Stop Saying VERY! Use These Advanced Adjectives to Instantly Improve Your English Fluency

 #vocabulary #English #ielts #ieltsprep #ieltsspeaking

 

Very is one of the most overused words in the English language and the worst thing is that there is absolutely no need for it! As I will show you in this post, there are many more advanced (and beautiful) words that you can use to describe something or someone more eloquently. 

 

 

Using the adjectives in this table can help you sound instantly more fluent and improve the quality of your communications in English. They can also help you achieve a better band score in the IELTS speaking test. 

Avoid saying very…	Say:	Avoid saying very…	Say:
big	enormous	good	Excellent/ superb
small	tiny	easy	simple
interesting	riveting	fast	rapid
angry	furious	upset	devastated
happy	delighted	stupid	idiotic
cute	adorable	old	ancient
boring	tedious/ dull	bad	atrocious/ awful
busy	swamped	ugly	hideous

IELTS Grammar: Adjectives with Prepositions

Suitable for intermediate and above CEFR B1+

#IELTS #IELTSspeaking 

In English some adjectives are followed by a particular preposition in sentences with the verb to be. Sometimes the preposition is different depending on whether you are referring to people or things. 

Unfortunately there aren't really any rules about using prepositions with adjectives (or any other type of words), you just have to learn them. You can of course use an English dictionary to check the correct collocation, but today we will focus on some of the most common collocations, which are used to describe how we feel about something or someone. 

happy/sad/angry/annoyed/upset/passionate/mad about 

good/bad at

late/ready/famous for

different from 

interested in 

afraid/fond/frightened of

keen on

bored/capable of

As you will see, using adjective + preposition collocations can instantly make a very simple sentence into one that shows greater grammatical knowledge of the language, which will help increase your score in IELTS speaking and other exams, if they are used accurately. 

For example, the simple sentence I love dogs can be changed to I'm absolutely mad about dogs. Using an adverb is a good way to emphasise your opinion when you are speaking about your hobbies or interests. 

The following adjective + preposition collocations are most useful in part 1 of the IELTS speaking test, where the examiner will ask you to talk about yourself.

Activity 

Rewrite these sentences using the verb to be and the adjective in brackets with an appropriate preposition. 

1. I love swimming (mad)

2. I hate going to the gym (keen) 

3. I can write well in English (capable) 

4. I enjoy watching films and going to the cinema (fond) 

5. I love learning English (passionate)

6. I love football (fanatical) 

7. I don't mind cooking but I certainly like eating! (indifferent) 

8. I can't stand waiting in long queues at theme parks (bored)

9. I can't wait to move to England for my internship (ready)

10. I hate spiders! (afraid)

Write your answers in the comments!