ENGLISH SEMANTICS

1. Word meaning:
1.1. Synomyms:
- Conceal – hide - Conserve – preserve –
- Refuse – decline safeguard
- Purchase – buy - Take – hold
- Savage – attack - Grasp – grip
- Get – obtain - Postpone – put back –
- Permit – allow delay
- Ravage – destroy - Hit – bang
- Fix – repair – mend

- Pleasing – satisfying - Fast – quick – rapid

- Strong – powerful
- Ripe – mature
- Broad – wide
- Fundamental – essential
- Deep – profound
- Thick – dense
- Right – correct
- Happy – glad – pleased
- -
-
- Enormous – huge
- Smart – bright – intelligent
- Starving – very hungry
- Big – large
- Obstinate – stubborn
- Handicapped – crippled
- Insane – mad
- Unsual – strange
Unmarried – single
- Unintentional – accidental
- Intentional – deliberate
- Sight – vision - Fall – autumn
- Boot – trunk - Freedom – liberty
- Soil – earth - Legend – myth
- Edge – side - Risk – danger
- Coach – trainer - Field – area
- Bandit – brigand - Trunk – chest
- Kind – type – sort – variety - Mercury - quicksilver
- Bloke – chap
1.2. Antonymys:
1.2.1. Binary antonymy:
- True – false - Float – sink
- Asleep – awake - Conceal – reveal
- Alive – dead - Pass – fail
- Accidental – - Accept – refuse
intentional/deliberatea - Hit – miss
- Married – single/unmarried - Upstairs – downstairs
- Honest – dishonest - Deciduous – evergreen
- Approve – disapprove - Legal – illegal
- Hire – dismiss (= fire, sack) - Rude - polite
- Deny – admit - Inside – outside

1.2.2. Gradable antonymy:

- Tall – short - Beautiful – ugly
- Long – short - Easy - difficult
- Clever – stupid - Solid – liquid
- Love – hate - Good – bad
- Thick – thin - Rude – polite
- Expensive – cheap - Rich – poor
- None – all - Possibly - certainly
- Never – always
- Hot - cold

1.2.3. Relational antonymy:

- Buy -sell - Import – export
- Give/send – receive - Own – belong to
- Lend – borrow - Teach – learn
-
- Employer – employee - Doctor – patient
- Grandparent – grandchild - Debtor – creditor
- Father/mother – - Landlord/landlady – tenant
son/daughter - Husband – wife
- Fiancé – fiancée - Uncle/aunt –
- Parent – child/offspring nephew/niece
- Professor – student - Host/hostess – guest
- Teacher – pupil - Customer - supplier

- Thinner – fatter
- Wider – narrower
- Cheaper – more expensive
- More efficiently – less efficiently
- Faster – more slowly
- Greater than – less than
- Better than – worse than

