Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Buckingham and I'm really pleased you've decided to join me today to learn about synonyms and antonyms. I think you'll find this really interesting and I think that you'll be able to use this in your writing to add some variety and to show some contrast to help your reader really understand what you're trying to show them.

Let's get to work.

Today's lesson is called Synonyms and Antonyms, and it comes from our unit called Review of Determinants, Prepositions and Fronted Adverbials.

By the end of today's lesson, we're going to be able to use synonyms and antonyms in a range of sentence types.

We're gonna start off by looking at what those words mean and move on to using them in our own writing to add some interest for our reader.

Let's go.

Here are keywords for today's lesson.

My turn, your turn.

Synonym, antonym, word family, and a really tricky one, etymology.

Let's do that one once more.

Etymology.

Well done.

Okay, here they are in a bit more detail.

A synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word.

An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning to another word.

A word family is a group of words that are connected by a shared feature or pattern or meaning.

And a word's etymology is its origin, how it has developed and changed over time to have its current form in our language.

Let's look at today's lesson outline.

We're going to start by looking at synonyms. Then we'll move on to looking at antonyms. And finally we'll look at etymology and word families.

Let's go.

So synonyms are words which have the same or similar meaning to another word.

For instance, if we take the adjective big, we could have several synonyms for big, colossal, enormous, gigantic, huge, vast.

These adjectives are all synonyms for big.

They have a same or similar meaning.

We could say a big castle or we could say a vast castle, a gigantic castle, a colossal castle.

All of those would make sense.

The meaning isn't exactly the same every time, but it is similar.

For instance, we could argue that colossal means slightly bigger than just big, but they have a similar meaning.

And verbs have synonyms too.

We could say the verb run or we could say sprint, dash, jog, gallop, race.

They have the same or similar meaning to run.

So which of these words are synonyms for small? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Considererate does not have the same or similar meaning.

Microscopic has a similar meaning.

Generous does not, and minute does.

Now again, we could say microscopic means much smaller than just small, but the meanings are similar, so we consider them to be synonyms. Really well done if you've got those two.

Now, I wonder if you can match the synonyms to make pairs of words with the same or similar meanings.

Have a go.

Well done.

Walk would match with pace.

They are synonyms. Said is a synonym of muttered.

Floated is a synonym of bobbed, and fly is a synonym of soared.

Really well done if you got those connections.

Okay.

Why do we use synonyms? Well, we often use synonyms to add variety to our writing.

We could write this sentence: I was angry with my brother and I was angry with my sister.

We've used the adjective angry twice there.

Not very interesting.

Instead, we could say I was furious with my brother and I was irritated with my sister.

Furious and irritated are synonyms of angry, and we've used them to add some variety.

We could say, When the children stopped talking, Miss Ofoedu began to talk.

But instead we might want to use synonyms. We could say, When the children stopped chatting, Miss Ofoedu began to speak.

So we can see how knowing lots of synonyms allows us to make our writing much more interesting and varied.

How much of you can match each sentence to a synonym you could use to replace the highlighted purple word? So for instance, in sentence A, which word on the right hand side could we use instead of happy that would keep the same or similar meaning? Pause the video and match them up.

Okay.

Let's have a look.

For A, we could say instead of happy, delighted.

For B, instead of tired, we could say exhausted.

And for C, instead of walked, we could say strode.

So when we have synonyms, we can swap them in order to add some variety and interest and maybe a slightly different meaning to our writing.

So what synonyms can you think of to replace the highlighted words in this sentence to create a more interesting sentence? As the sun shone down on us, we ran towards the silver lake.

Now that sentence is actually already a beautiful sentence, but perhaps you want to switch up these words to add a little more interest for your reader or to make the effect of the sentence slightly different.

So what synonyms could we use instead of shone, ran and silver here? Have a go.

Let's take a look.

Instead of shone we could say beamed, shimmer, glowed.

Instead of ran, we could say sprinted, dashed, raced.

And instead of silver, we could say glittering, sparkling, mirror-like.

So we could write a sentence like this now: As the sun shimmered down on us, we raced towards the glittering lake.

And you might decide that's created a slightly different effect by using those synonyms which you'd like to use in your writing.

Let's do our first task of this lesson.

