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How to Understand New Words Without a Dictionary

Imagine you are reading an interesting article in English. Suddenly, you see a word you do not know. What do you do?

Many students stop reading and look up the word in a dictionary. But did you know that stopping all the time can actually slow down your learning? It breaks your focus and makes it hard to build your reading fluency.

The good news is that you don’t always need a dictionary! You can use the other words around the unknown word to guess the meaning. These are called context clues.

Here are the 5 types of context clues from our lesson to help you guess new words like a pro.

1. Check for Synonyms (Similar Words)

Sometimes, a writer uses a difficult word, but then uses a simpler word with almost the same meaning nearby.

  • Video Example: “In humid climates, people often become fatigued. When they become tired, they should rest.”
  • How to guess: The sentence structure shows a pattern. Because “become fatigued” matches “become tired,” you can easily guess that fatigued means tired.

2. Check for Antonyms (Opposite Words)

Writers also use words with opposite meanings to show contrast. This gives you a clear clue about the mystery word.

  • Video Example: “The students could not recall the answers on the quiz. They had forgotten.”
  • How to guess: The text says they couldn’t do something because they forgot. What is the opposite of forgetting? Remembering! So, recall means to be able to remember.

3. Check for Examples

Look for words like “such as” in the sentence. The examples that follow will help you understand the main word.

  • Video Example: “Disasters, such as floods and tornadoes, often cause a lot of property and much pain and sorrow.”
  • How to guess: You already know that floods and tornadoes are terrible events. Since they are used as examples, you can deduce that a disaster is an event that causes great loss or suffering.

4. Check for Words that Define (Definitions)

Sometimes writers know a word is hard, so they give you the definition right inside the sentence, usually separated by commas.

  • Video Example: “Malnutrition, the lack of proper food, causes many deaths in third world countries.”
  • How to guess: Look right between the commas. The writer explicitly tells you that malnutrition means “the lack of proper food.”

5. Check for Inferences

If there are no direct synonyms or definitions, you have to be a detective. Look at the ideas in the sentence and make a logical guess.

  • Video Example: “Because the reading passage is subjective, you should understand the writer’s feelings and opinions before answering the questions.”
  • How to guess: The sentence explains that you need to know the writer’s feelings and opinions because the text is subjective. Therefore, you can infer that subjective means something based on personal feelings rather than just facts.

Summary

The next time you open an English book, try to play the guessing game first. Look for synonyms, antonyms, examples, and definitions in the context of the passage. You will be surprised by how much your reading ability increases when you keep going! Happy reading!

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