III. Vocabulary & Language Patterns

"A wide range of vocabulary; varied and accurate language patterns; able to self-correct; errors that impede communication." — SBA assessment rubric

This page is your vocabulary bank and sentence-pattern toolkit. Use it to lift your speaking from "adequate" (band 4) to "wide range" (band 5–6).

The 5 theme banks (memorise 8 from each)

🗡️ Ambition / Power

• ambition — strong desire to achieve
• aspiration — a more positive ambition
• drive — the inner force pushing someone
• hunger — intense, almost physical wanting
• obsession — unhealthy fixation
• ruthlessness — willingness to harm others to win
• tyranny — cruel and absolute rule
• autocracy — government by one
• megalomania — delusion of greatness
• insatiable — cannot be satisfied
• unscrupulous — without moral principles
• machinations — clever scheming

Use in: Macbeth answers.

💔 Love / Devotion

• infatuation — short-lived intense attraction
• devotion — deep loyal love
• passion — intense romantic feeling
• longing — painful desire
• doomed — destined to fail
• fervent — passionately intense
• ardent — burning with love
• steadfast — loyal and unwavering
• transcendent — beyond ordinary
• fated — determined in advance
• enraptured — completely captivated
• soulmate — perfect romantic match

Use in: Romeo and Juliet answers.

⚖️ Justice / Mercy

• impartial — fair, no favourites
• lenient — gentle in punishment
• compassionate — feeling for others
• retribution — payback / revenge
• equitable — treating all fairly
• arbitrary — random / unfair
• vindication — being shown right
• clemency — official mercy
• draconian — extremely harsh
• conscientious — ruled by conscience
• adjudicate — to judge officially
• culpable — deserving blame

Use in: Merchant of Venice answers.

😔 Guilt / Conscience

• remorse — deep regret for wrongdoing
• conscience — inner moral voice
• haunted — disturbed by past actions
• tormented — extremely troubled
• repentance — being sorry and changing
• culpability — being responsible
• anguish — extreme suffering
• moral injury — psychological harm from doing wrong
• shame — painful awareness of wrong
• contrition — sincere regret
• disquieted — troubled in mind
• purgative — cleansing of guilt

Use in: Macbeth, also possible in Merchant.

👥 Conflict / Society

• feud — long-term family/group hatred
• rivalry — competition, often bitter
• animosity — strong hostility
• betrayal — breaking of trust
• reconciliation — restoring relationship
• prejudice — unfair pre-judgment
• discrimination — unfair treatment
• ostracism — being shut out
• polarisation — splitting into extremes
• strife — angry conflict
• schism — formal split
• alienation — feeling cut off

Use in: Romeo and Juliet (family feud), Merchant (prejudice), Macbeth (betrayal).

The "sentence opener" upgrades

If every sentence starts with "I think", your Language Patterns mark caps at 4. Mix in these openers:

Style	Opener
Personal	"From my perspective…"
Personal	"Personally, I'd argue…"
Reflective	"What strikes me is…"
Reflective	"It seems to me that…"
Hedging	"It could be argued that…"
Hedging	"To some extent…"
Hedging	"Perhaps…"
Contrast	"On the other hand…"
Contrast	"Conversely…"
Contrast	"That said…"
Causal	"Because of this…"
Causal	"Consequently…"
Adding	"Furthermore…"
Adding	"What's more…"
Concluding	"In other words…"
Concluding	"Ultimately…"

Practice: read the Sample Answers aloud and notice how openers vary every 2–3 sentences. Mimic that rhythm.

The "hedge" toolkit (sound mature, not dogmatic)

Strong claims with no hedge can sound naive. Hedge to sound thoughtful:

Bare claim	Hedged version
"Macbeth is evil."	"Macbeth becomes evil — though perhaps less from nature and more from his decisions."
"Romeo's love is real."	"Romeo's love may seem impulsive, but arguably it's real enough that he dies for it."
"Shylock is a victim."	"Shylock is at least partly a victim — the play doesn't quite let us decide either way."

Hedge words: perhaps, arguably, it seems, may, might, could, to some extent, in part, partly, somewhat.

Varied sentence structures

1. Simple sentence

"Macbeth chose to act." Subject + verb + object. Easy, clear.

2. Compound sentence

"Macbeth chose to act, and Banquo chose to stay loyal." Two simple sentences joined with and / but / or / so / yet.

3. Complex sentence (subordinate clause)

"Although the witches predicted Macbeth's rise, he still chose the murder." Use although, because, while, when, if, since, even though.

4. "If" conditional

"If the messenger had arrived on time, Romeo would still be alive." Powerful for "alternative ending" questions.

