Week 9: WORDS AND THINGS: EXTENSIONS AND PROTOTYPES

1-Extension

The EXTENSION of a one-place predicate is the set of all individuals to which that predicate can
truthfully be applied. It is the set of things which can POTENTIALLY be referred to by using an
expression whose main element is that predicate.

Example :

The extension of window is the set of all windows in the universe.

The extension of dog is the set of all dogs in the universe.

The extension of house is the set of all houses.

The extension of red is the set of all red things.

The notions of reference and extension are clearly related, and are jointly opposed to the notion of
sense.

2-Prototype

A PROTOTYPE of a predicate is an object which is held to be very TYPICAL of the kind of object which
can be referred to by an expression containing the predicate. In other words, the prototype of a
predicate can be thought of as the most typical member of the extension of a predicate.

Example

A man of medium height and average build, between 30 and 50 years old, with brownish hair, with no
particularly distinctive characteristics or defects, could be a prototype of the predicate man in certain
areas of the world. In a language community as wide as that of English, there are problems with this
idea of prototype, due to cultural differences between various English- speaking communities.

The kind of definition by pointing is called ostensive definition. It is very plausible to believe that a
child’s first concepts of many concrete terms are induced by ostensive definition involving a
prototype. Obviously, however, not all concepts can be learned in this way.

The REFERENT of a referring expression is the thing picked out by the use of that expression on a
particular occasion of utterance.

The EXTENSION of a predicate is the complete set of all things which could potentially (i.e. in any
possible utterance) be the referent of a referring expression whose head constituent is that predicate.

A PROTOTYPE of a predicate is a typical member of its extension.

3-Denotation, denotative meaning

Denotation, etymologically derives from the postclassical Latin compound verb de-noto which
conveys the idea of singling out an entity by way of distinctive features.

Denotative meaning is that part of the meaning of a word or phrase that relates it to phenomena in
the real world or in a fictional or possible world. In the meaning system, denotative meaning may be
regarded as “central” or “core” meaning of the lexical item.

Denotative meaning is set of semantic properties which serve to identify the particular concept
associated with the word in question.
These semantic features help form the “central” or “core” or “conceptual” meaning of the word.

E.g. bird: <+two-legged><+winged><+egg-laying><+warm-blooded><+beaked>

Man: <+adult><+human><+male>

Woman:<+adult><+human><-male>

Boy:<-adult><+human><-+male>

Girl:<-adult><+human><-male>

Baby<+human><+young>

Week 10: SENSE PROPERTIES AND STEREOTYPES

1-Sense

The SENSE of an expression is its indispensable hard core of meaning.

 This definition deliberately excludes any influence of context or situation of utterance on the
senses of expressions.
 The sense of an expression can be thought of as the sum of its sense properties and sense
relations with other expressions.
 For the moment, we will concentrate on three important sense properties of sentences: the
properties of being analytic (analiticity), of being synthetic (syntheticity), and of being
contradictory (contradictoriness).

An ANALYTIC sentence is one that is necessarily TRUE, as a result of the senses of the words in it. An
analytic sentence, therefore, reflects a tacit (unspoken) agreement by speakers of the language about the
senses of the words in it.

e.g. All elephants are animals.

The truth of the sentence follows from the senses of elephant and animal.

A SYNTHETIC sentence is one which is NOT analytic, but may be either true or false, depending on the
way the world is.

Eg. John is from Ireland

There is nothing in the senses of John or Ireland or from which makes this necessarily true or false.

Analytic sentences are always true (necessarily so, by virtue of the senses of the words in them),
whereas synthetic sentences can be sometimes true, sometimes false, depending on the
circumstances. We now come to contradiction.

A CONTRADICTION is a sentence that is necessarily FALSE, as a result of the senses of the words in
it. Thus a contradiction is in a way the opposite of an analytic sentence.

Example

This animal is a vegetable is a contradiction.

Limitation of the notions analytic, synthetic, and contradiction:

 Imperative and interrogative sentences cannot be true or false, and so they cannot be analytic
(because they cannot be true), or synthetic, because ‘synthetic’ only makes sense in contrast to the
notion ‘analytic’.

The notions analytic, synthetic, and contradiction each apply to individual sentences. Analyticity,
syntheticity, and contradiction are, then, sense properties of sentences.

