Communication & Connection
Words for talking, sharing, and connecting with others
Overview
25 final A1 words for communication, relationships, and basic function words that tie everything together. After this lesson, you’ll have a solid foundation of ~300 essential English words.
Words
talk /tɔːk/
verb/noun — A1
Meaning: (v.) to speak to someone; (n.) a conversation or speech
Examples:
- Can we talk for a minute?
- They had a long talk about the future.
Collocations: talk about, talk to/with, small talk, talk show
meet /miːt/
verb — A1
Meaning: to see and speak to someone for the first time; to come together
Examples:
- Nice to meet you!
- Let’s meet at the café at three.
Collocations: nice to meet you, meet up, meet someone, meet a deadline
Word Family: meet (v.) → meeting (n.)
live /lɪv/
verb/adjective — A1
Meaning: (v.) to have your home in a place; to be alive; (adj. /laɪv/) not recorded
Examples:
- Where do you live?
- They live in a small town near the coast.
Collocations: live in, live with, live abroad, live music, live on
Word Family: live (v.) → living (n./adj.) → alive (adj.) → lively (adj.)
like /laɪk/
verb/preposition — A1
Meaning: (v.) to enjoy or find pleasant; (prep.) similar to
Examples:
- I like your new haircut.
- What’s the weather like today?
Collocations: would like, feel like, look like, like this/that, something like
love /lʌv/
verb/noun — A1
Meaning: (v.) to feel a strong affection for someone; to like very much
Examples:
- I love my family.
- She loves cooking Italian food.
Collocations: fall in love, in love with, love story, love to, I’d love to
Word Family: love (v./n.) → lovely (adj.) → lover (n.) → loving (adj.)
hate /heɪt/
verb/noun — A1
Meaning: to dislike very strongly
Examples:
- I hate getting up early.
- She hates cold weather.
Collocations: hate doing, love-hate relationship, hate to say, I hate it when
Word Family: hate (v./n.) → hatred (n.) → hateful (adj.)
hope /həʊp/
verb/noun — A1
Meaning: (v.) to want something to happen; (n.) the feeling of wanting something good
Examples:
- I hope you feel better soon.
- There’s still hope — don’t give up.
Collocations: I hope so, hope for the best, in the hope of, full of hope
Word Family: hope (v./n.) → hopeful (adj.) → hopefully (adv.) → hopeless (adj.)
believe /bɪˈliːv/
verb — A1
Meaning: to think that something is true or real
Examples:
- I don’t believe that story.
- Do you believe in ghosts?
Collocations: believe in, hard to believe, believe it or not, I believe so
Word Family: believe (v.) → belief (n.) → believable (adj.) → unbelievable (adj.)
agree /əˈɡriː/
verb — A1
Meaning: to have the same opinion as someone
Examples:
- I completely agree with you.
- They agreed to meet at six.
Collocations: agree with, agree to, agree on, couldn’t agree more
Word Family: agree (v.) → agreement (n.) → disagree (v.)
spend /spend/
verb — A1
Meaning: to use money to buy things; to pass time
Examples:
- I spend too much money on clothes.
- We spent the weekend at the beach.
Collocations: spend money, spend time, spend the night, spend on
bring /brɪŋ/
verb — A1
Meaning: to take something or someone with you to a place
Examples:
- Can you bring me a glass of water?
- She brought her friend to the party.
Collocations: bring back, bring up, bring along, bring together, bring about
leave /liːv/
verb — A1
Meaning: to go away from a place or person
Examples:
- I usually leave home at eight o’clock.
- She left the room without saying goodbye.
Collocations: leave home, leave behind, leave out, leave alone, leave a message
with /wɪð/
preposition — A1
Meaning: accompanied by; having
Examples:
- I went to the cinema with my friends.
- She came with a big smile on her face.
Collocations: come with, deal with, with me, with pleasure, agree with
without /wɪðˈaʊt/
preposition — A1
Meaning: not having; in the absence of
Examples:
- I can’t live without my phone.
- She left without saying goodbye.
Collocations: without a doubt, without question, do without, go without
about /əˈbaʊt/
preposition/adverb — A1
Meaning: on the subject of; approximately
Examples:
- Tell me about your trip.
- The film is about two hours long.
Collocations: what about, talk about, think about, how about, about time
because /bɪˈkɒz/
conjunction — A1
Meaning: for the reason that
Examples:
- I stayed home because I was sick.
- She’s happy because she got the job.
Collocations: because of, just because, that’s because
very /ˈveri/
adverb — A1
Meaning: used to emphasize an adjective or adverb
Examples:
- The food is very good here.
- She speaks English very well.
Collocations: very much, very well, very good, very important, very nice
really /ˈriːəli/
adverb — A1
Meaning: truly; very; used for emphasis
Examples:
- I’m really tired today.
- Do you really think so?
Collocations: really good, really like, not really, really well, really sorry
just /dʒʌst/
adverb — A1
Meaning: only; exactly; a very short time ago
Examples:
- I’m just looking, thanks.
- She just left — you missed her by a minute.
Collocations: just now, just a minute, just in case, just like, just about
only /ˈəʊnli/
adjective/adverb — A1
Meaning: no more than; single
Examples:
- It only costs five dollars.
- She’s the only person who knows.
Collocations: the only one, only if, if only, not only…but also
every /ˈevri/
determiner — A1
Meaning: all of a group without exception
Examples:
- I go running every morning.
- She checks her email every few minutes.
Collocations: every day, every time, every one, every other, every single
Word Family: every (det.) → everyone (pron.) → everything (pron.) → everywhere (adv.)
all /ɔːl/
determiner/pronoun — A1
Meaning: the whole amount or every one
Examples:
- I’ve eaten all the cake.
- All students must attend the meeting.
Collocations: all day, all the time, at all, after all, all right, all over, above all
some /sʌm/
determiner/pronoun — A1
Meaning: an amount or number of something (not specified)
Examples:
- Can I have some water, please?
- Some people prefer tea to coffee.
Collocations: some of, some time, some day, some more, something
many /ˈmeni/
determiner/pronoun — A1
Meaning: a large number of
Examples:
- How many languages do you speak?
- Not many people know about this place.
Collocations: how many, many times, too many, as many as, a great many
much /mʌtʃ/
determiner/adverb — A1
Meaning: a large amount of (used with uncountable nouns)
Examples:
- How much does this cost?
- Thank you so much for your help.
Collocations: how much, too much, very much, so much, as much as
Quick Review
| Word | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| talk | v./n. | speak / conversation |
| meet | v. | see for first time / gather |
| live | v. | have your home in |
| like | v./prep. | enjoy / similar to |
| love | v./n. | feel strong affection |
| hate | v. | dislike strongly |
| hope | v./n. | want to happen |
| believe | v. | think is true |
| agree | v. | have same opinion |
| spend | v. | use money / pass time |
| bring | v. | take with you to a place |
| leave | v. | go away from |
| with | prep. | accompanied by |
| without | prep. | not having |
| about | prep./adv. | on the subject of |
| because | conj. | for the reason that |
| very | adv. | emphasis word |
| really | adv. | truly, very |
| just | adv. | only, exactly |
| only | adj./adv. | no more than |
| every | det. | all without exception |
| all | det./pron. | whole amount |
| some | det./pron. | an amount (unspecified) |
| many | det./pron. | a large number |
| much | det./adv. | a large amount |