Antonyms (Easy)

Vocabulary points to take away:

comfortable: feeling pleasant to wear
This sofa is so soft and comfortable, I could sleep on it!

uncomfortable: feeling unpleasant or slightly painful to wear
Seats in planes are so uncomfortable – there’s never enough room for your legs.

decisive: good at making decisions quickly and easily
You have to be decisive if you work as a doctor in the emergency department. You often
have to act quickly – hesitating over how to treat can be a matter of life and death.

indecisive: not good at making decisions easily
She always had to arrange the holiday. He was so indecisive, they would never have got
round to booking anything if she’d left it to him to organise.

dark: almost black in colour
“Look at those dark clouds! It’s going to rain in a minute!”

light: pale in colour
The cream colour is too light against the white. We need a darker colour like blue or red.
narrow: small in size from side to side
The space between the cars is too narrow– you won’t be able to get your bike through.

wide: large in size from side to side
“Do you think the mirror will fit in on the wall?” “Oh yes, the space between the two walls
is very wide.

tight: fitting too closely, so feeling uncomfortable
I think I need to lose weight – my trousers have got too tight.

loose: not fitting closely
When it’s really hot, it’s good to wear tops that are loose as they keep you cool.
old-fashioned: belonging to a past age; not modern
He was quite old-fashioned. He still used a radio and didn’t have a mobile.

trendy/modern/up-to-date/cool: very fashionable
She looked like a model in her trendy leather jacket and stripy leggings.

Lắng nghe và điền vào chỗ trống:

Cloze Test

CLOZE TEST

Assistant

CLIP

Catherine

Finn

Narrow

Number

Ruth

about

and

are

bit

comfortable

fitting

for

give

going

indecisive

make

prefixes

really

smaller

something

speech

talking

the

three

tip

try

two

use

wide

with

words

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary. Im Finn…

Catherine

And Im Catherine.

Finn

In todays programme, were talking antonyms.

Catherine

Antonyms are words with opposite meanings.

Finn

Like big and small…

Catherine

Fat and thinWere going to you lots of examples of antonyms today. And well give

you a top tip for improving your vocabulary.

Finn

lets start by listening to someone called Ruth. She's shopping and trying on shoes.

Catherine

While you listen, think this question: What colour are the two pairs of shoes with

heels?

INSERT

Assistant

Heres a selection.

Ruth

Ill these on first… Hmm � theyre a bit uncomfortable � too tight.

Assistant

OK. Try these � theyre the size up.

Ruth

Hmm… theyre a little more comfortable, but theyre too wide at the back and they feel

bit loose! Ive got very narrow feet.

Assistant

What about the flat ones?

Ruth

They look a bit old-fashioned-.

These dark blue ones with the heels are really popular at the moment.

Ruth

Yes, theyre quite trendy, but think I prefer the light blue ones… Actually, the dark blue

ones are quite nice � Oh, Im so !

Finn

So that was Ruth shopping there. And we asked you: what colours were the two pairs of

shoes heels?

Catherine

And the answer is: one pair was dark blue and one pair was light blue.

Finn

Dark light are antonyms. Here theyre describing two different shades of blue.

Catherine

Now we often find antonyms when we comparing things. So listen to this clip for some

more opposites.

INSERT CLIP 1

Ruth

Hmm � theyre a uncomfortable � too tight.

Assistant

OK. Try these � theyre the next size up.

Ruth

…’theyre a little more , but theyre too wide at the back and feel a bit loose!

Ive got very narrow feet.

Catherine

So had tight, spelt t-i-g-h-t----, meaning fitting too closely…

Finn

…and we had the opposite loose, spelt l-o-o-s-e----, meaning not closely.

Catherine

Ruth also said that one pair of shoes were too wide because shes got narrow feet. So

, spelt w-i-d-e---, means the space from one side to the other is bigger than usual or

bigger than comfortable. , spelt n-a-r-r-o-w-----, means the opposite � the space from

one side to the other is smaller than usual or than comfortable.

Finn

There were two other words that are opposites � comfortable and uncomfortable. The

difference between these words is just two letters u and n, which form the prefix un.

Catherine

And in English we often the prefixes un, in (spelt i-n-) and dis (spelt d-i-s--) to make

antonyms. If we put one of these at the start of the word, it can change the

meaning of the word to its opposite.

Finn

So said that she was indecisive. By adding the prefix in (-i-n-) to the word decisive,

which means being able make decisions easily, we make indecisive, which has the

opposite meaning � not being able to make decisions easily.

What are you Finn?

Finn

Im a little indecisive, I must say.

Catherine

Are you sure about that? Not ?

Finn

Very good.

Catherine

Lets have another short clip with two more antonyms. Can you spot them?

INSERT 1 2

Assistant

What about the flat ones?

Ruth

They look a bit old-fashioned-.

Assistant

These dark blue ones with heels are really popular at the moment.

Ruth

Yes, theyre quite trendy.

Catherine

So we had old-fashioned and trendy.

You describe something as old-fashioned when it looks like its from a time in the past. …*%��

Catherine

…whereas that is trendy is modern, up-to-date or cool.

IDENT

6 Minute Vocabulary from BBC Learning English.

Catherine

And were about antonyms, which are words with opposite meanings.

Finn

The prefixes un, in and dis are often used to antonyms, for example: decisive and

indecisive. Now all the words weve seen earlier are adjectives, but other parts of

can be antonyms.

Catherine

So you can have verbs, like ask and answer…

Finn

� which is what were to do now because its time for a quiz. So, what is the

opposite of the word tight: is a) loose or b) narrow?

Catherine

The answer is a) loose.

Finn

Well done if you got that right. two: trendy. Is the opposite a) modern or b) oldfashioned?

Catherine

Its b) old-fashioned-.

Finn

Thats correct! And number : comfortable. Is the opposite a) discomfortable or b)

uncomfortable?

Catherine

And the answer is b) uncomfortable.

Finn

And thats end of the quiz � so well done if you got them right.

Catherine

And now heres todays top for learning vocabulary: when you learn a new word, have a

look in the dictionary to see if there a prefix that will help you make the opposite word.

Finn

Yes, and that way you can get two for the price of one!

Catherine

Bargain!

Finn

Absolutely. Theres more about this at bbclearningenglishcom.. Join us again soon more

6 Minute Vocabulary.

Both

Bye!

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