Virtuous English AcademyCommunication — B1 English Vocabulary
This B1 vocabulary list gathers 40 intermediate English words about communication — informing, advising and getting your point across. Every word comes with a simple definition, its British-English pronunciation and a natural example sentence, so you learn each one in real context. When you are ready, open the flashcards to practise and remember them for good.
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Using communication words in English
Every word on this list is a reporting verb, and reporting verbs are defined by the structure that follows them rather than by their meaning. Advise takes a person then an infinitive; recommend refuses the person; remind insists on one. On top of that sits advice, which is uncountable, and its verb advise, which differs by a single letter and a rather large change in pronunciation.
What to watch out for
Advice is a noun with an s sound; advise is a verb with a z
Advice is uncountable — some good advice, a piece of advice, never advices — and the c is pronounced like s. Advise is the verb and the s is pronounced like z. The same spelling-and-sound pair appears in practice and practise, and in licence and license, in British English: the noun takes c, the verb takes s.
Remind needs a person; remember does not
Remind is what somebody else does to you: Please remind me to call her. It always takes an object. Remember is what happens inside your own head and takes no person: I remembered to call her. So Remember me to buy milk is wrong — it should be Remind me. This is one of the most persistent errors at B1 and it survives well into B2.
Recommend and suggest refuse a person as object
You cannot say recommend me a book in careful English, although you will hear it. The clean forms are I recommend this book, I recommend that you read it and I recommend reading it. Advise is the one that does allow the person: I advise you to read it. Note the other fixed patterns here: warn somebody about a danger, inform somebody of a fact, respond to a message, and refuse takes an infinitive while deny takes -ing.
Words learners mix up
Three tables: four reporting verbs and what each demands after it, four nouns for a piece of speech, and four verbs whose prepositions are decided in advance.
Four verbs and the structure each one insists on
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| inform | Needs a person, then of or about plus a noun, or a that clause. Formal. | Please inform us of any changes. |
| warn | Needs a person, then about or against, or an infinitive: warned us not to go. | They warned me about the traffic. |
| demand | Cannot take a person as its object. Use demand to do or demand that somebody do. | She demanded to see the manager. |
| request | Formal, and it takes a thing: request a copy. Never a person straight after it. | Passengers are requested to remain seated. |
Demand is the one that produces real errors, because it looks like ask and behaves nothing like it: ask somebody to do is correct and demand somebody to do is not. The workaround is either an infinitive with no person — he demanded to know — or a that clause with the bare verb form, which is why formal English writes we demand that he be released.
Four nouns for a piece of speech, and how each behaves
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| statement | A prepared or official thing said. Countable, and the verbs are make or issue. | The company has issued a statement. |
| remark | A single casual comment. Countable, and the verb is make, never say. | He made a rude remark about the food. |
| announcement | Public news, delivered to a group. Countable, and it takes about. | There was an announcement about the delay. |
| criticism | Uncountable for the general activity, countable for one particular point. | The plan attracted a lot of criticism. |
Three of these four take make, which is worth learning as a block: make a statement, make a remark, make an announcement. Criticism is the exception in every way — it prefers attract, face or accept, and its countability shifts, so constructive criticism has no article while a fair criticism of the plan does.
Four verbs and their fixed small words
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| respond | Takes to, always. The noun response takes to as well. | Nobody has responded to my email. |
| react | Also takes to, but describes an immediate, often emotional reply rather than a considered one. | How did she react to the news? |
| correspond | Takes with for exchanging letters and to for matching something. | They corresponded with each other for years. |
| refuse | Takes no preposition at all. Either a direct object or to plus a verb. | He refused to answer the question. |
Respond and react both take to but say different things: a response is composed and a reaction is instinctive, which is why a company issues a response and a crowd has a reaction. Refuse is the trap, because it never takes a person as its object — you refuse a request or refuse to help, but you cannot refuse somebody.
