Vocabulary

assertive

adjective

- having or showing a confident and forceful personality.

"patients should be more assertive with their doctors"

marginalized
adjective
- (of a person, group, or concept) treated as insignificant or peripheral.
"members of marginalized cultural groups"

awry
adjective
- away from the appropriate, planned, or expected course; amiss.
"I got the impression that something was awry"
similar: amiss, wrong, not right

- out of the normal or correct position; askew.
"he was hatless, his silver hair awry"
similar: askew, crooked, uneven, asymmetrical

askew
adjective
not in a straight or level position.
"her hat was slightly askew"
similar: crooked(ly), lopsided(ly), tilted

- wrong; awry
"the plan went sadly askew"

amiss
adjective
- not quite right; inappropriate or out of place.
"there was something amiss about his calculations"
similar: wrong, awry, faulty, out of order

adverb
- wrongly or inappropriately.
"how terrible was the danger of her loving amiss"

shrapnel
noun
- fragments of a bomb, shell, or other object thrown out by an explosion.
- a shell containing bullets or pieces of metal timed to burst short of impact.

unconventional

adjective

not based on or conforming to what is generally done or believed.

"his unconventional approach to life"

similar: unusual, uncommon

deadpan

adjective

deliberately impassive or expressionless.

"answers his phone in a deadpan tone"

adverb

in a deadpan manner.

verb

say something amusing while affecting a serious manner.

“I'm an undercover dentist,” he deadpanned"

consanguineous 

adjective

- relating to or denoting people descended from the same ancestor.

"consanguineous marriages"

frigid 

adjective

- very cold in temperature.

"frigid water"

- (especially of a woman) unable or unwilling to be sexually aroused and responsive.

"my ex told everyone I was frigid"

- showing no friendliness or enthusiasm; stiff or formal in behavior or style.

"She looked back with a frigid calm"

ambiguous

adjective

- (of language) open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning.

 "ambiguous phrases"

- unclear or inexact because a choice between alternatives has not been made.

"the election result was ambiguous"

spontaneous 

adjective

- performed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus.

"the audience broke into spontaneous applause"

- (of a person) having an open, natural, and uninhibited manner.

- (of a process or event) occurring without apparent external cause.

"spontaneous miscarriages"

- (of movement or activity in an organism) instinctive or involuntary.

"the spontaneous mechanical activity of circular smooth muscle"

similar: unforced, voluntary

robust
adjective
- strong and healthy; vigorous.
"the Caplans are a robust, healthy lot"
- (of wine or food) strong and rich in flavor or smell.

peculiar
adjective
- strange or odd; unusual.
"his accent was a peculiar mixture of Cockney and Irish"

devolved 
adjective
- having had power transferred or delegated to a lower level, especially from central government to local or regional administration.
"devolved and decentralized government"

tumultuous
adjective
-making a loud, confused noise; uproarious.
"tumultuous applause"
* similar: loud, deafening, ear-shattering

- excited, confused, or disorderly.
"a tumultuous crowd"

demeaning 
adjective
- causing someone to lose their dignity and the respect of others.
"the poster was not demeaning to women"

indictment 
/inˈdītmənt/
noun
- a formal charge or accusation of a serious crime.
"an indictment for conspiracy"
synonyms: charge, accusation
antonyms: acquittal

-a thing that serves to illustrate that a system or situation is bad and deserves to be condemned.
"these rapidly escalating crime figures are an indictment of our society"

involuntary manslaughter
noun
- the crime of killing another human being unlawfully but unintentionally.
"James has been charged with involuntary manslaughter"

ledge
/lej/
noun

1- a narrow horizontal surface projecting from a wall, cliff, or other surface.
"he heaved himself up over a ledge"
similar: shelf, sill, mantel shelf

2- an underwater ridge, especially of rocks beneath the sea near the shore.

arraign
/əˈrān/
verb
- call or bring (someone) before a court to answer a criminal charge.
"her sister was arraigned on attempted murder charges"
similar: indict, prosecute, put on trial

