[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
can be used with a wider range of nouns. So for example wealthy and rich. We can
talk about wealthy people or rich people. Both mean people with lots of money.
However, we can also talk about rich food, rich furnishings, meaning very good
quality. So here, rich has a slightly different meaning. It s important to remember
that it s difficult to find words that are exact synonyms, which can be used
interchangeably, in all contexts.
So when you learn some new synonyms, it s important to learn not just what they
share, but also what the difference is between them.
Remember, when we say someone is lazy, we mean they don t work very hard, but
we can t say the printer is lazy, we can only say the printer is idle.
152
Learning and using synonyms
People use synonyms to avoid repeating the same word. For example:
This hotel is so expensive. It's very pricey.
What is the difference in meaning between expensive and pricey? When should I use
synonyms?
expensive / pricey
Synonyms are words with the same or sometimes slightly different meanings.
Alternatives are sometimes used in the same context with little or no difference as in
your example, Yeon-Ju, except that pricey is a bit more informal than expensive.
Virtually anything that costs a lot of money may be considered expensive or
pricey.
keen / eager
I am always keen / eager to introduce synonyms in this way in the examples of use
that I quote on the learnit pages. In this example, keen and eager are very close in
meaning and may be used interchangeably.
Finding alternatives with the same or similar meaning is undoubtedly a good way of
expanding your vocabulary and use of English, Yeon-Ju, but we have to be careful.
disgusting / appalling
These synonyms are quite close in meaning, but not as close as in the previous
pairs. Compare the following:
The food they served at John and Paula's wedding reception was disgusting.
The food they served at John and Paula's wedding reception was appalling.
The service at this hotel is disgusting.
The service at this hotel is appalling.
Both adjectives are possible in both contexts, but disgusting is perhaps more
appropriate to the first context as it suggests that the food was highly unpleasant to
the taste. Appalling is perhaps more appropriate to the second context as it
suggests that the service was generally unpleasant, shocking, offensive and
unacceptable.
pretty / good-looking / beautiful
These three synonyms, indicating someone or something that is pleasing in
appearance, are also quite close in meaning, but use is restricted:
153
It was a beautiful summer's day.
She was wearing a pretty polka-dot bikini.
With his jet-black hair and high cheekbones he appeared unusually good-looking.
A summer's day cannot be pretty or good-looking. A bikini is not substantial
enough to be called beautiful (whereas an attractive wedding dress we would
describe as beautiful). Only people, of either sex, can be described as good-looking
and men are not usually thought of as pretty or beautiful.
Collocation
What we learn from this is that words sometimes occur together, or collocate with
each other, in fairly fixed ways.
verb + adverb
Certain verbs tend to be used with certain adverbs.
If you think hard / carefully about it, you'll realise that I'm right.
(Not: If you think strongly / powerfully / precisely& .)
If I remember correctly / rightly, you were not there at the time.
(Not: If I remember exactly / precisely / truly& )
If you truly / really love me, you'll turn down that job in Norway.
(Not: If you purely / justly / rightly / precisely love me& .)
adjective + noun
Certain nouns tend to occur with certain adjectives:
It came as a complete surprise to me when she married him
(Not: It came as a comprehensive / full / entire surprise to me& )
He carried out a full / comprehensive market survey before launching the
product.
(Not: He carried out a complete / all-embracing market survey& )
(And not: & before discharging / dispatching / propelling the product.)
verb + noun
Certain Verbs and nouns habitually occur together.
If you eat chocolate before a meal, it will spoil / ruin your appetite.
(Not: & it will damage / harm / suppress your appetite.)
The government has recently conducted / carried out a survey on the causes of
obesity in children.
(Not: The government has fulfilled / administered / run a survey& )
154
I can't change my eating habits so I shall continue to eat junk food.
(Not: I can't alter / amend / modify my eating habits& )
learning and using synonyms
When you are learning new words it is always a good idea to learn them in the
contexts in which they are used and the typical collocations that go with them.
'lend' or 'borrow'
How can I use the word owe when I lend someone some money. Do I say: 'I owe
you 20 dollars' or do I say: 'You owe me 20 dollars?' The importance of my question
is how do I use this word in both ways such as when I borrow some money from
someone and also when I lend someone some money?
If you borrow something from somebody, you take it with their permission and
promise to return it in due course, at the end of a limited period usually. If you
borrow £5,000 from the bank, you will owe them £5,000, plus interest on the
period of time you have borrowed if for.
Consider the following:
" 'I borrowed five pounds from my brother and forgot to pay it back.'
" 'I always buy the books I want to read, although I agree it would be cheaper
to borrow them from the library.'
" 'Many of his ideas are borrowed from other sources.'
If you lend somebody something, or lend something to somebody, then you give
them something of yours for a limited period of time. If you lend someone some
money, they will owe you the money.
Consider the following:
" 'She lent her sister her car for the weekend.' (NB: verb + indirect object +
direct object)
" 'If you lend your coat to Philip, you ll never see it again.' (NB: verb + direct
object + indirect object)
" 'If you can lend me a hand with these reports, we might finish them by
suppertime.'
In the sentence, work hard lest you should fail in your examination can
'lest' be used without the support of the word 'should'?
Yes, it can. First, what does lest mean and when do we use it? Lest is a very rare
word and quite old fashioned.
155
Most people in Britain know it, because we see it written very often in the same
place - on war memorials, on statues, which have been put up so that we remember
people who died in wars; and what's very often written on these statues is lest we [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
can be used with a wider range of nouns. So for example wealthy and rich. We can
talk about wealthy people or rich people. Both mean people with lots of money.
