TOEIC Link Part 5: industrious versus industrial

Industrious and industrial both come from industry, but they point in opposite directions. Industrious describes a person who is hardworking and diligent; industrial describes things relating to industry, factories, or manufacturing. Because both are adjectives drawn from the same noun, Part 5 likes to drop either into a blank and reward the reader who checks what the adjective is modifying. For another pair of adjectives built on one shared stem, see economic versus economical.

The core rule: hardworking versus relating to industry

• industrious (adjective) = hardworking, diligent, putting in steady effort. The industrious intern finished the report ahead of schedule. / Her industrious habits earned a quick promotion.
• industrial (adjective) = relating to industry, manufacturing, or factories. The plant is in an industrial district. / The company supplies industrial equipment.

The memory hook: industrious ends like generous and famous — adjectives that describe a quality of a person. Industrial ends like national and commercial — adjectives that describe a sector or category of things.

Why Part 5 likes this pair

Both words are adjectives, so the grammar slot is identical. The noun being modified is your clue.

The __ workforce completed the renovation in record time.

A workforce praised for finishing quickly is being called hardworking, so the answer is industrious.

The region's economy depends on heavy __ output.

Output tied to manufacturing belongs to the industry sector, so the answer is industrial.

Spotting the clue in the structure

Look at what the blank describes:

• It describes a person, team, or effort as diligent (an industrious employee, industrious effort, an industrious student) → choose industrious.
• It describes a place, product, process, or sector tied to manufacturing (industrial zone, industrial machinery, industrial revolution, industrial waste) → choose industrial.

Watch the fixed collocations the test reuses: industrial park, industrial equipment, and industrial output almost never take industrious, while praise of a worker — an industrious member of staff — almost never takes industrial. For another pair where one word names a quality of people and the other a category of things, see eminent versus imminent.

Quick self-check

1. The factory installed new __ robots on the assembly line. (industrial — relating to manufacturing)
2. Thanks to an __ sales team, the branch exceeded its quarterly target. (industrious — hardworking)

Takeaway

If the blank praises a person, team, or effort as diligent, choose industrious. If it describes a place, product, or process tied to manufacturing, choose industrial. The shared root industry is the trap; check whether the adjective modifies a worker or a sector, and the ending — -ous for people, -al for categories — confirms it.