Primary English | Shades of Meaning: Shout

Happy Lunar New Year! I hope all of you have had a wonderful time catching up with family and friends over the long weekend.

This week, I will focus on the word ‘shout’, which means ‘to speak in a very loud voice’.

Meaning: Shout

Take a look at the question below:

Let’s recap the steps in answering such a vocabulary question.

Step 1: Read the question carefully.

Step 2: Eliminate with content clues.

We know that Ethel was feeling frightened because she thought that she was going to be trapped in the elevator in a ‘derelict building’. Immediately, option (4) is incorrect because ‘chortle’ means ‘to laugh, showing pleasure and satisfaction’.

Step 3: Evaluate other options using knowledge of shades of meaning

The remaining three options all refer to speaking in a loud manner. Option (1) is not the answer because it is imprecise; to ‘shout’ does not necessarily mean to make a ‘high-pitched cry’. Option (3) is inappropriate because to ‘bellow’ is to ‘make a loud, deep sound’, which is different from a ‘high-pitched cry’. Hence, the correct answer is option (2) because to ‘shriek’ is a ‘short, loud, high cry’.

To sum up, in answering vocabulary questions, your ability to identify content clues works hand in hand with your knowledge of words and their shades of meaning. The only way to increase your knowledge of words is to expose yourself to as many reading materials(not just books but anything with words on them! Magazines, labels, brochures etc.) as possible. Be alert in your reading – recognise how writers choose words carefully to create certain effects.

Below are four synonyms of shout and their accompanying definitions:

Exercise:

Fill in each blank with the appropriate synonym of ‘shout’. Each synonym can be used TWICE. You can change the form of the word (e.g. scanned / scanning). Use context clues to help you decide on which synonym to use.

1. The teacher did not know what to do when all the students surrounded her, ____________ for attention.

2. The driver pressed on the brakes and the car ____________ to a sudden stop.

3. The coach ____________ and clapped loudly when his team scored the winning goal.

4. “My leg is trapped!” Sam ____________ in agony. “Please help me!”

5. “A mouse!” she ____________ at the top of her voice as she leapt onto the chair.

6. “How could you do this to me!” the man ____________ as his face turned an ominous red.

7. Fans ____________ for autographs outside the concert hall where the latest pop sensation was performing.

8. Sheila and her sister ____________ with joy when their parents told them that they were going to London for a holiday.

Check your answers and understand why by filling the form below:

This concludes our mini series on shades of meaning for now. Stay tuned as our sharing on a very popular series of books will be coming up soon! Hint: it has to do with a mouse. Can you guess who it is?

Leave a comment below and let me know if this post has been useful for you.