THE BEST GUIDES TO IELTS WRITING

Collected and shared by Tran Manh Trung – Hong Duc University – Thanh Hoa


1
Collected and Shared by Tran Manh Trung – Foreign Language Department
Hong Duc University – Thanh Hoa Province
************************


THE BEST GUIDES
TO IELTS WRITING



Thanh Hoa City 12/2012

Collected and shared by Tran Manh Trung – Hong Duc University – Thanh Hoa


2

FORMAL AND INFORMAL WORD LIST
(Collected and selected by Tran Manh Trung – Hong Duc University)
Rules for formal writing are quite strict, though often unstated. Formal writing is used in academic and
scientific settings whenever you want to convey your ideas to a wide audience, with many possible backgrounds
and assumptions. Unlike casual conversation or emails to friends, formal writing needs to be clear,
unambiguous, literal, and well structured.
Table 01:

Ord

INFORMAL/EVERYDAY

FORMAL/ACADEMIC

VIETNAMESE MEANING
01
a lot of/ loads of/ plenty of
a great deal of /numerous/ several
nhiều
02
a bit
Somewhat (before adj. or adv.)/ slightly
một chút ít
03
to get together
to collaborate with sbd on smth
cộng tác
04
to start/to begin
to initiate/to commence smth/v-ing
bắt đầu khởi đầu
05
big
large (number/percentage), considerable
lớn, to lớn
06
thing
device/object
vật dụng/vật thể

07
stuff
material
chất liệu, vật liệu
08
to find out
to ascertain/discover
tìm ra, tìm thấy
09
to do again
to repeat
lặp lại
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10
to do well
to succeed
thành công
11
to set up
to establish
thiết lập
12
to cut down on
to reduce
giảm bớt
13
to go up

to increase
tăng lên
14
to come up with
to create
tạo ra
15
to look into
to investigate
điều tra
16
to go up and down
to fluctuate
dao động
17
to bring up a question
to raise a question
đưa ra vấn đề
18
to get rid of
to eliminate
loại bỏ
19
to turn down smth
to refuse
từ chối
20
to turn out smth
to produce
làm ra, tạo ra

21
to take smth back
to retract (a statement)
rút lại
22
to put off smth
to postpone smth
hoãn lại
23
to put up with
to tolerate
chịu đựng
24
to put away smth
to save
tiết kiệm, để dành
25
to put down to smth
to attribute to
quy cho, gán cho
26
to come about
to occur
xảy ra
27
to give up
to relinquish
từ bỏ
28
to go back/give back

return to swh/ smth
trở lại/ trả lại
29
to give off smth
to produce (heat)
sản sinh, tạo ra
30
to give away
to betray
tiết lộ, phản bội
31
to carry out smth
to conduct
tiến hành
32
to seem
to appear
hình như, dường như
33
to climb
to ascend
đi lên, tăng lên (số lượng)
34
to help
to assist/ aid
giúp đỡ
35
to stop
to cease
dừng lại

36
to use
to consume
dùng, tiêu dùng
37
to shorten
to decrease/ to abbreviate
giảm bớt/ rút ngắn
37
to show
to demonstrate
chỉ ra, chứng minh
38
to go
to depart
đi, khởi hành
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39
to want
to desire
mong muốn
40
to end
to finish/ to terminate
kết thúc
41
to tell

to inform
thông tin, cho biết
42
to keep
preserve/ retain
giữ gìn/ giữ
43
to say no
to reject
từ chối
44
to free
to release/ to liberate
trả tự do, phóng thích
45
to mend/ to fix
to repair
sửa chữa
46
to need
to require
cần
47
to live
to reside
ở tại, trú tại
48
in the end
finally/ultimately
cuối cùng

