At the B2 level, you should replace generic verbs like "think" or "do" with more specific actions. These words are crucial for academic and professional settings .

To help you study, here are essential B2 words categorized by how you will use them in real life.

Learn the root, noun, verb, and adjective forms together.

✅ Decline is more formal than decrease . Use decline for health, economy, standards. ✅ Collocation: dramatic shift / gradual decline / rapid recovery

✅ Sustainable is often used with development / growth / energy / future . ✅ Word family: Consume (v), consumer (n), consumption (n)

Here are high-level B2 collocations to memorize:

✅ Deadline is often used with meet / miss / extend / tight . ✅ Common error: Quit is informal; in writing, use resign or leave the job .

Knowing a word is not enough; you must know who its "friends" are. Collocations are words that naturally go together. Using the wrong collocation is a tell-tale sign of a non-native speaker.