Vocabulary+Building+in+English

=NIK MAZNI HANIM MOHD FAKRI (4091003711), B.ED (TESL) (HONS.) = = CHRISTINE TAN FUNG JIAO (4091000751), B.ED (TESL) (HONS.) = = RISHALINEY D/O NADARAJAH (4091008181), B.ED (TESL) (HONS.) = = THANUSZAH D/O CHANDRAN (4091006521),B.ED (TESL) (HONS.) = = =
 * MEMBERS**:

= VOCABULARY BUILDING IN ENGLISH = = =  LET'S HAVE FUN !!!! 



**__ Vocabulary Development __** CONFUSIBLES
 * ** WORD ** || ** MEANING ** || ** EXAMPLE ** ||
 * Respond (verb) || to reply to something by word or action || // The scarecrow did not **respond** when Benny reached out to shake hands with what he thought was Alfie. // ||
 * Ignored (verb) || Did not bother || // The scarecrow just **ignored** him. It did not pay any attention to Benny but was very quiet. // ||
 * Furious || =angry= || =//When he reached home, Doris was furious. She shouted and scolded Benny.//= ||

The Simple Past Tense form is //felt// || to experience something emotionally or physically. || I **//feel//** happy now. I **//feel//** hot whenever the air conditioner breaks down. || The Simple Past Tense form is //fed.// || To give food to eat. || I always **//feed//** my cat, Tompok, with milk and fish. || The Simple Past Tense form is //fell.// || To drop through the air or to come down from a standing position. || Durians always **//fall//** when they are ripe. ||
 * ** WORD ** || ** MEANING ** || ** EXAMPLE ** ||
 * Feel (verb)
 * Feed (verb)
 * Fall (verb)

=Study the confusibles and see how they are used differently.= = =
 * feel/felt**

//I usually **feel** happy and lively. Yesterday, I **felt** so weak. So, I went to see a doctor for check-up.//


 * feed/fed**

//I always **feed** my cat, Tompok with her favourite food, milk and fish. Last week, I lest Tompok with my sister. She **fed** Tompok with ice cream and meat. Surprisingly she liked the food !//


 * fall/fell**

//You don't have to pluck durians because they always **fall** from trees when they are ripe. This is why it is dangerous to walk under durian tress. last year, aman from our village was admitted to the hospital because a durian **fell** on his head.//

Source : QUICKSTEP TO ENGLISH, FEDERAL PUBLICATION SDN. BHD.ENGLISH VOCABULARY BUILDER

= English Vocabulary Builder - Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced =

English Vocabulary Building help for ESL EFL students, classes and teachers including learning lists, professional English, slang, jargon with quizzes, worksheets and lesson plans. = VERBS AND NOUNS =

 Verbs and nouns are the two most important ingredients in any language. Nouns tell us **what is involved** in a situation, verbs tell us **what happens** in a situation. This page provides easy access to all the important information about verbs you can find on this site.


 * Verb Types**

To begin with, this overview provides a look at the different types of verbs in English. These include transitive and intransitive verbs, as well as various verb patterns.

VERB TYPES :


 * Auxiliary Verbs**

An understanding of auxiliary (helping) verbs is essential in English. All tenses make use of auxiliary verbs and a complete knowledge of each will help you conjugate tenses correctly. Begin with an overview of the function of auxiliary verbs:

In spoken English, auxiliary verbs are often contracted - //She'll come, They've bought, etc.// - this guide to contractions will help you understand standard auxiliary verb contractions. .


 * Irregular Verbs**

Conjugating regular English verbs is relatively easy. Conjugating irregular verbs can be frustrating! Irregular verb conjugation doesn't follow any specific rules, although there certainly are patterns. Here are references at the site to help you with irregular verb conjugation and use. This first resource provides example sentences in all tenses of 35 irregular verbs.

These interactive practice resources allow you to check your knowledge of irregular verb past simple and past participle forms. They're great fun as games and test your knowledge.


 * Phrasal Verbs**

Phrasal verbs are verbs that are followed by one or two prepositions or particles. Here are some example sentences: //I look forward to seeing you soon. - look forward to She put her friend up for two months. - put up// Phrasal verbs can be very frustrating as the use of prepositions is not always logical. //Pick up// can literally mean //to pick something up (He picked up the book.// OR it can mean //to learn something (He picked up some Spanish in Madrid.// These resources will help you learn the most common English phrasal verbs. This introduction to phrasal verbs explains various types of English phrasal verbs and important sentence structure issues to consider when using separable and inseparable phrasal verbs.

There are a number of other resources on the site about phrasal verbs including: reference materials, phrasal verb examples, phrasal verb quizzes, and phrasal verb lesson plans. This special phrasal verb resources collects all of the phrasal verb resources on the site.


 * Verb Patterns**

Certain verbs combine with other verbs. Here are some examples: //She enjoys eating out in fine restaurants. - verb + gerund Jack wants to get a new job. - verb + infinitive//


 * Verbs + Prepositions**

Another challenge to using English verbs are common verb + preposition combinations.

Verb + Prepositions
Examples : //Take into...//

= What is a Noun? =

A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns are usually the first words which small children learn. The **highlighted** words in the following sentences are all nouns:


 * //Late last year our neighbours bought a goat.

Portia White was an opera singer.The bus inspector looked at all the passengers' passes.

According to Plutarch, the library at Alexandria was destroyed in 48 B.C.

Philosophy is of little comfort to the starving.//**

A noun can function in a sentence as a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, a subject complement, an object complement, an appositive, an adjective or an adverb.

LET'S LEARN ENGLISH THROUGH SONG.

media type="youtube" key="FTY2gQxiol8" width="425" height="350" 

**// Enjoy the song ??? Hope you'll learn through the lyrics of that song. //**
I was washing my car in the porch last Saturday afternoon when an unfamiliar cry rent the air: “Curry puffs!”
 * Question 1: Expressing ideas, opinions, etc in English.**
 * __The Curry Puff Boy__**

A pint-sized boy parked his bicycle outside my house and said, “Curry puffs-50 cent each.”

“I’ve seen you in this neighbourhood before,” I said. “Where are you from?”

“Eastern Garden,” he said as he removed the plastic cover from his cane basket to tempt me with the ravishing light pastries.

“You’re **a far cry** away from home, boy,” I said.

“It’s **all in a day’s work** for me,” he said. “I’m **doing my bit** to help my family-my father, an **odd-job** labourer, scarcely earns enough money to **make ends meet**.

“Are the curry puffs tasty?”

“Very.”

“Okay, let me have four pieces,” I said. “Are they prepared by your mother?”

He puffed his chest out proudly. “Yes.”

