Vocabulary Building

Vocabulary means the collection of words you know and use. A strong vocabulary helps you speak, write, and understand English better.

A) Contextual Usage

Using a word correctly according to the situation or sentence is called contextual usage. The same word can have different meanings in different contexts.

Example:

• "He has a bank account." (financial institution)
• "We sat on the river bank." (side of a river)

Tip: Always read the full sentence before deciding the meaning of a word.

B) Synonyms and Antonyms

Synonyms are words that have the same or similar meaning.

• Happy — Glad, Joyful, Delighted
• Big — Large, Huge, Enormous
• Fast — Quick, Rapid, Swift

Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings.

• Hot — Cold
• Success — Failure
• Accept — Reject

Tip: Learning synonyms improves your writing by avoiding repetition. Learning antonyms helps in comprehension and essays.

C) Idiomatic Expressions

An idiom is a group of words whose meaning is different from the literal meaning of each word.

Common Idioms:

"Break the ice" — to start a conversation in a social situation
"Hit the nail on the head" — to describe exactly what is happening
"Once in a blue moon" — very rarely
"Bite the bullet" — to endure a painful situation bravely
"Under the weather" — feeling sick or unwell
"Burn the midnight oil" — to work or study late at night
"Cost an arm and a leg" — very expensive

Example sentence: "She burns the midnight oil before every exam."