Connotations

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Connotations are ideas or feelings which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning. This is in contrast to a denotation, which is the literal meaning of a word.

Examples of Connotations

In English, connotations can have negative, neutral, or positive meanings.

The best way to understand this is by looking at a few examples.

  • skinny/thin/slender

He is too skinny. The connotation is that the person is underweight and unhealthy.

He is thin. There is no connotation.

He is slender. The connotation is that the person looks good.

  • bizarre/unusual/extraordinary

This is a bizarre situation. The connotation is that situation is strange.

This is an unusual situation. There is no additional connotation.

This is an extraordinary situation. The connotation is that this situation is unique in a good way.

  • domineering/forceful/assertive

My boss is domineering. The connotation is that my boss is very bossy in a bad way.

My boss is forceful. No additional connotation.

My boss is assertive. The connotation is that my boss is a good leader and can get their points across.

Why do we use connotations?

To influence people

One of the best reasons to use connotation is to influence your reader. By carefully picking the words that you use, you can bias or not bias people into thinking what you want.

For example, I can say:

My parents are stingy.

I could use many different words instead such as prudent, careful with their money, thrifty, frugal, ect…[1]https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/connotation.htm#exam

However, I carefully chose the word stingy. Stingy gives the connotation that my parents don’t care about me and only care about themselves, especially with regards to money.

To be concise and precise

The best writers and speakers are concise and precise with their words. This means that they are able to use the least amount of words to fully convey their meaning.[2]https://literaryterms.net/when-and-how-to-use-connotation/ This is where connotation comes into play.

For example, I can say

My boss is very thorough with his work.

Or I can say

My boss is very nitpicky with his work.

This is much stronger than the previous word as it gets to the connotation that my boss is overly concerned with insignificant details.

Example Exercises

Read each sentence and choose the word that has a positive connotation.

 13%

Question 1 of 8

1. They have a (tenacious/stubborn) personality.

Question 1 of 8

Question 2 of 8

2. They are (extravagant/generous) with their money.

Question 2 of 8

Question 3 of 8

3. You have a (youthful/childish) exuberance.

Question 3 of 8

Question 4 of 8

4. My boss is (confident/egotistical).

Question 4 of 8

Question 5 of 8

5. She is very (economical/tight fisted) with her money.

Question 5 of 8

Question 6 of 8

6. I got to get back to my (home/house).

Question 6 of 8

Question 7 of 8

7. He is (unassuming/plain) in appearance.

Question 7 of 8

Question 8 of 8

8. This is a (difficult/challenging).

Question 8 of 8


 

References[+]

Word Pairs

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In English, there are certain word pairs that always go together. If you try to reverse their order it sounds weird to a native speaker.[1]https://www.sightwordsgame.com/vocabulary-words/word-pairs/

Below are a few popular examples of English word pairs.[2]https://www.thoughtco.com/nonreversible-word-pairs-1209931

Bacon and Eggs

Would you like some bacon and eggs for breakfast?

Back and Forth

They kept on arguing back and forth.

Bed and Breakfast

We stayed in a beautiful little bed and breakfast by the beach.

Brick and Mortar

It is an online only store. It doesn’t have any brick and mortar locations.

Bride and Groom

The bride and groom looked so happy walking down the aisle together.

Business and Pleasure

I try to not mix business and pleasure.

Cause and Effect

There is a clear cause and effect to the situation that you find yourself in.

Coffee and Donuts

Would you like to get some coffee and donuts for breakfast?

Cream and Sugar

Do you take cream and sugar with your coffee?

Dead or Alive

The wanted poster said that they wanted the criminal dead or alive.

Fun and Games

It is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

Front and Center

The teacher told me to stand front and center to give my presentation.

Hammer and Nail

This job requires a hammer and nail to complete.

Knife and Fork

Can you set knives and forks on the table?

Ladies and Gentlemen

Ladies and Gentlemen can I have your attention please?

Law and Order

Law and order is the rule of the land.

Life or Death

The people in the sinking boat are in a life or death situation.

