To ‘establish‘ something can mean to begin or build something. It can also mean to find facts to prove the truth of something.

Examples:

• The company was established in 2010.
• The police have established that the robbery was committed by a woman of medium height.

Why is the word ‘was’ used with the verb ‘establish’ in the first example sentence? Do you know? The answer is that it is a passive sentence. In this structure we are not interested in the agent (who or what) established the company.

Collocations: When you learn new vocab, make sure that you note collocations too. For this group of words some collocations are:
establishment of, establish s/thing by, re-establish control
estimation of, estimation by
evidence of, evidence for, supporting evidence
exporter of, export to
factor in

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

Vocabulary for IELTS – Academic Word List 1:5

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

1.Some groups _______________ that due to climate change life as we know it will be drastically different in just 20 years. (factor, estimate)

2.It is _______________ that nuclear power poses environmental risks. (evidence, export)

3.If you ______________ good study habits, you can do well in IELTS. (establish, evidence)

4._______________ figures for this month look promising. (establish, export)

5.One ______________ in the nuclear debates is the recent disaster in Japan. (factor, estimate)

Answers (in the wrong order)
3. establish   2. evident   5. factor     4. Export   1. estimate