Understanding ‘Average’: Boost Your IELTS Vocabulary
Learn the versatile uses of ‘average’ as a noun, adjective, and verb for your IELTS exam. Discover its meaning, origins, synonyms, and antonyms, plus common usage examples and tips to avoid mistakes. Improve your vocabulary and enhance your IELTS score with this essential word.
Have you ever wondered what it means when someone says you’re just average? Today we’re going to explore the word average and how to use it correctly in your IELTS exam.
Word type: Average can be used as a noun, adjective, or verb. This flexibility makes it a useful word to know for your IELTS test.
Meaning: As a noun or adjective, average refers to a number that represents a typical amount or rate.
It’s often calculated by adding several quantities together and dividing by the number of quantities.
As a verb, it means to result in or amount to a particular number as an average.
Word history: The word average comes from Arabic and old French.
It originally referred to damages or customs duties on shipped goods. Over time, its meaning changed to represent a typical or ordinary amount.
Antonyms: Some opposites of average include exceptional, extraordinary, and unusual.
Synonyms: Words with similar meanings to average include typical, normal, standard, and ordinary.
Examples use in sentences: Let’s look at how to use average in different ways. As a noun: The average of these test scores is seventy five percent.
As an adjective: John is of average height for his age. And as a verb: The company’s sales averaged one hundred units per day last month.
Common errors in use: Be careful not to confuse average with median or mode. While they’re all types of averages, they have specific mathematical meanings.
Also, remember that average doesn’t always mean exactly in the middle. An average person or thing can still have unique qualities.
To improve your IELTS score, practice using average in your speaking and writing. Try describing average things in your daily life, or discussing average statistics in your essays.
Remember, understanding and correctly using words like average can help boost your vocabulary score in the IELTS exam.