“Do you **give her a helping hand** with the preparation?”

“Yes,” he said with a smile as radiant as a sun-kissed ripple, “but only at weekends and during the school holidays.”

“That’s good,” I said as I paid him two ringgit. “What do you do to help out in the kitchen?”

“Well, I peel the potatoes, and sometimes I help to dice them.”

"Tedious work, huh?”

“That’s right,” he said, nodding almost imperceptibly.

The cheery lad suddenly grinned mischievously and said, “When you’re peeling potatoes, thousands of eyes are watching you! And when I first diced them, my mother said to me, ‘Raju, the cubes don’t have to be exactly the same size!”

I laughed at his amusing anecdote and started to eat one of the golden puffs. “Hmm, **not bad**,” I said.

The Curry Puff Boy mounted his bicycle and rode off, waving goodbye to a satisfied customer.


 * Source**: Star Two, //Mind Our English// by Lydia Teh, 2007

1. **Q**: Is the boy hardworking?
 * // Ideas and Opinions //**
 * A**: He is a hardworking boy because he helps his mother to peel potatoes in the kitchen.

2. **Q**: Where does the boy come from?
 * A**: The boy comes from Eastern Garden.

3. **Q**: Why does the boy help to sell the curry puffs?
 * A**: The boy helps to sell the curry puffs because he wants to ease the burden of his father, who is an odd-job labourer.

4. **Q**: When does the boy help his mother to sell the curry puffs?
 * A**: The boy helps his mother to sell the curry puffs at weekends and during the school holidays.

5. **Q**: Is the author satisfied with the boy’s service?
 * A**: Yes, the author is satisfied with the boy’s service because he shows good manners and the curry puffs that he sells are tasty too.

6. **Q**: How many pieces of curry puffs did the author buy from the boy?
 * A**: The author bought 4 curry puffs from the boy as ‘samples’ to see whether they taste good or not.

7. **Q**: The author seems impressed with the boy. Why does he think so?
 * A**: The author is impressed with the boy because despite his young age he is mature enough to feel the heavy burden of his family’s financial problem.

8. **Q**: Why does the author approach the boy?
 * A**: The author approach the boy because he has never seen him before in this neighbourhood and is curious about the curry puffs that he is selling.

9. **Q**: How does the boy come to the author’s neighbourhood?
 * A**: The boy comes to the author’s neighbourhood with his bicycle.

10. **Q**: There are seven idioms in this passage. Are they difficult to understand?
 * A**: No, they are not difficult to understand because they are quite straight to the point.


 * Question 2: Single Words for Phrases or Sentences.**
 * Activity 1-Replacing sentences with the most suitable words **
 * Level**: Intermediate
 * Time**: 15 minutes
 * Materials**: Handout.

1. Give the pre-prepared handout to the whole class.
 * Steps**:

2. Students are given 15 minutes to complete all 10 questions.

3. When the time is up, ask selected students to give the answer on each question.

4. Next, categories them into three groups based on their scores. 8-10 is considered as excellent, 5-7 is considered as good and 0-4 is considered as poor.

5. Draw a conclusion based on the students’ performance.


 * // Instruction //**

Replace the following words with one word.

1. There are **a great number of** monkeys in the jungle.

2. The boy jumped into the river and **saved the life** of the drowning child.

3. The cakes we bought were **not fresh**.

4. Can anyone **tell clearly** the meaning of this word?

5. You must be very careful when you hold that vase. It is **easily broken**.

6. Why is that man **looking hard** at us?

7. The child **went** **on his hands and knees** to his mother.

8. The children **spoke very softly** so as not to wake their father.

9. The policeman never **found out** who the murderer was.

10. The guests **turned up** on time for the dinner.


 * // Suggested Answers //**

1. **Numerous** 2. **Rescued** 3. **Stale** 4. **Explain** 5. **Fragile** 6. **Staring** 7. **Crawled** 8. **Whispered** 9. **Discovered** 10. **Arrived**

//Tingkatan 4 & 5//. Petaling Jaya, Selangor: Pustaka Delta Pelajaran Sdn Bhd
 * Source**: J. C. Lim & Cheah Sin Ean. (1994). //IMPRESIF SPM BAHASA INGGERIS://


 * Question 3: Derivations - Root Words, Prefixes and Suffixes.**

ia) **Root words**: It is the basic element of a word, and is the foundation on which the meaning of a word is built. Many roots are real words in their own right: graph (a diagram) and term (a fixed time or date), for example. Although these roots can have other elements, they don't need othr elements to be complete. Most roots, however, do need other elements.
 * Definition **

ib) **Examples**: a. **Dyarchy:** A government with two rulers, from the prefix dy- (meaning two) and the root archy (meaning government). b. **Anarchist:** One who rebels against governmental authority, from the prefix an- (meaning without or no), the root archy (meaning government), and the suffix - ist (meaning one who). c. **Orthodox:** Conforming to established doctrines and practices, from the prefixortho- (meaning right or true) and the root dox (meaning opinion or belief).

iia) **Prefixes**: It is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of Semitic languages, it is called a preformative, as they can alter the form of the words to which they are fixed.

iib) **Examples**: a**//. unhappy//** : un is a negative or antonymic prefix. b. **//prefix//****//, preview//** : pre is a prefix, with the sense of before c. **//redo//**, **//review//** : re is a prefix meaning again.

iiia) **Suffixes**: In linguistics, it (also sometimes called a postfix or ending) is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Particularly in the study of Semitic languages , a suffix is called an afformative, as they can alter the form of the words to which they are fixed. Suffixes can carry grammatical information ( inflectional suffixes), or lexical information ( derivational suffixes). An inflectional suffix is sometimes called a desinence.

iiib) **Examples**: a**//. Girls//**, where the suffix -s marks the plural . b. **//He makes//**, where suffix -s marks the third person singular present tense . c. **//It closed//**, where the suffix -ed marks the past tense.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/prefixes en.wikipedia.org/wiki/suffixes
 * Sources**: [|www.dummies.com/how-to/content/tending-to-word-roots.html]


 * Question 4: Activities That Can Be Done To Teach These Items in Class**

** __Root Words__ **
 * Activity 1- Identifying numerous root words (With verb, adjective, adverb and **** noun.) **

**Level**: Elementary
 * Time**: 15 minutes
 * Materials**: Handout

1. Give the pre-prepared handout to the whole class.
 * Steps**:

2. Students are given 15 minutes to read through all 10 root words.

3. When the time is up, ask selected students to match the root words with its respective verb, adjective, adverb and noun.

4. Next, ask them to explain briefly the differences of the root words before and after adding verb, adjective, adverb and noun.

