Lexical Resource

Why paraphrasing matters in IELTS

Vocabulary is a quarter of your Writing and Speaking score, under the criterion called Lexical Resource. The public IELTS Writing band descriptors look at the range of words you use and how precisely you use them; at Band 7 they mention “less common lexical items” used with “some awareness of style and collocation”.

Paraphrasing is where that range shows first. Task 1 and Task 2 introductions restate the question in your own words, Task 1 reports describe the same kind of change many times, and Speaking answers repeat the examiner's key word unless you have alternatives ready. Copying long strings from the question does not show your own vocabulary, so knowing two or three accurate alternatives for each common word gives you room to vary without guessing.

Accuracy first

How examiners view memorised synonym lists

Synonyms are rarely exact. Surge is a sudden rise, climb is a gradual one, and skyrocket is too informal for an Academic report. A word lifted from a list and dropped into the wrong sentence usually reads as a vocabulary error, and the descriptors at lower bands describe exactly that: attempts at less common words with inaccuracy. Over-formal swaps such as utilise for every use also stand out as memorised.

That is why each page here explains how each alternative differs, marks which ones belong in Writing or Speaking, and flags the swaps that change the meaning. Repeating an accurate word is better than replacing it with a wrong one, and no list of words guarantees a band on its own.

11 words

Writing Task 1: trends and data

Verbs, nouns and adjectives for describing charts, tables and graphs: how figures rise and fall, how big a change is, and how to compare and round numbers.

12 words

Writing Task 2: arguments and essays

The nouns and verbs every essay leans on, such as important, problem and affect, with formal alternatives and the grammar each one needs.

8 words

Speaking: everyday words

Good, bad, big and the other words that fill Speaking answers, with natural spoken alternatives and the ones that also work in Writing.

Keep building

More IELTS vocabulary

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