noun · academic
theory
UK/ˈθɪəri/US/ˈθiːəri/THE·o·ry
Band 6-7task2speakingtask1
an organized set of ideas that explains facts or events
Examples
“Her research supports a new theory about language acquisition.”
“According to the theory, people change behaviour in response to incentives.”
“In theory, the plan should reduce emissions, but implementation is difficult.”
Band 8 sentence
“While the theory explains many observations, further data are needed to confirm its predictions.”
Collocations
- a theory of X / propose/develop a theory
- in theory / under the theory
Word family
theoretical adjectivetheoretically adverb
Common mistakes
In theorys, this is true.→In theory, this is true.
He proposed a new theorize.→He proposed a new theory.
Say it for a higher band
5idea→6hypothesis→7+theory
Synonyms
hypothesis
concept
Easily confused
hypothesis
“The hypothesis was tested through several experiments.”
Related words
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In Sublist 2
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