I absolutely want to help you sarah. thanks to that, I m goıng to improve my language much more…
Hi, here is another “tip of the day”.
I think one of the most common errors I see in TOEFL essays is using “life” instead of “lives”. When you are talking about more than one person, make sure to say “lives” instead of “life”. Two people cannot share one life, everyone lives his own life. Look at the following examples and pick whether the correct word is life or lives:
Technology improves people’s life/lives.
We had the time of our life/lives.
I had never been so scared in all my life/lives.
Lack of exercise will harm their life/lives.
Everyone’s life/lives is/are different.
Hi Sarah and all,
That’s exactly what I want. I would like to update what I study everyday, and it should be compulsive and motivating.
I would like us to encourage each other in that way.
I need more than 100, preferably 110 in this 3 months.
Cheers,
H , i’m sure this topic will be beneficial . Can you mention some words which are both convenient for most topic and also advanced ?
Thank you for your proactivity ,sorry for late reply,I really apperciate it
I have a question for you ,I think (a lot of) is used for something that we cann’t count like sugar or tea so can it be syninym for (many)?
Thank you very much , cooperation is gonna save time and enrich our language
I am so happy that you find what you are searching for, I wanna achieve this goal also but I only have 5 weeks I hope I can score high
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Hi all,
I tried something new today to learn more vocabulary,I watched an episode of english series without any subtitles and I replay each scene many times and repeat the sentences even they are easy , I found that great because some times there are some expressions are very common and you know the meaning but you can’t use them like <I am very good at what i do, stop wasting my time, down there,>
New vocabulary that i heard for the first time , i tried to guess the spelling with google and it works like <audacity, it means boldness> i replayed the scene like 10 times to get this word and i bet i won’t forget it :))))
1-Technology improves people’s lives
2-We had the time of our life
3-I had never been so scared in all my life
4-Lack of exercise will harm their life
5-Everyone’s life is different
Is that right???
“A lot of” can be used for both countable and uncountable nouns, so it can be used for both “many” and “much”. “I have a lot of sugar.” “I have a lot of sugar packets.”
This may be why it is used so often by English learners, because it works for everything. Native speakers on the other hand are much more likely to use “many” or “much”, depending on the noun.
Sarah, for #2 and #4, the pronoun modifying life is plural, so it should be lives.
Hi Jeofergin, your post reminded me of another topic I wanted to address. In my opinion, TOEFL essays use the word “convenient” far too often. In my mind, convenient’s main meaning is to describe something physical which saves us time and makes our life easier - a nearby bus stop, a microwave oven, a fast food restaurant.
But for some reason, TOEFL writers are always using convenient in ways which sound odd to my native ear:
“words which are convenient for essays” - “useful” or “appropriate” would be better
“people move to cities for a more convenient life” - “easier” or “fulfilling” would be better
“Buying a car can help us be more convenient in moving.” - “be more effective in commuting”
“universities are more convenient than the private universities” - “cheaper” or “more affordable”
training machines which are convenient and safe - “effective”
it is likely that you have a rather ordinary and convenient life - “stress free”
There is no doubt that convenient conditions brought us by technology today “productive”
I will avoid multiple financial problems and have a more convenient life thanks to my high salary “fulfilling” or “stress free”
Convenient is usually ok for these situations, but is rarely the best word. Once again, this may be where English learners use a “utility word” instead of using the best word.
Hey guys… I’ve my TOEFL on 24th of this month… Can anyone have a voice chat with me and asses my speaking?
Hi Luschen I miss your tip today
Hi,
I have a question , this expression (crack under pressure) does it mean fail or just you just under stress
the other one (I am screwed) i know the meaning is to be in problems but what the difference between it and ( screwed up )and (messed up)
Hi Sarah. Crack under pressure does mean to fail at a time of intense stress.
“I am screwed” means “I am in big trouble” or “I am sure to fail”. “Screwed up” and “messed up” are synonyms. “I am screwed” borders on impolite language, so I would only use it among friends. “Screwed up” is still a bit informal, but not really impolite at all.
It seems like every essay I read contains at least one “very good”. I would say this is not very good! Situations like these are an excellent, exceptional, tremendous time to show your vocabulary (or at least vocabulary memorization) skills. Try to learn a few synonyms for very good and use them in your writing. Here are a few to get you started, maybe we can all add to the list.
Excellent
Exceptional
Wonderful
Fantastic
Tremendous
Superb
First-rate
Top-notch
Superior
Outstanding
Exemplary
Phenomenal
Stupendous
Outstanding suggestion for all the toefl writers.
Thanks.
Here is another “tip of the day”. I see many TOEFL students try to make plurals out of words which are always (or almost always) singular. The following words are almost always singular - please add more to the list if you can think of any! If you want to make one of these plural, use “types of”, “pieces of” or something similar before the noun. I have written some examples below.
research “research projects”
education “educational methods”
advice “pieces of advice”
training “training regimens”
insurance “types of insurance”
knowledge “pieces of knowledge”
work (except for “works of art”)
infrastructure “types of infrastructure”
satisfaction “methods of satisfaction”
immigration “waves of immigration”
homework “homework assignments”
information “pieces of information”
equipment “pieces of equipment”
fame “types of fame”
schoolwork “schoolwork assignments”
housework “housework tasks”
understanding “ways of understanding”
Hi, in checking TOEFL essays I sometimes have to tell the writers to use more formal language. The graders will mark you down for using informal words and slang like “gonna”, “cool”, “dude”, and so on. At the same time, you may get more points for substituting a more formal word for an informal one. I came across this informative chart which may help you choose more formal synonyms over informal ones. Feel free to add your own suggestions to this thread and I will expand the list.
Formal…Informal
Inform me …Let me know
Cancel…Drop
Contact…Get in touch
Obtain…Get
Apologise…Say sorry
Postpone…Delay
Request…Ask for
Compensate…Make up
Establish…Set up
Discover…Find out
Handle…Deal with
Investigate…Check up on
Tolerate…Put up with
Increase…Go up
Children…Kids
Many / Much…A lot of
Many / Much…Heaps of