You can often work out an unknown word from the sentences around it. The skill is to look for clues rather than skipping the line.
What clues does a sentence give?
Three clue types cover most cases. Each has a worked example below.
| Clue type | What to look for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The writer explains the word right after it | “The river was turbid, cloudy with mud after the floods.” |
| Contrast | Words like but, however, unlike signal an opposite | “Her brother was gregarious, but she preferred to sit alone.” |
| Example | A list or case shows what the word covers | “The museum holds artefacts such as clay pots, bronze tools and old coins.” |
In the first, cloudy with mud explains turbid. In the second, but she preferred to sit alone tells you gregarious means fond of company. In the third, pots, tools and coins show that artefacts are objects made long ago.
Worked example
Here is an original sentence from a passage about a fishing village.
The fishermen were wary of the coming storm, so they checked their ropes twice and stayed close to shore.
Suppose wary is the unknown word. The steps are as follows.
- Read the whole sentence. The storm is coming and the fishermen respond by checking ropes and staying close to shore.
- Ask what attitude fits those actions. They are being careful.
- Replace the word with “careful” and reread. The sentence makes sense.
A good explanation of wary is “careful because they expect danger”. That matches the clue that the actions are safety actions.
What does the common mistake look like?
A student sees storm and ropes and writes that wary means “afraid”. It sounds close, but fear does not explain the calm choice to check ropes twice. The better reading is caution, not panic.
The repair is to test your guess against every clue in the sentence, not only the loudest word. If your meaning fits one clue and ignores another, keep looking.
Steps to follow
- Read the sentence before and after the unknown word.
- Decide which clue type is present: a definition, a contrast or an example.
- Write a short phrase that could replace the word, then reread with it in place.
Self-check
Use the context to explain the word frugal in this original sentence.
Farid was frugal with his allowance: he packed lunch from home, bought second-hand books and saved the rest.
Answer
The colon introduces examples: packing lunch, buying second-hand books and saving money. All three are ways of spending little.
So frugal means careful about spending money and avoiding waste. A weaker answer, “poor”, does not fit, because the sentence says he has an allowance and chooses to save.
Where to go next
Vocabulary guessing works best with a clear view of the main point, so continue with separating a main idea from supporting detail. Comprehension papers in English and Bahasa Melayu test this directly. The reading foundations hub lists all four skills.