5. Cleft sentence (focusing)

"What strikes me is the way Lady Macbeth's strength collapses." "It is Portia, not the law, that saves Antonio."

6. Inversion (high band move)

"Not only does Macbeth kill Duncan, but he also kills Banquo and Macduff's family." "Never does Shakespeare let us see the witches as fully neutral."

Aim for at least 2 different structures in each P.E.E.L answer. Variety = higher Language Patterns mark.

The "self-correction" boost

The rubric rewards noticing your own errors and fixing them. Practise saying:

• "She — sorry, he — was the one who…"
• "I meant to say 'remorse', not 'sad'."
• "Let me rephrase: what I mean is…"
• "Actually, that's not quite right — on P.4 it's…"

Don't apologise for your English. Just fix it in real-time. That's a high-band signal.

Words to use instead of "very"

"Very" is a flat intensifier. Replace it:

Instead of	Use
very angry	furious, livid, enraged
very sad	devastated, heartbroken, distraught
very bad	appalling, atrocious, abhorrent
very good	excellent, exceptional, remarkable
very tired	exhausted, drained, weary
very important	crucial, pivotal, vital
very interesting	compelling, fascinating, riveting
very surprising	astonishing, startling, extraordinary
very hard	rigorous, demanding, arduous
very clear	unmistakable, evident, manifest

Words to use instead of "thing" / "stuff"

Instead of	Use
this thing	this issue / this matter / this dynamic
something / stuff like that	such matters / things of this nature / similar examples
the thing is	the key point is / what matters here is

High-impact verbs (replace weak ones)

Weak	Stronger
show	reveal, expose, demonstrate, illustrate
say	argue, claim, suggest, contend, assert
make	construct, create, generate, establish
change	transform, alter, reshape, reframe
use	employ, utilise, deploy, harness
think	believe, contend, suppose, reason
do	perform, execute, undertake, achieve
get	obtain, acquire, secure, gain
see	observe, witness, perceive, notice

Drill: rewrite this sentence using 3 of the upgrades: "Macbeth showed that ambition makes you do bad things."

Possible upgrade: "Macbeth reveals that unchecked ambition drives us to commit atrocities we would normally condemn."

The 10 "fluency phrases" to plug into any answer

When your brain is half-empty, these phrases buy you a sentence:

1. "It's worth considering whether…"
2. "One way to look at this is…"
3. "Another angle would be that…"
4. "The deeper question here might be…"
5. "What's interesting is the way Shakespeare…"
6. "If we take a step back, we can see that…"
7. "Underneath the plot, the story is really about…"
8. "This connects to a wider point about…"
9. "The reason this still matters is that…"
10. "At the heart of it, the play asks us whether…"

Memorise 3 of these. Use them under pressure to keep talking while you think.

Common errors to self-correct in real-time

Common Hong Kong English error	Standard form
"He don't like"	"He doesn't like"
"Last time I read" (past)	"The last time I read" / "When I first read"
"Most of the people"	"Most people"
"Discuss about"	"Discuss" (no preposition)
"Married with"	"Married to"
"Open the light"	"Turn on the light"
"Until now" (= still)	"So far"

If you catch one mid-sentence, self-correct out loud — it's a positive signal.

Connectives (glue your sentences together)

Function	Words
Add	also, furthermore, moreover, in addition, what's more
Contrast	however, on the other hand, conversely, nevertheless, yet
Cause	because, since, as, due to, owing to
Effect	therefore, consequently, as a result, hence, thus
Example	for instance, for example, such as, in particular, notably
Conclude	overall, in conclusion, ultimately, to sum up, all in all
Sequence	first, next, then, finally, in the end
Concede	admittedly, granted, it's true that, while it's the case that

Aim for 2–3 connectives per P.E.E.L — they make your speech sound organised.

A vocabulary "shopping list" for each answer

Before any practice answer, jot down 5 power words you want to use. Then tick them off as you speak. Example for a Macbeth answer:

• [ ] ambition
• [ ] catalyst
• [ ] remorse
• [ ] unchecked
• [ ] consequence

If you hit 4/5, you're at band 5+. 5/5 = band 6.

A 30-second self-check

After every practice:

• [ ] Did I use at least 5 theme-specific vocabulary words?
• [ ] Did I vary my sentence openers (not all "I think")?
• [ ] Did I use at least 2 different sentence structures?
• [ ] Did I avoid "very", "thing", "stuff" or replace them?
• [ ] Did I self-correct at least one error in real-time?

4–5 ticks → band 5+.

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Next: IV. Ideas & Organisation.