- •Guessing and explaining meaning of words.
- •Inferring meaning from context
- •Structure
- •Explaining unknown words
- •Exercises
- •1) Look at the following text. Before you read it, see if you know what the underlined words
- •Borrowings and international words
- •Exercises
- •Which of the words listed above are also used in your language?
- •3) Match the adjectives on the left with the noun they arc most likely to be associated with, on the right.
- •8) Read the following text. Copy out the international words. State to what sphere of human activity they belong.
- •Affixation. Prefixes.
- •Exercises
- •3. Use the word in brackets to complete the sentences. Add the necessary prefix and put the word in the correct form.
- •4. Using the table at the previous page construct words or phrases to replace the underlined words.
- •IV) Affixation. Suffixes.
- •Exercises
- •Each picture is of an object ending in -er. Can you name them?
- •List six jobs you would like to have in order of preference. How many different suffixes are there in your list? Do any of the job names not have a suffix? (e.G. Pilot, film star)
- •Which word is the odd one out in each group and why?
- •V) Conversion
- •VI) Compounding
- •Exercises
- •4. List as many compound adjectives beginning with self, as you can. Mark them p or n for positive or negative characteristics, or write neutral.
- •7. Which of the adjectives from this unit could you use to describe yourself or your friends members of your family?
- •1. The sentences given below contain synonyms. Write them out in groups and explain the difference where the words are familiar.
- •2. Give as many synonyms for the italicized words in the following jokes as you can. If you do not know any of them consult the dictionaries.
- •X) Homonymy
- •1. Each underlined word rhymes with, or sounds similar to, one of the words in brackets; choose the matching word.
- •4. Find the homonyms in the following extracts. Classify them into homonyms proper, homographs and homophones.
- •XI) Types of idioms. Proverbs.
- •2. Complete these idioms using the following prepositions: in, under, on, out, in, from, at. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •3. Rewrite each of these sentences using one of the idioms from exercise 2.
- •4. Read the following text. Compile a list of the phraseological units used in it. Classify them according to Academician Vinogradov's classification system for phraseological units.
- •1. Point out two-member sentences (say whether they are complete or elliptical) and one member sentences.
- •1. Point out the subject and say by what it is expressed. Translate into Russian.
- •State the nature of it. Translate into Russian.
- •1. Point out the kind of object and say by what it is expressed. Translate into Russian.
- •2. Point out the Complex Object and say by what it is expressed. Translate into Russian.
- •1. Point out the kind of adverbial modifier, and state by what it is expressed. Translate into Russian
- •2. Define the kinds of subordinate clauses (subject, object and predicative clauses). Translate into Russian.
- •3. Define the function of the following individual neologisms.
- •3. Differentiate professional and social jargonisms; classify them according to the narrow sphere of usage, suggest a terminological equivalent where possible.
- •1. State the type of relations existing between the object named and the object implied in the following examples of metonymy.
- •Repetition
- •1. Classify the following cases of repetition according to the position occupied by the repeated unit. State their functions.
- •1. Indicate the causes and effects of the following cases of alliteration.
- •2. State the part of speech, through which onomatopoeia is expressed, and its function.
Exercises
1. Write the opposites of the words underlined. Not all the words you need are in the additional material above.
Example: He's a very honest man.dishonest
1 I'm sure she's discreet. 6 He's very efficient.
2 I always find him very sensitive. 7 I always find her responsible.
3 It's a convincing argument. 8 He seems grateful for our help.
4 That's a very relevant point. 9 I'm sure she's loyal to the firm.
5 She's always obedient. 10 He's a tolerant person.
2. Which negative adjective fits each of the following definitions?
…… means not having a husband or wife.
…… means impossible to eat.
…… means unable to read or write.
…… means not having a job.
…… means fair in giving judgement, not favouring one side.
…… means unable to be replaced.
3. Use the word in brackets to complete the sentences. Add the necessary prefix and put the word in the correct form.
Example: The runner was .disqualified.. after a blood test. (QUALIFY)
Children (and adults) love parcels at Christmas time. (WRAP)
I almost always find that I with his opinion. (AGREE)
I'm sure he's lying but it's going to be hard to …..his story. (PROVE)
After a brief speech the Queen the new statue. (VEIL)
It took the removal men an hour our things from the van. (LOAD)
His phone was because he didn't pay his last bill. (CONNECT)
3. Answer the following questions. The answers are all in the table opposite.
What kind of oven cooks things particularly fast?
What kind of drug can help somebody with an infection?
What kind of company has branches in many countries?
How does a passenger aeroplane normally fly?
What is a student who is studying for a second degree?
What means 'underground railway' in the US and 'underground passage' in the UK?
4. Using the table at the previous page construct words or phrases to replace the underlined words.
Example: He's in favour of the American approach…. He is pro-American
The BBC tries to avoid pronouncing foreign words incorrectly.
Most people say they have to work too hard but are paid too little.
He dated his cheque with a date that was later than the real date.
She's still on good terms with the man who used to be her husband.
He made so many mistakes in the letter that he had to write it again.
IV) Affixation. Suffixes.
Additioanal material.
Common noun suffixes
-er is used for the person who does an activity, e.g. writer, painter, worker, shopper, teacher.
You can use -er with a wide range of verbs to make them into nouns. Sometimes the -er suffix is written as -or . It is worth making a special list of these as you meet them, e.g. actor, operator, sailor, supervisor. -er/-or are also used for things which do a particular job, e.g. pencil-sharpener, bottle-opener, grater, projector.
-er and -ее can contrast with each other meaning 'person who does something' (-er) and 'person who receives or experiences the action' (-ее) employer/employee, sender/addressee, payee (e.g. of a cheque).
-(t)ion/-sion/-ion are used to form nouns from verbs, e.g. complication pollution reduction alteration donation promotion admission.
-ist [a person] and -ism [an activity or ideology]: used for people's politics, beliefs and ideologies, and sometimes their profession (compare with -er/-or professions above), e.g. Buddhism, journalism, Marxist, typist, physicist, terrorist, -ist is also often used for people who play musical instruments, e.g. pianist, violinist, cellist.
-ness is used to make nouns from adjectives: goodness, readiness, forgetfulness, happiness, sadness, weakness. Note what happens to adjectives that end in -y.
Adjective suffixes
-able/-ible with verbs, means 'can be done':
drinkable washable readable forgivable edible [can be eaten] flexible [can be bent]
Verbs
-ise (or -ize) forms verbs from adjectives, e.g. modernise [make modern], commercialise, industrialise.
Other suffixes that can help you recognise the word-class
-ment: (nouns) excitement enjoyment replacement
-ity: (nouns) flexibility productivity scarcity
-hood: (abstract nouns especially family terms) childhood motherhood
-ive: (adjectives) passive productive active
-al (adjectives) brutal legal (nouns) refusal arrival
-ous: (adjectives) delicious outrageous furious
-ful: (adjectives) forgetful hopeful useful
-less: (adjectives) useless harmless homeless
-ify: (verbs) beautify purify terrify