English grammar one word for many words

In today’s English grammar article, you can read an important chapter of English Grammar about one word for many words (like – which is native to your country – Swadeshi).

Friends, in our previous article on English grammar, we had read about multiple-choice words and synonyms. If you haven’t read it yet, you can read it too.

One who has Veena in his hand – Veenapani

Those who have the moon on their head – Chandrashekhar, Chandramouli

desire to know

Desire to Win – Jigisha

will to live

Desire to eat

Desire to drink

Desire to fight – yuyutsa

The one who can never be penetrated – Impenetrable

Whose date of arrival is not known – Guest

Having no one – orphan

Twice Born – Dwij

Whose enemy is not born – Ajatashatru

Quadrilateral

Whose husband has died – widow

Whose husband is alive – Sadhwa

Whose wife is dead – widower

One born in water – Jalaj

Son’s wife – daughter-in-law

One who practices righteousness – Dharmatma

One who knows everything – omniscient

Where rivers meet – Sangam

Resident of Panchal country – Panchali

Those who stay inside the curtains – Pardanasheen

Emptier

Sad – sad

Tight-lipped

Drinkable

Whose sharpness has been destroyed – Dull

Till death

Visible – visible

What has been said – alleged

Which is not a theorem – agrameya

That which cannot be measured – infinite

That which has never been seen before

One who talks a lot (eloquent) – verbose

Subservient to a woman – feminine

One who remains steadfast in battle – Yudhishthira

expatriate

One who belongs to one’s country – indigenous

One who eats only once a day – monogamous

Future – future

One who does not eat meat – vegetarian

Actress

Actor

One who eats meat and fish – non-vegetarian

One who eats vegetables – vegetarian

One who eats fruits – fruitarian

Mother killer

The one who walks in the sky – Khechr

Killer – killer

Worker – worker

Sprinter

Soft-spoken

One who knows science – Scientist

Writer – writer

Forever memorable

Whose belly is long – lambodar

The one who was born earlier – Elder

The one who was born later – Anuj

One who has no comparison – Anupam

One whose vow is firm

Sibling

Successful – successful

Tejwala – Tejwala

Past

Who never died – immortal

Pervading everywhere – omnipresent

Fallen – fallen

salesman – seller

Critic – critic

Inquisitive – inquisitive

The woman whose husband is abroad – Prashitpatika

The man whose wife is not with him – Vishatnik

The woman who has never seen the sun – Asurayrampshya

According to strength

Follower – follower

Dearest – dearest

Ganga’s son – Gangey

Worthy of criticism

Respectable – respectable

Worshipable – worshipable, worshipable

Immediately born – sadyojata

Reciprocation of favor

Gratitude

One who does not accept the favor done – ungrateful

Expert on a particular subject

One who has very little knowledge

Whose neck is beautiful – Sugriva

One who knows the inner thing – Antaryami

Time afternoon

Time before noon

Childless woman

Childless

Meghnaad

Well-wisher

Unopposed (elected) – unopposed (elected)

When someone has come at the invitation – invited

One who voluntarily does service work – Swayamsevak

Subordinate to another

One who is blind from birth – Janmandh

Warship

Perishable – mortal

That which is not easily obtained – rare

easily accessible

According to karma

Appetizing – appetizing

Obedient to the master

In front of the eyes

With family

Past

One who believes in God – theist

One who does not believe in God – Atheist

One who cannot see – blind

On whom there is some doubt – Sankit

Devotee of Shiva – Shaiva

Devotee of Vishnu – Vaishnava

Talk of this world – Supernatural

One who has good conduct – Virtuous

One who does not have good behavior – miscreant

Night wanderer – rajnichar, nocturnal

One who has no end – infinite

Once a week – weekly

Fortnightly – fortnightly

Annual

The transcendental and immaterial entity that never perishes – immortal, indestructible

Feeling sad over lack of success or antisocial status – angry, frustrated

Final Thoughts –

Friends, in today’s article, you read the chapter on english grammar about one word for many words.

You can tell us through the comment box how did you like this article today.

You can also read these parts of English Grammar –

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How to Improve Communication Skills

What is the post introduction? distinction and example

Republic Day Essay 2023 in English

Explanation Meaning in English Grammar

How to write an application for leave from school in English

Letter Writing in English Grammar

Football Essay in English

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There are some rules for joining two different words into one, but they do not cover all cases

AREAS OF UNCERTAINTY ABOUT JOINING WORDS TOGETHER

Is it correct to write bath tub, or should it be the single word bathtub? Is every day a correct spelling, or everyday? Uncertainties like this are widespread in English, even among proficient users. They are made worse by the fact that in some cases both spellings are correct, but mean different things.

