Word of the Week
With its 120th word, Word of the Week has now come to an end. We hope you enjoyed this free feature and that it has given you an insight into the thinking and research behind the English Vocabulary Profile.
All 120 are still available to read in our archive, below. Each Word of the Week in the archive is followed by a link to the full entry for that word on the English Vocabulary Profile. To view the entries, you will need to subscribe to the EVP: to subscribe for free click here.
Word of the week: variety
The noun variety is very common in English and learners meet it through the phrase a variety of at A2 level and the sense BEING DIFFERENT at B1. Notice the Word family panel containing related words within A1-B2 level. It is likely that further word family members will be added for the C levels – for example, it seems that the noun variable is common in Academic text, used especially in the plural.To view the full entry for variety on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
Word of the week: hopefully
There are two senses for the adverb hopefully and these are given different levels in the EVP. The sense WHAT YOU WANT, often at the beginning of a sentence in common usage is at B1, while the sense HOPEFUL WAY seems to be at B2. This second use reflects more sophisticated writing, where the addition of an adverb in this way is indicative of good performance in the First Certificate examination, as shown this entry’s learner example. Notice the Word family panel given at the top of the entry: this represents all word family members that are within A1-B2 level.To view the full entry for hopefully on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
Word of the week: own
The sense of own that means BELONGING, used as an adjective or pronoun, is already known by A2 level, but the phrase (all) on your own with variant possessive adjectives, seems to be at B1. Two senses are listed for this phrase, ‘alone’ and ‘without any help’. Do you use the latter meaning in class, when asking students to work individually? Let us know by using the feedback button. The verb form of own is also listed at B1.To view the full entry for own on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
