Lexical sets (Easy)

Vocabulary points to take away:
A lexical set is a group of words that share the same topic or theme and belong to the
same part of speech – they are all nouns, all verbs, all adjectives (for example).
Lexical sets are a useful way to organise vocabulary, making it easier to learn. When reading
texts from different sources, it is a good idea to try to find groups of words that are related
to the same topic and that belong to the same part of speech.
Practice
Look at this short text and find the words belonging to the same lexical set (possible
answers are at the bottom of the page):
The English country garden can be a beautiful place. Flowers of many different types
make the garden very colourful. Green bushes and hedges often provide shelter for
wildlife, and it is common to find birds like robins flying around. If there are any
trees, squirrels may also visit the garden. It’s also possible for foxes to find their way
into the garden, especially late at night. At this time, when there are no visiting
animals or birds, it can be so quiet in a country garden that you can hear the insects
crawling around.
Test your memory with lexical sets
Try to find lexical sets in texts you read in English. Look through a text and pick out the
words you think belong to different lexical sets and write them down on a separate piece of
paper. It is a good idea to check what you have written with another person. You may have
spotted different words and different lexical sets. Then hide the original text and try to
remember it from your lexical set lists. If you want an even more difficult challenge, try to
write your own version of the text from your lists.
Answers:
There are a number of different lexical sets in this text:
– beautiful, colourful, green are all adjectives used to describe what the garden
looks like
– flowers, bushes, hedges, trees are all nouns and are names of different plants
in the garden
– robins, squirrels, foxes, animals, birds, insects are all nouns and are the
names of different creatures visiting the garden

Lắng nghe và điền vào chỗ trống:

Cloze Test

CLOZE TEST

Catherine

Dave

FROM

Finn

Golf

Lexical

Lots

Thats

about

all

and

are

completely

day

dear

few

fit

for

home

nouns

terrible

theyre

those

water

wet

when

word

words

you

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary. Im Catherine…

Finn

And Im Finn, hello.

Catherine

Todays programme is all lexical sets.

Finn

Thats right: lexical sets help us to learn words by grouping them together by topic or

type. So, more on that later, but first, heres Dave. Hes talking about a flood that

happened in his town recently, and heres a question to answer while you listen: what

happened to all of Daves possessions?

INSERT

Well, we had so much rain: it said on the news we got a months rainfall in just one !

The water level rose so high that the river burst its banks and water poured into

everyones houses. Its � my house was flooded, all my things were completely

soaked and the carpets are still waterlogged.

Catherine

Oh, . Dave.

Finn

Yes. We asked you what happened to Daves possessions…

Catherine

And he said all his things were soaked � they were covered in water and now

theyre all wet and damaged.

Finn

Dave also used a different words to talk about the flood and its effects. He talked about

the rain and rainfall � thats way to describe the water that falls as rain over a period of

time…

Catherine

And he talked about level, thats the height of the water in rivers and lakes. And

Dave said it got very high.

Finn

did. And thats what caused the floods. Now, floods, water level, water, rainfall and

rain � these are all the topic of rain and floods.

Catherine

And theyre also all the same type of word � theyre all . So we can group these

words into a lexical set.

Finn

Thats right: a lexical set is a group words which are all about the same topic, and which

all belong to the same part of speech � all nouns or verbs or adjectives.

Catherine

So, to make a lexical set for activities on a beach holiday, example, you might think

of…

Finn

…swimming��, sunbathing, and surfing. What do you like doing on a beach holiday,

Catherine

Me - I like sunbathing and eating ice cream. And swimming, sunbathing, eating ice cream, and

surfing are gerunds, thats nouns made from –ing verbs.

Finn

Exactly, so: same topic, same word type: thats a lexical set! of people find it useful to

learn words in groups like this. They seem to stick in your mind easily.

Catherine

Thats right and by learning words in lexical sets, youll also have more words to choose

from youre talking about a topic. Lets hear Dave again and see if you can spot

another lexical set:

CLIP INSERT

…my house was flooded, all my things were completely soaked and the carpets are still

waterlogged.

Catherine

Did get it? Dave said his house was flooded � full of water; all his things were soaked

� completely ; and his carpets still have lots of water in them � they are waterlogged.

Finn

The words flooded, soaked waterlogged are all adjectives here, and theyre all

about flooding, so –*%��

Catherine

� theres our next lexical set!

There it is!

IDENT

Youre listening to BBC Learning English.

Catherine

And were talking about lexical sets: groups of related to the same topic that come

from the same part of speech, like nouns, verbs, adjectives, gerunds.

Finn

right, and its time for a quiz.

Catherine

Aha! My favourite. Right: Ill say three words and you decide they make a lexical set or

not. Finn will tell you the answers. Ready? Number one. Tea, coffee, water. set or

not?

Finn

Well, theyre all drinks � so the same topic � and theyre all nouns, so a lexical set.

Catherine

They are. Another one: swimming, cleaning, sunbathing.

Finn

And thats not a lexical set. They all gerunds, but the topic seems to be ‘*%holiday��

activities’ like swimming and sunbathing � and cleaning doesnt really with that

group. Not on my holidays, anyway…

Catherine

Not on mine, either. So, well done if you got right at home. And weve just got time

for a quick vocabulary tip. Finn?

Finn

OK, right, here we : find a friend, and play a game of ‘lexical set tennis’. It goes like this.

You choose a topic, sport, and then choose a word group like nouns � and then you

take it in turns to say in the set. Alright Catherine: shall we try this?

Catherine

Yes, come on then…

Finn

The topic is sport Ill start with football.

Catherine

Rugby.

Finn

Boxing.

Catherine

Basketball.

Finn

Err. Err. Oh no! Theres more about this wwwbbclearningenglishcom... Join us again for

more 6 Minute Vocabulary. And Ive got another one.

Catherine

Come on then.

Finn

…

SCORE:

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