- Above – below
- Over – under
- In front of – behind
- Before – after
- North of – south of
- West of – east of
1.3. True homonymy: (same written form/sound form)
- Sole (bottom part of foot = gót chân) – sole (edible flat fish that
lives in sea = cá bơn)
- Wind (noun, gió) – wind (verb, “make sb breathe with difficulty =
làm cho khó thở)
- Figure (noun, the sales figures = các doanh số) – figure (noun, a
political figure = một nhân vật trong chính trường)
- Plane (máy bay) – plane (flat surface = mặt phẳng)
- Crop (harvest = vụ mùa) – crop (handle of a riding whip = cán roi)
- Pen (handwriting instrument using ink = cây bút) – pen (enclosure
= bãi rào kín)
- Mug (drinking vessel = ca, cốc, vại) – mug (gullible person = thằng
ngốc, người cả tin)
- Bank (financial institution = ngân hàng) – bank (side of a river or
stream = bờ sông, bờ suối)
- Bark (of a dog = tiếng chó sủa) – bark (of a tree = vỏ cây)
- Well (healthy = khỏe mạnh) – well (a deep hole in the ground from
which people take water = cái giếng)
- Bust (broken = hư, hỏng) – bust (sculpture of a person’s head,
shoulders and chest = tượng bán thân)
- Sage (wise = khôn ngoan) – sage (herb = lá xô thơm)
- Long (yearn = khao khát, ước ao) – long (an adjective meaning
“not short”)
- Sack (fire = sa thải) – sack (a large bag = cái túi xách lớn)
- Fast (eat little or no food for a period of time = ăn chay, nhịn đói) –
fast (an adjective meaning “not slow”)
- Flat (apartment = căn hộ) – flat (smooth and level = bằng phẳng,
tẹt, bẹt)
- Fair (exhibition = hội chợ, chợ phiên) – fair (reasonable and
acceptable = công bằng, không thiên vị)
- Pitch (of one’s voice; how high one’s voice is = độ cao của giọng
nói) – pitch (= completely, as in “It was still pitch black/very dark
out”) – pitch (in baseball; throw the ball to the person who is
batting = ném bóng cho người cầm chày)
- Spell (a word; say or write the letters of a word in the correct
order = đánh vần) – spell (words that are thought to have magic
 power = bùa mê, câu thần chú) – spell (a short period of time
during which something lasts = đợt, kỳ, phiên)
- Butt (thick end of a rifle = báng súng) – butt (as in “a baby’s soft
little butt/buttocks” = cái mông) – butt (hit or push against sb/sth
with your head = húc, đâm vào)
- Sound (noise = âm thanh, tiếng ồn) – sound (healthy = khỏe
mạnh)
- Steer (to guide = lái) – steer (young bull = bò đực tơ, trâu đực non)
- Punch (blow with a fist = cú đấm/thoi – punch (fruity alcoholic
drink = rượu pân)
- Pupil (at the school = học sinh) – pupil (of an eye = đồng tử, con
ngươi)
- Bat (tool for hitting in baseball = gập bóng chày) – bat (small
mouse-like animal that flies at night and feeds on fruit and insects
= con dơi)
- Lie (tell lies = nói dối) – lie (put one’s body on q horizontal surface
= nằm)
1.4. Homophony: (same sound form)
- Sight (ability to see = thị lực) – site (a place used for a paricular
purpose = nơi, chỗ)
- Feat (impressive achievement = thành tựu gây ấn tượng mạnh) –
feet (plural of foot = những bước chân, những bàn chân)
- Flour (powder used for making bread … = bột) – flower (a bouquet
of flowers = một bó hoa)
- Know (have something in one’s mind = biết) – no (not any =
không)
- Rode (past tense of ride = cưỡi, đi xe) = rowed (past tense of row =
chèo, chèo thuyền) – road (surface for car, buses, bicycles, ect. To
travel on = con đường)
- Blew (past tense of blow = thổi) – blue (having the color of the sky
= xanh da trời)
- Sawed (past tense of saw = cưa xẻ) – sword (weapon with a long
pointed blade and a handle = thanh gươm)
- Rite (ceremony, usually for religious purposes = nghi lễ, thường là
cho các mục đích tôn giáo) – right (true =, correct = đúng)
- Sweet (having a taste like sugar = ngọt) – suite (set of expensive
rooms in a hotel = dãy phòng hạng sang)
- Eye (a noun meaning “an organ used to see with = mắt”) – aye
(meaning “yes = vâng/phải/đúng”, used especially in Scotland) – I
(the first person singular pronoun in English)
- Altar – alter
- Beech – beach
- Boar – bore
- Crews – cruise
- Deer – dear
- Draft – draught
- Fare – fair
- Grate – great
- Herd – heard
- Knight – night
- Nose – knows
- Leek – leak
- Maid – made
- Pail – pale
- Reign – rain
- Scene – seen
- Thrown – throne
- Whole – hole
 1.5. Homography: (same written form)
- Desert (verb, meaning “abandon” = lìa bỏ, bỏ hoang) – desert (sa
mạc)
- Transfer (verb, “move from one place to another” = chuyển từ …
sang … ) – transfer (noun, “ a ticket that allows a passenger to
change from one bus, train to another without paying more
money” = vé chuyển)
- Wind (verb, wind one’s watch = lên dây có đồng hồ) – wind (noun,
the wind is blowing hard = gió đang thổi mạnh)
- Row (noun, meaning “a quarrel” = cuộc tranh cãi ầm ĩ) – row
(noun, “a line of seats” = dãy ghế, hàng ghế)
- Sow (noun, “a female pig” = con heo nái, con lợn nái) – sow (verb,
sow a field with wheat = gieo hạt giống lúa mì trên cánh đồng)
- Does (plurl noun, “female rabbits or deers” = những con thỏ/con
