Learn English – American English equivalent of “revise” (as in studying)

american-englishtranslation

Today, I discovered that the meaning of revise to do with studying is used in British, Australian and New Zealand English, rather than American English:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) To look over again (something previously
written or learned), especially in preparation for an examination.

I
should be revising for my exam in a few days.

What would be the American English equivalent?

To look for equivalents, I tried looking for synonyms, and I couldn't find any synonyms of this meaning of "revise" in Merriam-Webster.com's thesaurus section, thesaurus.com, wordnet online or the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus.

Best Answer

You're right, Americans tend not to use the verb revise when preparing for tests or exams. Instead they will say:

  • study

    From WikiHow: How to Study For Exams:

    Exams are a necessary and stressful part of study. Since they are so important, you need to study in ways that get the best results

    from Tips for Effective Study:

    The most common barrier to success encountered by college students is a lack of effective techniques for study and exam preparation

  • run through
    excerpt from Exam Success — How to get great grades with less studying:

    ideally you would have enough time to cover your material at least thrice. Your first run through is to get a good feel for it and to build your understanding of the subject matter. Your second run through allows you to focus on the important points and commit them to memory (etc..)

  • cram

    Have you ever been in a situation where it's the night before a big test and you haven't even cracked open a textbook or skimmed your notes? We've all been there. Recent research shows, however, that the lack of sleep caused by cramming may cause you to perform poorly, defeating the purpose

  • review (which J.R. kindly suggested, and he's a native American English speaker)

    I should be reviewing the material before tomorrow's exam.

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