Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Buckingham, and I'm really pleased to have you here for today's lesson.

We're going to cover a lot of material today, and I really hope that you find it useful.

I'll be here to help you all the way through.

Let's make a start.

Today's lesson is called synonyms, antonyms, prepositions and adverbs.

And it comes from my unit called key terminology, including determines, fronted adverbials and parenthesis.

By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to identify how specific words act on the meaning of a sentence.

So we're really gonna be zooming in on particular words today and thinking about what they're doing inside a sentence, because in English, the same word can sometimes do different things when it's in a different context and in a different place in a sentence.

So we're going to be grammar detectives today, really figuring out what particular words are doing in a sentence, let's make a start.

Here are our key words for today's lesson.

My turn, your turn.

Synonym, antonym, etymology, preposition, and adverb, well done.

So a synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word, and an antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning to another word.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and the way their meanings have changed over time.

And a preposition is a word or words that connect a sentence to a noun or noun phrase to help show where, when, or why something is happening.

And an adverb is a word that can describe a verb or an adjective.

Here's our lesson outline for today's lesson.

We are going to start off by looking at synonyms and antonyms, and we'll move on to looking at prepositions and adverbs in the second part of our lesson.

So let's get to work on synonyms and antonyms. As you might know, synonyms are words which have the same or similar meaning to another word.

So I take the adjective brave, here are some synonyms of brave.

We could have courageous, fearless, valiant, bold and intrepid, and these adjectives are all synonyms for brave.

We could say a brave explorer or we could say an intrepid explorer or a fearless explorer or a courageous explorer.

They all have a similar meaning.

The meaning is not always exactly the same, but it is similar.

And verbs can have synonyms too.

For instance, if we take the verb talk, we could have the synonyms speak and converse and chat and communicate and whisper.

They don't have the same meaning.

They have a similar meaning, but not exactly the same.

So we often use synonyms to add variety to our writing, and therefore to improve its cohesion and flow, the way it works together, the way it gives a good impression and does its job for the reader.

So we can take this sentence.

Sam is very smart and Jacob is smart too.

We've repeated the word smart, the adjective there.

So instead, we could use synonyms. We could say, Sam is very intelligent and Jacob is clever too.

So by using synonyms instead of the same word, we've made a better flow, better cohesion for our sentence there.

Here's another example.

As we ran through the forest, the creature ran behind us.

Hmm, that doesn't flow very well because we've repeated that word.

So instead we could use synonyms, we could say, as we sprinted through the forest, the creature dashed behind us.

And using those synonyms really boosts the interest narrating and makes it flow much better.

So what synonyms can you think of to replace the highlighted words in this sentence to create a more interesting sentence? So we've got the word saw, ran and shouting in the sentence, when we saw the bright lake, we ran towards it, shouting happily.

Pause the video and see if you can come up with some synonyms to replace each of those highlighted words, have a go.

Well done, good job, here are some I came up with.

For saw, our synonyms could be glimpsed or spotted or noticed.

For ran, we could use sprinted, dashed, or raced.

And for shouting we could use bellowing, yelling or whooping.

And notice how I kept those with their I-N-G form because I want them to replace that word shouting.

So I could now pick some of my favourite synonyms and make a new sentence.

I could say when we glimpse the bright lake, we dashed towards it, whooping happily.

So you could choose either of those sentences, they would be both fine.

But we use synonyms to maybe vary our language a little bit more for our reader.

Well done if you came up with something similar.

Now you said that synonyms are words which have the same or similar meaning to each other.

Antonyms are words that have the opposite meaning to another word.

So the antonym of sweet might be sour.

One antonym of vast would be minute.

An antonym of elated, very happy, would be depressed, very sad.

An antonym of local could be distant.

An antonym of polite could be rude.

So words can have multiple antonyms. There are lots of words that are the opposite of vast, and there are lots of words that are the opposite of elated.

So we can use these antonyms to show contrast between people, places, things and actions that are different.

For example, yesterday the weather was quiet and calm.

Today there's a raging storm.

So raging and quiet and calm are antonyms, they're opposites.

We could say the adults were delighted to have a day off, but the children were disappointed to have to stay at home.