I'd like to rewrite each of my sentences below, replacing the highlighted words with synonyms of your choice.

Here are our sentences.

You're going to rewrite them with those purple words swapped out for a synonym of your choice.

Now this means all of our sentences will look different, and that's okay.

We are using synonyms to make our sentences slightly more varied and maybe slightly different to each other's.

Let's have a go.

Okay, let's look at some example sentences.

I've said: When Lucas entered, we all grinned.

The door, which was huge, was very sturdy.

As Andeep stomped in angrily, he slammed the door behind him.

Aisha wore a sapphire dress and Sam wore crimson trousers.

Sofia cackled while Izzy whispered to her.

Hopefully you've managed to swap those purple words for some synonyms in the same way I have to create a slightly different effect and add some variety to our sentences.

Really well done.

Okay, we're going to move on now to looking at antonyms and thinking about how are they different to synonyms. Well, antonyms are words that have the opposite meaning to another word.

For instance, an antonym of smiled would be frowned.

An antonym of enormous is tiny.

An antonym of delighted is devastated.

An antonym of local is distant.

An antonym of sprinted is trudged.

So I could take a whole sentence like this, The children sang loudly, and I could give an antonym of several of those words.

I could say the adults talked quietly.

I've used the antonym of children, the antonym of sang, and the antonym of loudly there.

Now you can't often do that in a sentence, but sometimes it's possible.

Here's another example.

A tall woman walked slowly.

I could say a short man ran quickly.

I've used the antonym of several of the words in that sentence to show an opposite.

Can you match each word to its closest antonym to make pairs of words with opposite meanings from the ones below? Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, let's take a look.

An antonym of shouted could be whispered.

An antonym of anxious could be confident.

An antonym of furious could be contented.

And an antonym of floated could be sank.

Really well done if you made those pairs.

Let's try a true or false.

The antonym of chicken is duck.

Pause the video.

Do you think that's true or false? Well done.

That is false.

Now see if you can think about why you've got two options here, A and B.

Pause the video and decide which of them explains why chicken is not the antonym of duck.

Have a go.

Well done.

You're right, it's A.

Not all words do have antonyms. Some nouns like man, adult, and boy can have an antonym.

That would be woman, child, girl.

But most nouns don't have an antonym.

We can't say that the a chicken is the opposite of a duck.

In fact, you could say they're quite similar, because they're both birds.

So not many nouns have an antonym like this because they don't have an opposite.

So that's something to watch out for.

Really well done if you spotted that.

Now, one way we can use antonyms, particularly in our writing, is to show contrast between people, places, things and actions, which are different.

Here are some examples.

I could show this contrast between Lucas and Andeep here.

While Lucas raced through the work, Andeep plodded through it carefully.

So I've used raced and plodded as antonyms to show the difference between how Lucas and Andeep were working.

Here, I can show a contrast between Mr. Clark and Miss Ofoedu.

Mr. Clark was small and round, but Miss Ofoedu was tall and slim.

We've used these adjectives in green to show the contrast between them.

I can contrast here how light the things are in my sentence.

As the stars glittered brightly, my torch glowed faintly.

Brightly and faintly are antonyms. So we've used these antonyms to show maybe, to highlight the differences between the two things we've talked about in our sentence.

Can you match each sentence here to an antonym you could use to replace the highlighted green word to give it the opposite meaning? So in A at the minute I've said Jun was happy and Jacob was happy, but let's say we want to show that Jacob was feeling the opposite way to Jun.

Can you choose the word which would make that difference in the meaning of the sentence? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Let's take a look.

We could say, After the match, Jun was happy and Jacob was devastated.

We could say, At the end of term, Miss Ofoedu looked tired and Mr. Clark looked energised.

And we could say, While Alex walked into town, Sam dashed along ahead of him.

So now we've got a contrast between Jun and Jacob, a contrast between Miss Ofoedu and Mr. Clark, and a contrast between Alex and Sam.

And we've done that by using pairs of antonyms with opposite meanings.

Really well done if you made those links.

And I wonder if you can give an antonym now for each highlighted word in this sentence to give the whole sentence the opposite meaning.

We've got the sentence, The sunshine brightly, but the weather was chilly.

