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Finding Meaning in Context
Finding Meaning in Context
Finding Meaning in Context
Introduction
How do you understand
every word when your
read something?
Dictionary? Of course.
But referring to a
dictionary can be tiring
especially when you
have too many words or
too many articles or
both to understand.
Finding Meaning
There are many ways one can determine the
meaning of words during reading activities.
Synonym
Antonym
Examples
Experience
Prefix /
Suffix
Root Word
Synonym
In a sentence, certain words are given together
with their synonyms.
E.g.
Fatigue may cause some work to be delayed. In
other words, tiredness may hinder or slower
down the process of completing certain works.
Fatigue
Tiredness
Antonym
Sometimes, instead of giving a synonym, a
writer may include an antonym of a word.
E.g.
The husband was in sorrow upon the death of his
familys cat. On the other hand, the wife seemed happy
as no more cats feces lying around.
Sorrow
Examples
Some words will be written together with their
examples.
E.g.
Accommodation such as a house, a hotel or an
apartment is vital when travelling to overseas.
Accommodation
A place to stay
(based on the
given examples)
Experience
You can also guess the meaning of certain words
based on your experience or general knowledge.
E.g.
The yellow and red rally have caused massive
traffic jams in certain parts in Kuala Lumpur.
Rally
Picket
Prefix/Suffix
Some English words are added with a prefix (a
letter/word that is added before a root word) or
a suffix (a letter/word that is added after a root
word).
We can break down these words into few
components like prefix/suffix and root word in
order to guess the meaning of the words.
E.g.
Prefix
Hyperactive
Hyper (Prefix) =
Over
Suffix
Biology
Prefix/Suffix
There are few websites that contain a list of
prefixed or suffixed English words.
You can google them!
Root Word
We can also guess the meaning of certain words
if we know the meaning of their root words.
E.g.
The word
Root Word
Independently
Independence
the word
independently is
related to
independence
beloved
love
Summary
In this topic, you have learned the
following:
How to guess meaning of words by using synonym,
antonym, examples, experience, prefix/suffix and
root word strategies.
How to find meaning of a word/words in a
text/examination
Content Developer
Eliyas S. Mohandas works
as an English Lecturer at
Universiti Teknologi MARA
(UiTM) Shah Alam. The
content of this chapter
was developed by him. He
can be contacted at the
following email:
eliyas9154@salam.uitm.edu.my