Lost and Found

Check the lost and found to see if you can find your lost cellphone.

Pots and Pans

I had to clean all the pots and pans.

Rain or Shine

We will be there rain or shine.

Salt and Pepper

Can you pass me the salt and pepper please?

Sooner or Later

Sooner or later you will need to study if you want to do well in the class.

Sweet and Sour

I really like sweet and sour chicken.

References[+]

Common English Euphemism Examples

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In English, a “euphemism” is a nicer way to say something that could be offensive or unpleasant.[1]https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/euphemism.htm

We might use them to not be as direct in how we talk or not to offend someone.

Euphemisms Describing People

He is big boned. – He is fat.[2]https://www.clarkandmiller.com/25-english-euphemisms-for-delicate-situations/

  • She is vertically challenged. – She is short.
  • Frank is between jobs. – Frank is unemployed.
  • Susie is not the sharpest tool in the shed. – Susie is not the smartest.
  • They are on the streets. – They are homeless.

Euphemisms about Getting Fired

  • My boss let me go. – My boss fired me.
  • You have been made redundant. – You are not needed anymore. (you have been replaced at your job)

Euphemisms about Death

  • My mother passed away/passed on/met her maker last year. – My mother died last year.
  • My father lost his battle with cancer. – My father died due to cancer.[3]https://www.verywellhealth.com/euphemisms-for-dead-death-or-dying-1131903

Euphemisms about Bad

  • Your work just isn’t up to scratch. – Your work just isn’t good enough.
  • The repairman’s work left a lot to be desired. – The repairman’s work was bad and unsatisfying.

Other Euphemisms

  • My wife is expecting. – My wife is pregnant.
  • They come from an underprivileged family. – They come from a poor family.[4]https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/euphemism.htm
  • I need a bit of peace and quiet. – Go away![5]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/91/9d/49/919d49e43bb8152657a1a2680c3a7dcd.jpg
  • My parents gave me the birds and the bees talk when I was young. – My parents told me about sex when I was young.[6]https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-euphemism.html
  • They are chronologically challenged. – They are late.
  • It has been a long week, I really need some adult beverages. – It has been a long week, I really need some alcohol.[7]https://peptalkindia.com/100-popular-euphemisms-in-english-language/
  • I need to go to the little boy’s room/little girl’s room. – I need to go to the restroom.
  • My cousin had to stay in a correctional facility for a few months. – My cousin had to stay in jail for a few months.

References[+]

Passive Causative

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In English, the passive causative is used for services.[1]https://blog.esllibrary.com/2014/02/20/the-passive-causative/

It is a mix of the causative-verbs and passive voice. The easiest way to understand it is by looking at each part separately and then combining the two.

passive causative

Passive Voice

In English there are two voices, active and passive.

The active voice is when the subject does the action. This is the easiest to understand and generally used in spoken speech.[2]https://www.myenglishteacher.eu/blog/causative-verbs-active-and-passive/

The passive voice is when the subject receives the action. This can be a bit more difficult to understand; however, it is commonly used in technology, science, textbooks, and reports.

If you would like to learn more about the passive voice check out this article!

Causative Verbs

A causative verb is when we talk about an action that someone else did for us.

In other words, we “caused” the action to happen. This could be through persuasion or even paying a person.[3]https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/causatives-have-get.html

The common causative verbs are:

  • have
  • let
  • make

Passive Causative

The easiest way to understand the this is through taking the same sentence and transforming to each of the 3 grammar forms.

For example:

Passive: The test was taken by the student.

Causative: The teacher had the student take the test.

Passive/Causative: The teacher had the test taken by the student.

References[+]

Cleft Sentence

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A cleft sentence is a phrase that takes a simple sentence and divides it into to part in order place emphasis on one of the parts.[1]https://www.slideserve.com/nusa/what-is-a-cleft-sentence

It Cleft Sentence

This type of cleft uses the word “it” to identify what it is placing emphasis on.

The pattern is:

it + be + “highlighted word or phrase” + that/who clause[2]https://www.slideshare.net/caticah/cleft-sentences-72374267

For example, if the original sentence is “Susie bought a movie from the store last month.”