We've got antonyms for feelings there, delighted and disappointed.

And again, we've got right now you probably feel furious, before long you'll feel content again.

So furious and content are antonyms. So each time there, we've used the antonyms to show those contrast between feelings and descriptions to help our reader get understanding of the differences between those things.

So true of false, the antonym of river is sea? Pause the video and decide.

Well done, you're right, that is false.

Now have a look at these two explanations.

Which one of these best explains why that is false to say? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, you're right, it is A.

Now, not all words do have antonyms. Some nouns do, man and women, adult and child, boy and girl.

Those are pairs of antonyms. But most nouns don't have an antonym.

And a river is not the opposite of a sea, is it? Those are not opposites, they're just different, but they're not opposite from one another.

Really well done if you spotted that.

Now all words have an etymology.

And you might have heard that word used in your spelling lessons.

An etymology is kind of a story of how a word came to be in our language.

And prefixes and suffixes are part of this etymology.

They change the meaning of a root word.

And I bet you remember that a prefix is a group of letters added at the start of a word and a suffix is a group of letters added at the end of a word.

So if we take the word heat, we could say a root word, heat, we can add prefixes and suffixes to change the meaning.

We could say heater with a suffix.

Unheated has both a prefix and a suffix.

We could say reheat with a prefix.

We could say overheat with a prefix.

And each time, adding the suffix or the prefix has changed the meaning of that word slightly, but they're based on that root word, heat.

So we can use prefixes to create antonyms, to create opposites.

So employment means having a job.

The opposite of employment is unemployment, without a job.

So you've got the prefix un.

Satisfaction means you're pleased with how things are going.

So the opposite of that is dissatisfaction with the prefix dis.

Notice you've got a double S there.

And then if you interpret something correctly, you've understood it.

So the opposite of that is to misinterpret something, to misunderstand what's going on and not get the situation right.

So mis has been added as a prefix there to give the antonym.

So each time we've added a prefix and it's created an antonym for us.

So I wonder if you can use a prefix to create an antonym for each of these words.

And as I've said on the side here, the prefix is dis and mis are all often used to create antonyms from a root word.

So pause the video and see if you can decide what is the antonym of each of these.

Well done, I bet you got them, let's see what we've got.

For unknown, we could say unknown.

For obedience, we would have, well done, disobedience.

For understand, we would say misunderstand, stable would be unstable, appearance might be disappearance, well done.

And for judge, we could have misjudge.

That's when you get the situation wrong.

You misunderstand what's happening in a particular situation or in a particular person, you might have misjudged their personality.

Really well done if you've got all of those antonyms by adding the prefixes, great work.

So let's do our first task for this lesson.

Can you see I've got a table below and I've got a list of words? Happy, comfortable, cover, friendly, and connect.

Some of those are verbs and some are adjectives.

I'd like you to think of a synonym for each word, then create an anonym by adding a prefix and then create an antonym that doesn't have a prefix.

And if you look along the bottom, I've done it for you for one word.

I started off with the word like, I said, a synonym for like is adore.

I said, an antonym with a prefix would be dislike.

I've added the prefix dis.

And an antonym without the prefix would be despise, which means to really hate something.

So you're thinking for each word of a synonym and an antonym, one of those antonyms will have a prefix and one will have no prefix.

Pause the video and see if you can complete the table.

Well done, great job.

So let's have a look at what we could have written.

For happy, I gave the synonym delighted, the antonyms unhappy and miserable.

So I've got un as my prefix.

For comfortable, I have the synonym cosy, my first antonym is uncomfortable.

And then I've also got the antonym restless.

For cover, I've gone for the synonym hide.

If you hide something, you might cover it.

For my antonym, I've got uncover.

And then without the prefix, it would be something like reveal.

For friendly, my synonym was kind, my first antonym is unfriendly, and then my antonym without the prefix would be something like hostile.

And then for connect, I've got the synonym join.

If you join things together, you connect them.

My first antonym is disconnect, and my second is break.

So if you connect something, you can then break it apart.

That'd be doing the opposite, so that is an antonym.

Really good job if you've managed to get some similar words, great work.

So let's move on to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to think about now prepositions and adverbs.

So you already know that a noun is a naming word for a person, a place, or a thing.

