How to build your vocabulary

How can I learn new words? It seems impossible – there are so many. I want a manageable system to help me build my vocabulary – nothing unrealistic or trendy, simply a few tips to help me learn easily.
Word attack skills
The easiest way to extend your vocabulary is to improve your word attack skills. In English, we often use prefixes (letters added to the beginning of a word) and suffixes (letters added to the end of a word) to change or add to the word’s meaning. In this way, we create a word family.
Word attack skills involve looking for the stem (or root) of the word – the part which never changes – then working out how the prefix or suffix has changed the meaning.
Prefixes
These often give a word a negative or opposite meaning. Look at the adjectives below.

impossible	illegal	untidy	incomplete	imprecise	illiterate
	unreal	irrational	immovable	irrelevant

Can you notice a pattern in how we use these prefixes?
Prefixes: The prefixes attached to many adjectives to give them an opposite meaning depend on the first letter of the adjective. So, in many cases:
adjectives beginning with m or p take the prefix imadjectives beginning with the letter l take the prefix ilsome adjectives beginning with the letter r take the prefix ir-
Un and in: These can be quite confusing. However, as a general rule, longer
adjectives (which come from Latin) take in- and shorter adjectives take un-.
Suffixes
Different suffixes can give words different meanings. Look at the passage below. Can you identify what the suffixes -able, -y and -ish mean? What type of word do we add each suffix to – noun, verb or adjective?
I love listening to This blog Service.The programmes are usually shortish – between 15 and 30 minutes, and always understandable.The news is very reliable and the music programmes are good for trendy, youngish people. It’s always easy to find something to listen to because World Service broadcasts on so many frequencies.
Suffixes have very specific meanings:

-able is added to the end of verbs to make adjectives which show that something can be done, e.g. a book can be very readable, or a song singable.

-ish is added to short adjectives to show that something has some of the properties of the adjective, e.g. someone who is 19 years old can be described
as twentyish, or youngish.

-y is added to nouns to make adjectives: tea with milk is milky tea; if you can do a task with ease it is easy.
Learning tasks
1. Link the words below to the appropriate prefix: im-, il-, ir-, un-, in-
convenient legible replaceable known passable
Complete the following sentence with one of the words with its prefix from exercise 1.
a) My brother’s handwriting is terrible. It’s so_____________________that his teacher refused to mark his English composition!
b) Many mountain roads are_____________________in winter because they are blocked by snow.
c) Anna was very upset when she lost her necklace because she will never find another one like it. It is_____________________.
d) ‘Is this an_____________________time to call you?’ ‘Not at all. I’m not busy at the moment.’
e) This poem was written by an_____________________poet. I wish I knew who he was!

2. Add a suffix to the words in brackets below to complete the sentences. Choose -y, -ish or -able.
a) The weather in London is very (rain) in winter so the streets are often wet.
b) I love food which is hot and (spice).
c) I bought my radio six months ago, so it is (new).
d) It was sunny this morning, but then it went (cloud) and now it’s raining!
Learning task answers
1. a) illegible b) impassable c) irreplaceable d) inconvenient e) unknown
2. a) rainy b) spicy c) newish d) cloudy

How to make useful phrases

I like to make the most of the programmes I hear on the radio.Whenever I switch on This blog Service, I have a pen and paper so I can take notes and remember the new words I hear. Last year, I used the notes to study when I had English exams – they were really useful!
Recognising collocations
There are many groups of words – or phrases – in English which seem to have no rules about how they are formed. Certain words – for example adjectives and nouns, or verbs and nouns, simply ‘go together’. These groups of words are called collocations and by learning to recognise and use collocations you can make your English much richer.
Verb and noun collocations
Do we use do, have or make with the following nouns? Put the words below into the correct circle but remember, some of these nouns can take two different verbs.

your homework	an examination	the housework	dinner	a walk
some exercise	your bed	a mess	troubler	the washing-up
some tea	a bath	a test	a decision	the cleaning

Can you see a useful ‘pattern’ to help you remember these collocations?