nai cái) – does (verb, conjugated in the third person singular
present tense = vị từ “do” chia ở ngôi thứ ba số ít thì hiện tại)
- Tear (nước mắt) – tear (tear an old shirt into shreds = xé một cái
áo cũ thành nhiều mảnh)
- Close (the antonym of the verb “open” = từ trái nghĩa của vị từ
“mở”) – close (in the compound preposition “close to” = kề sát
với)
1.6. Polysemy: quan hệ đa nghĩa
- Mouth (of the river = cửa sông) – mouth (of an animal = miệng)
- Chimney (pipe of funnel-like structure on a building for smoke to
escape through = ống khói) – chimney (narrow vertical space
between rocks [up which a climber can wriggle (luồn, lách) by
pressing against the sides] = khe, hẽm núi).
Both senses contain the concept of “narrow vertical shalft (cây
cột, trực) in some solid material.
- Cup (drinking vessel = cái cốc, cái tách) – cup (brassiere cup = áo
ngực).
Both senses contain the concept of “container with a round
shape”
- Guard (person who guards, sentinel = người bảo vệ) – guard (solid
protective shield = cái/tấm bảo vệ), e.g around machinery)
Both senses contain the concept of “protection against danger”
- Ceiling (top inner surface of a room = trần nhà) – ceiling (upper
limit = mức trần)
Both senses contain the concept of “a maximum upper boundary”
- Earth (the planet that we live on = trái đất) – earth (soil, the
subtance that plants grow in = chất đất)
Both senses contain the concept of “land at different levels of
generality
- Drive (as in drive a nail = force a nail to go in a specified
direction/into a specified position) – drive (as in drive a car = make
a car move along and direct its course)
Both senses contain the concept of “causing something to move in
a particular direction”
- Key (of a door) – key (as in the key to success)
Both senses contain the concept of “something important”
- Foot (of one’s body = chân, bàn chân) – foot (of something = chân,
cuối, đáy)
Both senses contain the concept of “the lowest/ the bottom of
something”
- Head (top part of one’s body = cái đầu) – head (leader, person in
charge of a state = người đứng đầu, nhà lãnh đạo)
Both senses contain the concept of “an organ/ a person that
leads/controls/directs, thus is in charge of, something”
- Lip (of a jug = cái vòi, chỗ công có hình cái môi của cái bình) – lip
(of a person = môi)
Both senses contain the concept of “something curved and/or
protruded = cái bị uốn cong và/hoặc chu/chìa ra”
- Branch (part of a tree that grows out from the trunk [=main stem]
= cành cây) – branch (part of a large subject of study = phân
ngành)
Both senses contain the concept of “part of something
biggest/larger”
- Fork (in a road = chỗ ngã ba [đường, sông]) – fork (instrument for
eating = cái nĩa)
Both senses contain the concept of “dividing into two or more
part”
- Tail = tail – coat (of a coat = đuôi áo, vạt áo sau) – tail (of an animal
= cái đuôi, của động vật)
Both senses contain the concept of “lengthening part of the back
of something”
- Sole (bottom part of foot = gót chân) – sole (bottom part of shoe
(=đế giày) bottom part of the sock that covers the sole of foot =
phần vớ trùm lên gót chân)
Both senses contain the concept of “bottom part of something”
- Sight (the ability to see = thị lực, sức nhìn) – sight (something one
can see = cảnh tượng)
Both senses contain the concept of “seeing”
- Wing (one of the parts of a birb’s or insect’s body that it uses for
flying = cánh chim, cánh côn trùng) – wing (one of the large flat
parts that stick out from the side of a plane and help to keep it in
the air = cánh máy bay)
Both senses contain the concept of “something used for flying”
- Dissolve (= [hòa] tan, as in Salt dissolves in water) – dissolve (= giải
tán, giải thể, as in The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991)
Both senses contain the concept of “mixing and/or disappearing”
- Broad (= wide = rộng [theo nghĩa đen], as in The river is very
broad at this point) – broad (= rộng rãi, rộng bụng [theo nghĩa
bỏng], as in Luckily, my boss is a man of broad views)
Both senses contain the concept of “breath at different levels of
generality”
- Deep (going for down from the top or from the surface = sâu) –
deep (= profound = sâu sắc)
Both senses contain the concept of “depth at different levels of
generality”
- Dark (≠ light; as in dark room = tối) – dark (= evil or threatening =
đen tối, as in Don’t look on the dark side of thing)
Both senses contain the concept of “darkness at different levels of
generality”
- Plain (an adjective meaning “easy = dễ dàng” or “clear = rõ”) –
plain (an adjective meaning “undecorated = không tô điểm, giản
dị”) – plain (an adjective meaning “not good – looking = không ưu
nhìn”)
The three senses contain the concept of “being simple”/”not
being complex”
- Seat (of a car; chỗ ngồi = a place that the driver sits in the car) –
seat (of one’s trousers; đũng quần = the part of trousers that
covers one’s seat) – seat (position/member of the govement =