49
at once
immediately
ngay lập tức
50
at the same time
simultaneously/ concurrently
đồng thời, cùng lúc
51
at first
initially
đầu tiên
52
on and off
intermittently
gián đoạn, lúc có lúc không
53
mainly
principally/primarily
chủ yếu
54
next
subsequently
tiếp theo
55
again and again
repeatedly
lặp đi lặp lại
56
so

therefore/ consequently
vì thế, vì vậy
57
understanding
comprehension
sự hiểu
58
lack
deficiency
sự thiếu hụt
59
chance
opportunity
cơ hội, dịp
60
sweat
perspiration
mồ hôi
61
house
residence
nơi cư trú (count)
62
sight
vision
khả năng nhìn, thị giác
63
friendly
amiable
thân mật

64
whole
complete
toàn bộ
65
lively
energetically/animated
đầy sinh lực/ sống động
67
lucky
fortunate
may mắn
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68
childish
immature/ infantile
như trẻ con (tính cách)
69
wrong
incorrect/questionable
sai/ có vấn đề
70
worse
inferior to
thấp kém hơn
71
cheap

inexpensive
rẻ
72
dim
indistinct
không rõ ràng, mờ
73
mad
insane
điên
74
to lay back
to relax
thư giãn
75
in charge of
responsible for
chịu trách nhiệm
76
enough
sufficient
đầy đủ
77
better
superior to
tốt hơn, giỏi hơn
78
clear
transparent
rõ ràng

79
empty
vacant
trống không
80
to ask for
to require/ to request
đòi hỏi, yêu cầu
81
hot (topic)
controversial
đang gây tranh cãi
82
more and more
Increasingly/ unceasingly/non-stop
tăng lên không ngừng
83
to get
to obtain/ to receive
đạt được, lấy , mua
84
bad
disappointing
tồi tệ, đáng thất vọng
85
to get worse
to deteriorate
trở nên xấu đi
86
horrible

unacceptable
không thể chấp nhận, kinh khủng
87
to come in
to enter
đi vào
88
to talk about
to discuss
thảo luận
89
to go down
to descend
đi xuống, giảm xuống
90
to come up with
to suggest
gợi ý, đưa ra
91
to look at
to examine
xem xét
92
to pin down
to determine
quyết tâm , dứt khoát
93
to experience the influence of
to be influenced
chịu ảnh hưởng

94
Let’s consider …
It is important to consider …
hãy cân nhắc, xem xét
95
I love/like/prefer
Personally, I favour …
Tôi thích, tôi ủng hộ
96
On top of that
Another point is …
một điểm khác nữa là
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97
Government must make laws
There is a need for laws
cần có luật về …
98
In a nutshell
To state it briefly/ In brief
tóm lại
99
Every coin has two sides
There are advantages and disadvantages to
mọi vấn đề đều có ưu điểm và nhược điểm
100
by chance

Incidentally
nhân tiện
101
to try
to attempt/ to endeavor
cố gắng
102
to swap
to exchange
trao đổi
103
as far as x goes
in respect of / with respect to
đối với, về phần
104
to skip
omit/not attend smth
bỏ qua, không tham dự
105
by accident
accidentally
ngẫu nhiên, tình cờ
106
kids
infants/offsprings
trẻ em
107
O.K
acceptable/ satisfactory
được, chấp nhận được

108
to make up for
to compensate for
đền bù, bù lại
109
to catch on smth
to understand
nắm bắt, hiểu
110
to go down with a disease
to contract a disease
mắc bệnh
111
to go up
to increase
tăng lên
112
to get in touch with
to contact
liên hệ. liên lạc
113
to let somebody know
to inform
cho biết
114
to call off
to cancel
huỷ bỏ, bãi bỏ
115
to sort out

to resolve
giải quyết, đi đến quyết định
116
to deal with
to handle/ to address
giải quyết, xử lý
117
small
minimal/limited/ modest
nhỏ, bé
118
to think of
to conceive of/imagine
nghĩ về, suy tính
119
about
an estimated, approximately, roughly
khoảng chừng
120
to do (research)
to carry out, perform, undertake
tiến hành (nghiên cứu), đảm nhiệm
121
hard
difficult, problematic,challenging
khó khăn
122
to keep up
to maintain
duy trì

