PTE Vocabulary: Most Common Words + Test and Practice Tips

Most PTE candidates underestimate how much vocabulary influences their score, even though Pearson’s own data shows that vocabulary and collocation knowledge directly affect performance in more than 50% of test tasks. 

In Reading and Listening, weak vocabulary is one of the top reasons candidates lose points in Fill in the Blanks and Summarize Spoken Text. 

Even in speaking and Writing, responses with a limited lexical range consistently score lower on content and written discourse. In other words, vocabulary is one of the strongest predictors of whether you’ll hit your target score. 

The list below focuses on high‑frequency academic vocabulary, common collocations, and the functional language that shows up again and again in Fill in the Blanks, Summarize Spoken Text, and even Speaking and Writing. 

At the end of the blog, we’ll give tips about how to practice these words effectively. 

PTE Vocabulary Words With Meaning 

The most reliable source for PTE vocabulary is still Pearson’s Academic Collocation List (ACL). It includes 2,469 high‑frequency academic collocations taken from a large corpus of real academic English.

Other helpful resources include:

• 300+ word lists (like Gradding’s list with pronunciation)
• High‑frequency or repeated words from platforms such as Gurully and Sumlingo, usually 50–100 advanced terms like abrogate or pernicious
• Section‑specific lists, such as dictation, spelling words, or Reading FIB vocabulary
• Larger “3000‑word” lists, which are usually general academic vocabulary rather than PTE‑specific collections

There isn’t a single “complete” PTE vocabulary list; the test pulls from real academic English, but the strongest approach is to combine the ACL with high‑frequency single words and topic‑based vocabulary.

Below is a comprehensive PTE vocabulary set built from the best available sources. It includes:

1. High‑frequency single words that appear repeatedly in exams and academic contexts
2. Advanced or commonly repeated words (from Sumlingo, Gurully, and similar sources)
3. Key collocations (selected from Pearson’s ACL; these pairs are worth prioritizing)
4. Common dictation and spelling words that often cause mistakes in Write From Dictation

Let’s dive in: 

1. High-Frequency Academic Words (Most Repeated in PTE)

These appear across sections; learn meanings, forms, and usage.

• Abundant — plentiful, existing in large quantities
• Accelerate — speed up
• Accurate — correct, precise
• Achieve — attain, accomplish (goal, objective, outcome)
• Active — involved, engaged (participation, role)
• Additional — extra (resources, support, information)
• Adverse — harmful, negative (effect, impact, reaction)
• Allocate — distribute, assign (resources, funds)
• Ambiguous — unclear, having multiple meanings
• Analytical — logical, critical (approach, tool)
• Appropriate — suitable (action, response, behavior)
• Articulate — express clearly
• Assess — evaluate (impact, performance)
• Assume — suppose, take on (role, responsibility)
• Available — accessible (resources, data)
• Benefit — advantage
• Challenge — difficulty, test
• Complex — complicated
• Comprehensive — complete, thorough
• Conduct — carry out (research, study)
• Considerable — significant
• Consistent — regular, uniform
• Contribute — add to, help
• Crucial — critical, essential
• Demonstrate — show, prove
• Diverse — varied
• Effective — successful
• Efficient — productive
• Emerge — appear, come out
• Enable — make possible
• Enhance — improve
• Establish — set up
• Evaluate — judge
• Evidence — proof
• Facilitate — make easier
• Feasible — possible, practical
• Fundamental — basic, essential
• Impact — effect
• Implement — put into action
• Implication — consequence, suggestion
• Indicate — show
• Influence — affect
• Integrate — combine
• Interpret — explain
• Investigate — examine
• Major — important
• Method — approach
• Obtain — get
• Occur — happen
• Potential — possible
• Primary — main
• Process — procedure
• Provide — supply
• Range — variety
• Require — need
• Research — study
• Respond — reply
• Reveal — show
• Significant — important
• Similar — alike
• Source — origin
• Specific — particular
• Structure — organization
• Substantial — large
• Sufficient — enough
• Support — help
• System — method
• Theory — idea
• Vary — differ

2. Advanced / Repeated PTE Words (Often in 2025-2026 Exams)

From recent high-scoring lists (e.g., Sumlingo, Gurully, Gradding).

• Abrogate — officially abolish
• Bifurcate — divide into two
• Enigma — mystery
• Nefarious — wicked
• Pernicious — gradually harmful
• Feasible — practical
• Implication — indirect conclusion
• Intricate — complicated
• Paradox — contradiction
• Pragmatic — practical
• Prolific — productive
• Resilient — able to recover
• Scrutinize — examine closely
• Subtle — not obvious
• Viable — workable
• Volatile — changeable
• Zealous — enthusiastic

3. Key Academic Collocations (Pearson ACL Samples — Top Priority!)

These are extremely common in PTE Reading/Writing. Learn as pairs.