Example

That man is human has the sense property of analyticity (or of being analytic). That man is tall has the
sense property of syntheticity (or of being synthetic). That man is a woman has the sense property of
being a contradiction.

2-Necessary and sufficient conditions

A NECESSARY CONDITION on the sense of a predicate is a condition (or criterion) which a thing
MUST meet in order to qualify as being correctly described by that predicate.

A SUFFICIENT SET OF CONDITIONS on the sense of a predicate is a set of conditions (or criteria)
which, if they are met by a thing, are enough in themselves to GUARANTEE that the predicate correctly
describes that thing.

Example

Take the predicate square, as usually understood in geometry. ‘Four-sided’ is a necessary condition
for this predicate, since for anything to be a square, it must be four-sided.

‘Plane figure, four-sided, equal-sided, and containing right angles’ is a sufficient set of conditions for the
predicate square, since if anything meets all of these conditions, it is guaranteed to be a square.

3-Stereotype

The STEREOTYPE of a predicate is a list of the TYPICAL characteristics or features of things to which
the predicate may be applied.

Example: The stereotype of cat would be something like: Quadruped, domesticated, either black, or
white, or grey, or tortoise-shell, or marmalade in colour, or some combination of these colours, adult
specimens about 50 cm long from nose to tip of tail, furry, with sharp retractable claws, etc., etc.

A stereotype is related to a prototype (see previous unit) but is not the same thing. A prototype of
elephant is some actual elephant, whereas the stereotype of elephant is a list of characteristics which
describes the prototype. The stereotype of a predicate may often specify a range of possibilities (e.g.
the range of colours of typical cats), but an individual prototype of this predicate will necessarily take
some particular place within this range (e.g. black).

Week 11: SENSE RELATIONS (1) IDENTITY AND SIMILARITY OF SENSE

1. Synonymy

SYNONYMY is the relationship between two predicates that have the same sense.
A synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in
the same language. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a
synonym is called synonymy.

2-Paraphrse

Synonymy often leads to paraphrase: A sentence which expresses the same proposition as another
sentence is a PARAPHRASE of that sentence (assuming the same referents for any referring
expressions involved).

Paraphrase is to SENTENCES (on individual interpretations) as SYNONYMY is to PREDICATES

(though some semanticists talk loosely of synonymy in the case of sentences as well).

Example:

Bachelors prefer redhaired girls is a paraphrase of Girls with red hair are preferred by unmarried men

3.Hyponymy

Hyponymy shows the relationship between the more general terms (hypernyms) and the more
specific instances of it (hyponyms). A hyponym is a word or phrase whose semantic field is more
specific than its hypernym. The semantic field of a hypernym, also known as a superordinate, is
broader than that of a hyponym. An approach to the relationship between hyponyms and hypernyms
is to view a hypernym as consisting of hyponyms.

HYPONYMY is a sense relation between predicates (or sometimes longer phrases) such that the
meaning of one predicate (or phrase) is included in the meaning of the other.

Hyponymy implies a superordinate / hypernym and a suborbodinate / hyponym relation. Hyponymy is

a relation of inclusion.

For example, red-scarlet.

Red is the superordinate term; scarlet is a hyponym of red (scarlet is a kind of red).

The sense relation between Red and Scarlet is that of hyponymy.

Under the relations of hyponymy and incompatibility, taxonomic hierarchical structures can also be
formed. It consists of two relations; the first one being exemplified in 'An X is a Y' (simple hyponymy)
while the second relation is 'An X is a kind / type of Y'. The second relation is said to be more
discriminating and can be classified more specifically under the concept of taxonomy.

“HYPONYMY involves us in the notion INCLUSION in the sense that tulip and rose are included in
flower, and lion and elephant in mammal (or perhaps animal). Similarly, scarlet is included in red.
Inclusion is thus a matter of class membership. The ‘super’ term is the SUPERORDINATE and the
‘lower’ term is the HYPONYM.” [Palmer, 1981: 85]

4-Entailment

Hyponymy can lead to the relation of Entailment

An entailment is something that logically follows from what is asserted in the utterance.

E.g.

1: Henry was chewing a tulip ||- Henry was chewing a flower,

 2- I saw a boy ||- I saw a person.

3- John boiled an egg ||- John cooked an egg.