Are there any guidelines for resolving such uncertainties? It seems that in some cases there are and in some there are not. I wish here to indicate some of these guidelines. They mostly involve combinations that can make either one word or two, depending on meaning or grammar.

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ORDINARY COMPOUNDS

Ordinary compounds are the area with the fewest guidelines. They include words like coursework, which I like to write as a single word but my Microsoft Word spellchecker tells me should be two. As a linguist, I usually disregard computer advice about language (see 68. How Computers Get Grammar Wrong), but the question of why ordinary compound words give especial problems is interesting. First, these words need to be defined.

One can think of a compound as two or more words joined together. Linguists, though, like to speak of joined roots or stems rather than words, partly because the joining into a compound stops them being words (a few are not even words by themselves, e.g. horti- in horticulture).

Another problem with “joined words” is that some, such as fearless, are not considered compounds at all. The -less ending is called not a “root” but an “affix”, a meaningful word part added to a root to modify its meaning. Most affixes (some named suffixes, e.g. -less, -ness, -tion, -ly, -ing; some prefixes, e.g. -un-, in-, mis-, pre-) cannot be separate words, but a few like -less can (see 106. Word-Like Suffixes and 146. Some Important Prefix Types). Thus, words like fearless, unhappy and international are not compounds because they have fewer than two roots. Other compounds are swimsuit, homework and eavesdrop.

Suggestions for recognising a compound are not always very helpful. The frequency of words occurring together is no guide because it ignores the fact that many frequent combinations are not compounds (e.g. town hall and open air). The grammatical classes of the words and the closeness of the link between them are sometimes mentioned, but are unreliable. The age of a combination is also suggested, the claim being that compounds originate as two separate words, and gradually evolve through constant use first into hyphenated expressions (like fire-eater or speed-read – see 223. Uses of Hyphens), and eventually into compounds. However, some quite recent words are already compounds, such as bitmap in computing.

Much more useful is the way compounds are pronounced. Single English words generally contain one syllable that is pronounced more strongly than the others (see 125. Stress and Emphasis). This means compounds should have just one strong syllable, while non-compounds should have more. The rule applies fairly universally (see 243. Pronunciation Secrets, #3). For example, home is the only strong syllable in homework, but one of two in home rule. I write coursework as one word because course- is stronger than work.

The only problem with this approach is that you have to know pronunciations before you start, which is not always the case if English is not your mother tongue. The only other resort is a dictionary or spellcheck!

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NOUNS DERIVED FROM PHRASAL VERBS

Happily, some compound words have some other helpful features. Most are words whose roots, if written as two words, are also correct but have different meaning and grammar, so that the meaning indicates the spelling or vice versa. A particularly large category of such words is illustrated by the compound noun giveaway (= “obvious clue”). If its two roots are written separately as give away, they become a “phrasal” verb – a combination of a simple English verb (give) with a small adverb (away) – meaning “unintentionally reveal” (see 244. Special Uses of GIVE, #12).

There are many other nouns that can become phrasal verbs, e.g. takeover, takeaway, makeup, cutoff, breakout, setdown, pickup, washout, login and stopover. In writing there is always a need to remember that, if the two “words” are going to act as a verb, they must be spelled separately, but if they are going to act as a noun, they must be written together.

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OTHER CHOICES THAT DEPEND ON WORD CLASS

In the examples above, it is the choice between noun and verb uses that determines the spelling. Other grammatical choices can have this effect too. The two alternative spellings mentioned earlier, every day and everyday, are an example. The first (with ev- and day said equally strongly) acts in sentences like a noun or adverb, the second (with ev- the strongest) like an adjective. Compare: 

(a) NOUN: Every day is different.

(b) ADVERB: Dentists recommend cleaning your teeth every day.

(c) ADJECTIVE: Everyday necessities are expensive. 

In (a), every day is noun-like because it is the subject of the verb is (for details of subjects, see 12. Singular and Plural Verb Choices). In (b), the same words act like an adverb, because they give more information about a verb (cleaning) and could easily be replaced by a more familiar adverb like regularly or thoroughly (see 120. Six Things to Know about Adverbs). In (c), the single word everyday appears before a noun (necessities), giving information about it just as any adjective might (see 109. Placing an Adjective after its Noun). It is easily replaced by a more recognizable adjective like regular or daily. For more about every, see 169. “All”, “Each” and “Every”.

Another example of a noun/adverb contrast is any more (as in …cannot pay any more) versus anymore (…cannot pay anymore). In the first, any more is the object of pay and means “more than this amount”, while in the second anymore is not the object of pay (we have to understand something like money instead), and has the adverb meaning “for a longer time”.