• Abstract concept
• Academic achievement / research / performance / skills
• Achieve goal / objective / outcome
• Acquire knowledge
• Active involvement / participation / role
• Actively involved
• Acute awareness
• Additional information / resources / support
• Address issue
• Adopt approach / procedure
• Adverse effect / impact / reaction
• Annual report / review
• Appropriate behavior / response
• Assess impact / performance
• Available data / evidence / information / resources
• Central issue / problem / role
• Clear evidence / indication
• Conduct research / study
• Considerable attention / effort / importance
• Consistent pattern / result
• Crucial factor / role
• Draw conclusion
• Empirical evidence
• Establish relationship
• Evaluate performance
• Fundamental principle
• High priority / quality / standard
• Major factor / issue / problem
• Methodological approach
• Obtain information / result
• Primary concern / focus / source
• Provide evidence / information / support
• Reach conclusion
• Significant contribution / difference / impact / role
• Social context / interaction / policy
• Strong evidence / support
• Theoretical framework

4. Common PTE Dictation / Spelling Words (High-Frequency in Listening)

These often trip up candidates, so practice spelling + pronunciation.

• Accommodation
• Accumulation
• Acquisition
• Adequate
• Ambiguous
• Analysis
• Apparatus
• Appropriate
• Assessment
• Available
• Beautiful
• Beneficial
• Category
• Challenge
• Committee
• Comparable
• Complex
• Comprehensive
• Conclusion
• Consequence
• Consistent
• Definitely
• Development
• Environment
• Equipment
• Especially
• Establishment
• Excellent
• Existence
• Experience
• Government
• Hierarchy
• Immediately
• Independent
• Individual
• Influence
• Information
• Interesting
• Interpretation
• Knowledge
• Management
• Necessary
• Occurrence
• Occurred
• Percentage
• Phenomenon
• Possible
• Potential
• Principle
• Process
• Professor
• Psychology
• Recommendation
• Relevant
• Research
• Separate
• Significant
• Specific
• Sufficient
• Technique
• Technology
• Theoretical
• University

How to Use This List Effectively

• Daily goal: 20–30 words/collocations. Learn with example sentences from PTE passages.
• Practice: Do Reading FIB, WFD, essays using these words.
• Revise: Use flashcards; test synonyms/antonyms.
• Resources: Official Pearson ACL PDF, Gurully/Gradding lists, YouTube (Edutrainex repeated vocab videos), mock tests.
• Target: For 79+, focus on precision, collocations, and spelling.

How to Practice PTE Vocabulary Effectively?

Building PTE vocabulary works best when you’re using the words in real tasks, not just memorizing them from a list. When you practice inside a setup that looks and feels like the actual exam, with timing, pressure, and immediate feedback, you start to see which words you naturally reach for and where your gaps are. This is where you can use smart tools like Mocko.ai.  

Mocko is a smart tool designed specifically to stimulate real exam conditions for language exams, including PTE. You can practice vocabulary, take lessons, and take mock exams for PTE in identical conditions to the real exam.

Why Use Mocko for PTE Vocabulary Preparation? 

1. Full-length Mock Tests that Feel Like the Real Exam: The format, timing, interface, and difficulty progression match the actual PTE. You see high‑frequency academic vocabulary and collocations in context, which reinforces what you’re learning.
2. Instant scoring on the official 10–90 Scale: You get your predicted score as soon as you finish a mock, no waiting, no guessing.
3. Detailed Feedback on Your Language Use: Especially useful for Speaking and Writing. The platform breaks down vocabulary range, word choice, collocations, grammar, fluency, and pronunciation, and points out where your word usage is unclear or repetitive.
4. Targeted Practice for Specific Sections: You can focus on Reading Fill in the Blanks, Write From Dictation, Summarize Written Text, Essays, or Speaking tasks while intentionally using new vocabulary.
5. Flexible Access: Free attempts and easy sign‑up make it simple to start without committing to a big package.
6. Accurate Score Prediction: Many 2026 prep sources note that Mocko’s scoring tends to stay within a few points of real PTE results, which isn’t the case with every platform.

You can check Mocko right now and start practicing today! 

Conclusion 

At this point, you should have a clear idea of what the PTE actually tests and how to prepare for it without wasting time on random tips or endless word lists. 

Use this vocabulary consistently, test yourself in realistic conditions, and pay attention to the patterns you keep missing! 

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