Do your homework, an examination, the housework, some exercise, the washing up, the cleaning ‘Do’ often goes with tasks which are considered boring or which are done every day.
Have an examination, dinner, a walk, some exercise, some tea, a bath, a test ‘Have’ often goes with things which are given to us, or which we take because they we enjoy them.
Make dinner, your bed, a mess, trouble, some tea, a decision ‘Make’ is often used for things we create (e.g. dinner) or things which involve mental effort (e.g. a decision).
Adjective & noun collocations
In this passage, underline all of the adjectives associated with food.
I went on holiday last week and I forgot to clean my fridge.When I got home, the milk had gone sour and the eggs were rotten. I also found some week-old bread which was stale, of course.
And the fish… Everything had gone off.
What do these adjectives have in common?
All of the adjectives in this passage refer to food when it has gone bad – or, with dairy food, ‘gone off ’. However, we cannot speak about rotten bread or sour eggs. Each adjective can be used with only a restricted range of food:
Rotten:eggs, fish
Stale: bread, biscuits
Sour: milk, cream
When learning new adjectives, take care to learn which nouns they go with.
Learning tip: When you are learning new vocabulary, always check to see if the words you are learning ‘go with’ – or collocate with – other words.Try to identify patterns in collocations to help you remember phrases rather than single words.To do this, group vocabulary by subject, or by nouns which share the same adjective. For example, we know that someone who smokes a lot is a heavy smoker but did you know that we can also have heavy drinkers?
Learning tasks

1. Complete the dialogues below with do, have, or make.
   a) ‘Have you_____________dinner yet?’ ‘No. What would you like to eat?’
   b) ‘Have you_____________the washing up?’ ‘Not yet.’
   c) ‘Would you like to go to the cinema this evening?’ ‘I can’t. I_____________an exam tomorrow.’
   d) ‘Can you_____________this exercise?’ ‘Yes, but it’s a bit difficult!’
   Weather collocations
2. Complete the text using the adjectives below. Some adjectives can be used more than once.
   thick light heavy
   This evening, we will have a)_________rain in the east, but only b)_________showers in the south and west. Tomorrow morning will start with c)_________cloud everywhere, except in the north where it will be sunny. Expect d)_________snow over the weekend and e)_________fog at the coast.

Learning task answers
1. a) made b) done c) have d) do
2. a) heavy b) light c) thick d) heavy e) thick

How to use past tenses correctly

One day, I was listening to the radio when I heard a letter being read out. It was from a penfriend of mine and she had written in to the blog to ask a question about English grammar. I was so surprised! That’s what I like about the World Service – it brings people closer together through learning English.
Using past tenses
When we talk about the past – for example, when we are telling anecdotes or stories – we use a collection of tenses known as narrative tenses. In this group, we find the past simple tense, the past continuous (or progressive) tense, and the past perfect. In order to use them accurately, we must recognise the function of each tense within the story or narrative.
Identifying tenses
Read the passage below and identify the tense of each. It was raining (a) heavily when Jim arrived (b) home. He had been working (c) late and had missed (d) the last bus. Exhausted, he decided (e) to call a taxi to take him home. He waited (f) and waited but the taxi never arrived (g). So he decided (h) to walk. It was a dark evening but the street lamps were shining (i) brightly. He began (j) the long walk home.
Which tense(s) ...
a) is used to give the main events of the story?
b) is used to describe the background details but not the important actions?
c) are used to give information about actions which happened before the main events of the story took place?
Identifying tenses
Past continuous: a, i
Past simple: b, e, f, g, h, j
Past perfect simple: d
Past perfect continuous c
Which tense(s)?
Usually, the tenses are used to order information in a narrative in order of importance.
a) The past simple tense is used most frequently. It gives us the most important events in the story and moves the story forward.
b) The past continuous tense gives us background details. It describes what was happening around the time of the events in the story.
c) The past perfect simple and past perfect continuous both give information about things which happened before the main events of the story started.
Learning tip Take care not to overuse the past perfect tenses.These are used to emphasise that an action took place before the main events of a story.The past continuous tense can give lots of background detail – like the background in a picture – whilst the past simple tells the story, like the foreground of a picture.
Learning task
Put the following sentences in the correct order to make a story. The first one has been done for you.
The story begins:
It was a stormy afternoon. 3)...

