Applied

Reading Skills:
Vocabulary Skills
PREPARED BY:
CINDY D. GARCIA
Vocabulary skills
The skills needed to help us recognize and use of new words in
meaningful ways.
•to decipher unfamilliar words, compounds, homonyms,
idioms and figures of speech by using a dictionary.
•learn the meanings of as many words as possible to avoid
looking them up in the dictionary every now and then.
•use context clues of the meanings of the unfamilliar
words in the same paragraph
1. Word Formation: Morpology
• Root word/Stem/Base word-basic unit of a word or the
simpliest form of word.
• Affixation-inflections(words,syllables) added to a rootword
to vary function, modify meaning, ad form a new word.
Prefix-added to the beginning of the root word
Suffix-added to the end of a root word
Infix-added insideor in the middle of the
rootword
Examples
Root words Prefix Suffix
read reread reads, reading,
readable, reader,
clean unclean cleaned, cleaner,
cleanest, cleanliness,
cleaning
appear disappear appearance, appeared,
appears
 LIST OF SUFFIXES
SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
able, -ible capable of being edible, presentable, abominable, credible
-al pertaining to regional, grammatical, emotional, coastal
-esque reminiscent of picturesque, statuesque, burlesque
-ful notable for fanciful, resentful, woeful, doubtful
-ic, -ical pertaining to musical, mythic, domestic, chiastic
-ious, -ous characterized by nutritious, portentous, studious
-ish having the quality of fiendish, childish, snobbish
-ive having the nature of creative, punitive, divisive, decisive
-less without endless, ageless, lawless, effortless
-y characterized by sleazy, hasty, greasy, nerdy, smelly
 LIST OF PREFIXES
PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
u- good, normal eugenics, eulogy
fore- before foresee, foreshadow
hemi- half hemisphere
hyper above, excessive hyperactive, hypertension
hypo- under, insufficient hypodermic, hypothetical
inter- among. between interpose, intervene
intra- within intramural, intravenous
macro- large macrobiotic, macrocosm
mal- bad malfunction, malignant
micro- small microbe, microscope
mis- wrong misfortune, mistake
mono- one monolingual, monopoly
multi- many multiple, multitask
2. Compound Words
are formed when two or more rootwords
combined together to create a new word that
has an entirely new meaning.
Examples:

• air + plane=airplane
• air + port=airport
• angel + fish=angelfish
• ant + farm=antfarm
• log + house=loghouse
• beace + ball=beachball
• bike + rack=bikerack
• bill + board=billboard
• black+ hole=blackhole
• blue + berry=blueberry
3. Homonyms
• words that are spelled the same but have different
meaning.
• A simple example of a homonym is the word pen. This
can mean both "a holding area for animals" and "a
writing instrument."
• Another example is book, which can mean "something
to read" or "the act of making a reservation." In both
cases, the sound and spelling are the same; only the
definition changes.
 EXAMPLES:
HOMONYM MEANING 1 MEANING 2
address to speak to location
air oxygen a lilting tune or voice
arm body part division of a company
band a musical group a ring
bark a tree's out layer the sound a dog makes
bat an implement used to hit a ball a nocturnal flying mammal
bright very smart or intelligent filled with light
circular taking the form of a circle a store advertisement
current up to date flow of water
die to cease living a cube marked with numbers one through six
express a fast version of something to show your thoughts by using words
fair equitable beautiful
jag a sharp, jutted object a crying spree
4. Homophones/Homographs
• are words that have the same sound but different spelling and
meaning.
• Examples:

bear bare
pale pail
deer dear
eight ate
write right
see sea
5. Heteronyms
are words with the same spelling but different in
sound and meaning.
Examples:

record- to write down record-a film or an audio using a

recorder
present-introduce present-gift
6. Understanding Idiomatic Expressions
• type of informal language that have a
meaning different from the meaning of the
words in the expression.
• distinctive expressions whose meaning
cannot be deduced from the combined
meaning of its actual words.
Examples
1. She was tickled pink by the good news. ---> made very happy
2. You are hands down the best player on the team. ---> There was no
competition.
3. He's been down in the dumps lately. ---> sad or depressed
4. I feel sick as a dog. ---> very sick
5. My grandma has been under the weather. ---> not well
6. Rise and shine! ---> Wake up and be happy!
7. Close, but no cigar. ---> You were very close, but you did not make it.
8. I could play outside till the cows come home. ---> for a very long time
9. Bring your umbrella. It's raining cats and dogs out there! ---> very hard rain
10. That sound is driving me up the wall! ---> making me very annoyed
7. Using Contextual Clues
A. Sense of Sentence--the reader has to get the general
meaning or sense of the sentence to get some ideas about an
unfamilliar term through asking questions.
Example:
You cannot change the stand of an obdurate person.
Question: What can you say about the person who cannot
welcome change?
Answer: He is not flexible.
B. Using Synonyms

Synonyms--words that have the same or nearly the

same meaning.

By Commas: The conundrum, a riddle is one of the

ancient forms of Philippine poetry.
By Parentheses: Give me a penultimate (next to
the last) of the Alphabet.
By Dashes: The suspects are scions--descendants--of rich
and famous politicians.
By restatement: A clergyman, a priest, wields tremendous
influence on every member of the
community.
By Linked Synonyms: The authot gives a series of words
that are closely related in meaning to the
unfamilliar term.
>The proceeding of the court case is chaotic, disorderly,
confused or muddled application of social justice.
C. Use of Examples
these examples have common traits or characteristics.

Example: Novels, poetry , drama, shorts stories, and folk

tales belong to a fictional genre.

>Genre- category or class of artistic works,

based on style or subject matter.
D. Using Antonyms
Antonyms--words or phrases that are opposite in
meaning
Indications--but, than, rather than, instead, on the
other hand, etc.
Examples:
 I'd rather accede to his demand than oppose it.
 Accede is the antonym oppose, therefore accede means
to submit, ascent, agree, to give consent.
5 Comparison of Analogy
 the clue to the meaning of the unfamiliar word is given by the
word compared to the target.
Indications--similar to, like, as...as, the same.

Example:
The lion is as ferocious as a crocodile that is capable of
swallowing upa whole human being.
6 Knowing the Structure of the Word
being familiar with rood words, affixes, etc.

Examples:
Have your pedicure at Bob's beauty parlor.
Why is a strong vocabulary important?

Good communication skills is essential to work effectively with

others.
• Knowing which words to use and when is a vital part of being a
strong communicator.
• Building your vocabulary is one easy way to improve your
communication skills.
• Having a large vocabulary can help you choose the right word or
phrase needed for the situation to easily convey your ideas,
concerns, decisions and more.
Increases self confidence and your ability to express
yourself
• whether you’re giving a presentation or meeting with a
client to deliver a proposal.
• When building your vocabulary, it is important to
incorporate both general terms and those related to
your industry to develop a solid foundation.
REFERENCES
• https://sumankher.com/2017/04/26/a-to-z-of-soft-
skills-v-for-vocabulary-skills/
• https://slideplayer.com/slide/5819677/
• https://www.english-grammar-
revolution.com/idiomatic-expressions.html