5. Finally, draw a conclusion based on the students’ performance. __Word-Building__ //**
 * ** Verb ** || ** Adjective ** || ** Adverb ** || ** Noun ** ||
 * Appear || Apparent || Apparently || Appearance ||
 * Bag || Baggy || Baggily || Bag ||
 * Compare || Comparative || Comparatively || Comparison ||
 * Die || Dead || Deadly || Death ||
 * Effect || Effective || Effectively || Effect ||
 * Fool || Foolish || Foolishly || Foolishness ||
 * Heal || Healthy || Healthily || Health ||
 * Imagine || Imaginative || Imaginatively || Imagination ||
 * Judge || Judicious || Judiciously || Judgement ||
 * Know || Knowledgeable || Knowingly || Knowledge ||

LTD & Manhattan Press (s) PTE LTD.
 * Source**: K. E. Tan. (1992). //Pacific PSLE English//. Singapore: Pan Pacific Publications

**__ Prefixes __**

**Activity 2-Domino** (**Adapted from Cambridge University Press 1984**)


 * Level**: Intermediate
 * Time**: 15-20 minutes
 * Materials**: One set of 40 dominoes per four to five students.


 * Steps**:

1. Put the students in circles of four to five round a flat surface. Give each group a page of domino and ask them to carefully fold and tear the page to create domino. Ask someone in each group to shuffle them and deal them out. People should not show their dominoes to other players.

2. Player A in each group starts by laying down a domino. The player to his or her right then lays down a domino one end of which matches one end of A’s domino. If the left side of A’s domino is SANE and the next player lays down a domino with IN on its right side this is a correct match.

3. Plays continues round the circle-if a player can’t lay down a domino he or she misses that turn. The winner is the first person to get rid of most of his or hers dominoes.

4. You should go from group to group and be available to help when people want to know if a particular match is correct. Give them immediate feedback.

5. Keep the domino set in envelopes for later use with another group.

The domino set given here was devised and tested by Paul Davis. I had tried to use the domino frame for practising parts of irregular verbs but this had proved a mess. Paul discovered that the multiple matchings in world-building neatly fit the domino frame.
 * // Acknowledgement //**

(**You will need 1 set per four to five students**.)


 * ** centralise ** || ** delight ** || ** LY ** || ** DE ** || ** FUL ** || ** IM ** || ** reliable ** || ** young ** ||
 * ** Y ** || ** UN ** || ** FUL ** || ** IR ** || ** Ice ** || ** twenty ** || ** LESS ** || ** IR ** ||
 * ** FUL ** || ** UN ** || ** smoker ** || ** grey ** || ** LESS ** || ** NON- ** || ** ABLE ** || ** IM ** ||
 * ** responsible ** || ** old ** || ** LESS ** || ** DIS ** || ** ABLE ** || ** IR ** || ** breakable ** || ** bullet ** ||
 * ** LESS ** || ** DE ** || ** ABLE ** || ** IN ** || ** magnetise ** || ** water ** || ** LY ** || ** IR ** ||

//Activities for EFL Students//. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
 * Source**: Mario Rinvolucri. (1984). //GRAMMAR GAMES: Cognitive, Affective and Drama//

**__ Prefixes and Suffiixes __**


 * Activity 3-Filling in the Blanks **

**Level**: Intermediate
 * Time**: 15 minutes
 * Materials**: Handout


 * Steps**:

1. Give the pre-prepared handout to the whole class.

2. Students are given 15 minutes to complete all 10 questions.

3. When the time is up, ask selected students to give the answer on each question.

4. Next, categories them into three groups based on their scores. 8-10 is considered as excellent, 5-7 is considered as good and 0-4 is considered as poor.

5. Draw a conclusion based on the students’ performance.


 * // Instruction //**

Use the following prefixes/suffixes to fill in the blanks. Use each prefixs/suffix twice only.

(1) **dis** (2) **il** (3) **in** (4) **less** (5) **re** (6) **ful** (7) **im** (8) **ir** (9) **less** (10) **un**

1. Jim was so (**patient**) to go, we had better hurry.

2. People often tell the children who are (**obedient**) to mend their ways.

3. Gopal tells his cousin not to see the film which is (**interesting**).

4. Please be (**care**) when you are doing your Mathematical test today.

5. If you have lost the library book, you have to (**place**) it.

6. It is (**hope**) appealing to the man for he will not listen to us.

7. As it is late, I am (**doubt**) that Murali will come.

8. Do you still want to keep these (**used**) papers?

9. The man came for the meeting on the wrong day for he had been (**informed**).

10. My television licence has expired. It is time to (**new**) it.

1. **in** 2. **dis** 3. **un** 4. **ful** 5. **re** 6. **less** 7. **ful** 8. **un** 9. **un** 10. **re**
 * // Suggested Answers //**

//Tingkatan 4 & 5//. Petaling Jaya, Selangor: Pustaka Delta Pelajaran Sdn Bhd
 * Source**: J. C. Lim & Cheah Sin Ean. (1994). //IMPRESIF SPM BAHASA INGGERIS://

==

__Places Where We Live__
!Note - no matter what kind of building you live in, it's your home.
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/Cottage.gif width="103" height="105" caption="cottage(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/cottage.rm"]] || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/i/vocab/buildings/house.jpg width="100" height="86" caption="detached house(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/detached.rm"]] || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/SemiDetHouse.gif width="125" height="73" caption="semi-detached house(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/semi.rm"]] || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/i/vocab/buildings/bungalow.jpg width="100" height="50" caption="bungalow(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/bungalow.rm"]] || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/Flats.gif width="81" height="122" caption="(block of) flat(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/flat.rm"]] ||
 * ~ cottage(s) ||~ detached house(s) ||~ semi-detached house(s) ||~ bungalow(s) ||~ block of flats ||
 * || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/TerrHouse.gif width="100" height="81" caption="terraced house(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/terrace.rm"]] || || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/HighRise.gif width="97" height="148" caption="high-rise flat(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/high-rise.rm"]] ||  ||
 * ~  ||~ terraced house(s) ||~   ||~ high-rise flat(s) ||~   ||

__Places Where We Work__

 * || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/Offices.gif width="148" height="95" caption="office(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/office.rm"]] || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/Factory.gif width="148" height="77" caption="factory(factories)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/factory.rm"]] || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/Skyscraper.gif width="106" height="97" caption="skyscraper(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/skyscraper.rm"]] || ||
 * ~  ||~ office(s) ||~ factory (factories) ||~ skyscraper(s) ||~   ||