123
a lot
a substantial amount, a considerable sum
nhiều
124
stand for
denote, represent
chỉ, thay cho
126
next
adjacent
kề cận
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127
prove
confirm
khẳng định
128
rich
affluent, wealthy, prosperous
giàu có
129
the same as
equivalent to
giống nhau, tương đương
130
drink

beverage (count)
đồ uống
131
man
male
đàn ông
132
old people
senior citizens, retirees
người cao tuổi
133
crooks
offenders, lawbreakers
tội phạm
134
great, awesome
preferable, desirable
tuyệt vời, đáng ao ước
135
sick of, fed up with
dissatisfied with
không hài lòng
136
feature
characteristic
đặc điểm
137
before
Prior to
trước

138
to think (that)
to assume (that)
cho rằng
139
Because
Owing to or due to the fact that/As a result of
vì
140
Nobody can say
It is impossible to predict …
Không có thể dự đoán trước
141
I think that
It seems that/ It could be argued that
nNười ta nói rằng
142
About
Regarding/ Concerning
Về, về phần
143
And
as well as
còn, cũng như
144
but
while/whereas
nưng, khi mà
145
to write a cheque

to issue a checque
viết tờ ngân phiếu
146
carefull/cautious
prudent (imprudent)/prudential
cẩn thận, thận trọng
147
to check
to verify
kiểm tra
148
to agree with
to be bound by
đồng ý với
149
to go over
exeed
vượt quá, quá mức
150
to hand / to give
to submit
trình lên, nộp
152
In accordance with
Pursuant to
Phù hợp với
153
to involve
to entail
kéo theo, kèm theo

154
lost
inadvertently mislaid
vô tình thất lạc
155
to make sure
to ensure
để đảm bảo rằng
156
to order
to authorise
uỷ quyền
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157
to pay
to settle
trả tiền, thanh toán
158
to supply
to furnish
cung cấp
159
to take away
to withdraw
lấy ra, rút (tiền) ra
160
when we get …

On receipt of …
Khi nhận được …
161
Whenever we like / want
Without prior notice …
Không báo trước …
162
One after the other
At regular intervals
Đều đặn
163
There are no big differences between
No significant differences emerges between
Không có sự khác biệt đáng kể nào
164
This shows that
This demonstrates that
Điều này chỉ ra rằng
165
to put smth into action
To be implemented/ carried out
Được tiến hành, được đưa vào hoạt động
166
etc./ and so forth./ and so on.
among other examples
và v.v
167
i.e
namely, / that is,
tức là, chẳng hạn

168
e.g
For example,
ví dụ
169
vs.
versus/as apposed of
chống lại, ngược với
170
nice/ cute
attractive
hấp dẫn, lôi cuốn
171
smart
intelligent
thông minh
172
come
arrive
đến
173
lifestyle
way of life / manner of life
lối sống
174
19
th
century
The nineteenth century
Không viết tắt

175
workmate
colleague
đồng nghiệp
176
tired
exhausted
mệt mỏi
177
drunk
intoxicated
bị say rượu
178
sad
dejected
buồn, chán nản
179
who
whom ( đại từ tân ngữ, sau giới từ)
ai
180
to get your money back
refund your payment
lấy lại tiền
181
to pay your bills
to settle your account
trả tiền hoá đơn mua hàng, thanh toán
182
really

extremely
cực kỳ, vô cùng
183
to go up to
to reach
lên tới (con số), đạt tới
184
to work
to function
hoạt động
185
breathing
respiration
sự hô hấp
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186
meat-eater
carnivore
động vật ăn thịt
187
chance
opportunity
cơ hội
188
wrong
erroneous
sai sót

