noun · academic

literature

UK/ˈlɪtərətʃə/US/ˈlɪtərəˌtʃʊr/LIT·er·a·ture

Band 4-5task2speaking

written works, especially those considered to have artistic value

Examples

She studied English literature at university.

Classical literature often reflects the society of its time.

There is a large body of literature on climate change.

Band 8 sentence

Studying English literature helped me understand how social issues are reflected in novels across different periods.

Collocations

  • classical literature
  • modern literature
  • literary work

Word family

literature nounliterary adjectiveliterate adjective

Common mistakes

Many literatures discuss this topic.Many works of literature discuss this topic.

I read literature last night.I read a book / I read some literature last night.

Say it for a higher band

5books6novels7+literature

Synonyms

writing

fiction

Easily confused

fiction

She prefers contemporary fiction to historical accounts.

Related words

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In Art & Culture

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