Collocations that sound natural
Six words from workplace and classroom English. Each belongs inside a frame, and the frames are what make written English sound handled rather than assembled.
feedback
give feedbackconstructive feedbackfeedback on the draftpositive feedback
Uncountable, so never feedbacks and never a feedback. The verb is give and the topic takes on. Constructive feedback is the fixed phrase for criticism intended to help, and it is standard in British workplaces and schools.
compliment
pay somebody a complimenttake it as a complimenta backhanded complimentcompliment somebody on
The verb is pay, not make or give. As a verb it takes on for the thing praised. Do not confuse the spelling with complement, which means to go well with something, as in the wine complements the fish.
gesture
make a gesturea kind gesturea gesture of goodwillhand gestures
It covers both the physical movement and the symbolic act, which is why a gesture of goodwill involves no hands at all. The verb gesture takes towards or at, and the phrase an empty gesture means one with no real substance.
misunderstanding
a slight misunderstandingclear up a misunderstandingthere has been a misunderstandingto avoid any misunderstanding
Countable, and it is the polite British way of saying that something went wrong without blaming anybody. The verb is clear up, and the phrase there has been a misunderstanding is standard in emails and complaints.
dialogue
open a dialoguea constructive dialoguedialogue betweenthe dialogue in the film
Two distinct uses: the words characters say in a film or book, which is uncountable, and formal discussion between two sides, which takes between or with. British English keeps the -ue ending where American English often writes dialog in computing only.
clarify
clarify a pointjust to clarifyclarify what you meanseek clarification
The verb takes a direct object, and just to clarify at the start of a sentence is the standard polite opener when you are correcting a misunderstanding. The noun clarification goes with seek or ask for.
Where each word belongs
Seven words with a country, a job or a level of formality attached. Communication vocabulary is unusually sensitive to setting, because the same message can be a text, a notice or an official letter.
- interpreterSpeech · a translator writesAn interpreter works with the spoken language, live, and a translator works with written text. The verbs follow: you interpret at a meeting and translate a document. Getting this wrong on a CV is immediately visible to anyone in the field.
- spokespersonNeutral · the modern formThe person who speaks officially for an organisation. It has replaced spokesman in almost all British journalism, and the plural is spokespeople. The verb behind it is speak for, as in speaking for the company.
- verbalTwo senses · one of them a trapIn ordinary use it means spoken rather than written, which is why a verbal agreement is one nobody wrote down. In grammar it means relating to verbs, an entirely separate sense. British English also uses oral for the spoken sense in exam contexts.
- notifyFormal · letters and systemsThe official word for telling somebody something, almost always passive: you will be notified by post. It is not used in conversation, where it would sound like a legal threat. The noun is notification, which mobile phones have made everyday.
- summariseBritish spelling · an exam instructionTo give the main points in fewer words, and one of the instruction verbs that appears in exam questions, alongside describe and compare. British English writes -ise and American English -ize; the noun is summary in both.
- yellInformal · and American-leaningTo shout loudly, usually in anger or across a distance. British English uses shout far more often in neutral contexts and keeps yell for real volume. The opposite on this list is mumble, which means speaking too quietly to be understood.
- phraseCountable · noun and verbA small group of words that belong together. As a verb it means to choose your words, as in I would phrase it differently, which is a very useful and very polite way of disagreeing. Note the silent p-h pair is pronounced as an f.
Sentences to try
Four frames covering the four structures. Notice which verbs allow a person straight after them.
- Could you remind me to send the response tomorrow?
- She advised me to request a written statement.
- I would recommend speaking to the manager first.
- They refused to clarify the terms of the agreement.
Questions about communication vocabulary
What is the difference between advice and advise?
Advice is the noun and advise is the verb. The noun is uncountable, so it takes no article and no plural: She gave me some excellent advice, and for a single item, a piece of advice. The verb behaves normally: I advise you to wait. The spelling difference is matched by a pronunciation difference — the noun ends in an s sound and the verb in a z sound. British English uses the same c-noun and s-verb pattern in practice and practise.
What is the difference between remind and remember?
Remember is something you do yourself and it takes no person as an object: I remembered his name. Remind is something one person does to another, and it always needs an object: She reminded me of his name, Remind me to buy milk. So Remember me to lock the door is wrong; it should be Remind me. One idiom keeps the older sense: Remember me to your parents means send them my regards, but that is now quite dated.
Can I say "recommend me a restaurant"?
It is widely heard but not standard. Recommend and suggest do not take a person as their direct object, so careful English uses Can you recommend a restaurant?, I recommend that you try the fish, or I recommend trying the fish. If you want the person in the sentence, add to: He recommended it to me. The verb that does allow the pattern is advise: She advised me to book early. The same restriction blocks explain me, which must be explain to me.