1. ‘Are you OK?’ she whispered.
2. The phone rang and rang but nobody answered it.
3. The thunder was crashing and the wind was howling through the trees.
4. When he woke up, he was in hospital and his wife was standing beside his bed.
5. When he arrived at the station, he phoned his wife to ask her to meet him there.
6. He turned around but couldn’t see anybody. Suddenly, he heard a voice.
7. Professor Brown groaned, then fell to the ground.
8. He decided to walk home in the rain.
9. Professor Brown finished work at five o’clock and took the 5.30 train home.
10. The man took his briefcase, then hit Professor Brown very hard on the head.
11. While he was walking through the park, he thought he heard a scream.
12. Professor Brown was worried. His wife was usually home by 5.30.
13. A man snarled, ‘Hello Professor Brown. We have your wife. Give me your briefcase or you will never see her again.’
14. It sounded familiar. He was sure he had heard the voice before.
15. ‘I’m fine,’ he said, ‘but the men who have my briefcase aren’t. All there is inside is… .’

What do YOU think was inside the briefcase?

Answers
3), 9), 5), 2), 12), 8), 11), 6), 14), 13), 10), 4), 1), 15)

How to use future forms correctly

I’d like to have a job which involves using English. I’m going to university next year to study English, and after that I might try to get a job in a company which works with people abroad. In the meantime, I’ll continue to listen to This blog Service to improve my listening skills.
The forms of ‘the future’
We use many different forms to talk about the future in English. Surprisingly, the word ‘will’ is not used as often as you might think when you talk about future plans and intentions – and the word ‘shall’ is almost never heard in this context.
Talking about future plans
Read the passage below and try to answer these questions:
When and why do we use the present continuous (be + -ing)?
When and why do we use be + going to + infinitive?
When and why do we use might?
I’m going to have a really good weekend this weekend. First of all, I’m going to finish reading a wonderful book which I started last week – I really can’t wait to get to the end of the story. Then, on Saturday, I’m meeting an old friend and we’re going to a new art exhibition. I don’t know about Sunday yet. I might go to the cinema but I’m not sure what’s on. But, in the evening, I’m definitely going to listen to This blog Service!
Present continuous: meeting an old friend / going to a new art exhibition. These events have been arranged by the speaker and involve another person. Often when we talk about future arrangements we use this tense.
be + going to + infinitive: I’m going to have a good weekend / going to finish reading my book / going to listen to BBC World Service. These are plans which the speaker has made for the weekend. Often when we talk about plans made before the moment of speaking.
might + infinitive: I might go to the cinema …
When you haven’t decided what to do before you begin to speak, it is usual to use ‘might’. This shows that we are undecided.
Learning tip Using will a lot in spoken English can make you sound over-formal. When speaking with friends about plans for the future – whether it’s very soon or not – we more often use be + going to + infinitive.
Learning task
Complete the task below the verb in the correct future form. Use present continuous, be + going to + infinitive or might + infinitive.

1. What ___________ (you / do) this evening?
   I don’t know. I ___________ (go) to the cinema.
2. What time ___________ (you / leave) for the airport this evening?
   About six o’clock. I ___________ (meet) Jim there at 7.00.
3. I ______________(make) dinner soon. What would you like to eat?
4. ___________ (you / listen) to the radio this evening?
5. Anna ___________ (come) for dinner tomorrow so I ___________ (cook) something special.

Answers

1. What are you doing / are you going to do this evening?
   I don’t know. I might go to the cinema.
2. What time are you leaving for the airport this evening?
   About six o’clock. I’m meeting Jim there at 7.00.
3. I’m going to make dinner soon. What would you like to eat?
4. Are you going to listen to the radio this evening?
5. Anna is coming for dinner tomorrow so I’m going to cook something special.

How to choose the correct preposition

I always listen to the radio in the evening before going to bed. I’m very interested in world affairs and love to hear about the way people live in other countries.
Choosing prepositions
Prepositions are the small words which you often hear between verbs and nouns. Prepositions are used to show the physical relationship between objects, or actions and objects. So, for example, we have prepositions of place and movement.
place e.g. The radio’s on the table under the window.
movement e.g. Go to the shops. / Go through the park.
However, there are two groups of words – time phrases and certain verbs and adjectives – which collocate with specific prepositions in a different way. This section will help you with these two groups.
Time phrases
Look at the following groups of time phrases. Match each group with the appropriate preposition.

