Yesterday I told you that my examiner friend and I advise students not to use the word 'plethora' in their essays. Why not? Well, for a plethora ;) of reasons:
- Plethora means 'many'. If you write that there are a plethora of reasons and then give only one or two reasons, you've used the word wrongly.
- The word plethora seems too exaggerated, pompous or pretentious for an IELTS essay. It doesn't suit the 'measured' academic style that we're aiming for.
- If the rest of your essay is written in a more basic style, a word like plethora will stand out as strange and unnatural.
- If you attempt to use 'impressive' words but your essay is full of mistakes, it is obvious to the examiner that you're trying to show off. When surrounded by grammar mistakes, a word like plethora looks even more unnatural.
- I'm a native speaker, and I would only use the word plethora if I really wanted to exaggerate something, or to sound pretentious on purpose (perhaps for humorous effect). I wouldn't use it in an academic essay.
- Finally, plethora is an example of what I call an 'any essay word'. Students learn words like this because they hope to use them in any essay, regardless of the topic. In other words, these students are trying to 'trick' the examiner into being impressed - this doesn't work. If you want to impress the examiner, you should focus on specific topic vocabulary.
I hope this convinces you to stop learning words like plethora. Just write "there are several reasons" or "there are two main reasons" and then focus on describing them. Leave the pompous language to politicians!
Is this the "older brother" of myriad? :)
Posted by: Yves | August 05, 2019 at 01:09
Thank sir, I got another question, I use always I opine that in speaking. Is this also like plethora with writing?
Posted by: Pachu | August 05, 2019 at 02:11
Thank you for the above advice, Simon!
I learned alot from it.
Posted by: Shohjahon | August 05, 2019 at 05:27
Yes , many students use this word without knowing much details, for example, there are a plethora of reasons and then give only one or two reasons, they've used the word wrongly.
Another reason is that students use with this word to impress the examiner ,but this doesn't work.Using one or two big words or one or two complex sentences doesn't impress the examiner , you have to use your language consistent throughout your speaking test.
Posted by: Pachu | August 05, 2019 at 09:23
@Pachu 9.23
Another good idea would be to look at your own writing where I can see at least 10 mistakes.
Posted by: Pachu | August 05, 2019 at 09:44
I am also an IELTS tutor and a native speaker and I agree entirely.
Another badly used word is "pivotal", which has a powerful and particular meaning. Yet, many students use it as a synonym for "important". So, when the reader reads "pivotal", he or she expects much stronger content than what he or she then reads.
Posted by: Michael Chambers | August 05, 2019 at 13:02
Collocations and phrases using 'pivotal':
'played a pivotal role in...' is by far the commonest.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=a+pivotal+*%2Cthe+pivotal+*%2Cpivotal+in+*%2Cplayed+a+pivotal+role+in%2C+pivotal+in+the+*&year_start=1960&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t2%3B%2Ca%20pivotal%20%2A%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Ba%20pivotal%20role%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Ba%20pivotal%20position%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Ba%20pivotal%20point%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Ba%20pivotal%20figure%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Ba%20pivotal%20moment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Ba%20pivotal%20event%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Ba%20pivotal%20part%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Ba%20pivotal%20year%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Ba%20pivotal%20one%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Ba%20pivotal%20place%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2Cthe%20pivotal%20%2A%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bthe%20pivotal%20role%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bthe%20pivotal%20point%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bthe%20pivotal%20position%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bthe%20pivotal%20figure%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bthe%20pivotal%20issue%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bthe%20pivotal%20importance%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bthe%20pivotal%20question%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bthe%20pivotal%20event%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bthe%20pivotal%20moment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bthe%20pivotal%20element%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2Cpivotal%20in%20%2A%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20this%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20determining%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20his%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20a%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20shaping%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20their%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20establishing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20helping%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20understanding%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cplayed%20a%20pivotal%20role%20in%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2Cpivotal%20in%20the%20%2A%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%20development%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%20history%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%20formation%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%20process%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%20evolution%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%20creation%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%20decision%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%20sense%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%20life%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bpivotal%20in%20the%20emergence%3B%2Cc0
Posted by: csaj | August 05, 2019 at 20:54
I'm an examiner and have gotten so peeved by seeing a plethora of "plethoras" that I looked up discussions and gripes about it online.
Look, the word "plethora" means a great abundance of something. In 90% of the cases I see it used, it doesn't fit because the writer proceeds to list only one or two instances. Secondly, it's an unusual word. It's simply not used in everyday speech or even writing, which brings me to my third point: It looks phony. It's obviously learned on purpose and deployed in the hope of getting a higher score. When it's written amid a sea of spelling mistakes and narrow vocabulary, it looks really out of place.
Try instead: "quite a few," "several," "a considerable number of," etc. If you really mean "numerous" or "copious," there's "a cornucopia of" (to be used very sparingly) or "an abundance of."
That said, a far bigger annoyance to me is crappy handwriting (expect 1/2 band off for that!) and answering the topic you'd like to answer rather than the one you've been given.
Posted by: Dr. IELTS Examiner | August 21, 2019 at 08:21