- find fault with (someone or something); censure.
"the soldiers bitterly arraigned the government for failing to keep its word"
similar: criticize, condemn

Kinds of Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns are the most important group of pronouns. They are also the pronouns that will give you the most trouble unless you are familiar with the various forms that belong to each pronoun. A personal pronoun  is a pronoun that shows by its form whether it refers to the person speaking, the person spoken to, or the person or thing spoken of. All the personal pronouns, with the exception of the pronoun it , refer to persons. The following sentences show the use of personal pronouns in the first, second and third person:

• I shall spend the winter in Texas. (I is the person speaking)
• You are working too hard. (You is the person spoken to)
• He bought a new car. (He is the person spoken about)
• We built the garage. (We refers to the persons speaking)
• They operate two farms. (They refers to the persons spoken about)
• Ted has a new car. It is a BMW. (It refers to the thing spoken about)
• Jan has two fur coats. They are both mink. (They refers to the things spoken about)

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are pronouns that are used in asking questions. The interrogative pronouns are who (whose, whom), which, and what. An interrogative pronoun also has another function to perform in the sentence, just as any other pronoun has. It may be the subject of the sentence or it may be the object of the verb or of a preposition. The following are the examples of interrogative pronouns.

Who is the director of the band?

For whom are you waiting?

What did they say about his speech?

Which is your car?

Whose car did you borrow?

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that point out definite persons, places, or things. There are only two demonstrative pronouns: this with its plural these, and that with its plural those.

This is my hat. (a definite hat is pointed out)

That is your book. (a definite book is pointed out)

These are the theater ticket. (definite tickets are pointed out)

Those are John’s shoes. (definite shoes are pointed out)

Indefinite Pronouns

A large group of pronouns are called indefinite pronouns because they do not point out particular places, persons, or things.

For example,

1. Somebody took my umbrella. (somebody is an indefinite pronoun)
2. A few left the hall early. (few is an indefinite pronoun)

The following list contains the commonly used indefinite pronouns.

all

any

anybody

anyone

anything

both

each

each one

each other

either

everybody

everyone

everything

few

many

neither

nobody

none

no one

nothing

one

one another

ones

other

others

several

some

somebody

someone

something

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun is a pronoun that joins the clause which it introduces to its own antecedent. The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun or pronoun to which it refers.

The relative pronouns are who, which, that and what. The pronoun who has two other forms, whose and whom. When the relative pronoun is combined with ever or soever, it is called a compound relative pronoun.

List of Compound Relative Pronouns

whoever

whomever

whatever

whosoever

whatsoever

whosesoever

whichsoever

whomsoever

whichever

The relative pronoun is always found in a clause which it introduces. For that reason, we shall postpone further study of relative pronouns until we take up the study of subordinate clauses.

The following distinctions are generally observed in the use of relative pronouns.

Who is used when the antecedent is a person.

That is used to refer to either persons or things.

Which is used to refer to anything except persons.

She is the girl who won the award.

(who refers only to persons)

This is the day that (or which) was lost.

(that or which refers to things)

She is the girl that won the award.

(that may refer to persons)

The Parts of Speech

Nouns - (word used as names)

A noun is one of the most important words that you use when either speaking or writing. It is the word that tells what you are talking about. A noun is a word that names something. There are names for persons, animals, places, and objects that can be pointed out and recognized. There are also names for substances, qualities, actions, and measires of time or quantity.

The following list includes examples of different kinds of nouns:

Persons: soldier - John - friend

Animals: elephant - mouse - zebra

Places: home - Chicago - school

Objects: desk - picture - computer

Substances: iron - air - water - food

Qualities: kindness - heroism - beauty

Actions: climbing - cooking - reading

Measures: year - pound - inch - day

Nouns Used in Sentences

The words in italics in the following sentences are nouns.

The soldier is wearing his new uniform.

Chicago is a great industrial city.

Iron is a useful metal.