A

the evening 1984 the 18th Century winter the morning the 1980s March

B

six o’clock New Year 5.40 night Christmas

C

Tuesday 16th March Monday 1st May Friday morning April 21st

D

last year yesterday next week two days ago

at / on / no preposition / in
Can you identify a pattern for the use of each preposition?
Use in with months, years, decades, centuries, seasons – and parts of the day (except for night).
Use at with times, and special times of the year. Also use at with ‘night’.
Use on with days and dates.
‘Time’ words such as next, last and ago, and words which fix a day in time (e.g. yesterday, tomorrow) do not take a preposition.
Dependent prepositions
Try to fill the gaps below with the appropriate preposition.
I enjoy studying and depend a) __________ This blog Service for English language programmes. I’m very interested b) __________ new technology and enjoy hearing c) _________ scientific developments around the world. Also, listening d) _________ the radio helps improve my English. At the moment, I’m concentrating e) _________ improving my grammar so that I can speak with fewer errors.
a) depend on, also rely on. Often verbs with similar or related meanings take the same preposition.
b) interested in
c) hear about. Also speak about (discuss). Remember that some words can take more than one preposition depending on the meaning you want to convey.
d) listen to
e) concentrate on. Also focus on.
Learning tip As with many points of English grammar there are no constant rules which can help you learn which preposition to use. However, you can help your learning if you ...

• a) make sure, when you are looking up a word in a dictionary, that you note which preposition follows it.
• group words according to the preposition they use.This can help you identify patterns which make remembering the correct prepositions easier.

Learning task
Answer the following questions in complete sentences, using the correct preposition.
e.g. When were you born? / I was born on ...

1. When is New Year’s Day?
2. When is the weather hottest?
3. When do people in Britain have decorated trees in their houses?
4. When did William Shakespeare live?
5. When did you last listen to This blog Service?
6. What time is your favourite programme on?

Answers

1. New Year’s Day is on January 1st.
2. The weather is hottest in summer.
3. People in Britain decorate trees at Christmas.
4. Shakespeare lived in the sixteenth century.
5. I last listened on ... at ... .
6. It’s on ... at ... .

How to use phrasal verbs

I find listening to the radio helps me pick up new vocabulary really easily.When the programme is finished I look up any words I can remember just to make sure I understand them – then I try them out on my friends to see if they can understand them.
Using phrasal verbs
A phrasal verbs (or multi-word verb) is a combination of a verb and one or two prepositions which, when they go together, create a new meaning for the verb. They are a common feature of everyday speech and, unfortunately, can be difficult to learn because a) there are so many and b) some phrasal verbs have more than one meaning. However, there are strategies which can help you.
Identifying phrasal verbs
Look at the following sentences. Remember the definition of phrasal verb above. Which of these sentences contains a phrasal verb?

• It was a lovely night.We looked up at the beautiful moonlit sky.
• John looked up when he heard his father come in.
• When I find a word I don’t know I look it up in my dictionary.

Can you think of another way of explaining the meaning of the phrasal verb ‘look up’?

Identifying phrasal verbs: To look up something means to search for information about it, usually in a book (for example, a dictionary or an encyclopaedia). In the other sentences, the word up shows us the direction in which people looked.

Working out the meaning of phrasal verbs
As with all new vocabulary, you can often deduce the meaning of a phrasal verb by looking at the context in which it is used. Try to replace the phrasal verbs in the passage with a verb from the list which has a similar meaning.
My alarm clock went off at five o’clock. I got up and put on my clothes. After a quick breakfast, I set off for work. It was going to be a long day!

arose - rang suddenly and loudly - dressed - began a journey

Try to read the passage with these verbs replacing the phrasal verbs. What difference do these verbs make to the tone of the passage?