189
died out
extinct
tuyệt chủng
190
relevant
pertinent
thích đáng, đúng chỗ
191
relatives
kindred
họ hàng thân tộc
192
copy
imitate
bắt chước
193
break
fracture
đập vỡ
194
mix
blend
pha trộn
195
preference
predilection
sự thiên vị
196
to come across

to find
tìm thấy
197
to do away with
to abolish
bãi bỏ
198
to build up
to accumulate
tích luỹ
199
to finish off
to conclude
kết luận
200
to back up
to support/to advocate
ủng hộ
201
to put forward
propose
đề xuất, đề nghị
202
to put across
to express
biểu lộ, bày tỏ
203
to obey a law
to comply with a law
tuân thủ pháp luật

204
poor country
developing country
nước nghèo
205
That’s why/ why
For this reason, … / … the reason for …
Ví lý do này
206
new
novel
mới
207
dependence
surbodination
sự phụ thuộc
208
quarrel
debate/dispute
Cãi nhau
209
In the same way
Similarly,
Tương tự như vậy
210
to look for
to seek
Tìm kiếm
211
way

manner/solution
giải pháp
212
money
currency
tiền tệ
213
to imagine
to conceive / conceivably
tưởng tượng
214
place
location
nơi, vị trí
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215
viewpoint
stance
lập trường, quan điểm
216
fast/quickly
rapidly/ as a matter of urgency
nhanh
217
how much
to what extent (not applicable to price or amount)
tới mức độ nào

218
when (conj)
At the time of …
Khi mà
219
In/For many years
During a considearble period of years
Trong nhiều năm
220
to make smth better /to get better
to improve/to upgrade
cải thiện, làm cho tốt hơn
221
To put on weight
to gain weight
Tăng cân
223
verb + not + any + noun
verb + no + noun
… không (cái gì)
224
verb + not + many/much + noun
verb + few/little + noun
… không (cái gì)
225
to give
to provide
đưa cho, cung cấp
226
as you can be seen

as can be seen
như ta có thể thấy
227
wood
timber
gỗ
228
to describe
to depict
mô tả
229
to learn by heart
to memorise
ghi nhớ
230
to go on
to continue
tiếp tục
231
may be
possibly, perhaps
có lẽ
232
somehow
in a certain way
bằng cách nào đó
233
job
occupation
nghề nghiệp

234
to take on
employ
thuê
235
to give
donate, contribute
cho, tặng
236
dad
father
bố
237
plane
aeroplane
máy bay
238
(not) smoke.
to refrain from smoking
không hút thuốc
239
to follow these guidelines.
to adhere to these guidelines.
theo sự chỉ dẫn
240
gran/granny/nana
grandmother
bà
241
every year/ each year

annually
hằng năm
242
glasses
spectacles
kính đeo mắt
243
shop
retail outlet
cửa hiệu
244
fridge
refrigerator
tủ lạnh
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245
TV/ telly
television
tivi
246
boss
employer
ông chủ
247
change
transform
chuyển đổi

248
phone you back
return your call
gọi điện lại
249
bin man
refuse collector
người thu rác
250
and so on. / and so forth / etc.
among other examples. / or avoid using them
v.v.

Academic Language

The term academic language commonly refers to the language that is used in formal situations such as
classrooms, college or universities. Moreover, it is the language of textbooks and exams. Academic language is the
language used by teachers and students in order to acquire new knowledge and skills. It differs in structure and
vocabulary from language used in daily social interactions. This means that academic language includes
specialized vocabulary, as well as conventional text structures such as the use of nominal groups, i.e., groups of
words that provide more information about particular concepts. For example, the language of linguistics includes
words like morphology, language acquisition, or language learning.

Features of Academic Language

The uses of specific linguistic features depend on the discipline for which an assignment is written. For
example, an essay in history may contain a number of past tense verbs than a paper that discusses the dialects
spoken by a particular speech community in which the present tense verbs are used. The three features of academic
languag are lexical, grammatical, and discourse”.

