Study

unit 1 Learning vocabulary

A What do you need to learn?
Did you know that there are over half a million words in English but that the average native speaker
only uses about 5,000 in everyday speech? You already know many of those 5,000 words. This book
will help you to learn many of those that you do not yet know and it will help you to use them
appropriately and accurately.

B What does knowing a new word mean?

It is not enough just to know the meaning of a word. You also need to know:
– which words it is usually used with;
– its grammatical characteristics;
– how it is pronounced;
– whether it is formal, informal or neutral.
So when you learn a word you should make sure that you:
• Learn new words in phrases not in isolation.
• Notice how words commonly go together. These are called collocations and include:
adjectives + nouns, e.g. rich vocabulary, classical music, common sense;
verbs + nouns, e.g. to express an opinion, to take sides;
nouns in phrases, e.g. in touch with, a train set, a sense of humour;
words + prepositions, e.g. at a loss for words, in particular.
• Notice special grammatical characteristics of new words. For example, note irregular verbs,
e.g. undertake, undertook, undertaken; uncountable nouns,
e.g. luggage; or nouns that are only used in the plural, e.g. scissors.
• Notice any special pronunciation problems with new words.
• Check if the word is particularly formal or informal in character, in other words if it has a
particular register.

C How can you help yourself to memorise words?

Research suggests that some students
find it easier to learn words if they
(a) learn them in groups and (b) make use
of pictures, as shown here.
You can group words in any way you like –
topic, grammatical feature, word root, and
so on. The unit titles in this book might give
you some ideas.

D How can you help yourself learn more words?

This book will help you to learn vocabulary in a systematic way. However, you can also help yourself
to learn more words and expressions by reading and listening to as much English as possible. Here
are some ideas about things you can read or listen to:
YouTube
websites audio books academic or
magazines TV professional reference material
literature (dictionaries,
recipes
radio, e.g. encyclopedias)
newspapers
BBC World
Service
poetry songs conversations
fiction
with native
blogs films tweets speakers
podcasts sports reports

8 English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

 Exercises 1 Study
unit
1.1 Here are some aspects of grammar to be aware of when learning new vocabulary.
Give two examples of words that reflect this aspect of grammar.
1 a noun only used in the plural scissors
2 an uncountable noun
3 an irregular verb
4 a noun with an irregular plural

1.2 What aspect of pronunciation should you notice about the following words?
1 subtle the b is silent 3 chemistry 6 photograph / photographer /
(not pronounced) 4 answer photographic
2 catastrophe 5 a record / to record

1.3 Read the text. Use words from the box to complete each ‘collocations fork’.

English has a remarkable range of words. Thanks to periods of contact with foreign languages and
its readiness to coin new words out of old elements, English has a particularly large vocabulary.
For example, as well as kingly (from Anglo- Saxon) we find royal (from French) and regal (from Latin).
There are many such sets of words, which make it possible to express subtle shades of meaning.

coincidence di!erence family likeness palace a phrase

range shade suggestion a term welcome new words

range
1 a remarkable likeness 2 to coin 3 a royal 4 a subtle
coincidence
1.4 Write i by the words that are informal and f by those that are formal.

1 guys i 4 to alight (from a bus) 7 to bug someone

2 a minor 5 to feel gutted 8 to zone out
3 Awesome! 6 a felon

1.5 A student learnt each of these sets of words as a group. What is the unifying factor for
each group? Can you add one more word to each group?
1 king, queen, prince, princess royalty - duke
2 sunshade, shady, shadow, shade, to shadow, shadowy
3 articulate, communicate, convey, express, put across
4 noun, verb, adjective, adverb
5 subtle, comb, lamb, crumb, debt, plumber
1.6 Draw a picture to help you remember each of the following vocabulary items.
1 circle 2 to coin new words 3 screwdriver 4 to drip

1.7 Over to you

Look at the suggestions in D. Can you think of any other ideas to add to the list? Think about the ways
of learning vocabulary that you use now, and think about ways you could use more in the future.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate 9

Study
unit 2 Organising a vocabulary notebook
A Organising words by meaning
Try dividing your notebook into di!erent broad sections, with sections for words for feelings, words
to describe places, words for movement, words for thinking, etc.
Charts and tables of various kinds can help you organise your vocabulary. Here is an example for
words connected with music:

Instruments Types of music Verbs Related words

guitar classical (not classic) play practice (n) practise (vb)
cello folk (not folkloric) strum (a guitar) track
piano world perform release (an album)

B Building networks of meaning

A network diagram is useful. It can grow in whatever direction you want it to.
sign up tweet virus password
identity theft
unfriend
someone social networks security
upload
(verbs) download
THE WEB
link surfing
email post
pop-up
homepage
forward junk mail spam

C Collocations and fixed phrases

It is important to know how a word combines with other words (its collocations).
Always record the common collocations of a word as you meet them, e.g.
win (prize, award, medal) earn (money, a high salary) gain (time, an advantage)
Where a word is often used in a fixed phrase, always record the whole phrase, e.g.
in a hurry out of touch to and fro now and again

D Synonyms and antonyms

When you find a synonym (same meaning) or an antonym (opposite meaning) of a word you already
have in your book, enter it next to that word with a few notes, e.g.
urban ≠ rural stop = cease (cease is very formal)

E Organising by word class

Make a note of the word class of a new word (whether it is a noun, verb, adjective, etc.). Record words
from the same word family together, e.g.
produce (verb or noun) product (noun) productive (adjective)

F Stress
Record where the stress falls on a multi-syllable word, especially if the stress changes between word
classes, e.g. produce (verb) produce (noun) productive (adjective)

Language help
Note any typical errors you make or which your teacher has mentioned.

10 English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

 Exercises 2 Study
unit
2.1 Organise the words into the topics below. Use a dictionary if necessary.

tabloid stress hang out with sb exhaustion podcast overwork

upload a video burnt out blogosphere journalist snowed under with work
casual acquaintance blog be close to sb count on sb be under pressure

topic words
working too much / too hard stress
friendship
media

2.2 Here is a list of words a learner of English made in a vocabulary notebook in class.
Organise them in a more e!icient way, using the chart.

rush oversleep latecomer alarm clock set a clock deep sleep fast asleep
out of breath heavy sleeper in a hurry breathless nightmare dash yawn
exhausted

nouns verbs adjectives collocations fixed phrases

latecomer

2.3 Change the sentences using a synonym (S) or antonym (A) of the words in bold using
words from the box.
glad spicy deprive sb of sth shot dissatisfied chilly

1 I was pleased glad to hear you’d passed your exam. (S)

2 I got some excellent photos of the Grand Canyon on my trip to the US. (S)
3 She was happy with the conditions they o!ered her in the new job. (A)
4 The prisoners were supplied with food and medical care. (A)
5 I don’t like mild curries. (A)
6 It’s a cold day today. (S)

2.4 Fill in the missing word forms. Then mark the word stress for each item.

noun verb adjective person

perfection perfect perfect perfectionist
information inform
politics
economics *
* Give two adjectives.

2.5 Over to you

Think about your own learning style and which ways of organising vocabulary would work best
for you.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate 11