What is Vocabulary in Context?
To save time when reading, you should try to figure out the meanings of unfamiliar words. You can do so by looking at their context—the words surrounding them. Context clues help you figure out the meanings of unfamiliar words in your reading. There are four kinds of context clues:
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examples (marked by words like for example, for instance, including, and such as);
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synonyms (words that mean the same as unknown words);
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antonyms (words that mean the opposite of unknown words);
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general sense of the sentence (clues in the sentence or surrounding sentences about
Take a look at the following examples.
Examples
Nocturnal creatures, such as bats and owls, have highly developed senses that enable them to function in the dark. Nocturnal means:
a. feathery. b. living. c. active at night.
clue: "such as" indicates the use of an example. What bats and owls have in common is that they are active at night.
Synonyms
Fresh garlic may not enhance the breath, but it certainly does improve spaghetti sauce.
clue: "enhance" and "improve" have similar meanings.
Antonyms
Many people have pointed out the harmful effects that a working mother may have on the family, yet there are many salutary effects as well.
Salutary is the opposite of harmful. Salutary means:
a. well-known. b. beneficial. c. hurtful.
clue: In the sentence salutary effects are contrasted with harmful effects which shows that they are opposites. This leads us to infer that salutary means beneficial.
The General Sense of the Text
A former employee, irate over having been fired, broke into the plant and deliberately wrecked several machines.
Irate means:
a. relieved. b. very angry. c. undecided.
clue: The reaction you expected from an employee getting fired is "anger" especially when that employee breaks into a factory and delibertately destroys several machines.