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Make Your
Dreams Come True
With Word Study
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Carlynn McCormick
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Make Your
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Dreams Come True
With Word study
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Word Corner Publishing
15020 Burwood Drive
Lake Mathews, CA 92570
Author: Carlynn McCormick
Illustrations: Dover Publishing
Photography: McCormick Library
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Copyright 2009
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All Rights Reserved.
No part of this work may be copied
or duplicated in any form without
the written permission of the publisher.
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Contents
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Preface: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Introduction:
Why Study Words? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter I:
Eight Ways to Use Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter II:
A Word for Every Occasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter III:
Words that Sound the Same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter IV:
The Name Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter V:
Words Built to Last . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter VI:
Ways to Make Spelling Easy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter VII:
Expanded Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter VIII:
Drills and Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
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Preface1
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Words Are Power
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W
ords explain ideas and express feelings.
Words are used to tell a story, recite a poem or sing a song. They are used to put
dreams down on paper for others to understand. They are the comfort of talking
to a close friend.
Words can stir compassion or change conditions; they are tools of persuasion,
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argument or reaching an agreement.
Words are power. The proof is in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address or Martin
Luther King’s “I have a dream.”
WORD POWER FORMULA
To ignite your own power, study words.
Learn their meanings.
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Play with them.
Enjoy them.
Discover their history.
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But most importantly, use them.
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Preface – a short introductory essay preceding the text of a book.
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Introduction
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Introduction
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Why Study Words?
When it comes to studying it is far more fun and meaningful if you have a good
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reason, a purpose, for doing it. Your reason should belong to you. It should not
be, “I’m studying it because the teacher told me I have to.” It must go beyond
that; it should be something we do for ourselves.
For example, what was my purpose for writing this book? It was not for money
and fame (although I’m not opposed to either). It was rather to share my love of
words with you.
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I believe words have a lot to do with life. Your relationship with others—to
some degree—depends on your command of words. I admit that knowing a lot
of words has little to do with your basic honesty, concern for your friends or
love of others, but studying words can give you an advantage in a job interview,
with your sweetheart, or in getting your point across.
Below are twenty-one reasons I strive to increase my speaking, reading and
writing vocabulary. You may have your own good reasons; if not, feel free to
take mine.
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THE MORE WORDS I KNOW. . .
1. The more confident I feel when I speak in front of groups.
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2. The greater edge I have over my opponent when debating issues.
3. The better chance I have of finding words of comfort to console friends
and loved ones.
4. The better I understand what my friends are saying to me.
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5. The better I understand what is said on radio, TV, the Internet or in
movies.
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6. The easier it is to verbally express my thoughts and ideas to others.
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7. The more confident I feel when I write.
8. The better I express my thoughts and ideas when I write.
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The easier it is to write business letters or letters to friends.
10. The easier it is to write stories, poetry or song lyrics.
11. When I read about an injustice in the paper I can express my opinion
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in a letter to the editor and have a chance of getting it published.
12. The better I can fill out an application form.
13. The easier it is to read newspapers, magazines, manuals, novels and
how-to books.
14. The fewer words I need to look up in the dictionary.
I KEEP LEARNING NEW WORDS BECAUSE . . .
15. Of the fourteen reasons above.
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16. It keeps my mind sharp.
17. It increases my love of learning.
18. I appreciate the varying degrees in which ideas can be expressed.
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19. It helps me find new ways to express myself.
20. It increases my love for the English.
21. I have done it so much I now find it great fun!
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How to Use this Book
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1. When you study this book, or any non-fiction book for that matter, you
should frequently ask yourself questions such as:
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“Is this information true?”
Is it of value to me?”
“Am I interested in it?”
“Can I actually use it?”
“Will it produce results for me?”
If you can answer “yes” to such questions, then the information is worth
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studying. If your answer is “no” studying it would probably be a waste of your
time.
2. Shoot for understanding, not memorization:
You will find lists of words in this book. However, “making dreams come true
with word study” has nothing to do with memorizing long lists of words. Word
study is rather something you do because you want to do it.
Words are studied to find something out about them. For example, you might
look the word do up in a dictionary when you hear it used in a way that is
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unfamiliar to you: My friends and I had an all-night do at the beach. The
dictionary shows that when do is used informally as a noun, it means a party or
social event. In other words, we had an all-night party!
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3. Align new words with information you already have:
It is easy to retain the meaning of a new word if you have something to align it
to. Take the word tousle, for example, which means to disorder, or muss. If
when you were a child you had a relative who used to rub your head and mess
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up your hair you could align the word tousle with that action. Or maybe you
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used to tousle your little brother’s hair.
Here is another way to aligning a word with something: imagine that you are
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looking for a job and hear that the ABC Company has a number of fringe
benefits. In this example, pretend you have never heard the term fringe benefits
before but that you do know that fringe means an outer edge or border (such as
the fringe on a scarf), and benefits are things to your advantage. By putting the
two words together you would be able to figure out that fringe benefits are
benefits other than wages. You would know this because you had information
with which to align it.
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When you align a word to something you already know or something you are
