Rules, Rights & Duties — B2 Essential Words

legal /ˈliːɡəl/ adjective B2 Law

Meaning: Allowed by law; relating to the law and lawyers.

Example: It is legal to vote at eighteen.

Another example: She works in the legal department.

Collocations: legal advice · legal rights · perfectly legal

Synonyms: lawful, permitted, legitimate

Antonyms: illegal, unlawful

Word family: legally (adv) · legalize (v) · legality (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Legal (allowed/relating to law) vs LEGITIMATE (genuine, reasonable) — cousins, not twins. 'Legal size' paper is the office's long sheet.

🗣 In spoken American English: Every contract's last page lives in its world.

Register: Formal — law essential.

illegal /ɪˈliːɡəl/ adjective B2 Law

Meaning: Not allowed by law; against the rules of a country or sport.

Example: It is illegal to park here.

Another example: Illegal dumping harms the river.

Collocations: illegal to · illegal parking · illegal goods

Synonyms: unlawful, banned, forbidden

Antonyms: legal, lawful

Word family: illegally (adv) · illegality (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Illegal (law) vs ILLEGITIMATE (not genuine/valid) — the prefix twins learners mix. Fines punish the smaller illegal acts; courts the bigger.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its signs guard every beach, border, and building site.

Register: Formal — law essential.

permit /ˈpɜːrmɪt/ noun / verb B2 Law

Meaning: An official document that gives permission to do something; (verb) to allow something formally.

Example: You need a permit to build here.

Another example: The rules do not permit parking.

Collocations: a building permit · permit to · work permit

Synonyms: license, pass, authorization

Antonyms: ban, prohibition

Word family: permits (n pl) · permitted (adj) · permission (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Stress moves: PER-mit (noun) vs per-MIT (verb) — like record/present. Learner's PERMITS are this word's famous driving sense.

🗣 In spoken American English: Fishing, building, parking — modern life is licensed in its name.

Register: Formal — law essential.

ban /bæn/ verb / noun B2 Law

Meaning: To officially forbid something, or not allow it; an official order forbidding something.

Example: The city banned smoking in restaurants.

Another example: A ban on plastic bags began in January.

Collocations: ban on · banned in · a total ban

Synonyms: forbid, prohibit, outlaw

Antonyms: permit, allow

Word family: bans (n pl) · banned (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Ban is short and strong — headlines love it. Book bans and bag bans are its recurring American debates.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its past is simply BANNED — one of English's tidiest verbs.

Register: Formal — law essential.

fine /faɪn/ noun B2 Law

Meaning: Money paid as a punishment for breaking a law or rule; also (adjective) good, of high quality, or (in speech) acceptable/OK.

Example: He paid a fine for speeding.

Another example: The fine is $150.

Collocations: a fine for · pay a fine · a parking fine

Synonyms: penalty, ticket (US, the paper), charge

Word family: fines (n pl) · fine (v) · finely (adv)

⚠ Common mistake: Three fines: the punishment (noun), quality (a fine wine), and the answer 'I'm fine.' Context rules all. Speeding earns the first; dinner earns the others.

🗣 In spoken American English: Libraries built empires of tiny ones before going fine-free.

Register: Formal — law essential.

license /ˈlaɪsəns/ noun B2 Law

Meaning: An official document giving permission to do something, own something, or use something — most famously to drive.

Example: She got her driver's license at seventeen.

Another example: The restaurant needs a license to sell food.

Collocations: driver's license · a license to · license plate

Synonyms: permit, certificate, authorization

Word family: licenses (n pl) · licensed (adj) · license (v)

⚠ Common mistake: License vs permit: licenses certify a PERSON's skill (driver, doctor); permits allow an ACTIVITY or event (building, parking). Software licenses rent you programs you never fully own.

🗣 In spoken American English: 'Poetic license' is the writer's permission to bend facts for art.

Register: Formal — law essential.

regulation /ˌreɡjəˈleɪʃən/ noun B2 Law

Meaning: An official rule made by a government or organization to control an activity; the control itself.

Example: Safety regulations protect workers.

Another example: New regulations limit truck speeds.

Collocations: safety regulations · regulation of · under regulation

Synonyms: rule, requirement, control

Word family: regulations (n pl) · regulate (v) · regulatory (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Laws are passed by legislatures; regulations are written by agencies to run them — the fine print of modern government.

🗣 In spoken American English: Food labels exist because of them.

Register: Formal — law essential.

rights /raɪts/ noun B2 Law

Meaning: The things every person is legally and morally allowed to do and have — freedom, fair treatment, safety; also legal ownership claims.

Example: Everyone has the right to education.

Another example: Workers fought for their rights.

Collocations: human rights · the right to · workers' rights

Synonyms: freedoms, entitlements, claims

Word family: right (n sing / adj) · rightful (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Always plural in this family sense ('your rights'). 'You have the right to remain silent' — the Miranda words every TV viewer knows.

🗣 In spoken American English: The Bill of Rights is America's first ten amendments, framed on classroom walls.

Register: Formal — law essential.

rule /ruːl/ noun B2 Law

Meaning: An official instruction that tells people what they must or must not do; also a general truth or habit.

Example: The first rule is: be on time.

Another example: As a rule, summers are dry here.

Collocations: the rules · rule number one · as a rule

Synonyms: regulation, law, principle

Word family: rules (n pl) · rule (v — to govern) · ruler (n — king OR measuring stick)

⚠ Common mistake: 'Rule of thumb' = a practical general guideline. Its twin RULER measures both kings and centimeters — context picks.

🗣 In spoken American English: Games collapse without them; good ones fit on one page.

Register: Neutral — essential everywhere.

duty /ˈdjuːti/ noun B2 Law

Meaning: Something you must do because it is your job or because it is morally right; also a tax on imported goods.

Example: It is a nurse's duty to care for patients.

Another example: Parents have a duty to protect their children.

Collocations: a duty to · on duty · duty calls

Synonyms: responsibility, obligation, task

Antonyms: right (its mirror)

Word family: duties (n pl) · dutiful (adj) · duty-free (adj/n)

⚠ Common mistake: 'On duty' works shifts; 'duty-free' skips taxes at airports. Rights ask what you may do; duties answer what you must.

🗣 In spoken American English: 'Call of Duty' turned it into gaming's biggest franchise.

Register: Formal — law and work essential.