verb · academic
sustain
/səˈsteɪn/sus·TAIN
Band 5-6task2task1
to cause or allow something to continue for a period of time
Examples
“Economic growth at current rates cannot be sustained indefinitely.”
“The project sustained heavy losses in its first year.”
“Teachers need strategies to help students sustain motivation.”
Band 8 sentence
“Long-term success depends not only on initial investment but on the capacity of institutions to sustain reforms through changing political cycles.”
Collocations
- sustain growth/efforts/interest
- sustainable development
Word family
sustainable adjectivesustainability noun
Common mistakes
to sustain in time→to sustain over time / to sustain for
sustain the idea→sustain interest/the effort/the pace
Say it for a higher band
5keep→6maintain→7+sustain
Synonyms
maintain
Easily confused
maintain
“He maintained his car regularly to avoid breakdowns.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Sublist 4
Learn it with its set