UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL RURAL DE PERNAMBUCO

UNIDADE ACADEMICA DE SERRA

TALHADA CURSO DE LICENCIATURA EM
LETRAS
ENGLISH III
SEMANTICS

Below are five pairs of sentences. In each pair the first sentence is true.
1. If the first is true, must the second also be true? Yes, it’s only another way to see the
truth of the first.
2. Or if the first is true, must the second be false ? No, it’s a way to see the ambiguity of the
first sentence.
3. The truth of the first is irrelevant for the truth of the second?

1a Rose is married to
Tom. 1b Rose is Tom’s
wife.
2a David is an unmarried adult male.
2b David is a bachelor.
3a This knife is too dull to cut the rope.
3b This knife isn’t sharp enough to cut the rope.
4a Victoria likes to sing.
4b Victoria doesn’t sing.
5a Harold has been here for an
hour. 5b Harold is tired of waiting.

Identify the ambiguity in the sentences. Follow the model.

Ex. He should bring beer or wine and pudding.

Bring beer and pudding or wine and pudding/ bring beer or bring wine and pudding

Call me a taxi
-I want to be called by taxi/ Call a taxi for me.
The stranger assisted the dog bite victim.
-The stranger assisted the victim of the dog
bite/ The stranger assisted the dog to bite the
victim
He saw a person on a hill with a telescope.
He was on a hill with a telescope and saw a
person/ He saw a person with a telescope on
a hill.
Look at the dog with one eye.
Look at the dog that has just one eye/ Look
with one eye at the dog.
 UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL RURAL DE PERNAMBUCO
UNIDADE ACADEMICA DE SERRA
TALHADA CURSO DE LICENCIATURA EM
Sarah gave a bath to her dog wearing a pink t-shirt.
LETRAS
Sarah was wearing a pink t-shirt and gave bath to her
dog/ Sarah’s dog was wearing a pink t-shirt and she
gave bath to it.
Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
The number of local high school students who
dropout has decreased by half/ Llocal high
school dropouts have been physically cut in
half
 UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL RURAL DE PERNAMBUCO
UNIDADE ACADEMICA DE SERRA
TALHADA CURSO DE LICENCIATURA EM
LETRAS
Read the definition and match the examples to the appropriate meaning.

Clear
adjective, clear·er, clear·est.
1 free from darkness, obscurity, or cloudiness; light:
2 transparent; pellucid:

a) a clear sky - 1
b) a clear stream -2
c) a clear speech -2

Now, give a synonym for each “clear” and see if that synonym works for the other examples.

a) a clear sky – a cloudless sky

b) a clear stream- a transparent stream
c) a clear speech- a coherent speech
Select the correct synonym for the word.

Cheap Simple
? Poor x Easy
? Costly ? Fast
? Pricey ? Nice
x Inexpensive ? Heavy
Right Terrible
? Soft ? Sweet
? Easy ? Incredible
? Old ? Strange
x Correct x Horrible
Super Child
? Mean x Kid
? Rainy ? Man
? Good ? Woman
x Great ? Person
 UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL RURAL DE PERNAMBUCO
UNIDADE ACADEMICA DE SERRA
TALHADA CURSO DE LICENCIATURA EM
LETRAS
Select the correct synonym.

1. The word X can be a synonym for 2. The word X can be a synonym for
the words "light" and "just". the words "new" and "story".

blond ? film
x. fair ? book
honest x novel

3. The word X can be a synonym for the 5. The word X can be a synonym for the
words "exhausted" and "hit". words "floor" and "tale".

x beat ? basis
? knock ? end
? tired x story

8. The word X can be an antonym for 10. The word X can be an antonym for
the words "wrong" and "left". the words "heavy" and "dark".

? correct x light
x. right ? night
? true ? weight

Choose the correct answer.

Q1 - 'Big' and 'small' are... Q8 - 'Fantastic' and 'awful' are...
antonyms antonyms
. .
synonyms. synonyms.
Q2 - 'Big' and 'large' are... Q9 - 'Dry' and 'wet' are...
antonyms. antonyms
synonyms .
. synonyms.
Q3 - 'Black' and 'white' are... Q10 - 'Cheap' and 'costly' are...
antonyms antonyms
. .
synonyms. synonyms.
 UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL RURAL DE PERNAMBUCO
UNIDADE ACADEMICA DE SERRA
TALHADA CURSO DE LICENCIATURA EM
LETRAS

Q4 - 'Huge' and 'vast' are... Q11 - 'Expensive' and 'costly' are...

antonyms. antonyms.
synonyms synonyms
. .
Q5 - 'Huge' and 'tiny' are... Q12 - 'Sad' and 'miserable' are...
antonyms antonyms.
. synonyms
synonyms. .
Q6 - 'Dark' and 'light' are... Q13 - 'Sad' and 'happy' are...
antonyms antonyms
. .
synonyms. synonyms.
Q7 - 'Fantastic' and 'wonderful' are... Q14 - 'Terrific' and 'terrible' are...
antonyms. antonyms
synonyms .
. synonyms.

Give an antonym for the adjective in each of the following collocations:

a light package- a heavy package a light color- a dark color
a tall building- a small building low prices – high prices
low heels- high heels a hard problem – a easy problem
a hard chair- a soft chair

Give examples of words that belong to the following lexical fields

verbs of cooking-
cook/grill/mix/boil/fry.

Containers-
bag/Receptacle/Vessel/Box/bottle.
 UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL RURAL DE PERNAMBUCO
UNIDADE ACADEMICA DE SERRA
TALHADA CURSO DE LICENCIATURA EM
LETRAS
verbs of-
judging
acknowledge
decry/
moralize/
affirm.

spatial terms-Across/Above/Behind/Next to

temporal words- before/meanwhile/once/ yesterday/ during