verb · academic

attain

/əˈteɪn/at·TAIN

Band 5-6speakingtask2

to achieve something such as a goal, level, or standard, especially after effort

Examples

Many countries have attained high literacy rates after investing in education.

She attained a satisfactory level of fluency after a year abroad.

It is difficult to attain perfect objectivity in social research.

Band 8 sentence

While many policies aim to reduce inequality, few actually attain measurable progress without sustained funding.

Collocations

  • attain a goal
  • attain a level
  • be attainable

Word family

attain verbattainment nounattainable adjective

Common mistakes

use 'reach' for all contextsuse 'attain' or 'achieve' when nói về mục tiêu/trình độ; 'reach' thường mang nghĩa vật lý hơn

translate directly thành 'đạt tới' khiến câu cứngdùng 'đạt được' trong nhiều trường hợp để tự nhiên hơn

Say it for a higher band

5reach6get7+attain

Synonyms

achieve

Easily confused

achieve

She achieved her ambition to become a doctor.

Related words

Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.

In Sublist 7

Learn it with its set