Boost Your English: Vocabulary, Gerunds, Infinitives & Phrases

Here are some common English words and phrases with their meanings:

• A bit - a little
• Blog - online diary
• Bye - goodbye
• Getting on - making progress
• Hanging out - spending time together
• Hey - hello

Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds: (verbs ending in -ing) are often used after these verbs: admit, avoid, can’t stand, consider, don’t mind, enjoy, finish, give up, imagine, mention, miss, practise, resist, risk, start, stop, suggest, try.

Infinitives: (to + verb) are often used after these verbs: afford, agree, arrange, ask, attempt, beg, choose, dare, decide, expect, hope, intend, learn, manage, pretend, promise, refuse, seem, want.

Relationships and Feelings

Here are some words related to relationships and feelings:

• Parents (mother and father)
• Argument (disagreement)
• Sympathetic (understanding)
• Terrible (appalling)
• Suggestion (advice)
• Help (support)
• Thankful (grateful)

Here are some adjectives to describe feelings:

• Cheerful
• Confident
• Happy
• Mean
• Moody
• Polite
• Rude
• Sensible
• Sensitive

Phrasal Verbs for Relationships

• Get on (have a good relationship)
• Count on (rely on)
• Fall out (have an argument)
• Go out (have a romantic relationship)
• Break up (end a romantic relationship)
• Sort out (solve)

Travel Vocabulary

Here are some words related to travel:

• Flight (a journey by plane)
• Emit (release)
• Devastating (disastrous)
• Set off (begin a journey)
• Plenty (lots)
• Anxious (worried)
• Embarrassed (self-conscious)
• Casual (informal)

Here are some adjectives to describe places:

• Active
• Crowded
• Exciting
• Mild
• Peaceful
• Scenic
• Relaxing
• Tropical

Travel Phrasal Verbs

• Check in (register)
• Pick up (collect)
• Get on (board)
• Take off (depart)
• Drop off (take someone somewhere)

More Useful Vocabulary

• Actually (in reality)
• Career (university degree)
• Introducing (inserting)

Prepositions

Here are some common prepositions used with adjectives:

• Afraid of
• Fond of
• Friendly to
• Good at
• Good for
• Optimistic about
• Pessimistic about
• Proud of

Keep Phrasal Verbs

• Keep at (persevere with)
• Keep on (continue)
• Keep out of (avoid)
• Keep up with (learn about)

Describing Places and Changes

• Suburb (a residential area outside the city centre)
• Educated (skilled)
• Eventually (finally)
• Unbelievable (incredible)
• Managed (achieved something difficult)
• Youthful (not old)
• Knowledge (understanding)
• Rapidly (quickly)

Verbs of Change

• Alter
• Develop
• Discover
• Experiment
• Improve
• Invent
• Research
• Transform

Look and Work Phrasal Verbs

• Look into (investigate)
• Look up (search for)
• Make up (invent)
• Work out (calculate)