And I'm sure you know that a noun phrase is a group of words that links to the noun but doesn't contain a verb.

No phrases contain a verb, that's what makes them phrases.

So if we look at these sentences, we've got, he's been my secretary for several months, we stopped in front of our local Indian restaurant, and you are alive because of this emergency vehicle.

And I've highlighted some words in green.

These are the noun phrases.

Several months, our local Indian restaurant, and this emergency vehicle, if you look at that last one, we've got the word vehicle, a noun, and then the words that link to it without containing a verb.

This emergency vehicle is a noun phrase.

So a preposition is a word that that connects the rest of a sentence to a noun or a noun phrase.

For example, for.

He's been my secretary is the starting point of our sentence.

That could be a sentence all alone actually, couldn't it? And then I've got my preposition for, and then I'm connecting the rest of that sentence to the noun phrase, several months.

He's been my secretary four several months.

And a preposition can be one word, like for, or it can be several words like in front of and because of, and it always comes in front of a noun or a noun phrase.

That's the most important thing to remember here, is that our preposition is always in front of a noun or noun phrase because it's connecting that noun or noun phrase to the rest of the sentence.

So if you look at the second example, we've got we stopped and then we're connecting that to our local Indian restaurant by using the preposition in front of.

So we stopped in front of our local Indian restaurant.

So prepositions always link to a noun or noun phrase, but they can have different purposes and this is why they're so useful.

We can have prepositions of time.

At 3:45 PM, on Tuesday evening, in the days to come, since last Thursday, for five long hours, by tomorrow.

These shows when something happened.

And look how I've highlighted the preposition in green.

And after it I've put a noun phrase it's linking to, since last Thursday, since is the preposition.

Then we have prepositions of place, I could say in the village, at the bus stop, on your chair, under his table, below the ground, above the trees, these are showing us where something happened.

And if you look, each one is come in front of a noun phrase, at the bus stop, under his table.

His table and the bus stop are both noun phrases.

The preposition in green has come before it because it's gonna connect the rest of the sentence to that noun phrase that follows it.

We've also got prepositions of cause.

This is things like because of his strong views, due to the temperature, and thanks to all of these people, and these are showing us why something happened.

So again, can you see the preposition comes in front of a noun phrase? His strong views is a noun phrase.

We're connecting that to the rest of the sentence by using the preposition because of.

So we can see here we've got a huge range of different prepositions we can use.

And I've just given a few examples here.

There are many, many more we can choose from in each of these categories.

So they're so useful for us in telling a bit more about that noun phrase and how it connects to the rest of the sentence.

So I wonder if you can find the preposition and the noun phrase it links to in each sentence.

Pause the video and have a try.

Okay, let's take a look.

In A, we've got the preposition because of introducing the noun phrase, your appalling behaviour.

In B, we've got the preposition by introducing the noun phrase Thursday morning.

And in C, we've got the preposition in introducing the noun phrase your group.

So look how each of my prepositions there comes in front of a noun or noun phrase.

And notice how preposition can be one word, like by or in, or more than one, like because of.

Great job for spotting all those, well done.

So together, that preposition and the noun phrase that follows it are called a preposition phrase.

Let me show you one.

In this sentence, we've got, he lost the competition due to his aggressive behaviour.

Maybe you spotted due to as our preposition there and introducing the noun phrase, well done, his aggressive behaviour.

So together, due to his aggressive behaviour is the preposition phrase.

It's the preposition plus the noun phrase.

Let's look at some more examples.

I'm not going to cook very well at this, sorry, it's not going to cook very well at this temperature.

He's stood up anxiously to speak in Parliament.

The committee meets on the 12th of the month.

So here we've got at this temperature, at is introducing the noun phrase this temperature.

We've got in Parliament, in is introducing parliament, a noun.

And we've got on the 12th of the month, on is introducing the noun phrase, the 12th of the month.

So those are our three preposition phrases, a preposition plus an end phrase.

So can you identify the preposition and the preposition phrase it begins in each of these sentences? Pause the video and have a try.

Well done, good job.

In A, we would have in is the preposition and her right forearm is the noun phrase.

So the preposition phrase is in her right forearm.