Miscellaneous Places

 * || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/i/vocab/buildings/tower.jpg width="97" height="100" caption="tower(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/tower.rm"]] || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/mill.gif width="105" height="82" caption="mill(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/mill.rm"]] || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/windmill.gif width="91" height="77" caption="windmill(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/windmill.rm"]] || [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/i/vocab/buildings/castle.jpg width="100" height="92" caption="castle(s)" link="http://www.learnenglish.de/Sounds/Buildings/castle.rm"]] || ||
 * ~  ||~ tower(s) ||~ mill(s) ||~ windmill(s) ||~ castle(s) ||~   ||

Correct! Well done. Your score is 77%. Check
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/DetHouse.gif width="102" height="72" align="left"]] || **detached house** || ||
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/Bungalow.gif width="102" height="62" align="left"]] || **bungalow** || :-) ||
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/church.gif width="58" height="100" align="left"]] || **church** || :-) ||
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/castle.gif width="58" height="50" align="left"]] || **castle** || :-) ||
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/Garage.gif width="47" height="35" align="left"]] || **garage** || :-) ||
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/School.gif width="56" height="70" align="left"]] || **school** || :-) ||
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/Factory.gif width="148" height="77" align="left"]] || **factory** || :-) ||
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/Skyscraper.gif width="106" height="97" align="left"]] || **skyscraper** || :-) ||
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/plane.gif width="48" height="49" align="left"]] || **airport** || :-) ||
 * [[image:http://www.learnenglish.de/IMAGES/Vocab/Buildings/tower.gif width="53" height="104" align="left"]] || **tower** || :-) ||

  

[|**online newspapers and commentary magazines.**] Choose magazines such as [|**//Atlantic//**] and [|**//Mother Jones//**] that challenge your mind and your vocabulary with full-text articles. At least once a week read a major article with the purpose of culling from it some vocabulary words that are unfamiliar to you. We also recommend the [|//**New York Times Book Review**//] (which might require an easy, one-time, free registration). [|**Vocabulary University**] is a new online resource for working on groups of related vocabulary words in a puzzle format. Vocabulary U., a graphically rich Web site, is broken into beginning, intermediate, and college-level work. [|**Vocabulary for English Language Learners**] is a treasury and nicely organized resources for ESL students. It is maintained by the College of Arts & Sciences of Ohio University. There are also at least two services that send you an e-mail message every day with a new word—with definitions, pronunciation guides, and examples of its use. Get in the habit of reading these messages regularly. Print out the words and definitions you think will be really useful, or write them down and carry them around with you on your personal vocabulary builder.  The following resources do not go to your e-mail account, but they are easily available online — if you can just remember to visit them on a regular basis. You can also go to the web-site of the Scripps-Howard Annual National Spelling Bee and listen to words on [|**Audio Paideia**]. The words are arranged in interesting groups. With RealAudio on your browser, you can hear the word and its definition and then try to spell it on your own. Have a dictionary handy! This Guide to Grammar and Writing also has a series of spelling tests that can be used as a vocabulary builders: go to the section on [|**Spelling**] and choose the spelling tests (bottom of the page) that use sound (the words you're asked to spell are accompanied by brief definitions). [|**Javascript Vocabulary Stretchers**], maintained by John Gales, offers a new computer-graded vocabulary test (ten words) every week. Michael Quinion maintains a series of articles about the English language called [|**Wide World of Words**] (also available as a weekly e-mail newsletter). You can spend days wandering through the maze of word-games and language resources listed in Judi Wolinsky's **Word Play**. Crossword puzzles are an excellent way to develop your vocabulary. Do the puzzles that appear in your local newspaper on a daily or weekly basis or try these interactive crossword puzzles on the internet: [|**Voycabulary.com**] provides a means of typing in the URL of any Web page and the program will turn every word on that page into a clickable hyperlink that will reveal a definition in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary or Thesaurus. Voycabulary will also translate a Web page into another language for you. Try it with this page, whose URL is http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/vocabulary.htm 
 * **Garner's Usage Tip OF the Day** Bryan Garner, author of //A Dictionary of Modern American Usage// (Oxford University Press), offers this invaluable, free, daily e-mail service. Subscription is easy. [| http://www.us.oup.com/us/subscriptions/subscribe/?view=usa].
 * **Vocab Vitamins** (formerly "MyWordaDay"): Colin O'Malley maintains this Website, a treasure for people who know that developing an adequate vocabulary is not a short-term project. Users can visit the Website or have the WordaDay e-mailed to them. Words are arranged in meaningful groups and defined in painstaking and useful detail, with plenty of examples. [|**http://www.vocabvitamins.com/**].
 * **WORDSMITH:** To subscribe or unsubscribe to A.Word.A.Day, send a message to **wsmith@wordsmith.org** with the "Subject:" line as "subscribe " or "unsubscribe." The Wordsmith has thousands of subscribers. It does a great job of discovering interesting themes and sources of words and then exploring those words—a word a day—for a week or so and then goes off to another theme and series of words.
 * **Word of the Day:** Maintained by Merriam Webster, Inc., the dictionary people. Go to the online [|**WWWebster Dictionary**] and click on Word of the Day. From there, you can either subscribe to their free daily service or explore their archives. The guides for pronunciation are easier to follow than Wordsmith's and the examples are well founded and even fun. The Merriam-Webster people also provide a neat link directly to their word database so that you can highlight a word on a Web-page, click on their icon in your personal toolbar and get an instant and authoritative definition for that word.
 * **Word of the Day from the OED:** Although the online version of the esteemed //Oxford English Dictionary// is not available without a hefty price tag, you can get a free [|**Word of the Day**] from the OED. You will find more information there about each word presented than you could ever imagine existed.
 * **The New York Times Word of the Day**: every weekday, a word chosen from the archives of the New York Times. [|**http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/wordofday/**].
 * **Michael Quinion's "World Wide Words"**: investigating the use and creation of English words, from a British point of view. Fun to read, always something new.[|**http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm**].
 * **The Atlantic section on Language**: from the //Atlantic Monthly//'s online journal. Select from "Word Court," "Word Fugitive," and "Word Police." [|**http://www.theatlantic.com/language/**].
 * **Word Safari** challenges web surfers' knowledge of vocabulary, and then sends them off on expeditions to see the chosen word used in context on the web. Aiming her Web site at building academic vocabulary skills, Ruth Pettis adds new vocabulary words every week. [|**http://home.earthlink.net/~ruthpett/safari/index.htm**].
 * **The Maven's Word for the Day** was maintained by the Reference division of Random House. It went belly-up in December 2001, but the archives are still available online. [|**http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/**].
 * [|The Christian Science Monitor Interactive Crossword Puzzle]
 * [|Crossword of the Day]
 * [|Michael Curl's Puzzles and Wordplay] (This stuff is a real challenge!)