ghế, chân, vị trí)
The three senses contain the concept of “sitting”
- Ear (an auditory organ that you hear with = cái tai để nghe) – ear
(top part of a grain plant, such as wheat, corn, etc. that contain
seeds = bông lúa, bắp = vật có hình giống cái tai) – ear (for music;
 ability to recognize sounds well = khả năng nhận biết các âm
thanh)
The three senses contain the concept of “hearing”
- Vision (ability to see = thị lực, khả năng nhìn của mắt) – vision
(idea/picture in your imagination, as during a hallucination = hình
ảnh ảo giác; ảo mộng) – vision (ability to think about/plan for the
future with a clear purpose = tầm nhìn)
The three senses contain the concept of “seeing”
1.7. Figures of speech:
1.7.1. Simile:
- He is much taller than his elder brother.
- My hands are as cold as ice.
- Tom eats like horse.
- He shall come like rain upon the mown grass.
- Alice came in gently, like a May breeze.
- He is as mute as a fish.
1.7.2. Metaphor:
- I’ll make him eat his words.
- She has a heart of stone.
- He was a lion in the fight.
- His worda stabbed at her heart.
- He looks as though he hasn’t had a square meal for months.
- He washed his hand out of the matter.
- You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
- A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are
still young.
- A camel is a ship in a desert.
- America is a melting pot.
- He is sinking in debt.
- Her father’s illness cast a cloud over her wedding day.
- Linguists are trying to weed out recent non-standard uses.
- The capital exploded with rage.
- He ate with a wolfish appetite.
- He galloped into the room.
- You’ve taken an uphill task.
- As we are sailing into this millennium, we should know there are
still many difficulties.
- Ms. Droopy has a fertile imagination.
- He punctured my excuses with a question.
- The conversation back-fired suddenly.
- The private detective dug up enough evidence to convince the
police to act.
- You have to pay the earth for such as masterpiece.
- It’s getting on my nerves.
1.7.3. Personification:
- Darkness grasped its arms around me.
- The wind is howling in the trees.
- Duty commanded and he obeyed.
- The earthquake claimed thousands of lives.
- Death is laying his icy hand on the Queen.
- In the high heavens rode a veiled moon, magnified by the mist of
an early spring.
- A dead leaf fell in my lap. That was Jack Frost’s card.
- Behind me, the hiss and whisper of the traffic turned homeward
at the end of the day.
1.7.4. Metonymy:
(a) A sign
- He succeeded to the crown.
- She is a fighter against red tape.
- The new proposal might affect the cloth.
- Backstair did influence.
- Can you protect your children from the cradle to the grave?
(b) An instrument
- The pen has more influence than the sword.
- He is the best pen of the day.
- Who bought fire and sword into our country?
- We need a force of a thousand rifles.
- Sceptre and crown
Must rumple down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade
(c) A container
- The kettle is boiling.
- He drank the cup.
- He is too fond of the bottle.
- The conquerors smote the city.
- Why don’t you recognize the power of the purse?
(d) The concrete
- She has an ear for music.
- She has a good head of business.
(e) The abstract
- His Majesty (= the king) died a year ago.
- His Holiness (= the Pope) has just come back to Rome.
- The authorities put an end to the riot.
(f) The material
- The marble (= the marble statue21) speaks.
- All our glass is kept in the cupboard.
- He was buried under this stone.
(g) An author/a producer/a place where goods are made
- I have never read Keat (= Keat’s poems).
- Have you ever read Homer (= the works of Homer)?
- I love old china (= crockery made in China).
1.7.5. Synecdoche:
- They organized a fleet of fifty sails (= ships).
- He is a man of seventy winters (= years of age).
- He managed to earn his bread (= necessaries).
- This is a village of only more than one hundred souls.
- Gray hairs (= old or elderly people) should be respected.
1.7.6. Hyperbole:
- I’ve invited millions of (= a lot of) people to my party.
- She sheds floods of tears (= cries a lot) whenever she is upset.
- Don’t live in such a sea of doubt!
- Never in a million years will he admit defeat.
- I haven’t seen you for ages.
1.7.7. Litotes:
- I don’t think I would agree with you.
- I am afraid that no passenger is allowed to smoke in here.
- It’s not bad. (= It is fine.)
- It wasn’t easy. (= It was very difficult.)
- Always remember that she is no fool.
- Jim was rather upset when he again failed in the final exam.
1.7.8. Irony:
- What a lovely day it was! Everything I had went wrong.
- He is so intelligent that no examiner has agreed to pass him so far.
- He is lucky to have such an ugly and awkward wife.
- She is extremely unlucky to be born in such a prosperous family in
a developed European country.
- Your plan is really tricky. The other team will figure it out in about
one play.
 1.7.9. Euphemism:
-