In B, on is the preposition.

So the preposition phrase would be on Monday lunchtimes.

In C, thanks to is the preposition.

So the preposition phrase must be thanks to the government's decision.

We've got that noun phrase, the government's decision there introduced by the preposition, thanks to.

Really well done.

So some words can act as both prepositions and subordinating conjunctions.

So we really have to look at what they're doing in the sentence to see whether they're prepositions or subordinating conjunctions, let me show you.

So if a word is acting as a preposition, it'll be followed always by a noun or noun phrase and not a clause.

Remember, a clause is a group of words that contains a verb.

So if the word is followed by a group of words that contains a verb, it can't be a preposition.

Let me show you.

I'm desperate to finish this before Monday night.

So is before acting as a preposition there? Well, let's have a look.

It's followed by Monday night, which is a noun phrase.

So before it's introducing that noun phrase.

So yes, it's is a preposition because that's what prepositions do.

They introduce noun phrases, they attach them to the rest of the sentence.

Let's look at another sentence that uses the same word, before.

I'm desperate to finish this before I see him.

Well, what's after before in this sentence? It's a clause, I see him with the verb see.

So in this case, before can't be acting as a preposition, can it? Because it's not introducing a noun or noun phrase.

So here before is acting as a subordinating conjunction because it's introducing a clause that contains a verb.

So it's a really important distinction.

But if we always remember, if it's a preposition, it will be followed by a noun or noun phrase.

That's a great way of helping us to remember is it working as a preposition or not? So is the highlighted word in each of these sentences acting as a preposition by joining the sentence to a noun or noun phrase? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, let's take a look.

So A, we have after 60 AD.

60 AD is a noun phrase.

So yes, after is working as a preposition in that sentence.

What about B? We've got after the Romans arrived in Britain.

Well, arrived as a verb.

So after is introducing a clause there.

So no, it's not working as a preposition.

In fact, it's another subordinating conjunction.

Let's look at C, because of your behaviour, your behaviour is a noun phrase.

So because of your behaviour is a preposition phrase, because because of is introducing that noun phrase, your behaviour.

So it's acting as a preposition in this sentence.

And then finally, indeed, we've got because of the way you have behaved, so here we've got a verb, have behaved.

So because of is introducing a clause in this sentence.

So that is not acting as a preposition.

Really good job if you've remembered that rule.

So it can sometimes be hard to tell if a word is acting as a preposition.

And the way that we work it out is by looking at what comes after it.

So we can tell if a word is acting as a preposition because it will be followed by a noun or a noun phrase.

Let's look at some examples.

We could say, I suggested we go up the hill, my neighbour put it in the letterbox, put the kettle on the counter.

Now we know that those words up, in and on can be prepositions, but are they followed by a noun or noun phrase? Well, in these examples, yes, they are, the hill, the letterbox and the counter are all noun phrases.

So we've got the noun phrase with a preposition before it, linking it to the rest of the sentence.

So in these sentences, up, in and on are acting as prepositions.

Now, let's take those same words and put them in sentences where they're not acting as prepositions.

Let's have a look.

We've got, I suggested we go up, he put it in, put the kettle on.

Those are all complete sentences but here the words are not followed by a noun phrase.

So the same words are not acting as prepositions.

So if they're acting as prepositions, they will always be followed by a noun or a noun phrase.

Okay, let's test that out.

Here are some sentences with some words highlighted in them.

I'd like you to take the sentences where the highlighted word is acting as a preposition to see if you can remember that rule we just discussed and decide is the highlighted word a preposition in these cases.

Pause the video and have a go.

Great, let's have a look.

So in the first one, we've got the word out and it doesn't have a noun or a noun phrase after it.

So no, it's not acting as a preposition.

In B, we have the same thing.

We have the word out again, and again this time it's not followed by a noun or a noun phrase.

So it can't be acting as a preposition.

In C, we've got the word over and it's followed by the fence.

So this time over is acting as a preposition because it's followed by that noun phrase that's linking it to the rest of the sentence, the cat jumped, well done.

And indeed we've got the word to, followed by that man.

That man is a noun phrase.

And this word to is linking it to the rest of that sentence.

So yes, it is a preposition, and yes it is followed by a noun phrase, which is what helps us to decide.