=Building a Better Vocabulary=

Everyone—from beginning learners in English to veterans in journalism—knows the frustration of not having //the right word// immediately available in that lexicon one carries between one's ears. Sometimes it's a matter of not being able to recall the right word; sometimes we never knew it. It is also frustrating to read a newspaper or homework assignment and run across words whose meanings elude us. Language, after all, is power. When your children get in trouble fighting with the neighbors' children, and your neighbors call your children __little twerps__ and you call their children __nefarious miscreant__s—well, the battle is over and they didn't stand a chance. Building a vocabulary that is adequate to the needs of one's reading and self-expression has to be a personal goal for every writer and speaker.
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/images/vocab.gif width="144" height="167" align="left" caption="Vocab!"]] || Several quizzes have been connected to this section as vocabulary muscle builders. In addition, a javascript pop-up lexicon, A YEAR'S WORTH OF WORDS—with a word for every day of the year—is available. See the hyperlinks at the bottom of this page. ||

Making It Personal
Using some durable piece of paper—white construction paper or the insides of the ripped-off covers of old notebooks—begin to write down words in small but readable script that you discover in your reading that you can't define. Read journals and newspapers that challenge you in terms of vocabulary. Pursue words actively and become alert to words that you simply overlooked in the past. Write down the words in one column; then, later, when you have a dictionary at your disposal, write down a common definition of the word; in a third column, write a brief sentence using the word, underlined. Carry this paper or cardboard with you always. In the pauses of your busy day—when you're sitting on the bus, in the dentist's office, during commercials—take out the paper and review your vocabulary words until you feel comfortable that you would recognize (and be able to use) these words the next time you see them. The amazing thing is that you //will see// the words again—even "nefarious miscreants," and probably sooner than you thought. In fact, you might well discover that the words you've written down are rather common. What's happening is not that, all of a sudden, people are using words you never saw before, but that you are now reading and using words that you had previously ignored.

Using Every Resource
Most bookstores carry books on building a more powerful vocabulary, some of them with zany names such as //Thirty Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary//. If you've got money to spare or if they're on sale, buy them and use them; they can't hurt. Books that group words according to what they have in common—more in meaning than in spelling—are especially useful. Newspapers often carry brief daily articles that explore the meanings of words and phrases. These articles often emphasize peculiar words that won't find themselves into your working vocabulary, but they can still be fun. Often you'll find that learning one new word leads to other new words, little constellations of meaning that keep your brain cells active and hungry for more. Make reading these articles one of your daily habits, an addiction, even. Play dictionary games with your family in which someone uses the dictionary to find a neat word and writes down the real definition and everyone else writes down a fake (and funny) definition. See how many people you can fool with your fake definitions.

**Two trucks loaded with thousands of copies of //Roget's Thesaurus// collided as they left a New York publishing house last Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

Witnesses were aghast, amazed, astonished, astounded, bemused, benumbed, bewildered, confounded, confused, dazed, dazzled, disconcerted, disoriented, dumbstruck, electrified, flabbergasted, horrified, immobilized, incredulous, nonplussed, overwhelmed, paralyzed, perplexed, scared, shocked, startled, stunned, stupified, surprised, taken aback, traumatized, upset. . . .** //— joke circulated on the Internet December 2003// A **thesaurus** is like a dictionary except that it groups words within constellations of meaning. It is often useful in discovering just the right word you need to express what you want to say. Make sure you correctly understand the definition of a word (by using a dictionary) before using it in some important paper or report. Your bookstore salesperson can provide plenty of examples of an inexpensive thesaurus. The online [|**Merriam Webster's WWWebster Dictionary**] has access to both an extensive dictionary and a hyperlinked thesaurus. Links allow you to go conveniently back and forth between the dictionary and the thesaurus. If you have a speedy computer processor and a fast hookup to the internet, we recommend the [|**Plumb Design Visual Thesaurus**]. Once the program is entirely loaded, type in a word that you would like to see "visualized," hit the return key, and a construct of verbal connections will float across the screen. Click on any of the words within that construct and a new pattern of connections will emerge. Try the Visual Thesaurus with several different kinds of words—verbs, adverbs, nouns, adjectives—and try adjusting some of the various controls on the bottom of the window. We do not recommend this web-site for slow machines; in fact, the bigger your monitor and the faster your computer and connection, the more satisfying this experience will be. When people use a word that puzzles you, ask what it means! You'll find that most instructors, especially, are not in the least bothered by such questions—in fact, they're probably pleased that you're paying such close attention—but if they do seem bothered, write down the word and look it up later, before the context of the word evaporates.

Knowing the Roots
At least half of the words in the English language are derived from Greek and Latin roots. Knowing these roots helps us to grasp the meaning of words before we look them up in the dictionary. It also helps us to see how words are often arranged in families with similar characteristics. For instance, we know that //sophomores// are students in their second year of college or high school. What does it mean, though, to be //sophomoric//? The "sopho" part of the word comes from the same Greek root that gives us //philosophy//, which we know means "love of knowledge." The "ic" ending is sometimes added to adjectival words in English, but the "more" part of the word comes from the same Greek root that gives us //moron//. Thus sophomores are people who think they know a lot but really don't know much about anything, and a sophomoric act is typical of a "wise fool," a "smart-ass"! Let's explore further. Going back to //philosophy//, we know the "sophy" part is related to knowledge and the "phil" part is related to love (because we know that __Phil__adelphia is the City of Brotherly Love and that a __phil__odendron loves shady spots). What, then, is //philanthropy//? "Phil" is still love, and "anthropy" comes from the same Greek root that gives us //anthropology//, which is the study ("logy," we know, means study of any kind) of //anthropos//, humankind. So a //philanthropist// must be someone who loves humans and does something about it—like giving money to find a cure for cancer or to build a Writing Center for the local community college. (And an //anthropoid//, while we're at it, is an animal who walks like a human being.) Learning the roots of our language can even be fun! Authority for this chart: //The Little, Brown Handbook// by H. Ramsay Fowler and Jane E. Aaron, & Kay Limburg. 6th ed. HarperCollins: New York. 1995. By permission of Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc.
 * Some common Greek and Latin roots:**