4-John killed Bill ||- Bill died

 A proposition X ENTAILS a proposition Y if the truth of Y follows necessarily from the truth of
RULE X.
 A sentence expressing proposition X entails a sentence expressing proposition Y if the truth
of Y follows necessarily from the truth of X

Week 12 OPPOSITENESS AND DISSIMILARITY OF SENSE AND AMBIGUITY

1- OPPOSITENESS AND DISSIMILARITY OF SENSE (ANTONYMY)

1.1. ANTONYMY / ANTONYM
Antonymy is a relation in which two words/ two predicates are opposite in meaning.
A traditional view of antonymy is that it is simply ‘oppositeness of meaning’.
An antonym is a word / a predicate which is opposite in meaning to another word / a predicate.

Antonyms are words that are opposite in meaning; they denote opposition in meaning, e.g. large-small, male-
female, always-never, love-hate, hot-cold, thick-thin, buy-sell, lend-borrow, male-female, dead-alive, lunch-
breakfast, dinner, liquid-solid-gas

This view is not adequate, as words may be opposite in meaning in different ways, and some words have no real
opposites.

2.Types of antonyms

Complementary / binary Converse terms / Relational antonyms

BINARY ANTONYMS are predicates which come If a predicate describes a relationship between two
in pairs and between them exhaust all the things (or people) and some other predicate
relevant possibilities. If the one predicate is describes the same relationship when two things (or
applicable, then the other cannot be, and vice people) are mentioned in the opposite order, then
versa. the two predicates are converses of each other.
•
Another way to view this is to say that a
predicate is a binary antonym of another Parent and child are converses, because X is the
predicate if it entails the negative of the other parent of Y (one order) describes the same situation
predicate. (relationship) as Y is the child of X (opposite order).
Not X=Y Examples: below / above; greater than / less than;
own / belong to; buy / sell; borrow / lend,
•E.g. Not true = false
grandparent-grandchild, father-son, daughter,
Single-married; alive-dead ; male-female; same- teacher-student, doctor-patient, employer-
different; alive -dead. employee.
•

Are the following pairs of predicates binary Are the following pairs of expressions converses
antonyms: (1)below-aboveYes
(1)chalk-cheese-No (2) grandparent-grandchildYes
 (2)Same-different-Yes (3)love-hateNo
(3)copper-tin-No (4)conceal-revealNo
(4)dead-alive-Yes (5)greater than-less thanYes
(5)married-unmarried-yes (6)own-belongYes
(6)love-hate-No

Multiple incompatibles / Taxonomic sisters Gradable

There are many systems of words in which the Two predicates are gradable antonyms if they
meanings of the words are opposite in the are at opposite ends of a continuous scale of
manner different from the notions presented values ( a scale which typically varies according
above. What these systems have in common is to the context of use
that:
a-all the terms in a given system are mutually
incompatible; Hot–cold gradable antonyms
• b-together, the members of a system cover all Between hot and cold is a continuous scale of
the relevant area. values, which may be given names such as
warm, cool, or tepid.

Examples: system of colour, system of season,

system of direction, system of days of the week… Hot warm cool tepid cold
•
A good test for gradability, i.e. having a value on
some continuous scale, as gradable antonyms
do, is to see whether a word can combine with
very, or very much, or how? Or how much?

Answers Answers
1)What would you call the system of
oppositions to which the Are the following pairs gradable antonyms:
words Spring and Summer both belong? The (1)tall-shortyes
season system
(2)long-shortYes
(2)How many members does this system have
altogether? Four (3)clever-stupidYes
(4)top-bottomNo
(3)What would you call the system to
which solid and gas belong? The physical-state (5)love-hateYes
system

(4)How many members does this system have?

three: liquid, solid, and gas

(5)Can you think of an example of a seven-

member system? (Hint: you use it every day of
the week.) days of the week: Monday, Tuesday
(6) Four-member systems are quite common.
How many can you think of? hearts, clubs,
diamonds, spades (pack of cards); North, East,
South, West (directions).
 Answers:

Classify the following pairs as binary antonyms (B), multiple incompatibles (M), converses (C), or gradable
antonyms (G).