Brilliant job if you spotted those.

So we've talked a lot about prepositions so far.

Let's move on now to think about adverbs.

Now we often think of adverbs as words that describe how verbs are done.

So for instance, we queued silently to enter the hall.

Laura prepared thoroughly for the test.

Andeep was waiting patiently by the vehicle.

All of those words, silently, thoroughly, and patiently are adverbs because they're describing how the verb is done.

Queued silently, prepared thoroughly, was waiting patiently.

But adverbs can also show when the verb was done, we could say, we soon entered the restaurant.

Jun never suggests anything for us to do.

We should catch up with each other later.

Each of these words is telling us when the verb was done, we soon entered, never suggests, catch up later.

So those are adverbs too.

There are other purposes adverbs can have as well.

For instance, I looked everywhere for you, that tells me where I looked.

We've got, we were extremely worried about him.

That tells us what level of worry we had, how much we were feeling that verb.

So adverbs do lots of different things.

Other than just say how a verb is done, they can say where it was done, when it was done, or to what extent it was done.

See if you can identify the adverb in each sentence that describes the highlighted verb.

So I've circled the verbs for you.

What adverb describes that verb in these sentences? Pause the video and have a try.

Okay, let's take a look.

In A, the adverb is had to stop.

So Mum had to do that frequently.

That tells us how often she did it.

For B, we've got standing nearby, that tells us where they were standing.

In C, we've got yesterday, that tells us when we went.

And then D, we've got somewhere, telling us where that must be buried.

Really well done if you spotted those adverbs in those sentences.

So we've learned that adverbs can describe verbs, but in fact adverbs can also describe adjectives.

Here's some sentences.

We ate a deliciously moist cake, the athlete was really strong, it was quite an expensive outfit, and we were very hungry by the time we arrived.

Now you might have spotted these adjectives here, a moist cake, a strong athlete, an expensive outfit, and we are being hungry.

So all of these are adjectives that are describing nouns or the pronoun we in these sentences.

There's some more words here we need to look at.

We've got deliciously moist, really strong, quite expensive, and very hungry.

These are all adverbs describing these adjectives.

So we can identify an adverb acting in this way, by looking for words that are modifying the adjective, they're saying more about it.

It's deliciously moist, it's not just moist.

The athlete's not just strong, they're really strong.

The outfit's not just expensive, it's quite expensive.

So maybe a bit less expensive.

And we are not just hungry, we are very hungry.

So the adverb is modifying the adjective.

It's telling us more about what that adjective is like.

So see if you can identify the adverb in each sentence that describes the highlighted adjective.

So I've circled the adjectives clear, warm, interesting, angry, and calm.

In each case what adverb is modifying, is describing that adjective? Pause the video and see if you can work them out.

Okay, let's have a look.

In A, we would say it's remarkably clear.

B is unusually warm.

C is extremely interesting.

And D has two, we've got quite angry and very calm.

So in each case, those adverbs are modifying the adjective that follows it.

Really well done if you spotted those.

Now we've seen adverbs modifying verbs and modifying adjectives, but they can also modify whole clauses when they act as a fronted adverbial.

For instance, often I have no idea what to suggest.

Here we've got the word often, an adverb, acting as a fronted adverbial to say, I have no idea what to suggest, and that happens often.

So that word, that adverb often, has modified that whole sentence, it's added more explanation to when that happens.

We could say silently, we entered the misty cemetery, we've got the adverb silently acting as a fronted adverbial, telling us we entered the misty cemetery and we did it silently.

Again, we could say somewhere nearby, we'll find the treasure, an adverb followed by a comma, and then the main clause.

And can you see how these words are not followed by a noun phrase? We just have the adverb itself and then the comma.

And the reason I'm saying that is because prepositions can also act as fronted adverbials.

But you'll see with these prepositions, we have a noun phrase after each one, let me show you.

We've got in these books, we'll find the answer.

On Tuesday, they'll go to the restaurant.

Because of the weather, you'll have to stay inside.

And can you see the noun phrase each time after the preposition? So the fronted adverbials is made of the preposition and the noun phrase.

In other words, it's a preposition phrase put at the start of a sentence and it's called a fronted adverbial here.

