Topics in English
Phrase: Types of Phrase Clause explained with its types Essay: How to write the major types of essay Nouns and Adjectives: Examples of nouns formed from adjectives Meaning and Examples of Homonyms Idioms and Examples of Idioms What are Synonyms? Examples of Synonyms Figures of Speech: Meaning, examples and types of figure of speech Relative pronouns and compound relative pronouns explained with examples Transitive and Intransitive Verbs explained with examples Phrase explained with examples Essay: Formal, Semi-Formal and Informal Essays explainedAcademic Questions in English
For this question and the three questions below, choose the option that best completes the sentence.
The doctor _____ the illness as malaria, not dysentery.
A. Discovered
B. Diagnosed
C. Tested
D. Examined
E. Announced
F. Prescribed
The principal reacted to the disrespectful action of the student with strong _____.
A. Indignation
B. Condemnation
C. Accusation
D. Demonstration
E. Mobilization
F. Impunity
Since the writer did not indicate his name, the editor did not publish such a/an _____ article.
A. Poor
B. Libellous
C. Discourteous
D. Impolite
E. Anonymous
F. Scandalous
The play was so interesting that the _____ clapped for a long time at the end.
A. Congregation
B. Fans
C. Spectators
D. Audience
E. Watchers
F. People
Answer true of false with regards to the sentence below:
'Humility' is a noun and 'Humble' is an adjective
A. True
B. False
A part of a sentence or clause that contains a verb and something concerning the subject within that sentence is termed a/an _____.
A. Predicate
B. Object
C. Adverbial clause
D. Adverbial phrase
E. Half clause
F. Body of adverbial clause
The acronym Wi-Fi stands for _____.
A. Wireless Files
B. Wireless Flips
C. Wireless Fidelity
D. Wireless Freedom
E. Wireless and Free
F. Wireless Fun
The words massacre and bloodbath are _____.
A. Antonyms
B. Synonyms
C. Homonyms
D. Homophones
E. Heteronyms
F. Heterophone
You may have heard a statement that reads below:
You will notice that the phrase 'put behind bars' does not have a literal meaning with regards to its intended or real meaning. What I'm trying to say here is: 'put behind bars' means something entirely different from the words it contain.
If we were to interpret the above phrase, it will mean something entirely different and this is what idioms entail.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning does not relate to the individual words it contains.
Sometimes, an idiom can be very difficult to guess by mere looking at the meanings of the individual word it contains.
The idiom 'put behind bars' in the above expression will mean 'imprisoned'. The expression can therefore be interpreted as:
Note: As a student, you may write an English examination where you will be requested to provide the correct answers to idioms present within a sentence.
You can attempt WAEC questions for English, 1990 here. You can read on nouns formed from adjectives here.
The table below shows some frequently used idioms with their respective meanings:
Idioms |
Meanings |
|
To blow one’s trumpet |
To praise oneself |
|
To burn a hole in one’s pocket |
To spend all one has |
|
To go in with somebody |
To support somebody financially |
|
To make mountain out of a mole hill |
To exaggerate things |
|
To get off the beaten track |
To look for new methods |
|
To shed crocodile tears |
To cry insincerely |
|
To buy a pig in a pork |
To buy what one has not seen before |
|
To hold one’s peace |
To raise no objection |
|
To have a close shave |
To have a narrow escape from something bad |
|
To turn in one’s coat |
To change one’s principle |
|
To be in the red |
To be bankrupt (penniless or without any money) |
|
To take heart |
To have courage |
|
To nip in the bud |
To stop something from happening |
|
To go back a long way |
To have known each other for a long time |
|
To sit on the fence |
To be neutral |
|
To shift one’s ground |
To change one’s position |
|
To have words with somebody |
To quarrel with somebody |
|
To be in the wood |
To be in danger |
|
To bank on somebody |
To rely on somebody |
|
To let the cat out of the bag |
To reveal a secret |
|
To throw in the towel |
To surrender |
|
To tread on somebody’s toe |
To offend somebody |
|
To bury the hatchet |
To stop fighting |
|
To be a cog in the wheel |
To be a disturbance for progress |
|
To take the bull by the horns |
To face a difficult situation boldly |
|
To be in the driving seat |
To be in control of a situation |
|
To be above board |
To be honest and clever |
|
To strike a chord with someone |
