Finding Meaning in context

Introduction
How do you understand
every word when your
read something?
Dictionary? Of course.
But referring to a
dictionary can be tiring
especially when you
have too many words or
too many articles or
both to understand.

Finding Meaning
There are many ways one can determine the
meaning of words during reading activities.

Synonym

Antonym

Examples

Experience

Prefix /
Suffix

Root Word

Synonym
In a sentence, certain words are given together
with their synonyms.
E.g.
Fatigue may cause some work to be delayed. In
other words, tiredness may hinder or slower
down the process of completing certain works.
Fatigue

Tiredness

In other words is your clue.

Antonym
Sometimes, instead of giving a synonym, a
writer may include an antonym of a word.
E.g.
The husband was in sorrow upon the death of his
familys cat. On the other hand, the wife seemed happy
as no more cats feces lying around.
Sorrow

Sad as sad is the

opposite meaning
of happy

On the other hand is your clue.

Examples
Some words will be written together with their
examples.
E.g.
Accommodation such as a house, a hotel or an
apartment is vital when travelling to overseas.
Accommodation

A place to stay
(based on the
given examples)

Such as is your clue.

Experience
You can also guess the meaning of certain words
based on your experience or general knowledge.
E.g.
The yellow and red rally have caused massive
traffic jams in certain parts in Kuala Lumpur.
Rally

Picket

Yellow and red rally is your clue. (Both

colours represent Bersih and Malay
pickets respectively.

Prefix/Suffix
Some English words are added with a prefix (a
letter/word that is added before a root word) or
a suffix (a letter/word that is added after a root
word).
We can break down these words into few
components like prefix/suffix and root word in
order to guess the meaning of the words.
E.g.

Prefix
Hyperactive

Hyper (Prefix) =
Over

Active (Root Word)

= constantly
involved with
activities

Hyperactive = Doing certain

activities excessively

Suffix
Biology

Bio (Root Word) =

Life

logy (Suffix) = the

study of

Biology = The study of life

Prefix/Suffix
There are few websites that contain a list of
prefixed or suffixed English words.
You can google them!

Root Word
We can also guess the meaning of certain words
if we know the meaning of their root words.
E.g.
The word

Root Word

You know that

Independently

Independence

the word
independently is
related to
independence

beloved

love

the word beloved is

related to love

Steps in answering finding-meaning

questions
1. Determine the part of speech of the word
that you are trying to find its meaning.
2. Determine the meaning of the word
based on the ways that you have
learned or by using a dictionary.
3. Think of another word that has the same
/ similar meaning to the word in step 1.
4. Make sure the word in step 4 is of the
same part of speech with the word in
step 1.

Steps in answering finding-meaning

questions
Find the meaning of the word ferocious in the following
excerpt:

There are many types of cats in this world. Generally,

cats can be divided into two groups namely the Big
Cats and the Small Cats. Big cats such as the lions, tigers,
cheetahs can be found in the wild. They are normally
ferocious in characters. Small cats on the other hand,
can be quite gentle and kind. They are the domestic
cats that people often keep as pets at home.

Steps in finding the meaning of the

word ferocious
1. Determine the part of speech of the
word that you are trying to find its
meaning.
In order to determine the part of speech of the word
ferocious, you must first read how the word is used in
the passage. Based on the passage, the word ferocious
is used as an adjective. Hence, the part of speech for
the word ferocious is adjective. At this moment,
mentally, you must know and aware of that the word
that you are trying to replace with the word ferocious
must be an adjective as well.

Steps in finding the meaning of the

word ferocious
2. Determine the meaning of the word
based on the ways that you have
learned or by using a dictionary.
In this case, if you notice carefully, the writer has given
the antonym of the word ferocious by describing the
characteristics of small cats that are gentle and kind. In
a way, you know ferocious is the opposite meaning of
gentle and kind. You can also refer to a dictionary to
confirm the meaning of the word ferocious.

Steps in finding the meaning of the

word ferocious
3. Think of another word that has the
same / similar meaning to the word in
step 1.
Now, you have to think of another word that has the
same meaning with the word ferocious. If you are
lucky enough, some dictionaries will provide the
synonyms. You can list the words down but eventually,
you have to choose a word that you are 100% sure is
similar in meaning. In this case, you can choose either
fierce or violent or even aggressive.

Steps in finding the meaning of the

word ferocious
4. Make sure the word in step 4 is of the
same part of speech with the word in step 1.
Let say you choose the word fierce. You can check by using
the dictionary whether the word fierce is of the same part of
speech with the word ferocious. If yes, they you are in luck.
Or else, use the dictionary to find the adjective form of the
word fierce. In this case, the word fierce is already an
adjective. Once you have confirmed it, write down the word
fierce as your final answer. Remember, do not write more
than one answer. If you do, the examiner will consider the
first answer as your final answer.

Summary
In this topic, you have learned the
following:
How to guess meaning of words by using synonym,
antonym, examples, experience, prefix/suffix and
root word strategies.
How to find meaning of a word/words in a
text/examination

Content Developer
Eliyas S. Mohandas works
as an English Lecturer at
Universiti Teknologi MARA
(UiTM) Shah Alam. The
content of this chapter
was developed by him. He
can be contacted at the
following email:
eliyas9154@salam.uitm.edu.my