How To Learn The Usage of Vocabulary

Learning vocabulary is very important for developing efficiency in language. Good command of vocabulary enables one to speak and write effectively. In most competitive examinations, there are questions on words and their usage. so, the knowledge of vocabulary gives one a competitive advantage over others, as one can score quickly in vocabulary questions. Word power building eases one's reading comprehension. Being good at vocabulary enables one to read with speed and accuracy.

How to learn the usage of vocabulary is a common curiosity of learners. Some refer to a dictionary to check the correct usage of a word, whereas some read newspapers. Before we discuss which is the better method of learning the usage, let us understand what we all need to learn about a particular word.

Apart from the meaning of a word, we need to understand its parts of speech, its connotation, its phrasal use, and its collocation with the other word. 

Every word has a role to play in a sentence. A word may come as a noun, a verb, an adjective, etc. Some words play only one role, whereas some words play more than one role. Say for example the word 'Sound' is a noun in the sentence: "Sound is a kind of energy", it is a verb in the sentence: "An empty vessel sounds much", and it is an adjective in the sentence: "He has a sound knowledge". So, we must pay attention to the function of a word in a sentence. This gives us a better understanding. 

The next important thing is the connotation or the tone of a word. A word may carry a sense of approval or positiveness. It may also show a sense of disapproval. Or, it can be a neutral word. The word 'succinct' has a positive tone. It means 'short, yet compact'. The word 'terse' has a negative tone. It means 'short but in an unfriendly way'. And the word 'brief' has a neutral tone. So, it is equally important to understand the tone of a word.

Further, we must check the phrasal combination of a word: whether a word takes a preposition, or it comes without a preposition. Let us take some sentences to understand the phrasal combination; we follow the rules, but we abide by the rules, and we conform to the rules, and then we comply with the rules. The words 'follow', 'abide', 'conform', 'comply' have the same meaning. Yet, they form different phrasal combinations.

Finally, we should also understand the word collocation. Words form bonding with other words. For example, we curtail expenses, we trim hair, we pare the nails, we prune the hedges. The words 'curtail', 'trim', 'pare', 'prune' have a similar meaning, yet they have different usage.

Now, to learn all this, we should read an article from a newspaper. We should pick any article of our interest from the editorial page of a newspaper. It would be better to choose an article which has a topic about which we have some knowledge, as it is a current and hot topic. We should keep a highlighter with us, and then we should start reading.

We should focus only on how we read, and what we understand. We should not focus on how much we should read. So, we should not pay attention to quantity. What we need is qualitative reading. Only then we can learn the meaning and usage of words properly.

Be careful in underlining or highlighting a word. Do not just underline or highlight the word you do not know. Underline or highlight the entire phrase. Let us say, we see an unfamiliar word 'conspicuous', we should not underline or highlight only the word 'conspicuous'. We should underline or highlight the entire phrase, which could be 'conspicuous by their absence. 

We should find out the meanings of all difficult words. And we must write them in the notebook. We should always maintain a separate notebook for words.

So, keep learning words to make yourself strong, as it is said: "Words are stronger than swords".

Wish you all the best!! 

If you have any queries, you are welcome. Buddham will respond at the earliest.