Tips And Tricks And Shortcuts For Contextual Vocabulary

1. Latin Keyword Method –

The Latin keyword method means to know the reference of any word in Latin terms. Once you know its meaning it gets easier for you to guess the context of the passage or sentence and choose the words accordingly to replace the one in the question as directed.

For example – words like –

• Quid pro quo – something for something.
• Ad hoc – to this.
• Verbatim – In exactly the same words
• Seismic
  (a) Seismology is study of earthquake.
  (b) Seismologists is the person who study Earthquake.

2. Associative Method –

Just as the name might ring a bell, Associative method means to associate a word with any event, picture, thing or something relatable. This way you can remember more number of words without worrying to memorize each of them.

For Example – PLETHORA

Now to associate Plethora with something you need to know its meaning which means ‘In abundance’ or ‘Many’.

So now you know two more words that you can associate with plethora and you can guess many more words which can be a combination of simple and complex words, per say-

• Abundance
• Many
• Several
• Excess
• Surfeit
• Profusion ………….. and so on.

3. Parent Tree Method –

This method is again a boon for those who struggle at remembering synonyms and antonyms of endless words in the dictionary. As the name might mean, Parent tree method means to have one PARENT word and then clip more words to it like leaves and branches that mean the same or have similar meaning.

For Example-

Take a word that you want to find more similar words for, maybe ‘FIGHT’. So make a point that whenever you come across any other word that relates to the meaning of ‘FIGHT’, your parent word, note it down. This way you can get a book full words only with very little study.

Some common related words to fight are –

• Brawl
• Struggle
• Competition
• Combat
• Dispute
• Challenge
• Wrestle
• Resist …………………………. and so on.

4. Suffix/ Prefix Method –

There are ample number of words in English dictionary that do not have keywords, so we use the Prefix and Suffix method to give them a shorter meaning and still be able to relate to the main word. Prefix means the initial letters of a word while Suffix means the last few alphabets that can be used to denote it in longer sentences.

For Example – Let’s take a prefix as ‘PRO’ – means and expert. Now count the number of words which can start with Pro:

• Proactive
• Profess
• Program
• Promote
• Prolong
• Provincial
• Pronoun ……………. and so now. The list is inexhaustible.

Example – Let’s try the same thing with a suffix now. Say, ‘NESS’ – A state or quality.  So our list goes like –

• Coolness
• Darkness
• Dryness
• Boldness
• Fitness
• Kindness ………………. and so one. Inexhaustible once again.

Tips and Tricks and Shortcuts For Contextual Vocabulary  : TYPES

The types of Contextual Vocabulary questions that can be asked during an assessment are divided into three categories. The questions for the same are given below:

• Passage-based questions.
• Sentence based questions.
• Antonym/Synonym based question