So does the fronted adverbial here start with an adverb or a preposition? Remember, you'll know because a preposition will be followed by a noun or noun phrase, and an adverb will not.

Pause the video and see if you can work it out.

Okay, let's take a look.

In here, we've got within a few days, so this is a preposition, we've got a few days as a noun phrase there.

Soon does not have a noun phrase after it.

So that must be an adverb.

Inside does not have a noun phrase, so it must be an adverb again.

But inside this cave is a preposition because we've got this cave as the noun phrase there.

So we've seen that both adverbs and prepositions can function as fronted adverbials.

We can tell the difference because a preposition will be followed by a noun and noun phrase.

Really well done if you notice that.

So the same sentence can contain both prepositions and adverbs.

Remember, the distinction will be, the prepositions will be followed by noun phrases directly.

So let's look at this sentence.

He hurried quickly and he placed his work in the tray.

So you've got the words quickly and in highlighted.

Now quickly is describing the action hurried, so that is an adverb, but in is followed by the noun phrase the tray, so that must be a preposition.

Here's another example.

I got to the finish line even though the race was very long.

We've got to and very highlighted.

So if you look at to, it's followed by that noun phrase, the finish line.

So it must be a preposition, well done.

And then very is modifying or describing that adjective along.

So what kind of word describes an adjective? It's an adverb.

So you can see in each sentence, we have to look what's coming after this word to work out is it a preposition or an adverb? So can you explain how we know whether the highlighted word is a preposition or an adverb in these sentences? We have under and really.

Pause the video and see if you can explain why is it a preposition or an adverb, and how do you know? Have a go.

Great effort, let's take a look at A.

So we've got under the cover of darkness.

Well, under is followed by the cover of darkness.

So this is a preposition.

It's followed by the noun phrase, the cover of darkness, which means it must be a preposition.

Let's look at really.

Well, that's followed by the word fast, which is an adjective.

So this is an adverb because it's modifying that adjective fast.

It's explaining to what extent we were fast.

Really well done if you notice the difference between those two.

So let's do our second task for this lesson.

I've got some sentences here with words highlighted.

Can you decide whether each highlighted word is a preposition or an adverb? And remember, the clue is always that a preposition will be followed by a noun or a noun phrase, whereas an adverb will not.

Pause the video and see if you can work out for each word is it an adverb or a preposition? Have a go.

Okay, let's take a look.

I'm going to circle the prepositions in green and the adverbs in black.

So if we look at A, we've got outside as an adverb because it's not followed by a noun phrase, but onto is a preposition 'cause it's followed by the roof.

For B, we've got extremely as an adverb describing the adjective hot and we've got into as a preposition because it's followed by the pool.

For C, we've got a preposition because of, followed by the noun phrase, the hot weather.

And then urgently, which is telling us more about that verb, turned the fan on.

For D, we've got towards as a preposition, introducing the noun phrase, the goal.

And then we've got very as an adverb, because it's describing the adjective hard.

For E, we've got by as a preposition, introducing that noun phrase the weekend.

Then we've got another preposition in introducing the noun phrase the river.

And then we've got an adverb greatly, describing that verb reduced.

For F, we've got quite as an adverb describing the adjective late.

And then we've got to as a preposition introducing the noun school.

And in G, we've got now as an adverb, it's not followed by a noun phrase, and then beneath as a preposition, introducing the noun phrase the ground.

So hopefully you've really started to understand that rule about prepositions and adverbs, really looking for those noun phrases to see is it a preposition or not? Great job, let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We've learned that synonyms have the same or similar meaning to another word, and antonyms have the opposite meaning to another word.

We've learned that prepositions are words or groups of words that connect to sentence to a noun or noun phrase to show when, where, or why something happened.

We've learned that adverbs are words that describe or modify a verb or adjective.

And a preposition is always followed by a noun or noun phrase to create a preposition phrase, but an adverb is not.

So can you see how in this lesson we've really had to look carefully about what's going on around a word in order to work out what kind of word we're looking at and what it's doing in our sentence? You've done a great job of really digging deep into these sentences to investigate what these words are doing.

Great work, I hope to see you again in another lesson, goodbye.