Knowing a translation is only the beginning of knowing a word. Fluent vocabulary depends on recognising its family, the words it commonly combines with, the grammar around it and the situations in which it sounds natural.
Learn word families
Connect forms such as decide, decision, decisive and decisively. Record the part of speech and notice changes in spelling, stress and sentence position. Do not assume every possible-looking form is common.
Learn collocations
Collocations are combinations that experienced users expect, such as make a decision, strong evidence or meet a deadline. Learning them as chunks improves both speed and naturalness.
Use context as evidence
When you meet a new word, ask: Who is speaking? What is the purpose? Is the tone formal, neutral or informal? Which grammar pattern follows? A single dictionary definition cannot answer all those questions.
A better vocabulary notebook
- Target word and pronunciation.
- Plain-English meaning.
- Two high-value collocations.
- One useful word-family member.
- An authentic example.
- Your own sentence for a real situation.
Practise productive control
Sort examples, complete sentence frames, explain a distinction, then use the item in speaking or writing. Return to it with active recall and spaced repetition.
Explore Prepspire Vocabulary 101, try a free skill-course sample, and use the Prepspire Blog to collect vocabulary from meaningful reading.
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