(1) cat – dogM (2) easy – difficultG (3) good – bad G (4) better than – worse than C
(5) deciduous – evergreenB
(6) pass – fail B (7) urban – ruralB/G

3. Contradiction / Contradictoriness

Antonymy can lead to contradiction / contradictoriness

Contradiction Contradictoriness

A contradiction is a sentence that is necessary false, A proposition is a CONTRADICTORY of another

as a result of the senses of the words in it. proposition if it is impossible for them both to be
true at the same time and of the same
E.g. This animal is a vegetable. circumstances.
• That girl is her own mother’s mother. •
• John killed Bill, who remained alive for many years after.
• The definition can naturally be extended to sentences
thus: a sentence expressing one proposition is a
contradictory of a sentence expressing another
proposition if it is impossible for both propositions to
be true at the same time and of the same
circumstances.
•
•
Alternatively (and equivalently) a sentence
contradicts another sentence if it entails the
negation of the other sentence.
•
Example

This beetle is alive is a contradictory of This beetle is

dead.

Below is a suggested statement of the relationship between contradictoriness and antonymy (and
incompatibility).
Statement A
Given two sentences, both identical except that: (a) one contains a word X where the other contains a word Y,
and (b) X is an antonym of Y (or X is incompatible with Y), then the two sentences are contradictories of each
other (i.e. contradict each other).
 Answers: (contradictoriness?)
1-This cat is male (This cat is female-Yes)
2-John hates Californians ( John loves Californians-Yes)
3-This mouse is dead (This mouse is alive-Yes)

4-John owns three male cats (John owns three female cats-No)
5-Some people love Californians (Some people hate Californians-No)
6-I found a dead mouse in the shower (I found a live mouse in the shower-No)

4-Ambiguity

4.1.

Ambiguity (Unclearness) Structural ambiguity

A word or a sentence is ambiguous when it A sentence is considered as structurally

has more than one sense. ambiguous when its structure permits more
than one interpretation.
A sentence is ambiguous if it has two or more
paraphrases which are not themselves
paraphrases of each other. A sentence which is ambiguous because its
words relate to each other in different ways, even
though none of the individual words are
• Example: ambiguous, is STRUCTURALLY (or
We saw her duck is a paraphrase of We saw her GRAMMATICALLY) AMBIGUOUS.
lower/nod her head and of We saw the duck •
belonging to her, and these last two sentences E.g. The phrase old men and women is
are not paraphrases of each other. Therefore, We structurally ambiguous. It is synonymous
saw her duck is ambiguous. with women and old men and with old men and
Duck: a common bird that lives on or near water. old women. We represent these two senses with
square brackets thus:

We will consider the following two kinds of Old men and women:
ambiguity: structural / grammatical ambiguity ([old men] and women: old men and women
and lexical ambiguity.
(old [men and women]: old men and old women

Other examples of grammatical ambiguity:

1-They decided on the boat. 1.a. They decided when they were on the boat.
1.b.They decided about (buying) the boat.

2-Old men and women are loving people 2.a.Old men and women are loving people.
2.b.Old men and old women are loving people.

3-We had to decide on the bus. 3.a.We had to decide when we were on the bus.
3.b.We had to decide about the bus.

4-Fred said that he would pay me on Thursday 4.a.Fred said on Thursday

4.b.pay me on Thursday.

5-Flying planes can be dangerous. 5.a.Planes which are moving through the air can be
dangerous 5.b.The controlling of planes can be dangerous.
4.3. Lexical ambiguity
Any ambiguity resulting from the ambiguity of a word is a LEXICAL AMBIGUITY.
We can interpret the sentence They were waiting at the bank in two different ways because the two
nouns bank — bank1, which means financial institution and bank2, which means shore of the
river — are two homonyms.
1-They were waiting at the bank.

1-a-They were waiting at the financial institution.

1-b-They were waiting at the at the shore of the river.
Practice
Explain the lexical ambiguity in each of the following sentences by providing two sentences that
paraphrase its two different meanings.

1-They were waiting at the bank. 1-a-They were waiting at the financial institution.
1-b-They were waiting at the at the shore of the river.

2-The long drill is boring. a-The long training is uninteresting.

b-The long pointed instrument is making a hole.

3-We like the ball. 3.a. We like the sphere/the football.

3.b. We like the formal social gathering for dancing.

4-They passed the port at night. 4.a. They went by the harbour at night.
4.b. They delivered the Portuguese wine at night.

5-The captain corrected the list. 5.a.The captain corrected the inventory.
5.b. The captain corrected the tilt / the leaning of the ship.