 speech || monolog(ue), astrology, biology, neologism ||  
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || ** Root (source) ** || ** Meaning ** || ** English words ** ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || aster, astr (G) || star || astronomy, astrology ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || audi (L) || to hear || audible, auditorium ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || bene (L) || good, well || benefit, benevolent ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || bio (G) || life || biology, autobiography ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || dic, dict (L) || to speak || dictionary, dictator ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || fer (L) || to carry || transfer, referral ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || fix (L) || to fasten || fix, suffix, affix ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || geo (G) || earth || geography, geology ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || graph (G) || to write || graphic, photography ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || jur, just (L) || law || jury, justice ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || log, logue (G) || word, thought,
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || luc (L) || light || lucid, translucent ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || manu (L) || hand || manual, manuscript ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || meter, metr (G) || measure || metric, thermometer ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || op, oper (L) || work || operation, operator ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || path (G) || feeling || pathetic, sympathy, empathy ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || ped (G) || child || pediatrics, pedophile ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || phil (G) || love || philosophy, Anglophile ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || phys (G) || body, nature || physical, physics ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || scrib, script (L) || to write || scribble, manuscript ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || tele (G) || far off || telephone,television ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || ter, terr (L) || earth || territory, extraterrestrial ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || vac (L) || empty || vacant, vacuum, evacuate ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || verb (L) || word || verbal, verbose ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || vid, vis (L) || to see || video, vision, television ||
 * ** Prefixes showing quantity ** ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || ** Meaning ** || ** Prefixes in English Words ** ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || half || __semi__annual, __hemi__sphere ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || one || __uni__cycle, __mon__archy, __mono__rail ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || two || __bi__nary, __bi__monthly, __di__lemma, __di__chotomy ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || hundred || __cent__ury, __centi__meter, __hecto__liter ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || thousand || __milli__meter, __kilo__meter ||
 * ** Prefixes showing negation ** ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || without, no, not || __a__sexual, __a__nonymous, __il__legal, __im__moral, __in__valid, __ir__reverent, __un__skilled ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || not, absence of, opposing, against || __non__breakable, __ant__acid, __anti__pathy, __contra__dict ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || opposite to, complement to || __counter__clockwise, __counter__weight ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || do the opposite of, remove, reduce || __de__horn, __de__vitalize, __de__value ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || do the opposite of, deprive of || __dis__establish, __dis__arm ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || wrongly, bad || __mis__judge, __mis__deed ||
 * ** Prefixes showing time ** ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || before || __ante__cedent, __fore__cast, __pre__cede, __pro__logue ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || after || __post__war ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || again || __re__write, __re__dundant ||
 * ** Prefixes showing direction or position ** ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || above, over || __super__vise, __super__erogatory ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || across, over || __trans__port, __trans__late ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || below, under || __infra__sonic, __infra__structure, __sub__terranean, __hypo__dermic ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || in front of || __pro__ceed, __pre__fix ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || behind || __re__cede ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || out of || __e__rupt, __ex__plicit, __ec__stasy ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || into || __in__jection, __im__merse, __en__courage, __em__power ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || around || __circum__navigate, __peri__meter ||
 * [[image:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gif/cleardot.gif width="15" height="1"]] || with || __co__exist, __col__loquy, __com__municate, __con__sequence, __cor__respond, __sym__pathy, __syn__chronize ||


 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

=Building Vocabulary: Using Context Clues to Learn Word Meaning= When authors write, they often include context clues to the meaning of words they use but think that some of their readers may not know. The context clue is usually presented in the sentence or paragraph in which the word occurs. Sometimes a visual such as a picture is provided. Here are six types of context clues used by authors to help the reader understand the meanings of words. An example is provided for each.

1. Definition context clue
The author includes a definition to help the reader understand the meaning of a word. In the following example, "tainted" is defined as having a disease.

//The people of the town were warned not to eat the tainted fish. The local newspaper published a bulletin in which readers were clearly told that eating fish that had a disease could be very dangerous. This was especially true for fish caught in Lake Jean.//

2. Synonym context clue
The author includes a synonym to help the reader understand the meaning of a word. A synonym is a word that means the same as or nearly the same as another word. In the following example, the synonym "pity" helps the reader understand the meaning of "compassion."

//After seeing the picture of the starving children, we all felt compassion or pity for their suffering.//

3. Antonym context clue
The author includes an antonym to help the reader understand the meaning of a word. An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word. In the following example, the antonym "eager" helps the reader understand the meaning of "reluctant."

//Joe was reluctant to take on the position of captain of the basketball team. He was afraid that the time it would take would hurt his grades. On the other hand, Billy was eager for the chance to be captain. He thought that being captain of the team would make him very popular in school.//

4. Description context clue
The author includes one or more descriptions to help the reader understand the meaning of a word. In the following example, descriptions of President Kennedy as having charm, enthusiasm, and a magnetic personality help the reader understand the meaning of "charismatic."

//John Fitzgerald Kennedy, our 35th president, improved human rights and equal rights for all people. He was a very charismatic president. People were attracted to his charm and enthusiasm. His personality was described as magnetic.//

5. Summary context clue
The author makes a number of statements that help the reader understand the meaning of a word. In the following example, statements about being rude, showing no respect, having poor manners, and being impolite help the reader understand the meaning of "impertinent."

//Andrea was a very impertinent young lady. She was so rude that she talked while her teacher was explaining a lesson. She showed no respect for other students. Her manners were very poor. Even her parents thought that Andrea was impolite.// She was exultant

6. Visual context clue
The author includes a picture, drawing, chart, graph, or other type of visual to help the reader understand the meaning of a word. In the following example, the picture and its caption that is close to the sentence helps the reader understand that "exultant" means great joy.

//Peggy had an exultant look on her face.// Using the context clues provided by authors can help you learn the meaning of many new words.

=Writing a Five Paragraph Essay= As you progress through school, you will be required to write essays. An essay is a written composition in which you express a certain idea and back it up with statements that support the idea. Most frequently, you will be required to write your essay in a //five paragraph essay// format. As its name implies, a five paragraph essay consists of five paragraphs. However, the essay itself consists of three parts: an //introduction//, a //body//, and a //conclusion//.

Introduction
The first paragraph of a five paragraph essay is the introduction. You should begin this paragraph with a statement that captures the reader’s interest so that the reader will want to continue to read your entire essay. Make your first sentence as interesting as possible. Follow with several sentences that clarify your opening statement. Conclude the paragraph with a thesis statement in which you present what you believe and intend to prove. A good //thesis statement// takes a stand and is very specific.

Body
The body of a five paragraph essay consists of three paragraphs. Each paragraph should be limited to one main idea that supports your thesis statement. The //first paragraph of the body// should contain your strongest argument in support of your thesis. Begin this paragraph by stating your idea. Then follow with two or three sentences containing supporting evidence or examples. Conclude this paragraph with a sentence that sums up what you discussed in the paragraph. The //second paragraph of the body// should follow the same format as the first paragraph of the body. This paragraph should contain your second strongest argument in support of your thesis statement. The //third paragraph of the body// follows the same format, and contains your third strongest argument. In addition to summing up what you have discussed in the paragraph, the last sentence should also indicate that the paragraph contains the final argument you are raising.

