Language
Shades of meaning
Choose between words that mean nearly the same thing but differ in strength or in feeling.
Two words can mean the same thing and still not be the same word. Warm and boiling are both about heat, but only one of them burns you. Slim and skinny both mean thin, but only one of them would upset the person you said it to. That difference is what a shade of meaning is.
Some words are stronger than others
hungry, then starving. tired, then exhausted. angry, then furious. The stronger word is not better — it is bigger, and using it for something small leaves you nothing to say when the big thing happens.
Some words carry a feeling with them
Slim and skinny describe the same body; confident and big-headed describe the same person. One of each pair is a compliment and the other is not, and the reader hears that whether you meant it or not.
A precise word does more work
Walked tells the reader almost nothing. Strolled, marched, wandered and crept each tell them the mood as well as the movement, in the same number of letters.
Match the word to the size of the thing
If a dropped pencil leaves you furious, what is left for a real disaster? Pick the word that fits what actually happened, and save the strong ones for when they are true.
Worked example
Which word fits? "After walking all day in the sun, Ravi was ____ ."
Ask how big the thing is: a whole day of walking, in the sun.
The sentence itself tells you the size, and the word has to match it.
Try it together
Let us choose between three pairs of near-twins.
Each answer is one word, taken from the two offered.
1.The film was so good that everyone clapped. Which fits better — "nice" or "wonderful"? Write the word.
Have a go
Which word shows the greatest sadness?
Ready to practice?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.