Pronouns - (substitutes for nouns)

You will often find it necessary to refer to a name a number of times in a single sentence. This repetition usually results in a sentence that is very awkward or monotonous.You can readily see what might happen from the following illustration:

Without pronouns: Jack went to Jack’s closet and took out Jack’s new suit because Jack was going to a dance given by Jack’s company.

With pronouns: Jack went to his closet and took out his new suit because he was going to a dance given by his company.

The words his and he is used in the revision of the sentence are called pronouns. They are substitutes for the noun Jack. The prefix pro in the word pronoun means for. The word pronoun simply means for a noun, or in place of a noun.

In the following sentences, the pronouns and the nouns to which they refer are underlined.

Mary said she was going.

The men forgot their tickets.

The officer blew his whistle.

Verbs - (action and linking verbs)

The verb is the most important part of speech. It is the only part of speech that can make a statement about the subject. The subject is the part of a sentence that names the person, place, or thing that is talked about. If you wanted to write or say something about a hunter, you could not complete your statement without the use of verbs. You must have a verb in every sentence. The following illustration will make this clear.

The hunter shot the deer.

(the verb is the word shot)

Most of the verbs in common use express action.The action is not always physical action like the action expressed in the sentence, The hunter shot the deer. In the sentence, I solved the problem, the meaning of the verb solved implies both mental and physical activity.

A small but very important group of verbs do not express action. The verb to be is the most important verb in this group. The most common forms of verb to be included is, are, was and were. Since the verb to be does not express action. It must have another function in the sentence. With the help of some other word or words, it makes a statement about the condition of the subject, or the person, place or thing that is talked about.

In the sentence, Henry is ill, the verb 'is' does not express action of any kind, but it serves two purposes in the sentence. With the help of the word ill it makes a statement about the subject, Henry. It also serves to connect the word ill with Henry.  The sentence really means ill Henry, but you need the verb is to make the statement a complete sentence. Because the verb has this connecting function, it is called a linking verb.

Adjectives - (modifiers)

You can add words to nouns and pronouns that tell what kind, what color, which one, etc. If you wanted to tell about the hat a woman was wearing, you would describe the hat in some way. You might say that it was a large hat, an atrocious hat, or a red hat, depending upon the meaning which you intended to convey.

When you add one or more of these describing words to hat, you give a clearer picture of what the hat is like. Words which add new ideas to nouns and pronouns are called adjectives.

In grammar, we say that the adjective the meaning of the noun or pronoun. The word modify means to change the meaning slightly by describing or limiting the meaning to a certain kind or to a certain number.

When we speak of a hat as an attractive hat, we are limiting the meaning because we are leaving out all the hats that are not attractive. If a word describes, limits, or restricts the meaning in any way, it is called a modifier.

Adjective Modifying Nouns

The following examples show how adjectives modify nouns and how their use makes the meaning clearer or more explicit.

long road

rusty nail

old piano

good friend

worthy cause

steep hill

rainy day

rapid typist

essential parts

Adverbs - (modifier)

Another interesting group of words that serve as modifiers are adverbs. The prefix ad in the word adverb means to, toward, or in addition to. An adverb is a word that you add to a verb to modify or expand the meaning of the verb. Adverbs may also modify adjectives or other adverbs as a modifier of the verb.

Adverbs are easy to identify because they usually answer the questions when, where, how, in what manner, or to what extent or degree. The following illustrations will make this clear:

You must set up the copy now.

(now tells when to set it up)

We put the desk there.

(there tells where it was put)

Mary walks gracefully.

(gracefully tells how she walks)

Prepositions - (words that show a relationship)

Another important part of speech is the preposition. A preposition is not a modifier. The only parts of speech that are modifiers are adjectives and adverbs. The preposition has a different function to perform in the sentence. A preposition shows the relationship that exists between certain words in a sentence. The word preposition comes from two Latin words which mean placed before. A preposition is a word that is placed before a noun or pronoun. It shows the relationship that exists between that noun or pronoun and some other word in the sentence. When we say “a bag for the mail”, the word 'for'  is a preposition. It shows a relationship between bad and mail. The word mail which follows the preposition is called the object of the preposition.