familiar with, you will be able to learn and remember that particular word’s
meaning with ease.
4. Evaluate words as to usefulness:
Some words are more important than others when it comes to usefulness. After
you have learned the meaning of a word, you need to evaluate the word for
yourself. Is it a “must-know” word that you need for day-to-day speech? Is it a
descriptive word that could liven up your speaking vocabulary? Is it a smart
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word that could add enrichment to your writing? Is it a word that is too
specialized for you to give it much attention?
When you evaluate words in this way, you realize that some words deserve more
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of your time. The truth is that no information is truly yours unless you have
evaluated it. In other words, you must look the information over and see if you
can use it.
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5. Use the right level dictionary:
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When looking up words, pay attention to using the correct level dictionary.
There are elementary (also called young reader) dictionaries; junior high (also
called intermediate dictionaries; high school (also called student) dictionaries;
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and collegiate (college level) dictionaries.
Here is an easy way to find which dictionary works best for you: look the same
word up in a number of different dictionaries and see which definition of the
word you understand the best. Here are three similar definitions for the high
school level word scenario:
(a)
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A scenario is a postulated sequence of possible events (Word-Web —
definition at high school level). The general developed several scenarios in
case of an attack.
(b)
A scenario is an outline of a hypothesized or projected chain of events.
(The American Heritage Dictionary College Edition). No sample sentence
given.
(c)
If you talk about a likely or possible scenario, you are talking about the
way in which a situation may develop. (Collins Cobuild English
Dictionary—definition at intermediate level). In the worst-case scenario,
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you could become a homeless person. Try to imagine all the possible
scenarios and what action you would take.
Try this with several words you know and several you don’t know and you’ll
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soon see which dictionary works best for you.
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Fun Ways to
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Increase Vocabulary
The more you study words because you have decided to study them, the more
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you will come to enjoy increasing your vocabulary. There are three simple ways
to learn new words:
1. Read a lot: expand your mind by reading about subjects that interest you.
Take time out to read short stories and novels. When reading, always make sure
you know the meaning of each word you read.
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2. Try to understand every word you hear or read: when you meet a word
for the first time, find out what it means, where it came from, how it is
pronounced and how it is spelled. Then use it over and over again. Soon it will
become a familiar melody.
3. Play word games: playing games is one of the pleasures of life and there are
many wonderful word games to swell your vocabulary. Some favorites are
Scrabble ®, Balderdash ®, Scattegories ®, Boggle ®, Taboo ®, Catch Phrase ®
and crossword puzzles. I highly recommend that you play lots of word games –
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they can be a tremendous amount of fun!
Remember that words tell stories and that everyone who talks is a storyteller.
By using the right words we can add depth and drama to everything we say or
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write. Therefore, it is to our advantage to make an ongoing game of searching
out those words that tell our story best.
You could study words for an entire lifetime and never run out of games to play.
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Chapter I
Eight Ways to Use Words
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Chapter one
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Eight ways to use words
To fully define a word and use it correctly, you need to know how it can be used.
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For example, some words are used to name things while other words are used to
show action. There are eight different ways words can be used. And these ways
are called parts-of-speech.
Dictionaries and grammar books give the parts of speech the following names:
noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction and
interjection. Each part of speech has a different function.
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Noun is a word from Middle English that means name. So a noun names
things. They name persons such as John and Kathy. They name places such as
California and Nevada. They name things such as steak and potatoes. They
name ideas such as love and respect. There are common nouns and proper noun
— common nouns can be any person, place or thing (such as girl, circus or
coffee) and proper nouns name a specific person, place or thing (such as Katie,
Ringling Brothers or Starbucks). But a noun is a noun whether it is common or
proper. The main reason for distinguishing proper nouns from common nouns is
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that proper nouns are capitalized but common nouns are not.
Pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun. He and she can take the
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place of John and Kathy. He and she are pronouns. It can take the place of
California when you say “it is the Golden State.” It is a pronoun.
Adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. For
example: I wrote him a long letter (long describes the length of the letter).
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Verb is a word that shows action or state of being. An action verb tells you the
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action that is happening in a sentence such as “He kicked the ball.” A state of
being verb can show the way something is such as “Today the sky is dark.” It
can show that something exists: I am here in this room. It can show that
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something does not exist: There are no clouds in the sky this morning.
Adverb is a word that modifies or describes a verb, an adjective or another
adverb. For example: She sang softly (softly modifies how she sang). She sang
very softly (very modifies the adverb softly). She is very small (very modifies
the adjective small).
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Preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun
and another word. For example: Sean walked through the classroom.
Through, shows the relationship between Sean (noun) and the classroom. She sat
near the window. Near shows the relationship between she (pronoun) and the
window.
Conjunction is a word that joins words or groups of words. In the sentence,
Brian and Jonathan are brothers, the conjunction and joins the word Brian to the
word Jonathan. In the sentence, Kevin will bring soda or cookies to the party,
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the conjunction or connects the word soda to the word cookies.
An interjection is a word that expresses strong emotion. Examples: Wow!
Cheers! Oh! Aha! Wonderful! Darn! Dang! Oops! Gosh! Shoot! Hooray!
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Fantastic! Yippee! Awesome!
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Words as Different Parts-of-Speech
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There are some words that are only one part of speech. That is, they can only be
used as a noun or as a verb or as an adjective. Many words, however, can be
used in different ways. When you meet a new word you will need to check your
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dictionary to see how many ways that word can be used.
Often the same word can be a noun, a verb and an adjective. The word pepper is
one such example.