6-He was knocked over by the punch.

6.a. He was knocked over because of a blow given with the fist.
6.b.He got drunk because of the drink.
4.4. Ambiguous words and Phrases

Definition: In the case of words and phrases, a Homonymy as the cause of lexical ambiguity:
word or phrase is AMBIGUOUS if it has two (or
Definition: A case of HOMONYMY is one of an
more) SYNONYMS that are not themselves
ambiguous words whose different senses are
synonyms of each other.
apart from each other and not obviously related
Examples: to each other in any way with respect to a native
speaker’s tuition.
Coach is synonymous with trainer and with bus,
but these two are not synonymous of each
other, so coach is ambiguous.
In the case of ambiguous words, a distinction is Homonymy (<Greek: homos: same + onyma:
sometimes made between polysemy and name)
homonymy. This distinction has basically to do
Homonyms are words different in meaning but
with the closeness, or relatedness, of the
identical in pronunciation (or in sound) or in
senses of ambiguous words. Homonymy and
spelling or in both pronunciation and spelling.
polysemy can lead to the cases of lexical
ambiguity. E.g. bark (tree / dog); plane (vehicle / tool)

Bank:
a-financial intitution
Polysemy as source of lexical ambiguity
b-the side of a river / stream
Definition:
Bark:
A case of POLYSEMY is one where a word has
several very closely related senses. In other 1-the outer covering of a tree.
words, a native speaker of the language has clear
2-the short loud sound made by dogs.
intuitions that the different senses are related to
each other in some way. Plane:
Polysemy is the case when a word has several 1-a flying vehicle with wings.
very closely related senses, e.g. mouth (person /
river); fork (road / cutlery); lip (jug / 2-any flat or level surface.
• /
person); bright (shining / intelligent); red (color
lucky / revolution).
Homophones
(Greek: homos: same + onyma: name) are words
identical in pronunciation (or in sound) but
different in spelling and in meaning.
•E.g. sew-sow-so /sou/
• dear-deer /dɪə/
• night-knight /nait/
•
Homographs (Greek: homos: same, graphein: to
write) are words identical in spelling but
different in sound and in meaning.
•E.g. tear /tɪə/–tear /tɛː/
• tear /tɪə/ : A drop of clear salty liquid secreted from
glands in a person’s eye when they cry
•tear /tɛː/:Remove by pulling forcefully.
 Practice:
1. The following are all polysemous words. For each one, we have indicated two closely related
senses. What you have to do is to say how these senses are related:
(1)Chimney (pipe vs narrow vertical space between rocks)
Both senses contain the concept of a narrow vertical shaft in some solid material.
Answers

(2)Cup (drinking vessel vs bassiere cup)Both senses have the concept of container with a particular round
shape
3-guard (person who guards vs solid protective shield) Both contain the concept of protection against
danger
4-ceiling (top inner surface of a room vs upper limit)Both contain the concept of a
maximum uper boundary

5-Earth/earth (our planet vs soil)Both contain the concept of land at different levels at different levels of
generality

6-Drive (as in drive a nail / as in drive a car)Both contain the concept of causing something to move in a
particular direction

2. Decide whether the following words are examples of homonymy (H) or polysemy (P):

(1)bark (of a dog vs of a tree)H

(2)Fork (in a road vs instrument for eating)P

(3) Tail (of a coat vs of an animal)P

(4) Steer (to guide vs young bull)H

(5)Lip (of a jug vs of a person)P

(6) Punch (blow with a fist vs kind of fruity alcoholic drink)H

In the above part, we have looked at a-grammatical ambiguity and b-lexical ambiguity

Definition:

A sentence which is ambiguous because of its words relate to each other in different ways, even though none
of the individual words are ambiguous is structurally (or grammatically) ambiguous.
Any ambiguity resulting from the ambiguity of words is lexically ambiguity

A phrase is referentially versatile if it can be used to refer to a wide range of different things or persons.
Exercises
I-Practice

Are the following pairs paraphrases of each other (assuming that the referents of the names and other referring
expressions remain the same)? Indicate your answer by circling either P (paraphrase) or NP (not a paraphrase).