A further adverb/adjective contrast is on board versus onboard. I once saw an aeroplane advertisement wrongly saying *available onboard – using an adjective to do an adverb job. The adverb on board is needed because it “describes” an adjective (available). The adjective form cannot be used because there is no noun to describe (see 6. Adjectives with no Noun 1). A correct adjective use would be onboard availability.

Slightly different is alright versus all right. The single word is either an adjective meaning “acceptable” or “undamaged”, as in The system is alright, or an adverb meaning “acceptably”, as in The system works alright. The two words all right, on the other hand, are only an adjective, different in meaning from the adjective alright: they mean “100% correct”. Thus, Your answers are all right means that there are no wrong answers, whereas Your answers are alright means that the answers are acceptable, without indicating how many are right.

Consider also upstairs and up stairs. The single word could be either an adjective (the upstairs room) or an adverb (go upstairs) or a noun (the upstairs). It refers essentially to “the floor above”, without necessarily implying the presence of stairs at all – one could, for example, go upstairs in a lift (see 154. Lone Prepositions after BE). The separated words, by contrast, act only like an adverb and do mean literally “by using stairs” (see 218. Tricky Word Contrasts 8, #3).

The pair may be and maybe illustrates a verb and adverb use:

(d) VERB: Food prices may be higher.

(e) ADVERB: Food prices are maybe higher.

In (e), the verb is are. The adverb maybe, which modifies its meaning, could be replaced by perhaps or possibly. Indeed, in formal writing it should be so replaced because maybe is conversational (see 108. Formal and Informal Words).

My final example is some times and sometimes, noun and adverb:

(f) NOUN: Some times are harder than others.

(g) ADVERB: Sometimes life is harder than at other times. 

Again, replacement is a useful separation strategy. The noun times, the subject of are in (f), can be replaced by a more familiar noun like days without radically altering the sentence, while the adverb sometimes in (g) corresponds to occasionally, the subject of is being the noun life.

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USES INVOLVING “some”, “any”, “every” AND “no”

The words some, any, every and no generally do not make compounds, but can go before practically any noun to make a “noun phrase”. In a few cases, however, this trend is broken and these words must combine with the word after them to form a compound. Occasionally there is even a choice between using one word or two, depending on meaning.

The compulsory some compounds are somehow, somewhere and somewhat; the any compounds are anyhow and anywhere, while every and no make everywhere and nowhere. There is a simple observation that may help these compounds to be remembered: the part after some/any/every/no is not a noun, as is usually required, but a question word instead. The rule is thus that if a combination starting with some, any, every or no lacks a noun, a single word must be written.

The combinations that can be one word or two depending on meaning are someone, somebody, something, sometime, sometimes, anyone, anybody, anything, anyway (Americans might add anytime and anyplace), everyone, everybody, everything, everyday, no-one, nobody and nothing. The endings in these words (-one, -body, -thing, -way, -time, -place and –day) are noun-like and mean the same as question words (who? what/which? how? when? and where? – see 185. Noun Synonyms of Question Words).

Some (tentative) meaning differences associated with these alternative spellings are as follows: 

SOME TIME = “an amount of time”

Please give me some time.

SOMETIME (adj.) = “past; old; erstwhile”

I met a sometime colleague

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SOMETHING = “an object whose exact nature is unimportant”.

SOME THING = “a nasty creature whose exact nature is unknown” (see 260. Formal Written Uses of “Thing”, #2).

Some thing was lurking in the water.

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ANYONE/ANYBODY = “one or more people; it is unimportant who”

Anyone can come = Whoever wants to come is welcome; Choose anyone = Choose whoever you want – one or more people.

ANY ONE = “any single person/thing out of a group of possibilities”.

Any one can come = Only one person/thing (freely chosen) can come; Choose any one = Choose whoever/whichever you want, but only one.

ANY BODY = “any single body belonging to a living or dead creature”.

Any body is suitable = I will accept whatever body is available.

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ANYTHING = “whatever (non-human) is conceivable/possible, without limit”.

Bring anything you like = There is no limit in what you can bring; Anything can happen = There is no limit on possible happenings.

ANY THING = “any single non-human entity in a set”.

Choose any thing = Freely choose one of the things in front of you.

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EVERYONE/EVERYBODY = “all people” (see 169. “All”, “Each” and “Every” and 211.General Words for People).

Everyone/Everybody is welcome.

EVERY ONE = “all members of a previously-mentioned group of at least three things (not people)”.

Diamonds are popular. Every one sells easily.

