An election is when people vote for a political party (e.g. the Republicans, Labour, the Conservatives etc...) that they want to run (to be in charge of) their country, region or city. The vocabulary in English for political elections is neither the easiest to understand or commonly used in everyday conversations. But when you do need to use it (when there is an election for example) it's important you understand the vocabulary used about the topic/subject.
To help you both learn and remember the English vocabulary used when talking about elections, I have created two online exercises. In this first part, you will learn by first reading a text and doing a quiz/test the English vocabulary which is used to describe what happens before an election happens.
When you have done this part of the exercise, do the second part of this exercise where you will learn the vocabulary in English when people vote and what happens after that.
Read the following conversation where Peter explains to his Spanish friend Juan the meaning of important vocabulary used to talk about political elections in English.
From the context, try to guess what the meaning of the words/phrases in bold are. Then do the quiz at the end to check if you are right.
Juan:'Are you going to vote in the election in two weeks?'
Peter:'Yes, I'm going to vote. Why do you ask?'
Juan:'It's the first election that has happened since I've lived in Britain. What happens in elections here?'
Peter:'Well, before the election all the different political parties each do a campaign. They do lots of events, meet voters in the street, pay for advertisements on the TV, radio etc...'
Juan:'They do campaigns to convince people to vote for them in the election?'
Peter:'Yeah. People from the different political parties also participate in debates normally on television before the election as well.'
Juan:'What are those?'
Peter:'A debate is where candidates from the different political parties appear together in front of the public and are asked questions and then criticise each other.'
Juan:'So, candidates is the name for the members of the political parties who want to serve in parliament or congress?'
Peter:'That's right. They are the people who are actually running for election, who people will vote for. The candidate who wins (gets the most votes) in the election, then gets a seat in parliament.'
Juan:'But some of the candidates in elections already have a seat in parliament, don't they?'
Peter:'Yes they do. If a political candidate currently has a seat in parliament, they are looking to be re-elected, to win their seat again. The other candidates who are competing against him or her obviously don't want that to happen.'
Juan:'How do the candidates know how well their campaigns are going before the election happens?'
Peter:'Before the the actual election happens, different organisations try to predict who will win or lose. They do this by asking a large number of voters who they intend to vote for. The is called a poll. And political parties use these polls to see how well or badly their campaign is going.'
Juan:'They do polls before elections in Spain as well. But what I don't understand is why there are two elections here this year. There's the election for the government in two weeks and then the election in November to decide if Britain stays or leaves the European Union?'
Peter:'But what is happening in November is not an election, it's a referendum.'
Juan:'What's the difference? People have to vote in both.'
Peter:'In an election, people vote for a political party to be in charge of the government or a council. In a referendum, people don't directly vote for a political party, but on an issue or proposal. Like should Britain be in the European Union or should guns be made illegal/banned in the country.'
Match the words/phrases in bold from the above text to each of the definitions/descriptions below. Click on the "Check" button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.
When the answer is correct, two icons will appear below the answer. The "" icon contains extra information on the word/phrase. In the "" icon, you can listen to the pronunciation of the word/phrase.
Now that you've done this exercise, do the second part of this exercise to learn the rest of the vocabulary in English used to talk about elections.
Now that you understand the meaning of the words/phrases and when to use them, practise using them by creating your own sentences with them in English. Also click on the "" icon under each correct answer and listen how each is pronounced correctly.
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