VOA名师答疑2024--Improve Your Vocabulary: Part 3

Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we finish our answer about the best way to expand your vocabulary.

Question

Many VOA Learning English fans write to us with this question: What is the best way to improve my vocabulary?

Answer

We have said the best way to improve vocabulary is to really "know a word." To fully¹ know a word, we have to know its form: how it sounds, how it is written, and what its parts are. We have to know its meanings and the ideas or feelings it suggests. We also have to know how the word is normally used.

Synonyms² are words that have the same or nearly the same meaning. For example, "big" and "large" are used to talk about size. But often, we cannot exchange one for the other. They have different usages⁴.

Both "big" and "large" can be used to describe the size of something. "Big" is usually used in conversation. "Large" is more formal.

John is standing⁵ next to the big tree.

The large tree fell on the house.

We use "big" to talk about something or someone that is important.

This is a big decision.

We use "large" when talking about an amount of something.

The company received a large number of complaints.

"Large" is also a clothing size. It is bigger than a small and a medium.

The shirt is a size large.

Collocations are words that go together. Some words go together with other words, but their synonyms might not. For example, we say "big surprise," but we would not say "large surprise."

Another example is "unhappy" and "sad." They are synonyms, but they cannot always be used with the same words. For example, we would say "unhappy childhood." Saying "sad childhood" instead does not sound as natural.

When we look at English words in this way, we can see that our vocabulary expands by understanding the usage³ of a word.

VOA fans, the best way to improve your vocabulary is to really know a word: its form, meaning and usage.

Words in This Story

vocabulary-n. all the words a person knows

synonyms-n. words that have the same or nearly the same meaning

collocation-n. a word that is used regularly with another word

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 synonyms   

同义词( synonym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If you want to grasp English, you must carefully discriminate synonyms. 如果你想掌握好英语，你必须仔细区分同义词。
• Study the idioms and synonyms l wrote down before your test. 学考试前我给你写的习惯用语和同义字。

3 usage   

n.惯用法，使用，用法

参考例句：

• I am clear about the usage of this word at last.这个词的用法我算是弄明白了。
• The usage is now firmly established.这种用法现已得到确认。

4 usages   

使用( usage的名词复数 )； 用法； 习惯； 惯例

参考例句：

• Industrialization influences social usages. 工业化影响着社会的习俗。
• A dictionary helps one to distinguish correct and incorrect usages. 词典可用以辨识遣词造句的正误。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。