreme in a group
"The superlative form of 'fast' is 'the fastest.'"
syllable
Elementary
/ˈsɪləbl/
A unit of sound in a word; a word or part of a word spoken as one breath
"The word 'beautiful' has three syllables: beau-ti-ful."
symptom
Intermediate
/ˈsɪmptəm/
A sign or indication that someone has an illness or disease
"Fever is a common symptom of the flu."
syntactic embedding
Advanced
/sɪnˈtæktɪk ɛmˈbɛdɪŋ/
The grammatical process of placing a clause inside another clause in reported speech
"Syntactic embedding allows us to nest reported speech within complex sentence structures."
tactful
Upper Intermediate
/ˈtæktfəl/
Showing skill in dealing with others without causing offense
"The moderator handled the heated exchange tactfully by focusing attention on facts."
Take care
Beginner
/teɪk keər/
A friendly way to say goodbye that shows you care about someone's wellbeing
"Before hanging up the phone, my mom always says 'Take care!'"
Tall
Beginner
/tɔːl/
Having great height, especially used for people or buildings
"My father is very tall — he's over 6 feet."
teacher
Beginner
/ˈtiːtʃər/
A person whose job is to teach students in a school
"My English teacher is very kind and helpful."
teen (as in thirteen, fourteen, etc.)
Beginner
/tiːn/
Numbers 13-19; they have a different sound than twenty, thirty, etc.
"I'm nineteen years old."
tense
Elementary
/tens/
A form of a verb that shows when an action happens (past, present, or future)
"The present tense describes actions that are happening now or regularly."
tentative
Advanced
/ˈtentətɪv/
Not certain or fixed; provisional, subject to change
"The conclusion was **tentative**, pending further research and analysis."
than
Elementary
/ðæn/
A word used to introduce the second part of a comparison between two things
"This house is bigger than that house."
That'll be...
Beginner
/ðæt wɪl biː/
A phrase shop assistants use to tell you the total price
"The shop assistant said, 'That'll be £15.99, please.'"
That's £...
Beginner
/ðæts/
What a shopkeeper says to tell you the total price
"'That's £12.99 altogether.'"
the bill / the check
Beginner
/ðə ˈbɪl/ or /ðə ˈtʃek/
The document showing how much you need to pay at a restaurant
"We finished eating. Can we have the bill, please?"
thesis statement
Upper Intermediate
/ˈθiːsɪs ˈsteɪtmənt/
A single sentence that presents the main argument or central idea that an entire essay will support and develop
"Her thesis statement clearly argued that renewable energy should replace fossil fuels within the next decade."
thirsty
Beginner
/ˈθɜːrsti/
Feeling the need to drink something
"It's hot outside. I'm thirsty. Can I have some water?"
Till / Cash register
Beginner
/tɪl/ /kæʃ ˈreɪdʒɪstər/
The place in a shop where you pay for things
"The queue at the till was very long during lunch time."
time marker
Elementary
/ˈtaɪm ˈmɑːrkər/
Words that show when something happened, like 'yesterday,' 'last week,' or 'two days ago.'
"Use time markers to show when the past action happened: I saw him yesterday."
timetable
Beginner
/ˈtaɪmˌteɪbəl/
A list showing times when buses, trains, classes, or events happen.
"I checked the bus timetable to find the next departure."
to add -ed
Elementary
/tu ˈæd iː diː/
To put -ed at the end of a regular verb to make it past tense
"We add -ed to study to make studied."
toast
Beginner
/toʊst/
Bread that is cooked until brown and crispy
"I usually eat eggs with toast for breakfast."
to beat around the bush
Advanced
/biːt əˈraʊnd ðə bʊʃ/
To avoid saying something directly; to delay getting to the point
"Stop beating around the bush and tell me what really happened at the meeting."
to belong to
Beginner
/bɪˈlɔŋ tuː/
To be owned by someone or be a part of a group.
"This phone belongs to her — it's her phone."
to bend over backwards
Advanced
/bend ˈoʊvər ˈbækwərdz/
To make extreme effort to help or please someone; to go out of your way
"The company bent over backwards to accommodate the client's unusual requests."
to burn bridges
Advanced
/bɜːrn ˈbrɪdʒɪz/
To damage relationships or close doors permanently in a harmful way
"Leaving without notice might burn bridges with your current employer."
to construct
Upper Intermediate
/kənˈstrʌkt/
To build or create something using words or materials
"You construct passive sentences by moving the object to the beginning of the sentence."
to convert
Upper Intermediate
/kənˈvɜːrt/
To change something from one form to another
"Let me show you how to convert an active sentence into the passive voice."
to cost
Elementary
/tuː kɔːst/
To have a price; to require you to pay money
"That new laptop cost me $800, but it was worth every penny."
to get the ball rolling
Advanced
/ɡet ðə bɔːl ˈroʊlɪŋ/
To start or initiate a process or project; to begin something
"We need someone to get the ball rolling on this innovation project before the deadline."