Synonyms and Antonyms

Synonym

A synonym is a word that means exactly the same as, or very nearly the same as, another word in the same language. For example, "close" is a synonym of "shut".

 

Note that a synonym may share an identical meaning with another word, but the two words are not necessarily interchangeable. For example, "blow up" and "explode" have the same meaning, but "blow up" is informal (used more in speech) and "explode" is more formal (used more in writing and careful speech).

Here are some examples of synonyms:

synonyms
close	shut
blow up	explode
blow up	inflate
shallow	superficial
eager	earnest	keen
spontaneous	impromptu	unplanned

Antonym

An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word. For example "bad" is an antonym of "good". Here are some more examples:

prefix	antonyms		part of speech
	good	bad	adjective
	small	big	adjective
	easy	hard difficult	adjective
	soft	hard	adjective
	male	female	adjective noun
	up	down	preposition adverb
	go	come	verb
made by adding prefix un-	able	unable	adjective
	selfish	unselfish	adjective
	do	undo	verb
made by adding prefix in-	decent	indecent	adjective
	tolerant	intolerant	adjective
	human	inhuman	adjective
made by adding prefix non-	conformist	nonconformist	adjective noun
	essential	nonessential	adjective noun
	sense	nonsense	noun

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Dictionary or Thesaurus?

What's the difference between a dictionary and a thesaurus? When do we use a dictionary and when do we use a thesaurus?

Dictionary

A dictionary tells you what a word means. It gives you a "definition" for each word. When you want to know what a word means, you look in a dictionary.
A dictionary lists definitions or meanings.

Thesaurus

A thesaurus gives you words that mean the same as, or nearly the same as, another word. When you can't find the exact word you want, you look in a thesaurus.
A thesaurus lists synonyms and similar words.
The plural of "thesaurus" is "thesauri" or "thesauruses".

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English Phonetic Spelling

Sometimes wrongly called the
International Phonetic Alphabet

When speaking on the telephone, it is sometimes useful to spell a word using English Phonetic Spelling. To spell "Club", for example, you would say: "C for Charlie, L for Lima, U for Uniform, B for Bravo."

It is very easy to learn English Phonetic Spelling. Start by spelling your name, then your company or address. Soon, you will know the whole alphabet. It also helps to remember that there are several groups of words that go together:

• Dances: Foxtrot, Tango
• Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet
• Men's first names: Charlie, Mike, Oscar, Victor
• Cities: Lima, Quebec

A Alpha B Bravo C Charlie D Delta E Echo F Foxtrot G Golf H Hotel I India J Juliet K Kilo L Lima M Mike

N November O Oscar P Papa Q Quebec R Romeo S Sierra T Tango U Uniform V Victor W Whisky X X-ray Y Yankee Z Zulu

According to the International Phonetic Association, the above list is sometimes wrongly called the "International Phonetic Alphabet".

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English Alphabet

The English Alphabet has 26 letters. In alphabetical order, they are:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Five of the letters are "vowels". Twenty-one are "consonants":

5 vowels

a

e

i

o

u

21 consonants

b

c

d

f

g

h

j

k

l

m

n

p

q

r

s

t

v

w

x

y

z

 

Each letter may be written as a "large letter" (capital) or "small letter".

Capital letter	Small letter
A	a
B	b
C	c
D	d
E	e
F	f
G	g
H	h
I	i
J	j
K	k
L	l
M	m
N	n
O	o
P	p
Q	q
R	r
S	s
T	t
U	u
V	v
W	w
X	x
Y	y
Z	z

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