He put pepper on his eggs (pepper is a noun meaning a spice).
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Her speech was peppered with slang words (pepper is a verb meaning
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sprinkled).

She has pepper–and–salt hair (pepper–and–salt is an adjective that means
having a close mixture of black and white).
The word love is another example.
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My heart is filled with love (love is a noun).

I love my mother (love is a verb).

Angie wrote her sweetheart a love letter (love is an adjective).
Often the same word can be both an adverb and preposition. The word outside
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is one such example.

Darcy and Martha stayed outside (outside is an adverb because it
describes where the girls stayed).

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Darcy and Martha stayed outside the classroom (outside is a preposition
because it shows the relationship between the girls and the classroom).
The way to use a new vocabulary word correctly is to know its part of speech.
Your dictionary will show you how many ways a word can be used and give you
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the definition for each use. Usually the definition is slightly different depending
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on which part-of-speech you are using.
To practice using words as different parts of speech, you may enjoy doing the
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“Just for Fun” exercises.
Just For Fun
You can become a master at using words in different ways. Here is a sample
using the word light as first a noun, next a verb and last an adjective:
 He’s the light of my life and I love having him near.
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 When he makes his entrance, he lights up the room.
 His great sense of humor makes him a light-hearted babe.
Here is the word around used first as an adverb, then as a preposition:
 He stopped and looked around.
 He rode around the Skateboard Park.
Your Turn:
Think of a noun. Can it be used as a verb? Can it be used as an adjective? If
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not, think of a word that can be used as a noun, verb and adjective. Feel free to
use your dictionary if you have any question on this. Once you have your word,
write a sentence using that word as a noun. Write another sentence using the
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word as a verb. Write a third sentence using the word as an adjective.
Find a word that can be used as an adverb and as a preposition. Write a sentence
using the word as an adverb; write another sentence using the word as a
preposition. Check your dictionary if necessary.
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NOTE: When writing your sentences, you might enjoy making them up to fit
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your mood: serious, silly, poetic, humorous . . .
Do the above exercises over and over using different words until you are
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satisfied that you can do them with ease.
If you are ever in doubt as to a word’s part of speech, simply look it up in a
dictionary.
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