However, we can also talk about rich food, rich furnishings, meaning very good
quality. So here, rich has a slightly different meaning. It s important to remember
that it s difficult to find words that are exact synonyms, which can be used
interchangeably, in all contexts.
So when you learn some new synonyms, it s important to learn not just what they
share, but also what the difference is between them.
Remember, when we say someone is lazy, we mean they don t work very hard, but
we can t say the printer is lazy, we can only say the printer is idle.
152
Learning and using synonyms
People use synonyms to avoid repeating the same word. For example:
This hotel is so expensive. It's very pricey.
What is the difference in meaning between expensive and pricey? When should I use
synonyms?
expensive / pricey
Synonyms are words with the same or sometimes slightly different meanings.
Alternatives are sometimes used in the same context with little or no difference as in
your example, Yeon-Ju, except that pricey is a bit more informal than expensive.
Virtually anything that costs a lot of money may be considered expensive or
pricey.
keen / eager
I am always keen / eager to introduce synonyms in this way in the examples of use
that I quote on the learnit pages. In this example, keen and eager are very close in
meaning and may be used interchangeably.
Finding alternatives with the same or similar meaning is undoubtedly a good way of
expanding your vocabulary and use of English, Yeon-Ju, but we have to be careful.
disgusting / appalling
These synonyms are quite close in meaning, but not as close as in the previous
pairs. Compare the following:
The food they served at John and Paula's wedding reception was disgusting.
The food they served at John and Paula's wedding reception was appalling.
The service at this hotel is disgusting.
The service at this hotel is appalling.
Both adjectives are possible in both contexts, but disgusting is perhaps more
appropriate to the first context as it suggests that the food was highly unpleasant to
the taste. Appalling is perhaps more appropriate to the second context as it
suggests that the service was generally unpleasant, shocking, offensive and
unacceptable.
pretty / good-looking / beautiful
These three synonyms, indicating someone or something that is pleasing in
appearance, are also quite close in meaning, but use is restricted:
153
It was a beautiful summer's day.
She was wearing a pretty polka-dot bikini.
With his jet-black hair and high cheekbones he appeared unusually good-looking.
A summer's day cannot be pretty or good-looking. A bikini is not substantial
enough to be called beautiful (whereas an attractive wedding dress we would
describe as beautiful). Only people, of either sex, can be described as good-looking
and men are not usually thought of as pretty or beautiful.
Collocation
What we learn from this is that words sometimes occur together, or collocate with
each other, in fairly fixed ways.
verb + adverb
Certain verbs tend to be used with certain adverbs.
If you think hard / carefully about it, you'll realise that I'm right.
(Not: If you think strongly / powerfully / precisely& .)
If I remember correctly / rightly, you were not there at the time.
(Not: If I remember exactly / precisely / truly& )
If you truly / really love me, you'll turn down that job in Norway.
(Not: If you purely / justly / rightly / precisely love me& .)
adjective + noun
Certain nouns tend to occur with certain adjectives:
It came as a complete surprise to me when she married him
(Not: It came as a comprehensive / full / entire surprise to me& )
He carried out a full / comprehensive market survey before launching the
product.
(Not: He carried out a complete / all-embracing market survey& )
(And not: & before discharging / dispatching / propelling the product.)
verb + noun
Certain Verbs and nouns habitually occur together.
If you eat chocolate before a meal, it will spoil / ruin your appetite.
(Not: & it will damage / harm / suppress your appetite.)
The government has recently conducted / carried out a survey on the causes of
obesity in children.
(Not: The government has fulfilled / administered / run a survey& )
154
I can't change my eating habits so I shall continue to eat junk food.
(Not: I can't alter / amend / modify my eating habits& )
learning and using synonyms
When you are learning new words it is always a good idea to learn them in the
contexts in which they are used and the typical collocations that go with them.
'lend' or 'borrow'
How can I use the word owe when I lend someone some money. Do I say: 'I owe
you 20 dollars' or do I say: 'You owe me 20 dollars?' The importance of my question
is how do I use this word in both ways such as when I borrow some money from
someone and also when I lend someone some money?
If you borrow something from somebody, you take it with their permission and
promise to return it in due course, at the end of a limited period usually. If you
borrow £5,000 from the bank, you will owe them £5,000, plus interest on the
period of time you have borrowed if for.
Consider the following:
" 'I borrowed five pounds from my brother and forgot to pay it back.'
" 'I always buy the books I want to read, although I agree it would be cheaper
to borrow them from the library.'
" 'Many of his ideas are borrowed from other sources.'
If you lend somebody something, or lend something to somebody, then you give
them something of yours for a limited period of time. If you lend someone some
money, they will owe you the money.
Consider the following:
" 'She lent her sister her car for the weekend.' (NB: verb + indirect object +
direct object)
" 'If you lend your coat to Philip, you ll never see it again.' (NB: verb + direct
object + indirect object)
" 'If you can lend me a hand with these reports, we might finish them by
suppertime.'
In the sentence, work hard lest you should fail in your examination can
'lest' be used without the support of the word 'should'?
Yes, it can. First, what does lest mean and when do we use it? Lest is a very rare
word and quite old fashioned.
155
Most people in Britain know it, because we see it written very often in the same
place - on war memorials, on statues, which have been put up so that we remember
people who died in wars; and what's very often written on these statues is lest we [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]