TOEFL Vocabulary: People and teamwork 40 easy-tier words, each with a short plain-English definition, followed by a quick quiz to check what stuck.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated October 1, 2026
Who is involved and what they do together: classmates, coordinators, supervisors, volunteers, and the verbs for inviting, suggesting, agreeing and contributing. Group-project conversations and emails to an organizer lean heavily on this set.
Most useful for: Listen and Choose a Response · Listen to a Conversation · Write an Email · Take an Interview .
People and teamwork is one of the easy themes in our
TOEFL vocabulary list , where you can also find how the tiers work.
The 40 words People and teamwork — Easy tier # Word Meaning Tier 1 student a person who studies in a school or course Easy 2 teacher a person who helps others learn Easy 3 professor a university teacher or scholar Easy 4 instructor a person who teaches a class or skill Easy 5 classmate a person in the same class Easy 6 partner a person working with another person Easy 7 member a person belonging to a group Easy 8 team people working together toward a goal Easy 9 group people gathered for a shared purpose Easy 10 leader a person guiding a group Easy 11 organizer a person who arranges an activity Easy 12 coordinator a person who connects parts of a plan Easy 13 volunteer a person who helps without being paid Easy 14 visitor a person who comes to a place temporarily Easy 15 participant a person who takes part in an activity Easy 16 audience people who watch or listen to a presentation Easy 17 speaker a person who gives a talk Easy 18 listener a person who pays attention to sound or speech Easy 19 writer a person who creates written work Easy 20 reader a person who reads written material Easy 21 editor a person who improves text before publication Easy 22 advisor a person who gives guidance Easy 23 supervisor a person who oversees work Easy 24 assistant a person who helps someone with a task Easy 25 contact a person to reach for information or help Easy 26 introduce to tell people about someone for the first time Easy 27 invite to ask someone to take part Easy 28 join to become part of a group or activity Easy 29 share to let others use or know something Easy 30 help to make another person's task easier Easy 31 ask to seek information or assistance Easy 32 reply to answer a message or question Easy 33 agree to have the same opinion or accept a plan Easy 34 disagree to have a different opinion Easy 35 suggest to offer an idea for consideration Easy 36 recommend to advise choosing a particular option Easy 37 decide to choose after thinking about options Easy 38 choose to select from available options Easy 39 prepare to get ready for an activity Easy 40 contribute to add work or ideas to a shared effort Easy
Self-check: match the meaning Cover the table above. Here are 8 of the 40 people and teamwork words, starting with student : choose the word each definition describes.
a person who studies in a school or course student visitor join suggest Show answer A. student
a person working with another person writer partner agree contribute Show answer B. partner
a person who arranges an activity assistant choose organizer classmate Show answer C. organizer
people who watch or listen to a presentation share professor leader audience Show answer D. audience
a person who improves text before publication editor disagree team participant Show answer A. editor
to tell people about someone for the first time prepare introduce volunteer reader Show answer B. introduce
to seek information or assistance instructor listener ask contact Show answer C. ask
to advise choosing a particular option group supervisor help recommend Show answer D. recommend
Using people and teamwork words on the test In Listen to a Conversation, listen for instructor and organizer as signals of what each speaker needs or decides. In Write an Email, use listener or contact only where it states your request or point exactly. In Take an Interview, try using reply or prepare in a short example from your own life. In Listen and Choose a Response you hear each line once, so say partner and volunteer aloud until you recognize them at speaking speed. Other easy themes
Previous ← Study materials and records Next Messages and conversation → Frequently Asked Questions How many words are in the people and teamwork list? + 40, from student to contribute, all in the easy tier of our TOEFL list. The self-check quiz on this page tests 8 of them, beginning with student.
Where do people and teamwork words appear on the TOEFL? + Language like this is most useful in Listen to a Conversation, Write an Email, Take an Interview and Listen and Choose a Response. These are everyday words worth being able to use, not just recognize.
Which people and teamwork words should I learn first? + Start with partner (a person working with another person); audience (people who watch or listen to a presentation); introduce (to tell people about someone for the first time). In Listen to a Conversation, listen for instructor and organizer as signals of what each speaker needs or decides.