Vocabulary, synonym and antonym questions, with answers

The questions, with answers

1. 1How do you work out a word's meaning from the sentence around it?

   In short: Treat the word as a blank, find the clue that explains it (a definition, an example, a contrast or a result) and predict a plain meaning.

   Sentences that test a word usually contain the means to decode it. A definition or restatement follows a comma, a dash or 'that is': 'The rules were rigid; that is, they allowed no exceptions'. An example shows the category: 'perishable goods such as milk, fruit and flowers'. A contrast gives the opposite: 'Unlike his cheerful brother, Arjun was morose'. A result shows the effect: 'The medicine was so potent that a single dose was enough'. Replace the word with a blank, use the clue to predict a plain meaning, and then choose the option that matches your prediction, not the one that merely looks like the word.

2. 2How do you answer a synonym question?

   In short: Decide what the word means in the given sentence, then pick the option that could replace it there without changing the meaning, the tone or the grammar.

   A synonym question asks for the option closest in meaning, and closest means in the sentence given. Many words have several senses: in 'The firm will launch its app in March', 'launch' means introduce, while in 'They launched the boat' it means set afloat. Substitute each option into the sentence and read it. Reject options that change the meaning, and also those that change its strength or tone: if the sentence describes a small disagreement, 'feud' overstates it. If two options survive, the one that fits the sentence's grammar without other changes is the better synonym.

3. 3How do you answer an antonym question?

   In short: Find the word's meaning first, then its opposite in the same sense, and watch for options that are only related to the word rather than opposite to it.

   An antonym question has two steps, and most errors come from skipping the first. State the word's meaning in plain terms, then find the option that means the reverse in the same sense. For 'candid', meaning frank and open, the opposite is 'evasive', not 'rude': rudeness is sometimes associated with frankness but is not its opposite. Setters often place a synonym among the options to catch anyone who reads the question as closest in meaning, so check for the word opposite before answering. Also watch for words with two opposites depending on the sense: the opposite of 'light' can be 'heavy' or 'dark', and only one fits the sentence.

4. 4How do prefixes and roots help with unfamiliar words?

   In short: Many English words are built from Latin and Greek parts, so a few dozen prefixes, roots and suffixes let you estimate words you have never met.

   Word parts give a word's direction even when its exact meaning is unknown. Prefixes change meaning predictably: pre- before, post- after, anti- against, mis- wrongly, and in-, im-, un- or dis- not. Roots carry the core: bene means well, chron time, dict say, spect look and vert turn. So a benefactor is someone who does good, a chronic illness lasts over time, and an introvert is turned inwards. Suffixes show the part of speech: -ity and -ness form nouns, -ous and -ive adjectives, -ise or -ize verbs. Treat the result as a first estimate and confirm it against the sentence, because some words mislead: 'inflammable' means easily set on fire, not unable to burn.

5. 5Which commonly confused words appear in vocabulary questions?

   In short: Pairs that look or sound alike but differ in meaning, such as affect and effect, principal and principle, and complement and compliment.

   Confusable pairs are popular with setters because a quick reader takes the familiar one. 'Affect' is usually a verb meaning to influence, and 'effect' usually a noun meaning a result: 'The delay affected the schedule; its effect was a week's slip'. 'Principal' means main, or the head of a school, while a 'principle' is a rule. A 'complement' completes something, and a 'compliment' praises. 'Stationary' means not moving; 'stationery' is paper and pens. A 'council' is a body of people; 'counsel' is advice. 'Eminent' means distinguished, and 'imminent' means about to happen. When the options include such a pair, decide which meaning the sentence needs before comparing spellings.

6. 6What are one-word substitution questions?

   In short: They give a description such as 'a person who cannot be corrected' and ask for the single word that means it, here incorrigible.

   One-word substitution replaces a phrase with the word that means it: a person who speaks many languages is a polyglot, a speech made without preparation is extempore, a list of items to be discussed at a meeting is an agenda, and handwriting that cannot be read is illegible. The words fall into families that make them easier to learn: people by belief or outlook, such as atheist and pessimist; fears, such as claustrophobia, the fear of enclosed spaces; and forms of government, such as democracy and autocracy. Word parts help to eliminate options, since omni- means all and -cide killing. Learn the common lists in these groups rather than one word at a time.

7. 7How can you build vocabulary before a placement test?

   In short: Read a little every day, note unfamiliar words with the sentences you found them in, and review them in short, spaced sessions rather than one long sitting.

   Words learned in context are remembered better than words learned from a list, because the sentence gives a meaning, a tone and a typical partner word at once. Read something well edited every day, such as a newspaper editorial or a long-form article, and write down unfamiliar words with their sentences. Review the notes briefly the next day, a few days later and a week later; spaced reviews do more than one long session. Group related words, such as ways of speaking or words for moods, so that they reinforce each other. A few weeks of this builds vocabulary and reading speed together, and both help in comprehension.