Can you think of some antonyms for brightly and some antonyms for chilly, which would make the whole meaning of the sentence opposite? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, let's take a look.

As antonyms for brightly, we could say dimly, softly, and weakly.

And antonyms for chilly could be boiling, roasting hot, or scorching.

So the whole sentence with the opposite meaning could now be the sunshine dimly, but the weather was scorching that has the opposite meaning to the sunshine brightly, but the weather was chilly.

So by using those antonyms, we've changed the whole meaning of the sentence.

Well done if you thought of some good ones there.

Now we can also use antonyms to show contrast in pairs of sentences using fronted adverbials.

And remember, a fronted adverbials is a sentence starter followed by a comma.

For instance, here are two sentences.

Here, the weather is calm.

There's my fronted adverbial here.

And then I've got, Over there, it's wild and windy.

There's my fronted adverbial, over there.

From the first sentence I've used calm.

And in the second sentence, I've used two antonyms, wild and windy.

So I'm showing a contrast between here and over there.

Here's another example.

Yesterday, maths was very easy.

Today, it's very challenging.

I've got my fronted adverbial yesterday and today, and I've got my antonyms easy and challenging.

I could say, Before lunch, I was starving.

Now, I'm stuffed.

I have my fronted adverbial before lunch and now, and my antonyms starving and stuffed.

So we can see that the second sentence uses an antonym from the first sentence to create a contrast with that first sentence.

I wonder if you can complete the second sentence now, using antonyms to show a contrast with the first sentence I'm going to show you.

So my first sentence is, At our school, children are polite.

Then, I've used a fronted adverbial, at that school, and I want you to think, at that school they are, something.

And that something should be an antonym of polite.

What words can you think of? Have a go.

Okay, here are some ideas.

You could have said, At that school they are rude, unpleasant, impolite, disrespectful.

So now our two sentences could be, At our school, children are polite.

At that school, they are disrespectful and rude.

We've used antonyms to show the contrast between the two schools.

Well done if you thought of some.

Okay, let's begin our second task.

I want you to complete these sentences using antonyms of the highlighted words to show a contrast.

Let me explain.

Here are sentences.

In the first one I've said Jun's writing is neat, but Sam's is, something.

So I want you to complete that sentence using an antonym of neat.

If we look at B, I've written the first sentence, Last year, I was reading slowly.

And in the second sentence, I want you to complete it by using an antonym of slowly.

So now, I do, something.

Now, sometimes you'll have to add just one word, but sometimes you might need to fill in a whole sentence remembering that antonym as well.

Pause the video and have a go at writing these sentences.

Okay, let's take a look at some examples.

Remember, yours will look different, but hopefully we've both used an antonym in the second part or the second sentence we've written.

I've said Jun's writing is neat, but Sams is untidy.

Last year, I was reading slowly.

Now, I read fluently.

Slowly and fluently are antonyms. While Year 4 sat in silence, Year 6 waited noisily.

In this room, it is always chilly.

In the lunch hall, it is sweltering.

Chilly and sweltering are antonyms. Mr. Clark paced the room loudly while we sat quietly.

After the match, Izzy was frustrated.

Now, she is calm.

Frustrated and calm are my antonyms. Really well done if you've managed to find those pairs of antonyms and put them into sentences that show those contrasts.

Great job.

Okay, in the final parts of our lesson, we're going to look at etymology and word families.

All words have an etymology.

It's the story of how they came to be in our language.

So if we take a word like recreate, we can split it up into some different parts and look at where do those parts come from.

Because in our language, English, lots of the words come from different languages of countries which have invaded our country or conquered our country over many hundreds of years.

So for instance, that prefix, group of letters at the start of the word, re, comes from Latin and it means again.

And then this part, create, is also from a Latin word creare, meaning to make.

So if we think about those meanings, we've got again and make.

So the meaning of recreated, to make again.

So I recreate an artwork, I'm making it again.

And we have other words which are linked to this as well.

And we can use etymology to see connections between words.

For instance, we could link create to creation, something that's been made, and a creator, someone who makes something.

We can see both those words are linked to this Latin word creare, meaning to make.

So we saw then that the prefix re comes from the Latin, meaning again.

