Sometimes words sound alike and may be confusing. In the group of five words below you’ll see the word ‘discrete.’ There is another word that sounds the same; ‘discreet.’ Don’t get confused. The meaning is quite different.

When you learn new vocab, make sure that you note collocations too. For this group of words some collocations are:
consulting room, consult with, consultation about, contact number, contactable by (phone/email), contact for, decline of, decline quickly, decline slowly, discrete items, draft paper, do a draft, complete a draft,

Check the meanings of the words if you don’t already know them. Check the meanings of the various forms as sometimes they are different. You can check them at Time4english by clicking the words (http://www.time4english.com/aamain/lounge/awl.asp).

Complete the sentences below with the correct form of the word.

IELTS VOCABULARY 51

1. ______________ times for doctors have been reduced to seven minutes. (consult)
2. She’ll be away for a few weeks, but she’ll still be _______________ by email. (contact)
3. The _______________ of the economy began 15 years ago. (decline)
4. It’s a long process with several _______________ steps that need to be taken. (discrete)
5. Whenever I write something, I always do several rough _______________. (draft)

Answers (in the wrong order below)
5. drafts   3. decline   2. contactable   1. Consultation    4. discrete