Some Important Notes on Vocabulary

Answer on @Quora by Santhosh Chowdary Gonuguntla to What can I learn in the next ten minutes about English vocabular… http://qr.ae/0Qkww

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Different "Wards" of Directions

This article first appeared in Domain of Experts , a website where selected academic experts write. Introduction One of my students recently asked me if there is a difference between "backward" and "backwards". "Is it another of those American English versus British English thing?" he wondered aloud. I smiled. My students have become very used to my explaining how my American friends use different terms or spell certain words differently, compared to we Singaporeans (who use British English). In fact, it is not just "backward" and "backwards" that many students got in a bind over, but all the various "wards" in English. Forward vs Forwards Forward can be used as an adverb or an adjective, and is used to describe a direction of motion, to the front, or describe a position. Forwards, on the other hand, can only be used as an adverb, and is used interchangeably with "forward" The squad commander took a forward position ...
Read more

Homonyms, Homophones and Homographs

Introduction I write this article in response to a lesson that I taught my pupils on homonyms. I happened to mention that there are other  homo -s and mentioned a homophone. They got all confused, and so I started an impromptu lesson on something I picked up during Linguistics lessons in teacher's college. Homonyms Homonyms are words that sound alike but have different meanings. Words like  fair  (to be equal) and  fair  (a fun event you go to) are homonyms. They sound the same but their spelling may or may not be different, and their meanings are definitely different. Other homonyms include  bear  (the animal) and  bear  (to put up with something). Homophones Homophones are a subset of homonyms. Since they're a subset, they're also homonyms as well. Homophones sound alike but have different spelling and meanings. So both meanings of  fair  quoted for homonyms cannot fall under homophones. Words like  pair (double) and  pare  (peel) are homophones. Other homophones include ...
Read more

What Glitters may not be Gold

Another story from the Mistress’s Child series. It was a rare day off from work for the Butler, and he met up with some of his friends who happened to get their day off from work at the Mansion. They arranged to meet up at one of the best tea-houses in town. The good thing about working for the Businessman – he paid his servants handsomely, though not as well when compared to some other businessmen in town. “I heard that you are getting new horses for the Mansion!” The Butler exclaimed as he winked at his friends. “Yeah, the new breeds.” The reply came grumpily. “Hey, you guys are so lucky! I could do with some of these horses at my Mistress’ place!” He chortled. It was all he could say, so envious was he of the new horses they are getting. “Come on!” The three replied in unison, “You are only looking at all the good things we have! Look – do you know how difficult it is to clear the manure of these horses? And look at the effort we need just to get the special horse feed for these br...
Read more