EVERY BODY = “all individual bodies without exceptions”.

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EVERYTHING = “all things/aspects/ideas”.

Everything is clear.

EVERY THING = “all individual objects, emphasising lack of exceptions”.

Every thing on display was a gift.

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NO-ONE/NOBODY = “no people”

No-one/Nobody came.

NO ONE = “not a single” (+ noun)

No one answer is right.

NO BODY = “no individual body”.

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NOTHING = “zero”.

Nothing is impossible.

NO THING = “no individual object”. 

There are other problem combinations besides those discussed here; hopefully these examples will make them easier to deal with.

CAMBRIDGE
ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED

UNIT 91

One word, many meanings

A

Polysemy A great many words in English have more than one meaning. Linguists call this aspect of vocabulary polysemy. Look at these sentences and think about how you would translate the words in italics into your own language. fair It’s only fair that we should share the housework. The Frankfurt Book Fair is a very important event for most publishers. The forecast is for the weather to stay fair for the next week. I’ve got fair skin and burn easily in the sun. His marks in his final exams ranged from excellent to fair. flat The firefighters managed to save the children from the burning third-floor flat. The countryside round here is terribly flat and boring. To join the Fitness Club, you pay a flat fee of £500. The sonata is in B flat minor. She finished the exercise in five minutes flat. capital Fill in the form in capital letters. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. You need plenty of capital to open a restaurant. Capital punishment has been abolished in many countries. mean What does ‘coagulate’ mean? I didn’t mean to hurt you. He’s far too mean to buy her flowers. The mean temperature for July is 25oC. You shouldn’t be so mean to your little sister. You probably need a different word to translate fair, flat, capital and mean in each sentence. Sometimes the meanings are clearly related – flat as in countryside has a connection with flat as in apartment in that they both include an idea of being on one level. Sometimes, however, there is no connection at all. For example, the meaning of fair as in Book Fair has no obvious connection with any of the other meanings of fair. Words like this can be called homographs (words with the same spellings but different meanings).

B

Being aware of polysemy It is useful to be aware of polysemy in English for several reasons. • You need to remember that the meaning you first learnt for a word may not be the one that it has in a new context. • You need to be aware that in English, words can sometimes be used as different parts of speech. Flat with its apartment meaning, for instance, can become an adjective, e.g. a set of flat keys. • Learning about the range of meanings that a word can have can help you to learn several meanings for the price of one. • It will also help you to understand jokes in English, as these are often based on polysemous words. Language help The context of a word with multiple meanings will usually make it absolutely clear which of the word’s possible meanings is intended. So you can understand what, for example, the noun drill probably means in (a) a dental context, (b) an army context, (c) a road-building context, or (d) a languagelearning context.

EXERCISES

91.1	Find the example sentence in A opposite in which fair, flat, capital or mean has the following meaning. 1 intend 2 exactly 3 proper, just 4 city with the seat of government 5 light in colour 6 unkind 7 fixed 8 neither very good nor very bad 9 money 10 unwilling to spend money
91.2	What part of speech is the italicised word in each of the example sentences in A? Write a synonym or explanation for each of the examples not used in 91.1.
91.3	Here are some more examples of polysemous words in English. Which word can fill all the gaps in each group of sentences? 1 He struck a ____________ and we slowly began to look around the dark cave. The teenage cooks in the competition were a ____________ for any of the adults. Their marriage has been called a ____________ made in heaven. 2 That bird has an unusually long ____________. Don’t forget to keep the receipt when you pay your hotel ____________. Parliament is currently discussing a ____________ proposing changes to copyright legislation. 3 Hannah gave us a lovely ____________ of glasses as a wedding present. Let’s now try and ____________ a date for our meeting next week. My father has very ____________ opinions about how people should behave. 4 I’ve applied for a ____________ in our company’s Paris office. The end of the race is indicated by a ____________ with a flag on it. Why not ____________ your query on an online forum? You’re bound to get a quick response. 5 I didn’t get my assignment back because the teacher hadn’t had time to ____________ it. Sales have already passed the million ____________. You’ve got a red ____________ on your cheek. It looks like lipstick. 6 You need to be a special kind of person to ____________ a successful business. Do you fancy going for a ____________ this evening? Thanks to the hot weather, our shop has had a ____________ on ice cream.
91.4	Look at the Language help box. What does drill mean in each of the four contexts suggested?
91.5	What would the given word be most likely to mean in each of the contexts suggested? Use a dictionary if necessary. 1 register: a a primary school b a post office 2 interest: a people planning a festival b a bank 3 dice: a a kitchen b people playing a board game 4 service: a people playing tennis b in a restaurant 5 case: a in a lawyer’s office b at an airport 6 cue: a people playing snooker b in the theatre
91.6	Explain these one-line jokes. They are all based on polysemy. 1 I wondered why the tennis ball was getting bigger. Then it hit me! 2 Smaller babies may be delivered by a stork but the heavier ones need a crane. 3 Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. 4 You know prices are rising when you buy a winter jacket and even down is up.

