Developing

Vocabulary
Prepared by
Shakila Akter
Lecturer in English,
BUP
Discussion Topics
How to learn new words
Using context to get the meaning
Getting meaning from new word parts
How to choose the best word
Commonly misused words
Confusingly related words
Synonym and Antonym
Homonym
How to Learn New
Words
Strategies
 Keep a list of words that you want to learn. Use a special
notebook for it.
 Search for the meaning of these words and write.
 Study them from time to time.
 Try to know their synonyms and antonyms.
 Look for these words in your reading and try using them in
writing.
 Add prefixes and suffixes with these words to come up with
new discoveries.
Using Context to
Get Meaning
Sense of the Passage
■ Like the previous studies, the latest report has
confirmed that smoking has deleterious effect on
health and should, therefore, be discouraged.

Deleterious- adjective, causing or likely to

cause harm
Synonym- damaging, injurious, detrimental,
unfavourable, baleful
Antonym- beneficial, harmless
Synonyms
■ In spite of the lawyer’s appeal, the presiding judge
remained obdurate, that is, unyielding.

Obdurate- adjective, having or showing lack of

sympathy or tender feelings
Synonym- affectless, unmerciful, unsympathetic,
unsparing, unyielding
Antonym- benevolent, kind, understanding,
affectionate
Examples
■ The coach suspended the player for his several
infractions of the rules; for example, coming late,
breaking training and missing practice sessions.

Infractions- noun, failure to uphold the requirements of

law, duty, or obligation
Synonym- breach, transgression, trespass, violation
Antonym- respecting, upholding
Comparison or Contrast
■ The new Ritz Hotel is as opulent as a palace.

Opulent- adjective, rich and affluent

Synonym- glorious, majestic, prosperous, moneyed
Antonym- impoverished

■ As, the way that, like, as if, similar to, as though- these
words often signal comparison.
Comparison or Contrast
■ The medication was intended to alleviate the pain;
instead, the treatment only worsened the injury.

Alleviate- verb, to reduce or relieve

Synonym- allay, assuage, ease, mitigate
Antonym- harm, intensify, impair, sharpen, aggravate
Getting Meaning from
Word Parts
 Learning the meaning of roots, prefixes and
suffixes to figure out the meaning of the
words.
Roots
■ Root is the central or basic element of a word. Many
words in English have Latin or Greek roots. In some
cases the spelling of a root changes when it becomes
the part of a word.

For example- audition, audible, and auditorium- all

come from the Latin root –audi-, meaning “hear”.
Roots (Common Latin)
Root Meaning (s) Examples
-duc- (-duct-) take, lead, draw induce abduct
-fac(t)- (-fect, -fic-) make or do factory, effect, affect
-fund- (-fus-) pour refund, transfusion
-pon- (-pos-) place or put component, position
-port- carry, bear transport, portable
-scrib- (-script-) write subscribe, manuscript
-tract- draw, pull, drag attract, attraction
-ce(e)d- (-cess-) go, move, yield proceed, concession
Roots (Common Greek)
Root Meaning (s) Examples
-aut- (-auto-) self autobiography
-biblio- book bibliography
-bio- life biography
-graph- write graphology,
monograph
-log- (-logo-) word, speech biology, dialogue
-mon- (-mono-) alone monologue, monopoly
-phil- love, be fond of philology, philosophy
-phon- sound, voice telephone
Prefixes

A prefix is a letter or group of letters placed before a word or a

root to make a new word. The meaning of prefix can be a clue to
figure out the meaning of the unfamiliar word.

For example- mis- means “wrong or wrongly”, you can

figure out that misinterpret must mean “to interpret
wrongly”.
Prefixes
Prefix Meaning (s) Examples
ad- (a-, ac-, af-, al-, to, towards, in adverb, affix
ap-)
de- reversal, removal decode, defrost
dis- not, opposite of disagree, disable
in- (il-, im-, ir-) not or without illegal, inactive
in- (il-, im-, ir-) in or into immigrant
inter- among or between, international,
together interlock
pre- earlier or before prearrange

re- back, again rearrange, react

Suffixes

A suffix is a letter or group of letters placed at the end of a word

or a root to make a new word. Sometimes they change the
function and the meaning of the word.

For example- -fy means “make or cause to be”, you can

figure out that purify must mean “to make pure”.
Suffixes
These suffixes make verbs out of nouns or
adjectives.
Suffix Meaning (s) Examples
-ize become, make into, materialize
cause to be
-fy maker, cause to be purify, codify
Suffixes
These suffixes make nouns out of verbs or
adjectives.
Suffix Meaning (s) Examples
-cy (-ity, -ty, -y) state, quality or capability,
condition hesitancy, modesty
-er (-or) one who, that writer, helper
which
-ion (-ation, -ition, act or process, civilization,
-tion) result of, state of migration
being
-ness state, quality, or humbleness,
condition of being quietness
Suffixes
These suffixes make adjectives out of nouns or
verbs.
Suffix Meaning (s) Examples
-able (-iable) capable or worthy adaptable,
of, inclined to fashionable
-ous having, full of, like joyous, harmonious
-some characterized by awesome,
quarrelsome
-y full of, like creamy, peachy
Suffixes
This suffix makes adverbs out of adjectives.

Suffix Meaning (s) Examples

-ly in a way that is gradually, modestly
How to Choose the
Best Word
Strategies
 Knowing the synonyms
 For example- Dark, dim, murky, obscure, shadowy
 When you choose a synonym, pick the one that fits best in
the context
 Denotation and Connotation
 Denotation means the dictionary meaning
 Connotation refers to the attitudes and feelings that the word
suggests or implies.
 Commonly
Misused Words
Commonly Misused Words
later latter

loose lose

principal principle

quiet quite

to too

stationary stationery
Confusingly Related
Words
Confusingly Related Words
advice advise

affect effect

beside besides

elicit illicit

emigrant immigrant

hard hardly
Homonyms
Homonyms

In linguistics, homonyms are words which sound alike or

are spelled alike, but have different meanings. They are
either Homograph or Homophone.
Homonyms

Homographs are the words that share the same spelling,

regardless of their pronunciation. For example- content -
happy or satisfied/all that is contained inside something
Homonyms
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the
same (to varying extent) as another word but differs
in spelling and meaning. For example- To, two, too
Homonym Test
mat matte
entrance
entrance

bear bear

can can

tender tender

tire tire
Synonyms and
Antonyms
Synonym Test
append horribly
belated
evade

bigotry intolerance

cursory tardy

hideously join

hedge hasty
Antonym Test
assert modest
belittle
follower

grandiose deny

harbinger orderly

queer extol

ratify revoke
Further Reading
Taking notes
■ Importance of taking notes
■ Note taking techniques
■ Cornell method
■ Hierarchy based note taking
■ Outline Method
■ Flow based note taking
 Any
question?