· 12 lists · 596 words

Thinking and arguing

Asserting, justifying, conceding, refuting.

What holds these lists together

These lists have no subject matter, only a method. Here Spanish demands a mood that could be avoided until now: English says «I don’t think it’s true» with an ordinary verb, Spanish says no creo que sea cierto, in the subjunctive, and nobody who wants to disagree gets past it. Watch discutir as well: it covers discussing, but tuvimos una discusión usually means a row. Politeness has its own habit — disagreement is seldom stated flat and usually introduced: hombre, yo lo veo de otra manera. And these words are needed in every other category: a finding is weighed, a contract interpreted, a decision justified.

The twelve lists

B1Giving an opinion and arguingAgreeing, disagreeing, conceding — without giving offence.50 words B2Arguing and objectingThe phrases that carry a position — and those that qualify it again.50 words B2Ethics and its wordsResponsibility, freedom, ends — and the words to argue about them.50 words C1Abstract nounsThe nouns with no picture behind them that every report needs.50 words C1Words for thinking things overNorm, judgement, example, objection — what an argument about anything is made of.48 words C1Weighing and objectingException, objection, demand — what a claim is tested with.50 words C2RhetoricProof, arrangement, figure, delivery — the terms a speech has been described with for two thousand years.50 words C2EpistemologyKnowledge, justification, truth, doubt — the terms philosophy uses to talk about knowing itself.50 words C2Formal logicProposition, connective, quantifier, proof — the language in which an inference can be checked.50 words C2BioethicsConsent, autonomy, research and the end of life — the words in which medical conflicts are argued.50 words C2Certainty and doubtPhrases for grading exactly how sure you are — and for saying where that comes from.50 words C2Judging and placingThe words a reader needs to weigh something rather than describe it.48 words

Spread across the levels

The category runs across the levels — it is an area, not a difficulty. If you practise it, you can also choose a level at the top of the practice page and then get only the part that sits there.

Level	Words	Share
B1	51	9 %
B2	99	17 %
C1	148	25 %
C2	298	50 %

Practise this category

Multiple choice and gaps, across all twelve lists and all 596 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.