Ielts-vocabulary-problem.pdf

Dominic Cole’s IELTS Blog www.dcielts.com

IELTS Vocabulary - Problems In IELTS essays you are almost always going to need to write about a problem. To do this well, you need to be able to use a variety of words to describe problems. Here are a few basic variations. You should note that you will need not just synonyms for “problem” but also variations of adjectives and verbs. For more detail on this and an interactive exercise see my Problem Vocabulary page If you do not understand any of these words, I suggest you use the Macmillan Online Dictionary Synonyms and antonyms Nouns

Usage

problem difficulty

a fairly close synonym to “problem”:

question

this is slightly different to problem: it is something people have different opinions about

issue

this is something people argue about/ similar to “question”

solution

you normally “find” or “come up with” a solution

Adjectives One key here is to avoid words such as “big” and “little” and to choose accurate word combinations. Here are some adjective-noun combinations Adjectives

Examples

significant

A significant problem many countries face is falling birth rates

fundamental

This is not a minor issue, rather it is a fundamental problem

real

A very real difficulty in many households is rising fuel bills

minor

In my view, global warming is only a minor problem

pressing

This is a pressing problem that needs to be dealt with urgently

Dominic Cole’s IELTS Blog www.dcielts.com Adjectives

Examples

serious

Of course, global warming is a serious issue that needs to be addressed

complex

This is a complex issue and there are no easy solutions to it.

Verbs

Verbs

Examples

Usage

address

The government needs to address the problem of unemployment

similar to “deal with” and “tackle”

face

How to combine work with having children is a problem facing many women

an alternative here would be the more academic “confronting”

deal with

We need to deal with the pressing issue of global warming

a close synonym of “tackle”: it includes the idea that the problem is difficult

tackle

It will not be easy to tackle global warming

a close synonym of “deal with”

experience

Many families are experiencing difficulties in paying their rising fuel bills

a more academic way of saying “have”

pose

Rising fuel bills pose a problem for many families

a good collocation to use with problem meaning “make”

resolve

The best way of resolving the problem of global warming would be to raise taxes

you can “solve” a problem or you can “resolve” a problem