Vocabulary Expansion.pdf

E X P A N D Y O U R V O C A B U L A R Y

These pages give you different words that you can use when you are writing or speaking about

three important topics - those of communication , emotions and movement . Each section takes a

'core' word that you probably know well and gives you the most useful synonyms for it, as well

as related words with a different part of speech. There are also notes that highlight some

differences of register, grammar, and collocation. Some of the words are shown together with

their opposites, e.g. satisfied and dissatisfied .

C O N T E N T S

Words that describe communication

Answer

Say

Tell

Argue

Speak

Ask

Talk

Words that describe emotions

Angry

Excited

Satisfied/dissatisfied

Bored

Feeling

Shocked

Disappointed

Frightened

Surprised

Embarrassed

Happy

Worried/not worried

Enthusiastic/not enthusiastic

Sad

Words that describe movement

Arrive

Move

Travel

Fast

Run

Walk

Leave

Slow

Words that describe communication

Answer

Say

Tell

Argue

Speak

Ask

Talk

Answer

• I asked him where he was going but he didn't answer .

• She failed to answer most of the questions that were put to her.

•'I don't know,' she answered truthfully.

• He answered tha t he had seen them leaving together.

Answer is also an noun and is used in the phrases give an answer and in answer to :

• I'll give you a definite answer tomorrow.

• He said nothing in answer to her question, but continued staring out of the window.

To answer someone

reply to answer someone:

• 'I know,' he replied .

• They got up and walked out before I had a chance to reply .

• When asked where she was going, she replied that it was none of their business.

• I asked him how he was, and he replied with a shrug.

respond to answer something that someone says, especially when they have challenged or

criticized you:

• 'I'm telling you it's not true,' Martinez responded .

• 'Is there anything you would like to do today?' he asked, but she didn't respond .

• How do you respond to the suggestion that this is all the government's fault?

make a response or give a response

• I called out to him, but he made no response .

• Being an astute politician, she gave a careful response that completely failed to answer the

question.

Note: Reply and respond mean more or less the same as answer, but are a little more formal,

and are used mainly in written English.

retort to answer someone immediately in an angry or humorous way:

• 'Mind your own business!' she retorted .

• Democrats retorted that the plan leaves millions of poor Americans out in the cold.

answer someone back to reply rudely to someone who has more authority than you:

• Don't you dare answer me back !

To answer someone at a later time

get back to someone if you get back to someone, you give them an answer at a later time

because you were not able to do it earlier:

• He said he was busy but promised he would get back to me in the afternoon.

phone back or call back or ring back to telephone someone again, or to telephone someone

who telephoned you earlier:

• I'll call you back as soon as I hear any news.

Note: Ring back is used in British English.

To answer someone in writing

answer something

• I hate it when people don't answer my emails.

• She answered an advertisement in the newspaper.

It took them a week to reply to my letter.

• I wrote many times but she never replied .

• They replied that unfortunately there were no vacancies at present.

respond

• Thousands of readers responded to our questionnaire.

get back to someone

• I'm sorry I didn't get back to you about that proposal.

• We'll get back to you early next week.

write back

• I wrote back and told them I was no longer interested.

• She wrote back to Sarah, giving her all the family's news.

Argue

• Those girls are always arguing .

• He argues with me about everything.

• We used to argue over who should drive.

To argue also means to discuss something with someone who has a different opinion from you:

• They are still arguing over the details of the contract.

• We try to teach children to argue their ideas calmly and rationally.

You can also say that people have an argument :

• We had a stupid argument and now he's not speaking to me.

To argue with someone

quarrel to argue:

• I hate quarrelling with you.

• They're always quarrelling over money.

have a quarrel

• We had the usual family quarrel about who should do the washing up.

• He'd had another quarrel with Jamie.

fight to disagree in an angry way about something:

• What are you two fighting about now?

• I don't want to fight over such a trivial matter.

have a fight

• All teenagers have fights with their parents.

row to have a short noisy argument:

• My parents never row .

• We rowed constantly about everything.

• He has rowed with everyone in the group.

have a row

• They had a row and he walked out.

• Our parents were always having rows about money.

Note: Row is used mainly in British English.

bicker or squabble to argue with someone about things that are not important:

• The children bickered constantly with each other.

• They have been bickering fo r months over the leadership.

• A group of boys were squabbling over the ball.

• The other parties are squabbling amongst themselves.

fall out to stop being friendly with someone because you have had a disagreement with them:

• Have you two fallen out ?

• She's fallen out with her parents.

Note: Fall out is informal and is used in British English.

Ask

• I wondered where she had got the money, but didn't like to ask .

• If you need help with the translation, why don't you ask Maria?

• Don't be afraid to ask questions .

• 'Is something the matter?' he asked gently.

ask (sb) how/what/who/why

• She asked me how I knew about it.

• They asked whether I had any objections.

To ask someone a question

inquire or enquire to ask someone for information about something:

• Why don't you telephone the theatre and inquire about tickets?

• I am writing to inquire whether you have any vacancies in September.

• 'What's for dinner?' Brian inquired .

demand to ask something in a very firm and angry way:

• 'What do you want?' she demanded .

• MPs demanded to know the reason for the delay.

To ask someone a lot of questions to find out what they know or think

question someone to ask someone a lot of questions to find out what they know or what they

think about something:

• Interviewers questioned 1,033 people between the 23rd and 26th of August.

• I wish people would stop questioning me about what happened.

interrogate someone to ask someone, especially a prisoner or a suspect, a lot of questions in an

angry or threatening way:

• The suspects were interrogated for four days before being released.

• You have no right to interrogate me about my private life.

cross-examine someone to ask someone a lot of questions, usually in an unfriendly way:

• I don't like being cross-examined about my private life!

grill someone or give sb a grilling to ask someone a lot of difficult questions over a long period

of time, especially in order to make them explain their actions, decisions, or opinions:

• Police investigators grilled him about his movements on the day of the crime

• Both party leaders were given a 30-minute grilling by a team of interviewers.

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