Sublist 2 of the Academic Word List

AWL Sublist 2: Overview

The Academic Word List (AWL) Sublist 2 consists of 60 word families that frequently appear in academic texts across various disciplines. These words are essential for understanding and producing clear, precise academic language.

Key Features of Sublist 2

High Frequency

Words like achieve, acquire, evaluate, and construct are commonly used in essays, reports, and research papers.

Broad Applicability

Sublist 2 words are relevant in multiple academic fields, including science, business, and humanities.

Word Families

Each word family includes base words and their derivatives (e.g., evaluate → evaluation, evaluating).

Sublist 2 Words with Word Families and Definitions

Achieve

achievable, achieved, achievement, achievements, achieves, achieving

To successfully reach a goal or result through effort or skill.

Acquire

acquired, acquires, acquiring, acquisition, acquisitions

To gain or obtain something, often through effort.

Administer

administrates, administration, administrations, administrative, administratively, administrator, administrators

To manage or control the operation of something.

Affect

affected, affecting, affective, affectively, affects, unaffected

To have an influence or impact on something.

Appropriate

appropriacy, appropriately, appropriateness, inappropriacy, inappropriate, inappropriately

Suitable or proper for a particular situation.

Aspect

aspects

A specific part or feature of something.

Assist

assistance, assistant, assistants, assisted, assisting, assists, unassisted

To help or support someone.

Chapter

chapters

A section or division of a book, usually numbered or titled.

Commission

commissioned, commissioner, commissioners, commissioning, commissions

An official group tasked with specific responsibilities; to order or authorize work.

Community

communities

A group of people living in the same area or sharing common interests.

Complex

complexities, complexity

Consisting of many parts; not simple.

Compute

computation, computational, computations, computable, computer, computed, computerised, computers, computing

To calculate or determine a result mathematically.

Conclude

concluded, concludes, concluding, conclusion, conclusions, conclusive, conclusively, inconclusive, inconclusively

To bring something to an end or finish it.
To arrive at a decision, judgment, or opinion after considering evidence or reasoning.

Conduct

conducted, conducting, conducts

To carry out or manage an activity.

Consequent

consequence, consequences, consequently

Happening as a result of something.

Construct

constructed, constructing, construction, constructions, constructive, constructs, reconstruct, reconstructed, reconstructing, reconstruction, reconstructs

To build or form something, typically large.

Consume

consumed, consumer, consumers, consumes, consuming, consumption

To use up a resource, energy, or food.

Credit

credited, crediting, creditor, creditors, credits

Recognition for an achievement; money provided as a loan.

Culture

cultural, culturally, cultured, cultures, uncultured

The ideas, customs, and social behavior of a group of people.

Design

designed, designer, designers, designing, designs

A plan or drawing created to show how something will work.

Distinct

distinction, distinctions, distinctive, distinctively, distinctly, indistinct, indistinctly

Clearly different or separate.

Element

elements

A part or component of a whole.

Equate

equated, equates, equating, equation, equations

To consider something as equal to something else.

Evaluate

evaluated, evaluates, evaluating, evaluation, evaluations, evaluative, re-evaluate, re-evaluated, re-evaluates, re-evaluating, re-evaluation

To assess or judge the value or quality of something.

Feature

featured, features, featuring

A distinctive characteristic or aspect of something.

Final

finalise, finalised, finalises, finalising, finality, finally, finals

The last or concluding part of something.

Focus

focused, focuses, focusing, refocus, refocused, refocuses, refocusing

To concentrate on a particular task or subject.

Impact

impacted, impacting, impacts

A strong effect or influence.

Injure

injured, injures, injuries, injuring, injury, uninjured

Physical harm or damage to the body.

Institute

instituted, institutes, instituting, institution, institutional, institutionalise, institutionalised, institutionalises, institutionalising, institutionally, institutions

An organization or establishment for education or research.

Invest

invested, investing, investment, investments, investor, investors, invests, reinvest, reinvested, reinvesting, reinvestment, reinvests

To put money or effort into something with the expectation of benefit.

Item

itemisation, itemise, itemised, itemises, itemising, items

A single thing or object.

Journal

journals

A regularly published academic or professional magazine.

Maintain

maintained, maintaining, maintains, maintenance

To keep something in good condition or continue something.

Normal

laboured, labouring, labours

Usual, standard, or expected.

Obtain

obtainable, obtained, obtaining, obtains, unobtainable

To get or acquire something.

Participate

participant, participants, participated, participates, participating, participation, participatory

To take part in an activity or event.

Perceive

perceived, perceives, perceiving, perception, perceptions

To understand or interpret something in a particular way.

Positive

positively

Good, beneficial, or optimistic.

Potential

potentially

The ability or possibility of achieving something.

previously

Coming before something in time or order.

Primary

primarily

Most important or first in order.

Purchase

purchased, purchaser, purchasers, purchases, purchasing

To buy something.

Range

ranged, ranges, ranging

The area or extent between two limits; a variety.

Region

regional, regionally, regions

A specific geographic area.

Regulate

deregulated, deregulates, deregulating, deregulation, regulated, regulates, regulating, regulation,regulations, regulator, regulators, regulatory, unregulated

To control or manage according to rules.

Relevant

irrelevance, irrelevant, relevance

Connected to the matter being discussed.

Reside

resided, residence, resident, residential, residents, resides, residing

To live in a particular place.

Resource

resourced, resourceful, resources, resourcing, unresourceful, under-resourced

A supply of materials, money, or information that can be used.

Restrict

restricted, restricting, restriction, restrictions, restrictive, restrictively, restricts, unrestricted, unrestrictive

To limit or control something.

Secure

insecure, insecurities, insecurity, secured, securely, secures, securing, securities, security

To obtain something firmly; safe or protected.

Seek

seeking, seeks, sought

To search for or try to obtain something.

Select

selected, selecting, selection, selections, selective, selectively, selector, selectors, selects

To choose something carefully.

Site

sites

A location or place where something occurs.

Strategy

strategic, strategies, strategically, strategist, strategists

A plan of action to achieve a specific goal.

Survey

surveyed, surveying, surveys

The researchers conducted a survey to gather public opinion.

Text

texts, textual

Written words or a written document.

Tradition

non-traditional, traditional, traditionalist, traditionally, traditions

Beliefs or customs passed down through generations.

Transfer

transferable, transference, transferred, transferring, transfers

To move something or someone from one place to another.