This learning concept will help students to understand antonyms and the most used pair of antonyms. It also details how to form and use opposite word in a sentence. Children can also be aware of the blunders they might make while using antonyms or a pair of opposite words in the correct context.
In this learning concept, the students will learn how to:
Each of the topics in English grammar has been developed by subject matter experts using concept maps, illustrations, and examples. Students of class 3 can determine their understanding of a particular concept by solving the two printable antonyms worksheet given at the end of the page. Download the worksheets and check the solutions for the concept, pair of antonyms, provided in PDF format.
Word | Antonym | |
---|---|---|
1. | Light | Heavy |
2. | Day | Night |
3. |
1. An antonym can change the meaning of a sentence or a word. Notice in the sentence given below a pair of antonyms, happy and sad, have been used. It has changed the sentences through the emotions mentioned.
Example:I thought on hearing the joke, she was happy; however, she became sad after watching the movie.
2. A word may have more than one antonym, which means there can be many words that can be opposites to one word.
Example:The following are antonyms of the word ‘good’: bad, evil, wicked, and horrible.
The word ‘good’ can be a noun or an adjective; thus, its antonyms are a combination of adjectives and nouns.
a. Antonyms are also formed by adding a prefix to a word. These prefixes include ‘mis, dis, un, im, in’.
Examples:Word | Antonym |
able | unable |
likely | unlikely |
decent | indecent |
honest | dishonest |
moral | immoral |
possible | impossible |
lead | mislead |
understand | misunderstand |
b. Antonyms are also formed by ending a word with a suffix. The adjectives that end with the suffix – ‘ful’ are replaced by the suffix – ‘less’ to make an antonym.
Examples:Word | Antonym |
useful | useless |
hopeful | hopeless |
painful | painless |
harmful | harmless |
shameful | shameless |
thankful | thankless |
careful | careless |
Check for signal words as they are clues that can help to identify antonyms. These words are ‘not’, ‘but’, ‘unlike’, ‘yet’, ‘different from’, ‘however’, ‘even though’, ‘although’, ‘opposed to’, and ‘in contrast’.
Observe these signal words in the examples given below and look at how these words can be used with antonyms.
Examples:1. Do not confuse synonyms with antonyms.
2. Not knowing the meaning of the word If you have a rough idea of what the word means, then you can guess what its antonym or opposite word could be. Unless you know the meaning, you will find it difficult to guess its opposite pair.
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