Unit 11

Teacher’s
Main Vocabulary Level 1

Word / Phrase Part of speech Phonetic Spelling Definition Sample Sentence

when a baby is born, it comes out of its mother’s body and starts
be born collocations with be /bi/ /bɔrn/ My daughter was born on August 29, 1982.
its life
to make a building or other large structure by putting its parts
build verb /bɪld/ They’re building a new bridge over the river.
together
built verb [simple past] /bɪlt/ the past tense of build They built this house in 1878.
compose verb /kəmˈpoʊz/ to write a piece of music I want to compose a new song.
They composed a song especially for the
composed verb [simple past] /kəmˈpoʊzd/ the past tense of compose
wedding.
to travel around an area in order to learn about it, or in order to
explore verb /ɪkˈsplɔr/ Shackleton wanted to explore Antarctica.
search for something valuable such as oil
explored verb [simple past] /ɪkˈsplɔrd/ the past tense of explore We explored the city on foot.
if people fight, they use guns or other weapons against each other,
fight verb /faɪt/ I fight with my sister all the time.
hit, kick, or bite each other, or argue about something
fought verb [simple past] /fɔt/ the past tense of fight They fought for their freedom.
I want to get a job as a teacher when I finish
get a job collocations with get /ɡet/ /ə/ /dʒɑb/ to find work that you do regularly to earn money
university.
get married collocations with get /ɡet/ /ˈmerid/ when two people have a wedding and become husband and wife We’re getting married next summer.
to complete your studies at a school such as a high school,
graduate verb /ˈɡrædʒuˌeɪt/ She graduates in June.
college, or university and get a diploma or a degree
grow up phrasal verb /ɡroʊ/ /ʌp/ to change from being a child to being an adult I would like my children to grow up in Europe.
collocations with We want to travel the world before we have
have children /hæv/ /ˈtʃɪldrən/ to be or become a parent
have children.
invent verb /ɪnˈvent/ to design or create something that did not exist before He invents things in his parents’ garage.
invented verb [simple past] /ɪnˈventəd/ the past tense of invent Who invented the telephone?
retire verb /rɪˈtaɪr/ to stop working permanently, especially when you are old Mrs. Kenny retired as principal in July.
Usain Bolt won the 100m at the Beijing
won verb [simple past] /wʌn/ the past tense of win
Olympics.
to create something such as a book, a piece of music, or a
write verb /raɪt/ She writes for several fashion magazines.
computer program, by putting together words or symbols
wrote verb [simple past] /roʊt/ the past tense of write William Shakespeare wrote many plays.

Photocopiable D.R. © Macmillan Publishers, S.A. de C.V. 2010 Definitions taken from the Macmillan Essential Dictionary