Answers
-John is the parent of JamesP 3-My father owns this carP
•James is the child of John •This This car belongs to my father
2-John is the parent of JamesNP 4-The fly was on the wallNP
•James is the parent of John • The The wall was under the fly

I-Answers:
Look at the following and circle the statements of entailment as correct (C ) or incorrect (I ).
 1-John cooked an egg entails John boiled an egg.I
2-John boiled an egg entails John cooked an egg.C
3-I saw a boy entails I saw a person.C
4-John stole a car entails John took a car.C
5-His speech disturbed me entails His speech deeply disturbed me.I

III-Answers
Look at the following pairs of sentences and see if they have the same set of entailments (Yes) or not (No) (i.e.
see if they are paraphrases of each other).
1-No one has led a perfect lifeNo
Someone has led a perfect life 3-The house was concealed by the treesYes
The house was hidden by the trees
2-We’ve just bought a dogNo 4-I ran to the houseNo
We’ve just bought something I went to the house
5-It is hard to lasso elephantsYes
Elephants are hard to lasso

IX- The following pairs of words are partial synonyms, i.e. they do not share all their senses. For each pair, (a)
gives a sentence in which the two can be used interchangeably; (b) gives another sentence in which only one
of them can be used:

ripe / mature, broad / wide, soil / earth, edge / side.

•The following are just some possibilities:
1-(a) After dinner we had a ripe/mature Camembert cheese.
(b) She’s a very mature person (not a ripe person).
2- (a) The river is very broad/wide at this point.
(b) He speaks with a broad Scottish accent (not a wide accent)
3-(a) They filled the hole with good soft earth/soil.
(b) The rocket fell back to earth when its motors failed (not back to soil).
4-(a) The house stands at the side/edge of the lake.
(b) Britain and Australia are on opposite sides of the world (not edges).
X-Identify which terms are superordinate and which are hyponyms:
Feedback:
1- tool: hammer, screwdriver, wrench, awl, pliers
2-craftsman: carpenter, electrician, plumber
3- animal: mammal, human, amphibian, reptile, frog, snake
4-break: shatter, crack, smash, fracture
5- human: man, woman, husband, bachelor, wife, widow
XI-Practice:
The following are all polysemous words. For each one, we have indicated two closely related senses. What
you have to do is to say how these senses are related:
(1)Chimney (pipe vs narrow vertical space between rocks)
Both senses contain the concept of a narrow vertical shaft in some solid material.
Answers

(2)Cup (drinking vessel vs bassiere cup)

 Both senses have the concept of container with a particular round shape

3-guard (person who guards vs solid protective shield)

Both contain the concept of protection against danger

4-ceiling (top inner surface of a room vs upper limit)
Both contain the concept of a maximum uper boundary

5-Earth/earth (our planet vs soil)

Both contain the concept of land at different levels at different levels of generality
6-Drive (as in drive a nail / as in drive a car)

Both contain the concept of causing something to move in a particular direction

XII:
Decide whether the following words are examples of homonymy (H) or polysemy (P):
(1)bark (of a dog vs of a tree)H (2)Fork (in a road vs instrument for eating)P
(3) Tail (of a coat vs of an animal)P (4) Steer (to guide vs young bull)H

(5)Lip (of a jug vs of a person)P (6) Punch (blow with a fist vs kind of fruity alcoholic drink)H

XIII- Disambiguate the following sentences:

Feedback

1-They decided on the boat. 1.a. They decided when they were on the boat.
1.b.They decided about (buying) the boat.
2-Old men and women are loving people 2. a[.Old men] and [women] are loving people.
2.b.Old men and old women are loving people.
3-We had to decide on the bus. a. They decided when they were on the bus.
b.They decided about (buying) the bus.

4-Fred said that he would pay me on Thursday. a. Fred said on Thursday.

b. pay on Thursday
5-The chicken is ready to eat a.The chicken (as food) is ready to be eaten
b.The chicken is ready to eat some food
6-The thing that bothered Bill was crouching under the table.
a.The creature that bothered Bill was crouching under the table.
b.It was crouching under the table that bothered Bill

