Writing Task 2 Vocabulary

Vocabulary for IELTS Writing Task 2

IELTS academic writing task 2 ( IELTS Essay Writing) requires a candidate to use a large range of vocabulary. Connective words and phrases are very important to finish the academic writing task 2 essay in a logical and coherent way. You must use the transitional or connective words in your task 2 as it is counted as one of the important factors to achieve a better score in academic IELTS writing 2. The essay writing for IELTS require you show your logics, reasonings, examples, points and to make your standing stronger and to show evidences or examples in a coherent and logical way you have to use these connective words. However do not over use the linking phrases or connective phrases just to show that you know so many of them. Use those connective phrases/ words or linking phrases/ words properly.

Vocabulary for the Introduction Part:

In the introduction part of your IETLS essay you should write sentences relevant to the topic given and generally accepted ideas about it. Use your best English here as it will attract or bore your reader about the whole writing. You will make or break your impression in this paragraph. Be very cautious about the introduction part. Never just copy the sentence of the question. If you really need to, use synonyms and different sentence structure.

Vocabulary for the opinion Part: 

According to the essay types (Learn what are the IELTS essay types) use one of the following connective words/ linking phrases to write down your opinion However remember that if the question does not ask you to give your opinion but to compare advantages and disadvantages, then you should not strongly express your opinion. Opinion should only be written for opinion essays.

In my opinion……
I strongly opine that……..
I strongly agree with the idea that…….
I strongly disagree with the given topic…. 
I think…..
My opinion is that…..
In my view…..
I believe…..
Apparently…..
Personaly speaking…..
According to me…..
From my point of view….. (Not ‘In my point of view’)
From my perspective…..
I realize…..
To my way of thinking…..
It seems to me that…..
To me…..
It appears that…..
I feel that…..
I understand…..
I suppose…..

Vocabulary for the 2nd paragraph Part:

It is true that…..
First…..
First of all…..
Firstly…..
Initially…..
To begin with…..
To start with…..
In the first place…..
Though it is true that…..
Some people believe that…..
Many people think that…..
According to many…..
Some people believe that…..
Many support the view that…..
On the one hand…..

Vocabulary for the 3rd, 4th …… paragraph Part:

Second(ly)…..  (Not ‘Second of all’)
Third(ly)…..
Then…..
Next…..
After that…..
And…..
Again…..
Also…..
Besides…..
Likewise…..
In addition…..
Consequently…..
What’s more…..
Furthermore…..
Moreover…..
Other people think that…..
Other people believe that…..
On the other hand…..
Apart from that…..
Finally…..

Vocabulary to show comparison:

In the same way…..
Likewise…..
Similarly…..
Like the previous point…..
Similar to…..
Also…..
At the same time…..
Just as….. 

Vocabulary to show contrast

On the other hand…..
On the contrary…..
However…..
But…..
Nonetheless/ Nevertheless…..
Oppositely…..
Alternatively…..
Unlike…..
While…..
Whilst…..
Even though…..
Alternatively…..
In contrast to this…..
Then again…..
On the other hand…..

Vocabulary to show an example:

As an example…..
For instance…..
For example…..
Like…..
As…..
Such as…..
Particularly…..
In particular…..
Namely…..
To show an example…..
As an evidence…..
To illustrate…..
To paraphrase…..

Vocabulary to show consequence, effects or result:

As a result…..
Consequently…..
As an effect…..
Thus…..
So…..
The reason why…..
Therefore…..
Hence…..
Eventually…..
For this reason…..
Thereby…..

Vocabulary to sum up at the end of a paragraph:

To sum up…..
In short…..
In a word…..
To put it simply…..
That is to say…..
To repeat in short….
To summarise….

Vocabulary to make a point strong:

Although…..
Thought…..
Nonetheless…..
Nevertheless…..
Still…..
Yet…..
Must…..
After all…..
Even if…..
Therefore…..
Thus…..

Other transitional words / connective words:

Then…..
Else…..
Otherwise…..
Besides…..
As soon as…..
As much as…..

Some correct and incorrect expressions:

Correct        Incorrect
In my opinion…                                     From my opinion…
From my point of view…                     In my point of view…
Second/ Secondly…                                Second of all
On the other hand…                              On other hand
Last but not the least…                          Last but not least…
In conclusion/ To conclude…                In a nutshell.

Vocabulary for the conclusion part:

In conclusion…..
In summary…..
To conclude…..
To conclude with…..
To sum up…..
In general…..
To summarize…..
In short…..
All in all….
Overall…..
On the whole…..
To draw the conclusion….
In a nut Shell…..
To elucidate….  

Vocabulary for generalizing a statement: 

Whenever you need to show a generalisation or general idea, you can use these vocabularies to present your point. 

Generally…..
Generally speaking…..
In general…..
Overall…..
All in all…..
By and large…..
Basically…..
As a rule…..
Essentially…..
On the whole….
All things considered…..

Vocabulary for expressing condition: 

Some arguments and statements in your essay would require you to show that it is dependent on some condition. Following is the list of vocabulary you can use to present conditions in your writing.

If…..
Provided that…..
Because of that…..
For this reason…..
Unless…..
Providing that…..
So that…..
In case…..
Whether….

