IELTS, TOEFL & TOEIC vocabulary: How to use 'avail'

ScottsEnglish

How can we use 'avail' correctly?

Here are some incorrect examples:

And I'm really interested to avail your course.
I want to avail the premium course which is valid for 2 months.
If a laptop is needed, I need to get one before availing the course.
I'm currently in England as a student and would like to avail of the online review. 
I avail the Premium course so I can use the App because I'm always outside.
Shouldn't it be free for those who avail Premium?
Help me avail the same Academic module. 

In all of the above examples, the use of the word avail is wrong.  The problem is that the writers have understood avail to mean "get" and have used it interchangeably. This is a mistake. Avail as a verb means "to take advantage of"; avail as a noun means "purpose, value or profit".

Notice the following sentences which all correctly use avail. Notice how words often used with avail have been highlighted: 

My attempts to improve the situation were of no avail.
I hope to avail myself of the opportunity.
We tried to persuade him to prepare for his IELTS test, but to no avail (= we did not succeed).
Employees of the company should avail themselves of the opportunity to purchase stock at 50% off.
Sadly, the employee's plan to launch his own business did not avail him of any success.

When we use avail, the two most common constructions are:

verb:  to + avail + myself/herself/himself + of + .... 
noun:  ...of/ to + no + avail.

The sentences below are written in the wrong order.  Re-write them in the correct order.
Note: the first word is written with a capital letter and the last word has a full stop (period).

1. opportunity. The wisely availed of herself the student 
2. but lady 2 dieted no to weeks, avail! for The 

When you have had a go, check your answers with ours below:

1. The student wisely availed herself of the opportunity.
2. The lady dieted for 2 weeks, but to no avail!