We can make the…

Subject the focus

It was Susie who/that bought a movie from the store last month.

Object the focus

It was a movie that Susie bought from the store last month.

Time the focus

It was last month that Susie bought a movie from the store.

Place the focus

It was from the store that Susie bought a movie last month.

What Cleft Sentence

This type of cleft uses the word “what” to identify what it is placing emphasis on.

The pattern is:

what + be + “highlighted word or phrase”

For example, if the same original sentence as before “Susie bought a movie from the store last month.”

We can make the…

Word/phrase the focus

What Susie bought at the store last month was a movie.

Action the focus

What Susie did last month was buy a movie from the store.

Whole sentence the focus

What happened was Susie bough a movie from the store last month.

Other Types of Cleft Sentence

There are a few other types of cleft sentence structures you can use.

For example:

  • The person who said it was Fred.
  • The thing she wants is a hamburger.
  • The place I used to work at is closed.
  • The time I went to university was the best time of my life.
  • The reason she didn’t say anything was due to her shyness.

Practice Exercises

Rewrite the following sentences to put emphasis on the underlined part. Use “it” cleft sentences.

Please go to Cleft Sentence to view this quiz

References[+]

Wishes and Hypotheses

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In English, you can use “wish” and “if only” to talk about wishes and hypotheses.[1]https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/wish-and-if-only

The main difference is that “if only” is a stronger expression for wishes and hypotheses.  

Wishes in the Past

You can use “wish” or “if only” with the past perfect tense to talk about what you would like to change about the past.

For example:

  • They wish they had studied more for the test.
  • If only I had closed my window before I left, then the robbers wouldn’t have been able to get into the house.
  • She wishes that she had prepared more for the driving test.

Wishes in the Present

You can use “wish” or “if only” with the past simple and past continuous to talk about what you would like to change in the present.[2]https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/wishes-and-hypotheses

For example:

  • I don’t like this food. I wish I chose something different.
  • I don’t like this seat in the car. If only I were sitting in the front seat.
  • I’m dying here. If only it was not so hot here!

Wishes in the Future

You can use “wish” or “if only” with the modal verbs “would” and “could” to talk about what you would like to do in the future.

For example:

  • I don’t like my job. I wish I could quite, but if I quite then I won’t have any money!
  • If only I would have studied more, then I would have easily passed the test.
  • I wish I could stop smoking. It is a very bad habit.

References[+]

Expressing Past Habits

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In English, you can use both “used to” and “would” for expressing past habits to emphasize that they are not true anymore.[1]https://blog.off2class.com/habits-and-repeated-actions-past/

Because they are used to talk about habits, it is slightly different than the past simple tense or the past continuous tense.

expressing past habits

Would

You can use the word “would” to talk about repeated actions in the past. A repeated action is an action that happens at a specific moment in time in the past.

You can use “would” for:

  • Moral formal situations
  • Events that happen many times

Examples include:

  • I would practice the piano every day.
  • She would hide every time I tried to find her.
  • They would have loud parties every Friday evening.

Used to

You can use the words “used to” to talk about states in the past. A state is a condition that happens over a period of time in the past.

You can use “used to” for:

  • Questions
  • Negatives
  • Stative verbs

Examples include:

  • We used to live in Paris when I was younger.
  • He didn’t use to be shorter than me.
  • Did she use to go to school with us?

Expressing Past Habits Practice Exercises

Choose the correct the correct form between “would” and “used to” for expressing past habits.

Please go to Expressing Past Habits to view this quiz

References[+]

Narrative Tenses

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Narrative tenses are verb tenses used to talk about things in the past.

Normally you can use them in stories, descriptions of past events, and personal anecdotes.[1]https://prezi.com/ja2fl95x7feq/narrative-tenses/

Some common narrative tenses that are used in the narrative tense are the past simple, past continuous, and past perfect.[2]https://www.test-english.com/explanation/b1/past-simple-past-continuous-past-perfect/

Present Tenses

Do not mix the present and past tense when narrating past events.

