Vocabulary: Synonyms, Antonyms & Idioms

What this lesson covers

Vocabulary: Synonyms, Antonyms & Idioms is a 10-part Class 9 English lesson. Each part makes one point and then hands over to the next, so it can be read in a sitting or picked up again at the part you stopped on. It defines the idea in plain words before using it, works through an example step by step, breaks the topic into its parts and compares them, shows where it is used outside the textbook, names the mistakes that cost marks in an exam, ends with a recap of what to remember.

How it begins

A large vocabulary is not for display. It is for saying exactly what you mean. "He was annoyed", "angry", "furious" and "incensed" describe one state at four intensities. Choosing correctly conveys information; choosing loosely does not. The rule that protects you in an exam: never use a word you could not define. Examiners notice a long word used slightly wrongly far more than a simple word used well.

The 10 parts

1. Precision is the goal
2. Word building
3. Connotation and bias
4. Deducing an unfamiliar word
5. Idioms worth knowing
6. Register, when idioms are wrong
7. Building vocabulary that stays
8. Where marks are lost
9. What to remember
10. Watch one worked through