Working out the meaning: Usually, to find the meaning of a phrasal verb we can try to substitute a more formal, longer verb with the same meaning. My alarm clock rang suddenly and loudly at five o’clock. I arose and dressed. After a quick breakfast, I began my journey to work. It was going to be a long day!
By using phrasal verbs instead of more formal verbs or phrases, we make the passage sound more conversational. The tone of the passage suits the topic.
Learning tip When learning phrasal verbs, try to learn groups which can go together to make a story. Learning lists of verbs which take the preposition ‘up’ or all of the prepositions which the verb ‘put’ can take can be effective as a revision exercise, but this may not help you remember the meaning. Creating a story using five or six phrasal verbs will help make the meaning more memorable.
Learning task
The following phrasal verbs are all connected with learning English. Match the halves of the sentences together.

1.	When I’m listening to the radio, I listen		a)	it out in conversation.
2.	I also pick		b)	over the vocabulary and grammar I’ve learnt.
3.	Every evening, I go		c)	out for new words and expressions.
4.	When I’ve learnt a new word I try		d)	up new words from listening to music.
5.	I always try to work		e)	on well in English.
6.	I’m really getting		f)	out the meaning of new words from the context they are in.

Now match the phrasal verbs above with the more formal verbs or phrases which mean the same (below).
a) pay attention
b) review
c) learn without studying
d) deduce
e) experiment with
f) make progress
Learning task answers
1. When I’m listening to the radio, I listen
c) out for new words and expressions.
2. I also pick
d) up new words from listening to music.
3. Every evening, I go
b) over the vocabulary and grammar I’ve learnt.
4. When I’ve learnt a new word I try
a) it out in conversation.
5. I always try to work
f) out the meaning of a word from the context.
6. I’m really getting
e) on well in English.
Now match the phrasal verbs above with the more formal verbs or phrases which mean the same (below).
a) pay attention ----------> to listen out (for) new words
b) review -----------------> to go over new vocabulary
c) learn without studying -> to pick up new words
d) deduce -----------------> to work out the meaning
e) experiment with --------> to try out the word
f) make progress ----------> to get on with English

How to compare and contrast things

Sometimes I find studying grammar difficult. It’s not as hard as speaking English, but I really find reading and learning vocabulary easier. I think I could be more efficient in the way I study. For example, I could set aside an hour a night to go over what I’ve been learning. But, if I do this in the evening I know it will be less effective because I’m tired.

Comparing and contrasting
When making comparisons in English, there are a few patterns which can help make what you describe more interesting. You may have learnt that, to make a comparison between two things, you should use the formula adjective + -er + than. However, this is only one way of showing the differences between two things or two ideas.

More or less?

Look at the passage at the top of the page. Complete the following sentences using the information from the passage.

Reading is easier than…

Studying early in the day is more effective than…

I could be more efficient than…

Complete the following ‘rules’ for making comparative adjectives:

1. Adjectives with one syllable (e.g. tall)…
2. Adjectives with three or more syllables (e.g. efficient)…
3. Adjectives preceded by ‘less’…
4. What happens to adjectives with two syllables (e.g. pretty, lovely)?

(Not) as ... as ...
Reading is not as difficult as speaking.

1. Which is easier – reading or speaking?
   My vocabulary is as good as my grammar.
2. Which is better – my vocabulary or my grammar?

Learning tip The ‘formulas’ for making comparisons given in the guidelines are easy to follow. But remember that some adjectives are irregular. Two good examples are the adjectives good and bad.

good               better               best
bad                 worse               worst

Keep a separate section in your vocabulary book for noting down irregular comparative adjectives. Also, remember that three-letter adjectives usually double the last letter when they make a comparative,

e.g. hot / hotter, wet / wetter, big / bigger

Learning task
Some of the sentences below have errors in them and some are correct. Find and correct the errors.

1. In winter, London is colder as Paris.
2. I don’t speak English as well than I write it.
3. Learning English alone is interesting but learning English by radio is more good.
4. It is better to listen to the radio in the evenings. The signal is clearer then.
5. Studying grammar is less difficult than learning vocabulary.
6. I’d like to visit Britain, but it is more expensive to travel there.
7. This exercise isn’t difficult as it seemed at the beginning.
8. My family enjoys listening to BBC World Service. It’s funner than our local radio stations.

1.