This will only confuse the reader or listener as to when an event happens.[3]https://www.slideshare.net/marolmedo/narrative-tenses-10054596

For example, avoid using the present simple, present continuous, or the present perfect.

Past Simple

For regular verbs, the past simple is formed by adding –ed to the end of a verb such as talked, walked, and played.[4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYVfYRzdTF0

For irregular verbs, you must memorize the past simple such as for eat (ate), go (went), and buy (bought).

If you would like to learn more about the past simple tense, check out:

Past Continuous

The past continuous tense is formed in the following way.[5]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYVfYRzdTF0

Was/were + verb – ing

For example:

  • They were walking.
  • She was eating.
  • I was sleeping.

If you would like to learn more about the past continuous tense, check out:

Past Perfect

The past perfect is formed in the following way.

Had + past participle

For example:

  • I had eaten breakfast.
  • Susie had studied for the exam.
  • We had lived there for 5 years.

If you would like to learn more about the past continuous tense, check out:

References[+]

Modals – Can’t Have/Needn’t Have

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Modal verbs are a type of verb that allows the speaker to express things such as advice, obligation, order, suggestions, capacity, request, permission, ability, and likelihood. Two important ones are “can’t have” and “needn’t have”.[1]https://phoneenglish.es/blog/2017/04/modals-cant-have-and-neednt-have/

While they seem similar they actually express quite different things.

Can’t Have

This modal verb expresses something that you are very sure didn’t happen in the past or when you believe something was impossible in the past.

When using this modal verb, it follows the following formula:

  • Can’t have + Past Participle

For example:

  • The prisoner can’t have escaped through that window because it is too small.
  • The kid can’t have been at the movie theater. He was at home all weekend studying for the exam.
  • Susie can’t have said that. She is too nice and wouldn’t say such mean things.

Needn’t Have

“Needn’t have” expresses when an action was done but was most likely a waste of time and unnecessary.

When using this modal verb, it follows the following formula:

  • Needn’t have + Past Participle

For example:

  • You needn’t have cooked so much food. We already ate before we came here.
  • She needn’t have bought a new car. I was going to give one to her for her birthday.
  • We needn’t have studied so hard for the test. It ended up being canceled.

References[+]

Relative Clauses

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Relative clauses give extra information about a noun or pronoun in a sentence.[1]https://www.st-agnes.manchester.sch.uk/year-6-circles/relative-clauses/https://www.st-agnes.manchester.sch.uk/year-6-circles/relative-clauses/

They usually start with a relative pronoun.

Who

“Who” is a relative clause used as the subject or object pronoun for people.[2]https://englishstudyhere.com/grammar/relative-clauses-detailed-expressions/

For example:

  • People who do sports are fit.
  • The student who studies in the library will do well on the test.
  • The person who does yoga is flexible

Whom

“Whom” is a relative clause that refers to the people used as the object of a sentence.[3]https://www.slideshare.net/Ifahanwar/passive-voice-relative-clauses-causative-and-subordinating-conjungtion

For example:

  • He is the person whom I told you about.
  • From whom did you receive this present?
  • To whom did you give the cake?

Which/That

“Which” or “that” is used as the subject or object pronoun for animals or things.

For example:

  • The car that I was driving is very old.
  • The horse, which you were feeding, was very hungry.
  • The house that she lives in is very big.

Where

“Where” is used to refer to a place.

For example:

  • I found the house where I used to live when I was little.
  • The school where I went to is very small.
  • The town where she lives is very far away.

When

“When” is used to refer to time.

For example:

  • I will never forget the day when I first met you.
  • When I was young, I used to go to the beach every summer.
  • She was very short when she was young.

Whose

“Whose” is used for possession for things, animals, and people.

For example:

  • The dog whose master is not home is very sad.
  • The little girl whose birthday is today is very happy.
  • The father whose son is graduating today from university is very proud and happy.

Example Exercises

Choose the proper relative clauses to complete the sentences.

Please go to Relative Clauses to view this quiz

References[+]