Vocabulary for expressing Disagreement: 

• Following are some useful vocabulary to use whenever you want to express your disagreement with an idea, opinion or statement. You will usually use those in agreement/ disagreement type IETLS essay.

I disagree with the opinion that….
I strongly disagree…..
I completely disagree with…..
I totally disagree with the given idea that…..
I disagree with the statement…..
I quite oppose the opinion that…..
I disapprove that…..
I totally do not accept the fact that…..
My own opinion contradicts…..
I disagree with the group of people…..
However, my opinion is different…..

Vocabulary for expressing partial agreement: 

In some cases you will have opinion or point of view that would not completely agree or disagree with a given opinion or statement. In this case you should clearly mention that you partially agree with the opinion but to some extent you also disagree to this. In these cases, using the following vocabulary will be very helpful.

To some extent…..
In a way…..
I agree to the given statement to some extent…..
Up to a point I agree…..
More or less…..
So to speak…..

Vocabulary for expressing certainty: 

• To make a point or argument stronger, you often need to show the certainty of your expression. To do so use the following list of vocabularies:

Certainly…..
Definitely…..
No doubt…..
Of course…..
Doubtlessly…..
Without any doubt…..
Undoubtedly…..

Vocabulary for Adding further information: 

In your essay you need to present reasons and arguments to make your point of view stronger. For this you often need to add multiple examples or cases and those examples or cases should be connected using some linking words. Such linking words are given below so that you can use them in your IELTS essay.

Vocabulary for presenting time or sequence: 

Expressing the time or sequence is important to show a natural flow in your arguments and paragraphs. Important vocabularies that can be used to show time or sequence are given below.

First/ Firstly…..
Second/ Secondly…..
Third/ Thirdly…..
Last/ Lastly…..
Then…..
At the same time…..
Meanwhile…..
Since…..
As soon as…..
After this / that…..
Before…..
After…..    
Afterwards …..
During…..    
While…..
Simultaneously…..    
Following this…..
When…..

Useful Words to show Relations:

aspect, attributes, bases, basic kinds of, categories, characteristics, classes, classifications, classify, contradictory, contrasting, dissimilar, distinguishable, divide, divided into, factors, falls into, fundamental, important, insignificant, kinds of, main kinds of, methods, minor, mutually exclusive, opposing, opposite, origins, parts, primary, secondary, qualities, significant, similar, sources, types of, unimportant.

Useful Words for Definition:
Aspect, Category, characteristics, clarify, class, condition, define, definition, explain, explanation, form, in other words, kind, method, paraphrase, type.

And:

In addition to, besides, additionally, likewise, plus, furthermore, moreover, next, additionally.

Or:

Else, otherwise, alternatively, instead, as a substitute.

But:

On the other hand, then again , on the contrary, in contrast, however, then again, in spite of that, nonetheless, instead, even so, alternatively.

Because:

Given that, as, since, for the reason that.

Hence:

Thus, so, likewise, therefore, consequently, that is why, for this reason, above and beyond.

Then:

Next, after that, it follows that, followed by, subsequently, afterward/afterwards, therefore.

In fact:

As a matter of fact, actually, in reality, essentially, in truth, indeed, in effect,  in operation.

Begin:

Start, initiate, commence, originate, create, instigate, activate, launch, open.

Conclude:

To sum up, wrap up, deduce, to draw a conclusion.

Exemplify:

Illustrate, demonstrate, represent, embody, epitomise, show.

Agree:

Consent, approve, concur, harmonise, be in accord, endorse, support, back up.

Disagree:

Deny, refute, reject, repudiate, renounce, abjure, contradict, disapprove, oppose.

Rise:

Increase, grow, go up, mount, ascend, upsurge, spread, and intensify, develop, climb, get higher. 

Arise:

Develop, evolve, happen, occur, take place, appear.

Decline:

Reject, decrease, diminish, refuse, minimise, fall, lessen, turn down.

Vary:

Differ, fluctuate, diverge, show a discrepancy, change, alter, contrast.

Do:

Carry out, accomplish, perform, act, take action, take steps, play a part, execute, act upon, produce a result.

Utilize:

Make use of, draw on, benefit from, amplify, take advantages of, make the most of, capitalise on, maximise.

Achieve:

Accomplish, attain, complete, bring out, get, reach, do.

Fail:

Be unsuccessful, abort, end, terminate.

Compete:

Rivalry, antagonism, contest, fight, battle, resist, thrash about, retaliate, brawl, stand up for.

Help:

Aid, assist, support, lend a hand, abet.

Need:

Demand, want, require, necessitate, requirement, requisite, fundamental, destitution.

Good: 

Fine, superior, excellent, decent, high quality, first class, moral, upright, noble, worthy, pleasant, delightful, advantageous, useful, fair, benefit.

Bad:

Terrible, awful, dreadful, ghastly, evil, wicked, poor, inferior, flawed, troublesome, mischievous,  regretful, guilty, injurious,  harmful, adverse, rotten, rancid.

Beautiful:

Lovely, pretty, gorgeous, splendid, magnificent, attractive, good looking,  attractive, charming, exquisite, cute, appealing, nice looking, sweet, elegant, striking, stunning, dazzling, grand, superb, wonderful, astounding, superb, fabulous.