Conclusion
The fifth and final paragraph of the essay contains the //conclusion//. This concluding paragraph should repeat your thesis statement in slightly different words than used in your introductory paragraph. It should summarize the three arguments you presented in the body of your essay. Your final sentence should signal that your essay has come to an end. In essence, your concluding paragraph should make it clear to the reader that you believe you have proven what you set out to prove.
 * Writing essays becomes increasingly important as you progress through school. Following the format presented above will help you write good essays.**

=Using Punctuation Marks= The use of punctuation marks can be very complex. Each punctuation mark can be used in many ways. Here are the punctuation marks that are most commonly used when writing and the most typical way or ways they are used. - Use a period at the end of a declarative sentence (a sentence which states an idea). "//That was a wonderful movie.//" - Use a period to end an abbreviation. "//I think that Mr. Williams is a great teacher.//" - Use a question mark at the end of an interrogative sentence (a sentence which asks a question). "//Did you like that movie?//" - Use a comma to separate three or more items in a series. "//My history class meets each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.//" - Use a comma to separate independent clauses in a sentence. "//We wanted to go to the beach, but it rained that day.//" - Use a comma after introductory words or phrases in a sentence. "//Certainly, I have my homework right here.//" - Use a comma to set off dates and addresses. "//My friend Jane, who was born June 18, 1992, lives in Akron, Ohio.//" - Use a semicolon when two independent clauses in a sentence are not separated by a conjunction (such as "and"). "//I like pizza; Carlos also likes pizza//" - Use a semicolon between independent clauses in a sentence that are separated by any of the following transitional words or phrases: accordingly, consequently, for example, for instance, furthermore, however, instead, moreover, nevertheless, otherwise, and therefore. "//I planned to study Saturday morning; however, the power in our house went out due to a storm.//" - Use a semicolon when the items in a series of items contain commas. "//I have lived in Los Angeles, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Trenton, New Jersey; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.//" - Use a colon before a list that is preceded by a complete independent clause. Some form of the word "follow" is often used in such a case. "//On our next vacation, we plan to visit the following countries: England, France, Italy, and Greece.//" - Use a colon to divide hours from minutes. "//I have an appointment with the doctor at 10:30 tomorrow morning.//" - Use an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence to show strong emotion. "//I am very upset with him!//" - Use an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence for emphasis. "//I have to go home right now!//" - Use an exclamation mark after an interjection at the start of a sentence (an interjection is a word used to express strong feeling or sudden emotion). "//Wow! That test was harder than I expected.//" - Use an apostrophe to indicate a missing letter or letters in a contraction. "//I don't think she will win the election.//" - Use an apostrophe plus the letter "s" to show possession. "//Please take good care of Brad's dog.//"
 * Punctuation** is the use of standard marks and signs in writing to separate words into sentences, clauses, and phrases in order to clarify meaning. The marks or signs are called **punctuation marks**. Punctuation marks are signals to readers. When you speak, you can pause, stop, or change your tone of voice to make your meaning clear. You cannot do this when you write. When writing, you must use punctuation marks such as commas and question marks to make your meaning clear.
 * Examples are provided for each.**
 * Period (.)**
 * Question Mark (?)**
 * Comma **
 * Semicolon **
 * Colon **
 * Exclamation Point (!) (sometimes called an Exclamation Mark)**
 * Apostrophe (')**
 * Use punctuation marks to make the meaning of what you write as clear as possible.**

=A Strategy for Reading Novels= A story is a fictitious tale that is written to entertain, amuse, or instruct the reader. A novel is the same as a story but it is longer and more complex. To understand a story or novel, you need to understand the six elements used by authors when they write a story or novel. Characters are the first element to look for when reading a story or novel. Characters are most often people but can be animals or even fictionalized beings like those seen in cartoons or movies. The main character plays the biggest role and is often the first character to be introduced. Most often the story is seen through the eyes of the main character. Secondary characters play a smaller supporting role and are introduced throughout the story. The setting is the second element you should look for when reading a story or novel. The setting is the location where the story takes place. A story may take place in a home, countryside, town, school, or wherever the author chooses to have the action occur. The setting is usually revealed very early in a story. The time when the story takes place is the third element you should look for when reading a story or novel. A story may take place very recently or many years ago. Usually the time when the story takes place is introduced very early in the story. The problem is the fourth element you should look for in a story or novel. The problem most often grows out of a conflict between the main character and another character in the story. But the problem can also involve a circumstance such as a hurricane, a war, or one of the many obstacles that produce a conflict in life. Events are the fifth element you should look for when reading a story or novel. An event is an attempt at solving the problem in the story. In a story there are usually a number of attempts to solve the problem and these events make up most of the story. A solution is the sixth and final element in a story or novel. The solution is how the problem is resolved or brought to an end. Most often the solution is revealed near the end of the story. Sometimes the solution is not revealed until the very last page or even the final paragraph of the story. Recognizing these story elements will help you better understand and enjoy a story, remember the story facts, and appreciate different writing styles used by authors.
 * Characters**
 * Setting**
 * Time**
 * Problem**
 * Events**
 * Solution**

SEVEN Steps to Take When Building Your Vocabulary
Building your vocabulary takes time and effort. We have studied many programs created to enhance vocabulary, and from our studies, we have come up with seven important steps you need to take when building your vocabulary.

**Step 1: Read, read, read**
The more reading you do, the faster you will reach your goal of building your vocabulary. You can read books, or [|websites on how to build vocabulary]. Each time you run into a new word while reading, remember to write it down so you can learn its meaning later.

**Step 2: Repeat words several times**
Saying a word several times a day for many days is a surefire way of making you remember it. We will be teaching you tips on how to make repeating words even more effective.

**Step 3: Look at words with the mind of a child**
Young children learn words very quickly. Children under 10 years can actually learn more words in one week than the typical adult can learn in one year. Find out how you can approach vocabulary-building like a child.

**Step 4: Have fun by playing word games**
The next time you hang around with your family, instead of just sitting on the couch and watching TV, invite them to play word games. This is a great tool for building your vocabulary, and it's loads of fun as well.

**Step 5: Make it personal**
Making words personally meaningful to you will make them stand out, and you will retain them better. There are many ways to add personal meaning to words, and we will show you examples.

**Step 6: Use your imagination to create images of the word**
This technique is used most often for concrete rather than abstract objects. Just use your imagination to create a corresponding image for the words that you are studying.