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12
IELTS Writing Task 2: Useful Language
Memorising set phrases for use in the IELTS test is a highly effective way of achieving a higher score. Try
learning the following signposting language which will make you sound more confident and sophisticated when
writing an opinion or argument essay in Task 2.
Introducing the topic
 Some people argue that…
 Have you ever considered… ?
 The question raises the issue of…
Stating an opinion (thesis statement)
 I believe that…
 It is my belief that…
 This essay will argue that…
Indicating the scope of the essay
 In this essay, I will state…
 This essay will examine…
 … will be covered in this essay.


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Giving reasons

 One reason for this is that…
 This can be explained by…
 This can be attributed to the fact that…
Giving further reasons
 Not only that, but…
 A further reason is…
 It should also be stated that…
Citing general opinions
 It has been claimed that…
 It is widely believed that…
 There is a widespread belief that…
Refuting opinions
 I would dispute this, however.
 However, this is not necessarily the case.
 There are some faults with this reasoning, however.
Hedging strategies
 It could be argued that…
 One explanation might be that…
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 This suggests that…
Strengthening an argument
 There can be no doubt that…
 Therefore, we can say beyond any doubt that…
 These are just some of the reasons why…
Concluding and summarising
 To sum up, … / In summary, … / In short, …
 Overall, … / On the whole, …

 To return to my original idea,…






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15
IELTS Writing Task 1: Useful Language
1. THE LANGUAGE OF APPROXIMATION

In report writing it is good style to use approximation. Approximation means describing numbers or
statistics by using a fraction that is similar to the exact number. There are a number of reasons for doing this.
Firstly, it is easier for people to understand and remember. Secondly, the numbers or statistics may be more
detailed than necessary.
Table 02:
Ord
numbers/statistics
similar fractions
Ord
numbers/statistics
similar fractions
1
65 %
about two-thirds of
13
1,043

over a thousand
2
28 %
just over a quarter of
14
115
over a hundred
3
21 %
about a fifth of
15
9
fewer than ten
4
49 %
just under a half of
16
2
a small number
5
74 %
almost three – quarters of
17
4
a few
6
33.333 %
a third of
18
6/7

several
7
92 %
most of
19
749,982
about three-quarters of a million
8
98,5 %
almost all
20
1,256,890,534
over 1.2 billion
9
19.98 %
about a fifth of
21
101,997
about 100,000
10
26 %
just over a quarter of
22
248.112
a quarter of a million
11
48.873 %
almost a half of
23
1,695,193

about 1.7 million
12
74.25 %
nearly three - quarters
24
97
just under a hundred


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2. THE WORDS AND PHRASES TO DESCRIBE TRENDS
:
Table 03:
Nouns
a rise
an increase
a surge
a growth
a peak
a fluctuation
a variation
a period of stability
a plateau

a fall
a decrease
a decline

a dip
Verbs
to rise
to increase
to surge
to grow
to peak
to skyrocket
to fluctuate
to vary
to fall
to decrease
to decline
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to dip
to dive
to plunge
Phrases
to show an upward trend
to show a downward trend
to hit the highest point
to hit the lowest point
to reach a peak
to show some fluctuation
to fluctuate wildly
to remain stable
to remain static

to remain unchanged
to stay constant
to reach a plateau
to level off
to flatten out
the highest
the lowest
the second highest
the third highest
compared to
compared with
relative to
Adverbs
sharply
suddenly
rapidly
abruptly
dramatically
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significantly
steadily
considerably
markedly
slightly
gently
gradually
wildly

Adjectives





sharp
sudden
rapid
abrupt
dramatic
steep
significant
steady
considerable
marked
slight
gentle
gradual




