1.2 Vocabulary Building
Expand vocabulary through context.
Building Your Vocabulary
The more words you know, the better you can understand and communicate in English. But you don't need to memorize the dictionary! There are smart strategies for learning new words.
Did you know? Native English speakers know about 20,000-35,000 words. You can keep adding to your vocabulary throughout your life!
Types of context clues:
1. Definition clue - The word is directly defined
- "A thesaurus, a book of synonyms, is very useful for writers."
2. Synonym clue - A similar word is nearby
- "The movie was tedious and boring."
3. Antonym clue - An opposite word is nearby
- "Unlike his gregarious brother, Tom was shy and quiet."
4. Example clue - Examples help explain the word
- "The store sold various tools such as hammers, screwdrivers, and wrenches."
5. Logic clue - The meaning makes sense from the situation
- "After not eating all day, she was famished and ate three helpings of dinner."
Figure out the meaning of the underlined word using context clues:
"The CACOPHONY of sounds in the busy city - car horns, construction, and people shouting - gave her a headache."
- "car horns, construction, and people shouting" - these are loud, unpleasant noises
- "gave her a headache" - the sound was unpleasant
Conclusion: CACOPHONY means a loud, unpleasant mixture of sounds (bråk/mislyd)
Type of clue: Example clue (the examples show what kind of sounds)
| Prefix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| un- | not | unhappy, unfair |
| re- | again | rewrite, redo |
| pre- | before | preview, prepay |
| dis- | not/opposite | disagree, disappear |
| mis- | wrongly | misunderstand, misspell |
| over- | too much | overeat, overwork |
| under- | too little | underpay, underestimate |
| inter- | between | international, internet |
| anti- | against | antibiotic, antisocial |
| multi- | many | multicultural, multimedia |
Makes a noun:
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -tion/-sion | action/state | education, decision |
| -ment | action/state | enjoyment, excitement |
| -ness | state of being | happiness, kindness |
| -er/-or | person who | teacher, actor |
Makes an adjective:
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ful | full of | beautiful, careful |
| -less | without | careless, homeless |
| -able/-ible | can be | readable, visible |
| -ous | having quality | dangerous, famous |
Makes an adverb:
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ly | in what manner | quickly, happily |
1. Keep a vocabulary notebook - Write new words with definitions and example sentences
2. Use the word - Try to use new words in your own sentences
3. Make connections - Connect new words to words you already know
4. Create word families - Learn related words together (happy, happiness, happily, unhappy)
5. Review regularly - Look at your vocabulary notebook often
6. Read a lot! - The more you read, the more words you'll encounter
Words often come in "families" - groups of related words from the same root.
Example: "create"
- create (verb) - to make something new
- creation (noun) - something that was created
- creative (adjective) - able to create new things
- creativity (noun) - the ability to create
- creatively (adverb) - in a creative way
- recreate (verb) - to create again
Learning word families helps you learn many words at once!
What does the prefix "un-" mean?
Use context clues to figure out what "exhausted" means:
"After running the marathon, she was completely exhausted and fell asleep immediately."
Add the correct prefix to make the opposite:
a) __happy
b) _agree
c) _understood
d) __possible
___happy
___agree
___understood
___possible
Create word families. Add suffixes to make new words:
a) care → care__ (adjective meaning "full of care")
b) care → care_ (adjective meaning "without care")
c) enjoy → enjoy_ (noun)
d) quick → quick__ (adverb)
care → careful
care → careless
enjoy → enjoyment
quick → quickly
Use context clues to explain what the underlined words mean:
a) "The DILAPIDATED old building had broken windows, a collapsing roof, and walls covered in graffiti."
b) "She was APPREHENSIVE about the test, nervously biting her nails and checking her notes repeatedly."
DILAPIDATED
APPREHENSIVE
Oppsummering
I dette kapittelet har du lært:
- Context clues: Definition, synonym, antonym, example and logic clues help you guess word meanings.
- Prefixes: Added to the start of words to change meaning: un-, re-, pre-, dis-, mis-.
- Suffixes and word families: Suffixes end words (-ness, -ful, -ly) and word families share a root (create, creative, creativity).
Hugs!
- 'un-' and 'dis-' often mean 'not' (unhappy, disagree).
- Learn word families together to learn many words at once.
Dette kapitlet er skrevet av Anthropics toppmodeller (Claude Opus og Claude Fable) og er foreløpig ikke manuelt gjennomgått — kvalitetskontrollen gjøres av uavhengige KI-agenter, og innmeldte feil rettes fortløpende. Funnet en feil? Meld fra, så retter vi den. Les mer om hvordan innholdet lages.