verb / noun · neutral
burden
UK/ˈbɜːdən/US/ˈbɜrdən/BUR·den
Band 6-7speakingtask2
a load, especially a heavy one; to put a heavy load or responsibility on someone or something
Examples
“Rising living costs have burdened many families with extra expenses.”
“She felt the burden of looking after her younger siblings.”
“Policymakers should avoid burdening low-income households with new taxes.”
Band 8 sentence
“Policy changes that remove subsidies will only burden the most vulnerable households and widen inequality.”
Collocations
- place a burden on
- shoulder the burden
- financial burden
Word family
burden nounto burden / burdens / burdened / burdening verbburdensome adjective (derived)
Common mistakes
to make a burden for someone→to burden someone
the burdens of them→their burden
Say it for a higher band
5load→6weigh down→7+burden
Synonyms
load
encumber
Easily confused
charge
“The company was charged with safety violations.”
Related words
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In -en
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