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MORE WORDS AND PHRASES TO DESCRIBE TRENDS:
A. Introduction
1. The graph (biểu đồ)/table (bảng)/ shows (cho thấy)/indicates (chỉ)/ illustrates (minh hoạ)/ reveals (tiết lộ)/

represents (trình bày) … 2. It is clear from the graph/table …
3. It can be seen from the graph/table … 4. As the graph/table shows …
5. As can be seen from the graph/table … 6. As is shown by the graph/table …
7. As is illustrated by the graph/table … 8. From the graph / table it is clear …
B. Verbs
1. to constitute/ make up: tạo thành 2. to comprise: bao gồm
3. to account for: chiếm đến 4. to amount to : lên đến (số)
5. to stand at: giữ ở (số) 6. to treble: gấp ba lần
7. to double: gấp đôi 8. to increase three fold: tăng gấp ba lần
9. to halve: chia đôi, giảm đi một nửa 10. to diminish: sụt giảm, làm sụt giảm
11. to slow down: chậm lại 12. to remain the same/ unchanged: không thay đổi, giữ nguyên
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13. to deplete: làm giảm 14. to lessen: giảm bớt, làm giảm bớt
15. to escalate: leo thang, tăng nhan 16. to stand at the same level: giữ nguyên
17. to fall to … %: giảm tới … % 18. to fall from … %: giảm xuống dưới … %
19. to fall by …%: giảm khoảng … % 20. to drop to … : giảm tới … %
21. to rise to … %: tăng tới … % 22. to rise by … %: tăng khoảng
23. to rise from … %: tăng từ … %
24. to increase at …% /reduce at … %: tăng/giảm … %
25. to increase to … /reduce to … : tăng/giảm tới … (số)
26. to remain relatively steady: vẫn duy trì tương đối ổn định
C. Adverbs
1. exceptionally: cá biệt, khác thường 2. remarkably: đáng chú ý
3. moderately: vừa phải 4. extremely/enormously: cực kỳ, rất
5. substantially: to lớn, đáng kể 6. marginally: hơi, đôi chút
7. hardly/ scarcely: hầu như không 8. slowly: chậm
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D. Prepositions and prepositional phrases
1. In/within the range of … and … :Trong phạm vi
2. For/During the first six months, …: Trong sáu tháng đầu
3. During the remainder of the year, …: Trong thời gian còn lại của năm …
4. During the first half of this century, …: Trong nửa đầu thế kỷ này …
5. Between 1950 and 1960, …: Giữa năm 1950 và 1960 …
6. In the period from 1960 to 1990, … :Trong giai đoạn từ 1960 to 1990 …
7. In the period between 1950 and 1960, … : Trong giai đoạn giữa năm 1950 và 1990 …
8. From that time on: Từ thời gian đó trở đi
9. Over a ten-year period, … : Trong giai đoạn 10 năm
10. Throughout the nineteenth century: Trong suốt thế kỷ 19
11. Unlike …: Không giống với …
12. In contrast to …: so với … /tương phản với …
13. In comparison with … : so sánh với …
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E. Nouns and noun phrases
1. overview: cái nhìn khái quát, cái nhìn tổng quan
2. a large number /percentage of … : một số lớn /một tỷ lệ phần trăm lớn của …
3. the whole/total amount/quantity of … : tổng lượng của …
4. the total number of … : tổng số của … 5. An increase of … %: sự tăng lên … %
6. trend: khuynh hướng 7. correlation: mối liên hệ
8. a drop of … %: sự giảm … % 9. an increase in … : sự tăng về …
10. a slight increase: sự tăng nhẹ 11. a drop in …: giảm về ….
F. Comparison

1. Comparing the figures for 1990 and 2000 …: So sánh các con số của năm 1990 và năm 2000 …
2. Compared to/with x, y is …: So với x, y thì …
3. Comparing with x, y is more …: so với x , y thì hơn…
4. Comparing X with Y we find that … : So sánh X với Y chúng ta nhận thấy …
5. Comparing x with y, it can be seen by us that …: So sánh x với y chúng ta có thể thấy rằng …
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Types of Trend
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