ANSWER KEY

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A handwriting that cannot be read Illegible A land animal that breeds in water Amphibian A letter, poem etc. whose author is unknown Anonymous A life history written by oneself Autobiography A life history written by somebody else Biography A list of books Catalogue A list of names, books etc. Catalogue A loss of damage that cannot be compensated Irreparable A man devoid of kind feeling and sympathy Callous A man who has too much enthusiasm for his own religion Fanatic A man who is easily irritated Irritable A medicine that kills germs Germicide A medicine that prevents decomposing Antiseptic A medicine to counteract the effect of another medicine Antidote A member of the middle class Bourgeois A method that cannot be imitated Inimitable A pardonable offense Venial A person appointed by parties to settle the disputes between them Arbitrator A person difficult to please Fastidious A person liable to be called to account for his action Answerable A person supported by another and giving him/her nothing in return Parasite A person who always thinks of himself; somebody who is selfish or self-centered Egotist A person who attacks first Aggressor A person who believes easily whatever he is told Credulous A person who believes that all events are pre-determined Fatalist A person who cannot read or write Illiterate A person who does not believe in the institution of marriage Misogamist A person who has power over all Omnipotent A person who hates women Misogynist A person who imports or exports goods into or from a country secretly because they are illegal Smuggler A person who knows everything Omniscient A person who loves every body Altruist A person who readily believes whatever is told to him/her. Credulous A person who remains unmoved and unaffected by other people’s opinions, suggestions Impervious A person who rides on horse-back Equestrian A person who speaks two languages Bilingual A person with an evil reputation Notorious A person’s peculiar habit Idiosyncrasy A place where orphans live Orphanage A place where weapons and ammunitions are stored Arsenal A position for which no salary is paid Honorary A post held without receiving salary Honorary A post which does not earn Honorary A remedy which never fails Infallible A sentence whose meaning is unclear Ambiguous A short message added on to the end of a letter after the signature Postscript A shortened form of a word or phrase Abbreviation A sound that cannot be heard Inaudible A speech delivered without any previous preparation Extempore A speech or a presentation made without previous preparation Extempore A state of perfect balance Equilibrium A statement which cannot be understood Incomprehensible A study of ancient things Archaeology A study of animals Zoology A study of birds Ornithology A study of derivation of words Etymology A study of man Anthropology A study of races Ethnology A study of the body Physiology A supposed cure for all diseases or problems Panacea A thing no longer in use Obsolete A thing that cannot be seen with human eyes Invisible A thing that is fit to be eaten Edible A word opposite in meaning to another Antonym Absence of government Anarchy All-powerful; possessing complete power and authority Omnipotent An absolute government by one man Autocracy An animal or a human being that eats any kind of food Omnivorous An animal who preys on other animals Predator An assembly of hearers at a lecture or concert Audience An exact copy Facsimile An office with high salary but no work Sinecure Anything that leads to death Fatal Assembly or parliament in which no party has got clear majority Hung Sentences Start with Alphabet — B Belonging or pertaining to an individual from birth Congenital Belonging to the Middle Ages Medieval Belonging to the same period of time Contemporary Sentences Start with Alphabet — C Celebration of a hundredth year, once Centenary Cut off the head Behead Sentences Start with Alphabet — D Destroy or get rid of something completely Eradicate Do away with wholly Abolish Sentences Start with Alphabet — F Free somebody from blame or guilt Exonerate Sentences Start with Alphabet — G General pardon Amnesty General pardon for political offenders Amnesty Government by officials Bureaucracy Government by the nobles Aristocracy Government by the officials Bureaucracy Government by the people Democracy Sentences Start with Alphabet — H Handwritten book Manuscript Hard but liable to be easily broken Brittle Hater of mankind Misanthropist Having opposing feelings Ambivalent Sentences Start with Alphabet — I Impossible to change Incorrigible Incapable of being dissolved in a liquid Insoluble Incapable of being seized by attack Impregnable Inscription on a tombstone Epitaph Sentences Start with Alphabet — K Killer of one Matricide Sentences Start with Alphabet — L Liable to be called to account Accountable Life story of a man written by himself Autobiography Life story of a man written by other Biography Looking into one Introspection Lover of mankind Philanthropist