7-Flying planes can be dangerous. a.Planes which are moving through the air can be dangerous.
b.The controlling of planes can be dangerous.
8-They were waiting at the bank. a-They were waiting at the financial institution.
b-They were waiting at the at the shore of the river.
9-The long drill is boring. a.The long tool with a pointed end for making holes is making a long deep hole.
b.The long training / practice is uninteresting.
10-We like the ball. a. We like the round object for kicking.
b. We like the formal party with dancing.
11-They passed the port at night. a. They went by the harbour at night.
b. They delivered the Portuguese wine at night.
12-The captain corrected the list a.The captain corrected the inventory.
b. The captain corrected the tilt / the leaning of the ship.
13-He was knocked over by the punch. a. He was knocked over because of a blow given with the fist.
b. He got drunk because of the drink.
14-Visiting relatives can be boring. a. It can be boring to visit relatives.
b. Relatives who are visiting can be boring.
15-The drunkard visitor rolled up the carpet
a. The drunkard visitor FOLDED the carpet over on itsel.
b. The drunkard visitor TURNED over and over up the carpet.
16-Is he really that kind? a. Is he really that type of person.
b. Is he really as good-hearted as such.
17-My fiancee is reserved a. My fiancee is kept only for me.
b. My fiancee rarely talks
18-I saw her slip. a. I saw her slide and nearly fall.
b. I saw her become worse.
c. I saw her piece of underwear.
19-They are cooking apples. a.They are a type of apple that is suitable for cooking rather ran eating raw.
a. They are prepare food from apples by heating them.
20-They are moving sidewalks. a.They are the sidewalks that can change the the positions by themselves.
b. They are changing the sidewalks’ position.
21-John loves Richard more than Martha. a. John loves Richards more than John loves Martha.
b.John loves Richrads more than Martha loves Richard
22-Old men and women will be served first. a. [Old men] and women will be served first.
b. [Old men] and [old women] will be served first.
23-Climbing plants can look strange a. Going up the plants can look strange.
b. The plants which climb up by hanging on the trees can look strange.
24-The English history teacher knows a lot. a. The English teacher who teaches history knows a lot.
b.The teacher who teaches English history knows a lot
25-The minister married my sister
a.The vicar / trained religious leader married my sister.
b. The senior officer responsible for a government department married my sister.
26-She’s selling synthetic buffalo hides. a. She is selling artificial skin of buffalo
b. She is selling a hiding place made from synthetics.
27-The boy saw the man with a telescop a. The boy who has a telescope saw the man.
b. The boy saw the man who has a telescope
28-The grass was very expensive. a. The area of ground covered with grass was expensive.
b. Marijuana was expensive.
29-I saw her duck. a.We saw her lower/nod her head
b.We saw the duck belonging to her
30-Overtaking cars on the main road can be dangerous
a. It can be dangerous to overtake cars on the main road.
b. Cars that are overtaking on the main road can be dangerous.
31-The bill is large. a.The poster is big.
b.The bill requests a large sum
32-The suit was important to him. a.The article of clothing was important to him.
b.The lawsuit / legal action was important to him.
33-The sick pet was taken small animal hospital a.The sick pet was taken to a small hospital for animals
b.The sick pet was taken to a hospital for small animals.
XIV- For each apparent synonym pair below supply sentences in which the two words can be used
interchangeably without altering the sense of the sentence, and then give another sentence using one of the
words in a different sense (where no interchange is possible with the same meaning).

Small/little Small refers to size (opposite of big and large). Little is used to refer to some
emotion, as well as the idea of smallness. Little can be the opposite of not much.
1a-They ‘ve bought a pretty small cottage near Buckingham.
1.b.There is little water left in the lake.
Hard / difficult 2.a- It is hard / difficult for old people to change their ways.
2.b-Wait for the concrete to go hard (solid / stiff).
Long /extended 3.a.It is a very long / extended (longer than usual) lunch.
3.b. It is an extended family. (a family group with close relationship among
members that includes not only parents and children but also uncles, aunts…)
Lady / woman 4.a. She is an attractive young woman / lady.
4.b.She is Lady Jane Grey’s maid.
4.c. He ‘s got a new woman in his life.
Cheap / 5.a. It is a cheap / inexpensive product.
inexpensive
5.b. I was tired at his cheap jokes. (unkind / unpleasant).

Bright / well-lit 6.a.The street is bright / well-lit

6.b. He is a bright man
Sad / Dejected 7.a.She looked so sad / dejected when she lost the game. (unhappy &
disappointed).
7.b.It is a sad state of affairs. (unacceptable
Rob / Steal: 5.a.They have robbed / stolen my idea.
5.b. They have robbed a bank.
5.c. The thief has stolen my purse.