Context Clues are hints that the author gives to help define a difficult or unusual word. The clue may appear within the same sentence as the word to which it refers, or it may be in a preceding or subsequent sentence. Because most of your vocabulary is gained through reading, it is important that you be able to recognize and take advantage of context clues.Types of context clues. There are at least four kinds of context clues that are quite common.
| Synonym | A synonym, or word with the same meaning, is used in the sentence. My opponent’s argument is fallacious, misleading – plain wrong. | |
| Antonym | A word or group of words that has the opposite meaning reveals the meaning of an unknown term. Although some men are loquacious, others hardly talk at all. | |
| Explanation | The unknown word is explained within the sentence or in a sentence immediately preceding. The patient is so somnolent that she requires medication to help her stay awake for more than a short time. | |
| Example | Specific examples are used to define the term.Celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars, are governed by predictable laws. |
Read the following sentences and define the bolded word based on the context clue. Then identify which of the four types of clues is used.
| 1. | The girl who used to be very vociferous doesn’t talk much anymore. |
| 2. | Pedagogical institutions, including high schools, kindergartens, and colleges, require community support to function efficiently. |
| 3. | He was so parsimonious that he refused to give his own sons the few pennies they needed to buy pencils for school. It truly hurt him to part with his money. |
| 4. | His pertinacity, or stubbornness, is the cause of most of his trouble. |
| 5. | Rather than be involved in clandestine meetings, they did everything quite openly. |
| 6. | Ecclesiastics, such as priests, ministers, and pastors, should set models of behavior for their congregants. |
| 7. | The girl was churlish – rude, sullen and absolutely ill-mannered. |
| 8. | Because the conflagration was aided by wind, it was so destructive that every building in the area was completely burned to the ground. |
16 Comments
July 2, 2008 at 7:02 am
kulang inyong kinds of contextual clues……
kulang og duha……
July 7, 2008 at 5:33 am
pls put the parts of the contextual clues and its meaning… like linked synonyms… etc.. tnx!
July 16, 2008 at 4:12 am
i will. thanks for your quick response.
July 21, 2008 at 1:33 pm
my teacher said; there are many kinds of contextual clues, but you have only given 4 kinds of it. please give all the kinds of contextual clues and their meanings of course….thanks a lot. that’s all and more power.
September 6, 2008 at 8:35 am
THANK FOR THIS INFORMATION i NEVER TOUGHT ABOUT THIS SPECIAL WORDS THAT GIVES US A HINT TO KNOW NEW WORDS.
September 7, 2008 at 2:45 pm
you are welcome serhio. maybe you want to check more in my other blog http://www.artzari.blogspot
April 22, 2009 at 7:04 am
I follow your posts for a long time and should tell you that your posts always prove to be of a high value and quality for readers.
April 22, 2009 at 11:46 am
thanks for your comment mr pirsey and thanks a lot for following me without me realizing it.i’ll keep my post up to date if i have the time to do it..appreciate what you say,honestly..visited your blog, quite nice with the smoke quitting tips..just keep it up..
May 28, 2009 at 9:31 am
in Microsoft Word, it is easy to look up synonyms and antonyms in the thesaurus ,but I have just known that recently. It is just a word with Shift+F7 and^^it quite works!
July 13, 2009 at 2:33 pm
ahm,,thank you po sa pagshare ng knowledge about contextual clues,,,
topic po kc nmin ngaun yan,,
August 4, 2009 at 3:40 pm
context clues are crucial for the well understanding of a pharagraph
August 5, 2009 at 12:42 am
true enough.that’s why while reading we must focus on certain sentences and if possible underline that particular sentences (especially those that we don’t understand) so we can refer back to them later on and guess the meaning. usually in a paragraph the sentences are related to each other that will give us the whole idea of the paragraph..more @ http://artzari.blogspot.com (esl learning and more)
August 6, 2009 at 3:13 pm
contextual clues also help us increase our vocabulary,get to know new words refered to the topic,they are crucial to the well understanding of the reader otherwise the reader must have very deep knoledge of the topic he´s reading on,for example an architec´s book would´nt be understandable for a lawyer.
August 10, 2009 at 3:26 am
true enough..
August 26, 2009 at 1:23 am
hehe la lang
August 26, 2009 at 1:24 am
please pose many examples