You should become acquainted with the words that are commonly used as prepositions. A list of these prepositions is given here for your reference. Refer to this list repeatedly until you are able to identify the prepositions that are in common use.

A List of Commonly Used Prepositions

above

about

across

after

against

along

among

around

at

before

behind

below

beneath

beside

between

beyond

by

down

during

except

for

from

in

inside

into

like

near

of

off

on

since

to

toward

through

under

until

up

upon

with

within

Conjunctions - (connecting words)

In many sentences you need words that serve to join words or groups of words. In grammar, words that have this connecting function are called conjunctions.

The word conjunction comes from two Latin words which mean to join with or to join together. In the sentence, Jane and Alice are secretaries, the word and connects the two nouns, Jane and Alice. The word and in this sentence is a conjunction. In the sentence, The manager or his secretary will see you, the word or connects the words manager and secretary. The word or in this sentence is a conjunction. In the sentence, Her small but attractive apartment is for rent, the word but joins the words small and attractive.

The conjunctions that were used in the preceding illustrations were and, but, and or. These conjunctions always connect words or groups of words of equal rank. For the present, we shall limit our discussion to the use of these three conjunctions. In the following sentences, the underlined words are the words joined by the conjunction.

Mark drives too fast and too recklessly.

(joins two adverbs)

He or I will audit the account.

(joins two pronouns)

I twisted and sprained my ankle.

(joins two verbs)

He gave it to Mary or Jane.

(joins two nouns)

It is a large but attractive home.

(joins two adjectives)

Interjections - (exclamatory words)

In English, we have a number of words that are used to express strong feeling or sudden emotion. Words that serve this purpose are called interjections. The word interjection comes from two Latin words which mean to throw between. Interjections are really thrown into the sentence to express some type of emotion such as disgust, joy, excitement, enthusiasm, etc.

Interjections have no grammatical relation to any word or group of words in the sentence. In grammar, we call words of this type independent elements. Sometimes words which are independent elements stand for an entire sentence. The following illustrations show the kinds of words that are commonly used as interjections. The interjections are the underlined words in the following sentences.

Alas! This is the end!

Hey! Where are you going?

Pshaw! Why did I do that?

Top 10 Phrasal Verbs for Sports and Exercise in English

1. go long

- used when playing catch or throwing a ball.

- the combination of go + long, meaning run far away or run a long distance away

Example: I’m gonna pass this next one to you, so go long.

2. try out for

- to audition in sports or to audition for a team or to apply to be a member of a team

- to show your athletic ability or to test to join a team

Example: She says she’s going to try out for volleyball next year.

3. work up (a sweat)

- to cause your body to sweat because of exercise or doing anything active

Example: I try to work up a sweat at least twice a week.

4. root for

- used in sporting events which means to support a team

Example: I’m going to root for my country’s soccer team.

5. work off

- to talk about calories

- to exercise with the intention of taking away or burning calories away

Example: I want to work off the cake I ate for dessert last night.

6. cheer on/ cheer for

- very similar to root for, but this phrase usually mean using the body to support the team (shouting/ dancing)

- it’s usually used before a team name

Example:

I’m going to cheer on my high school team.

I’m going to cheer for my college team.

7. knockout / K.O.

- to throw  punch to cause someone to lose consciousness or going to sleep/ it appears they fall asleep

- primarily used in boxing

- it means they fall down and they don’t get back up

- it can also be used outside sports, usually for fights

Example:

He won the match by a knockout.

I saw a guy get knocked out outside the bar last night.

8. work out

- it has no connection to actually working

- it means to exercise

Examples:

I want to work out 3 times a week.

Do you want to work out with me tonight?

9. warm up

- to increase body temperature before you begin an exercise or physical activity

- this is done to prepare your body before doing a physical activity

Example: I want to do a five-minute warm up before I go jogging.

10. cool down

- the opposite of warm up

- means cooling the body temperature, reducing the energy levels after a workout

Example: I think it’s important to take five minutes to cool down after you workout.