**Step 7: Practice using elaboration**
Elaboration is a technique a lot of people use to remember words. It involves expounding on a word's meaning to remember it better. Once you get the hang of it, eminent psychologists suggest that a 670% recall of new words is possible.

=Make it personal=

Making words personally meaningful to you will make them stand out, and you will be able to retain them better...

Making words personally meaningful to you will make them stand out, and you will be able to retain them better. There are several ways to add personal meaning to words, and all of them effectively contribute to building your vocabulary. One of the easiest ways to make a word personally meaningful is by association with familiar things, people, or events. For example, you might remember the word "emaciated", which means very thin and wasted away, better by remembering your recent trip to Africa where you volunteered to help sick and emaciated children. You could also use rhymes or other kinds of word play to help you enhance your word retention. For instance, a "carillon" is a set of bells used to play a melody. You could recall that during the holiday season, they played carols on the carillon in town. Or when you are learning the word "terse", meaning short and to the point, you could make a sentence like this: Towards end of a long shift, the tired nurse made terse comments as she looked for her purse. There are many ways to add personal relevance to a word. You just have to be creative in building your vocabulary. Vocabulary building programs such as our top pick, [|Ultimate Vocabulary], encourage you to add personal meaning to words. [|Ultimate Vocabulary] provides you with as many as 10 sample sentences for every word. You can get ideas from these examples for creating your own.

=Spelling Long Words: The Syllable-Building Strategy= A //long word// is a word that has more than one syllable (i.e., multisyllabic). A syllable is a word or part of a word that is spoken with a single sound of the voice. Using the //Syllable-Building Strategy// will help you spell long words such as **democratic**. Here is how a student named William used the steps in the Syllable-Building Strategy to learn to spell **democratic**. He came across this word while reading his social studies textbook. > > > > William then covered what he had written and wrote the first syllable of democratic from memory. Here is what he wrote. > > He looked to see if he had spelled the first syllable correctly and found that he had. William then wrote the first two syllables of **democratic** together three times. He pronounced the two syllables together as he wrote them. Here is what he wrote. > > > > He covered what he had written and wrote the first two syllables from memory. Here is what he wrote. > > William then looked to see if he had spelled the first two syllables correctly and found that he had not. Therefore, he once again wrote the first two syllables of **democratic** three times, pronouncing them as he did so. Here is what he wrote. > > > > William covered what he had written and wrote the first two syllables from memory. Here is what he wrote. > > He looked to see if he had spelled the first two syllables correctly and found that he had. > William continued this procedure for the first three syllables of **democratic** and then for the entire word. Using the //Syllable-Building Strategy// will make you a better [|speller].
 * **Step 1.** William carefully copied the word into his notebook. He checked what he wrote to be sure that he had spelled the word correctly. Here is what he wrote.
 * **Step 2.** William then located the word **democratic** in his dictionary.
 * **Step 3.** William used the phonetic respelling of **democratic** in the dictionary to help him pronounce the word. William knew that if he could still not pronounce democratic, he could ask his teacher for help.
 * **Step 4.** From the dictionary, William learned that **democratic** was a four-syllable word. William wrote **democratic** leaving a space between each syllable. Here is what he wrote.
 * **Step 5.** William wrote the first syllable of **democratic** three times. He pronounced this syllable each time he wrote it. Here is what he wrote.
 * **Step 6.** Once William had correctly spelled the entire word from memory, he wrote **democratic** on his personal spelling list. He wrote both the entire word and the word broken into syllables.
 * **Step 7.** William periodically reviewed the spelling of democratic using the following Spell and Say Review Procedure:
 * 1) He pronounced democratic aloud.
 * 2) He pronounced and spelled aloud each syllable.
 * 3) He spelled the entire word aloud.
 * 4) He wrote democratic three times.

=Confusing Pairs of Words= Many pairs of words sound alike or nearly alike, but each has a different meaning. For example, **affect** means to influence something, while **effect** means the result of something. Words like these can be easily confused with each other. You must be careful to use the correct word from a pair of such confusing words when you are writing and speaking. If not, you may express something different than what you mean to express. For example, suppose you are writing about the importance of a good marriage. You write that //martial// bliss is a wonderful thing. The word **martial** refers to war. You should have written that //marital// bliss is a wonderful thing. The word **marital** refers to marriage. You wouldn't want to embarrass yourself by addressing a letter to the administrator of your school as "Dear **Principle**." The word principle means a fundamental truth. You should write "Dear **Principal**." The word principal refers to the head of a school. Here are some word pairs that are commonly confused. Learn the meanings of each of the words so that you use them correctly.
 * Accept** - to take something that is given to you
 * Except** - to leave out
 * Altar** - a raised place used in religious services
 * Alter** - to change
 * Ascent** - to climb
 * Assent** - to agree
 * Brake** - a device for stopping or slowing a vehicle
 * Break** - to come apart
 * Cite** - to document
 * Site** - a place
 * Coarse** - rough
 * Course** - moving from one point to the next
 * Complement** - something that makes a thing whole or perfect
 * Compliment** - to praise
 * Conscience** - a sense of right and wrong
 * Conscious** - state of being awake
 * Descent** - coming from a higher place to a lower one
 * Dissent** - to disagree
 * Desert** - a dry, hot, sandy area
 * Dessert** - the sweet final part of a meal
 * Device** - something made for a certain purpose
 * Devise** - to invent something or develop a plan
 * Elicit** - to bring out
 * Illicit** - illegal
 * Eminent** - famous or well respected
 * Imminent** - about to happen
 * Faint** - weak
 * Feint** - a movement meant to deceive
 * Forth** - forward
 * Fourth** - an ordinal number
 * Here** - at or in a place
 * Hear** - to receive sound through one's ears
 * Hoard** - to save and store away
 * Horde** - a very large group
 * Hole** - an opening through something
 * Whole** - an entire thing
 * Loath** - reluctant
 * Loathe** - greatly dislike
 * Palate** - the roof of the mouth
 * Palette** - an artist's board for mixing paints
 * Peace** - absence of fighting
 * Piece** - a portion of something
 * Plain** - clearly seen, heard, or understood
 * Plane** - a flat surface
 * Pore** - a very small opening in the skin
 * Pour** - to cause something to flow
 * Precede** - to come before
 * Proceed** - to go forward
 * Shear** - to cut the wool off a sheep
 * Sheer** - so thin you can see through it
 * Stationary** - to stand still
 * Stationery** - writing paper
 * Waist** - the part of the human body between the ribs and the hips
 * Waste** - to use or spend carelessly
 * Weak** - without strength
 * Week** - a period of seven days
 * Don't be CONFUSED! Learn the meanings of these words to use them correctly.**