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Year 4

Synonyms and antonyms

I can use synonyms and antonyms in a range of sentence types.

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New
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Year 4

Synonyms and antonyms

I can use synonyms and antonyms in a range of sentence types.

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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Words can be related to each other by meaning.
  2. Synonyms can be used by writers to vary vocabulary choice and create text flow.
  3. Antonyms can be used by writers to create a certain effect for the reader.
  4. Word families are groups of words that have common features, patterns or meanings.
  5. All words have etymology.

Keywords

  • Synonym - a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word

  • Antonym - a word that has the opposite meaning to another word

  • Word family - a group of words common in feature, pattern or meaning

  • Etymology - the study of the origin of words and the ways their meanings have changed over time

Common misconception

Pupils may believe all words have an antonym e.g. chicken/duck; tree/plant.

Remind pupils that these are not strictly opposites - they are just different! Most antonyms are nouns and verbs.


To help you plan your year 4 english lesson on: Synonyms and antonyms, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Generate banks of synonyms for common words together so that pupils can use them readily in their writing.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the labels to the examples of fronted adverbials.
Correct Answer:word,Soon,
tick

Soon,

Correct Answer:phrase,Before long,
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Before long,

Correct Answer:clause,Before we go home,
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Before we go home,

Q2.
What tells us that 'as the sun rose' is an adverbial clause?
Correct answer: It begins with a subordinating conjunction.
Correct answer: It is a type of subordinate clause.
Correct answer: It does not make complete sense on its own.
Correct answer: It needs a main clause in order to make complete sense.
It does make complete sense on its own.
Q3.
Tick all the sentences that start with a fronted adverbial clause.
Correct answer: When we had finished, we packed up.
Then, we packed up.
Before lunch, we finished our projects.
Correct answer: Before we could go to lunch, we finished our projects.
Q4.
Decide which version of each sentence shows a fronted adverbial clause.
Correct answer: Because the forest was so dark, we could barely see.
We could barely see because the forest was so dark.
Correct answer: While Jun waited patiently, Miss Ofoedu marked his work.
Miss Ofoedu marked Jun's work while he waited patiently.
Q5.
Tick all the sentences which begin with fronted adverbials of time.
Correct answer: Then, it began to hail.
Correct answer: While the hail fell, we huddled indoors.
Frustrated, we ate our lunch quietly.
Correct answer: Before we could even finish, lunch was over.
Q6.
Sam says the following sentence contains a fronted adverbial clause. Do you agree? As a surprise, Mr Clarke let us have extra play.
Yes, because it starts with the subordinating conjunction 'as'.
Yes, because 'As a surprise' contains a verb.
Correct answer: No, because there is no verb in 'As a surprise', so it's not a clause.
No, because a clause cannot begin with 'As'.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What word is given to a word that has the same or a similar meaning to another word?
Correct answer: synonym
antonym
etymology
Q2.
Tick all the synonyms of 'happy'.
friendly
kind
Correct answer: joyful
Correct answer: delighted
Q3.
Antonyms are words with opposite meanings. Match the pairs of antonyms.
Correct Answer:silly,sensible
tick

sensible

Correct Answer:dash,stroll
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stroll

Correct Answer:accept,reject
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reject

Correct Answer:believe,doubt
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doubt

Q4.
Andeep writes this sentence: 'Today, the weather has been warm and sunny.' Which sentence could go next to show a contrast?
Yesterday, it was bright and hot.
Correct answer: Tomorrow, it will be icy and dull.
Now, it is nice and pleasant.
Q5.
Match the words to their meanings.
Correct Answer:prefix,letters added at the start of a word to change its meaning
tick

letters added at the start of a word to change its meaning

Correct Answer:suffix,letters added at the end of a word to change its meaning
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letters added at the end of a word to change its meaning

Correct Answer:word family,a group of words with a shared root word/spelling/meaning
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a group of words with a shared root word/spelling/meaning

Q6.
Which of the following words form part of the 'hope' word family?
Correct answer: hopelessness
hopping
Correct answer: hopeful
hops