Improve Your Vocabulary: Part 3
2024-06-01
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1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we finish our answer about the best way to expand your vocabulary.
2Many VOA Learning English fans write to us with this question:
3What is the best way to improve my vocabulary?
4We have said the best way to improve vocabulary is to really "know a word."
5To fully know a word, we have to know its form: how it sounds, how it is written, and what its parts are.
6We have to know its meanings and the ideas or feelings it suggests.
7We also have to know how the word is normally used.
8Synonyms are words that have the same or nearly the same meaning.
9For example, "big" and "large" are used to talk about size.
10But often, we cannot exchange one for the other. They have different usages.
11Both "big" and "large" can be used to describe the size of something.
12"Big" is usually used in conversation.
13"Large" is more formal.
14John is standing next to the big tree.
15The large tree fell on the house.
16We use "big" to talk about something or someone that is important.
17This is a big decision.
18We use "large" when talking about an amount of something.
19The company received a large number of complaints.
20"Large" is also a clothing size. It is bigger than a small and a medium.
21The shirt is a size large.
22Collocations are words that go together. Some words go together with other words, but their synonyms might not.
23For example, we say "big surprise," but we would not say "large surprise."
24Another example is "unhappy" and "sad."
25They are synonyms, but they cannot always be used with the same words.
26For example, we would say "unhappy childhood."
27Saying "sad childhood" instead does not sound as natural.
28When we look at English words in this way, we can see that our vocabulary expands by understanding the usage of a word.
29VOA fans, the best way to improve your vocabulary is to really know a word: its form, meaning and usage.
30Do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
31And that's Ask a Teacher.
32I'm Gena Bennett
1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we finish our answer about the best way to expand your vocabulary. 2Question 3Many VOA Learning English fans write to us with this question: What is the best way to improve my vocabulary? 4Answer 5We have said the best way to improve vocabulary is to really "know a word." To fully know a word, we have to know its form: how it sounds, how it is written, and what its parts are. We have to know its meanings and the ideas or feelings it suggests. We also have to know how the word is normally used. 6Synonyms are words that have the same or nearly the same meaning. For example, "big" and "large" are used to talk about size. But often, we cannot exchange one for the other. They have different usages. 7Both "big" and "large" can be used to describe the size of something. "Big" is usually used in conversation. "Large" is more formal. 8John is standing next to the big tree. 9The large tree fell on the house. 10We use "big" to talk about something or someone that is important. 11This is a big decision. 12We use "large" when talking about an amount of something. 13The company received a large number of complaints. 14"Large" is also a clothing size. It is bigger than a small and a medium. 15The shirt is a size large. 16Collocations are words that go together. Some words go together with other words, but their synonyms might not. For example, we say "big surprise," but we would not say "large surprise." 17Another example is "unhappy" and "sad." They are synonyms, but they cannot always be used with the same words. For example, we would say "unhappy childhood." Saying "sad childhood" instead does not sound as natural. 18When we look at English words in this way, we can see that our vocabulary expands by understanding the usage of a word. 19VOA fans, the best way to improve your vocabulary is to really know a word: its form, meaning and usage. 20Do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com. 21And that's Ask a Teacher. 22I'm Gena Bennett 23Yaroslav Khrokalo wrote this lesson with Gena Bennett for VOA Learning English. 24_____________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26vocabulary-n. all the words a person knows 27synonyms-n. words that have the same or nearly the same meaning 28collocation-n. a word that is used regularly with another word