Which other words can you think of that also use re to show this meaning, to show doing something again, we had recreate? What other ones can you think of? Pause the video and list as many as you can.

Well done.

I bet you thoughts of a load.

Let me show you some I found.

We could say rebuild, recharge, revisit, reconnect, reread, reconsider, replay, rewrite, review, and rethink.

All of these words include that prefix re, and it keeps that meaning from the Latin of doing something again.

Rewrite means write again.

Rebuild means build again.

Revisit means visit again.

They all have a linked meaning.

So we saw there are several words that link to that root word, create.

We had create, recreate, creation, and creator.

All these words linked to that idea of making from that Latin word creare, to make.

And words that share a letter pattern like this and a meaning like this are called a word family.

And there are lots of other members of this particular word family.

We could think of words like creative, creativity, creating, created.

Lots of these words, you might notice, have suffixes, groups of letters at the end of the word that change the meaning.

So we can see the suffixes For these words, we've got -tion, -or, -ive, -ing and -ed.

So these are all suffixes which change the meaning of that root word create.

I wonder if you can think of any words that are in the play word family.

Remember, these should be words that have some connection to each other in their meaning and their letter pattern.

Remember, you might want to think about adding suffixes or prefixes to that word play.

Pause the video and see how many words you can think of in the play word family.

Here are some ideas.

I bet you thought of lots.

We could say playful, played, player, playing, replay, unplayable, playmate, playtime.

All of these words linked to the meaning of play.

We can often use prefixes and suffixes, as we just did, to generate words within a word family based on a particular root word.

For instance, here's my root word, act.

I could add some suffixes.

I could say acts, actor, acting, acted.

We've added suffixes, groups of letters at the end.

I could add active, activity, action.

But I could also add a prefix.

I could say react.

Then, I could add suffixes as well, reacted has both a prefix and a suffix.

Reaction, reacting, reactive.

I could try a different prefix.

Enact means to make something happen.

I could say enact in enacted, inaction, inactive, and inactivity.

All of these are based on that root word act, but they have different prefixes and suffixes, which change the meaning.

But these are all in one word family linked to that root word, act.

Now I've got some prefixes and suffixes here for you and I have some root words, build.

Can you add prefixes and suffixes from the list to that word, build to create other words, which would be in the same word family.

See how many you can think of.

Okay, let's have a look at some.

We could have said rebuild.

We could say builder.

But we could also say building.

We could say rebuild, but we could add a suffix as well to make rebuilding.

So we can add both prefixes and suffixes to change that root word to create that word family.

Really well done for the ones you found.

Let's do our final task for this lesson.

I'm going to show you three root words and for each root word, I want you to create a list of as many words in the same word family as you can, and I'd like you to highlight any prefixes and suffixes you use.

Your teacher might ask you to underline them or to circle them.

Here are root words.

We've got cover, heat, and move.

Here are some prefixes you might want to use, and here are some suffixes.

And remember, sometimes the spelling of the root word might need to change, particularly when we use move because it ends in an e.

When we add some of these suffixes, you might notice we have to remove letters and add letters, so just be careful with that.

Pause the video and see how many words you can come up with for each.

Okay, let's take a look at some examples you might have created.

Here are our ones for cover.

You can see we've added lots of suffixes and prefixes to create these new words.

Here are our words in that heat word family.

Again, we've added prefixes and suffixes to all of these.

And in the move word family, we can see a huge list of words there.

You might notice at the end I've got motion and motionless.

Can you see how we've had to remove the V and the E there from the root word move in order to add those suffixes? And the same with moving and moved and movers.

We've removed that last E at the end to add those suffixes.

Hopefully you came up with some really good lists of your own.

Really well done.

Fantastic work this lesson.

You've done a great job.

Let's summarise what we've learned.

Synonyms are words that have the same or similar meaning to another word, and using them helps add variety to our writing.

Antonyms have the opposite meaning to another word, and using them helps us to show contrast in our writing.

All words have an etymology, a story of how they became part of our language.

And we've learned that we can create word families over linked words based on a root word, often by adding prefixes and suffixes to that root word.

You've done a great job to get this far through the lesson, and I'm really pleased with how you've taken part.

I hope to see you again in another lesson.

Goodbye.