Context Clues

(Vocabulary Skills)

Sandra Sembel

Uphenglishclasses.weebly.com

Context

Clues

What?

Why?

How?

Learning Targets

Clues (Pointers) in the surrounding text that can help us to guess the meaning of a word in a sentence

What?

Word

Surrounding text

Word

text

texttext

texttext

text

text

Context Clues: How?

1.Definition2.Examples3.Explanations4.Synonyms5.Antonyms6. Indirect clues

1. Definition Clues

Formal Definition

Formal Definition is normally introduced by words/phrases such as: Is/are … that is … Or … Means … i.e

Punctuation

Definitions with punctuation use: Parenthesis Dash commas

Some spiders spin silk with tiny organs called spinnerets

Hyperopia or far sightedness occurs because there is a defect in vision in which parallel rays come to focus behind the retina.

1. Formal Definitions

Parenthesis ( )Jane’s father who was a haberdasher (a men’s shop keeper) started his own business after he resigned from the military.

Dash — Tom’s father was a haberdasher—a men’s shop

keeper.

Commas , Tom’s father was a haberdasher, a men’s shop keeper.

2. Definitions with Punctuations

2. Examples

Look for examples of the word in the sentence

e.g. The English language has lots of

homophones, such as two/too, bear/bare, him/hymn, and soar/sore.

3. Explanation

Katie is always infallible in math class because she had never gotten a problem wrong.

Never wrong Never right Wrong Incorrect

4. Synonym

Look for a word or phrase in another part of the sentence that has a similar meaning to the word you don’t know.

For example:Gary was astonished when he won the lottery, and James was just as surprised.

5. Antonyms

Look for word or phrase in another part of the sentence that has the opposite meaning of the word you don’t know.

e.g. Tom was anxious about the test, but Tina

was calm. Jason was told to be respectful to his

teachers; however, he is often insolent.

6. Indirect Clues (Inference)

Analyze the language around the unfamiliar word.

e.g. The professor was a favorite among the

students at the college. His sagacity was helpful to them as they pursued their degrees. The professor was known to make the lectures interesting by using his experience, insight, and common sense.

Try this!

Types of Context clues

Sentences

Definition Haberdashery, a place that sells man’s clothing, is becoming more common today.

Example In that shop you can find haberdashery items, such as ties, cuff links, hat, shirt, or pants for men.

Synonym People go to a special shop for menswear or haberdashery.

Antonym Peter wanted to go to the haberdashery, while Ann wanted to shop at a boutique.

Indirect Clues (Inference)

Peter went to the haberdashery to buy a male suit to wear on his uncle’s wedding.