To make someone feel sympathy with what one is saying |
|
To stick out one’s neck |
To do something that could bring problem |
|
To bite the dust |
To be defeated OR To fall down dead |
|
To add fuel to flames |
To do something that makes people react more fiercely |
|
To leave no stone unturned |
To do everything necessary to achieve something |
|
To leave someone in the lurch |
To abandon someone in a difficult situation |
|
To bide one’s time |
To wait for a good opportunity |
|
To draw the line at something |
To refuse to do something |
|
To take a dim view |
To hate |
|
To go the full distance |
To continue to partake in sports until it ends |
|
To the gallery |
To be praised and loved |
|
To put someone in a family way |
To make someone pregnant |
|
To line someone’s pocket |
To make money dishonestly |
|
To clip someone’s wing |
To reduce someone’s power |
|
To be a wet blanket |
To be a person who discourages |
|
To hold out an olive branch |
To clamor for peace |
|
To be born in blue blood in one’s vein |
To be born into a wealthy family |
|
To throw some light upon |
To explain |
|
To stand on one’s own leg |
To be independent |
|
To take the law into one’s hand |
To try to get revenge or satisfaction by force, without any recourse to the law courts |
|
To have a whale of a time |
To enjoy oneself very much |
|
To break the ice |
To lead the way when others are hesitant to come forward |
|
To turn a new leaf |
To change one’s mode of life |
|
To bring to light |
To reveal |
|
To be in someone’s debt |
To be grateful to someone for his/her help |
|
To cook the books |
To illegally or dishonestly alter facts or figures |
|
To be behind bars |
To be in prison |
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Amazing facts in English
Scrunched and strengthed are the longest one-syllable words in the English language
The longest word in English language with only one vowel is 'strengths'
The word pangram refers to a sentence that contains all 26 letters of the alphabet. Below is an example of a pangram:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The word Paraskevidekatriaphobia means the fear of Friday the 13th, while Triskaidekaphobia means an extreme fear of the number 13
Angry and Hungry are the only two English words that currently ends in '-gry'
The only English word with five consecutive vowels is 'queueing'
The dot on the top of letter ‘i’ is called a tittle
The sentence below uses every letter in the English alphabet:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The furry tufts of hair inside a cat's ear are called ear furnishings
There are only four words in the English language that end in 'dous'. These are:
Tremendous
Horrendous
Stupendous
Hazardous
Notable points in English
Homonyms are words with the same spellings, same sounds but different meanings.
Below are some sentences containing homonyms with their respective meanings:
- Keen
We have a keen match against Ronaldo’s team and Messi seems to be keen.
Keen: An involvement of people competing very hard for something.
Keen: Very interested in something.
- Tear
Regardless the tear you shed, Mr. Frank will still tear your examination scripts.
Tear: The drop of liquid that comes out from a person's eye when they cry.
Tear: To damage something by pulling or cutting it apart.
- Jot
There isn't any jot of truth in what he said, so I didn't jot anything down.
Jot: A very small amount of something
Jot: To write something quickly
Certain words in English language appear to be similar but are quite different in meaning.
The table below shows some examples:
|
Childlike |
Childish |
|
Stimulus |
Stimulant |
|
Destructible |
Destructive |
|
Negligible |
Negligent |
|
Comprehensible |
Comprehensive |
Synonyms should not be confused with the above instance. They are different words with similar meanings.
Some words always exist in the plural form. Examples of such words are:
Possessive adjective tells you the owner of a thing. For instance;
This is his car.
'His' in the above statement is describing him as the owner of the car; and this makes 'his' a possessive adjective.
That is your bag.
'Your' is a possessive adjective in the above statement.
Note: An adjective is a word that describes a noun.
Possessive pronouns show possession.
A possessive pronoun will always correspond with each of the personal pronouns. For Instance:
I own the book. ('I' is a personal pronoun)
The book is mine. ('Mine' is the possessive pronoun)
She owns a car. ('She' is a personal pronoun)
The car is hers. ('Hers' is the possessive pronoun)