Reading and spelling are complex processes, but researchers have now identified a specific part of the brain — the left fusiform gyrus — which makes sense of the written word as well as their correct spellings.
Kyrana Tsapkini, neurologist and Brenda Rapp, cognitive scientist at Johns Hopkins University, studied the reading comprehension and spelling abilities of a patient who had undergone surgical removal of part of his brain due to a tumour.
The patient’s reading and spelling abilities had been above average prior to the surgery. They tested the patient and a group of control participants using 17 experimental tasks, which evaluated their comprehension and production of written language, spoken language etc.
The results of the study revealed that the patient was able to understand the meaning of spoken language as rapidly as the other participants and was similarly able to process objects and faces in a normal way. However, he showed significant delays in understanding the meaning of written text and also had difficulty in producing accurate spellings when writing dictated text, suggesting that these abilities required the use of the brain area, which had been removed, said a Johns Hopkins release.
The authors said these findings provide clear evidence that there are particular structures within this part of the brain — the left mid-fusiform gyrus — which are «specialised and necessary for normal processing». These findings are slated for publication in the February issue of Cortex.
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Usually when we spell a word, we only acknowledge the surface structure by naming out the letters: «<d-o-e-s> spelles does. However, words often have deeper structures that can help us make sense of the way they’re spelled, and that can highlight their connections to other words. We can make sense of these deeper structures by using something called a word sum, a morphological algorithm for the written word. For example, <do> + <es> —> <does>. We read a word sum like this: «d-o plus e-s is rewritten as d-o-e-s.»
We can also understand the structure of words by using the word matrix, a Real Spelling tool that is the lexical map of a word family — words that share the same base element. http://www.realspelling.fr/Welcome_to_Real_Spelling/70-matrices.html
Research these tools for understanding spelling in this free video gallery: http://spelling.phanfare.com/5232742
In working with your regular vocabulary or spelling words, study how you can use word sums and/or matrices to connect how words are spelled with what they mean and how they make sense.
The English language is rich in homophones, words that sound the same, but have different meanings and thus different spellings. Words like heel and heal or pain and pane are homophones. The spelling <heal> serves a few purposes: the <ea> can change sounds so that the same spelling works in suffixed words like health and healthy. The <ea> also connects heal to the less common word hale, as in the saying hale and hearty. The words heal, health, and healthy all share a base element, <heal>. The words heal and hale share an etymology: their historical roots are related.
Often, people think that the presence of homophones in English means that our spelling system is crazy or doesn’t make sense. However, homophones help our written language to make sense when we read it. Watch this short graphic on The Homophone Principle, and investigate the following pairs of homophones:
feat ~ feet; meet ~ meat; row ~ roe; mist ~ missed; profit ~ prophet; wine ~ whine; none ~ nun; peace ~ piece; knot ~ not ~ naught; rain ~ rein ~ reign; sense ~ cense ~ cents ~ scents
a. What do each of these words mean?
b. How are they built? Are there any prefixes or suffixes you can peel off? What is the base element? Is the base element free (a word on its own, like <one>) or bound (needs another written element in order to surface in a word, like <rupt>)? Remember to look for a silent <e> that may have been replaced by a vowel suffix (as in loving), or a consonant that may have been doubled when adding a vowel suffix (as in robber), or a <y> that’s changed to an <i> (as in cried).
c. Do they have any relatives? Are there any morphological relatives, words that share a base element, like one and alone? Are there any etymological relatives, words with the same or related historical roots, like two and twin? The website http://www.etymonline.com is very helpful for looking into words’ histories.
d. What aspects of their pronunciation is relevant to their spelling? What do we need to make sure to signal about the pronunciation of a word in its spelling? For example, in the word large, the final <g> is ‘soft’, so we need to make sure to put an <e> on the end to signal that. Otherwise, it would be pronounced differently: *larg would end with the same sound as log.
Consider how these questions can help you to understand how a word is spelled, and why it is spelled that way. Consider too how they help to make sense out of homophones. How does this change your understanding of English spelling? Why do you think that people persist in characterizing English spelling as random or crazy? Do you think that memorization or investigation is a better approach to learning about spelling?
Linguist~Educator Exchange http://linguisteducatorexchange.wordpress.com
Real Spelling www.realspelling.com
WordWorks www.wordworkskingston.com
Real Spellers www.realspellers.org
Erin McKean is a lexicographer. See her talk about building dictionaries: http://www.ted.com/talks/erin_mckean_redefines_the_dictionary.html
See a topic posted by Gina Cooke on the TED-Ed Community about teaching letters and sounds vs. letters and their names.
- National
This was published 14 years ago
He has been criticised over his refusal to bow to the idea that phonics is the only necessary first step in learning to read. Associate professor Brian Cambourne argues his case.
After more than 50 years of teaching reading, I’m hearing more comments such as «Dick/Jane can read fluently at a high level but don’t have a clue about what they read.»
This rings alarm bells. It suggests reading is merely decoding-to-sound and implies comprehension is secondary to decoding. Such views can alienate students from deep engagement in life-long reading.
Let me explain. An alphabetic writing system gives the illusion that reading is translating visual symbols into their phonetic equivalents. You decode the graphic symbols into the sounds they represent, blend them, and then hear words inside your head to which you attach meanings. This is «comprehension». Given this illusion it’s common sense that you must first learn to decode. This means mastering phonics before you can comprehend.
Unfortunately, illusions can acquire the status of irrefutable truths. Our perceptual system creates the illusion that the Earth is flat. For thousands of years a «flat Earth» assumption was basic to navigation theory. If you sailed too far you would fall off the edge of the Earth.
Just as this affected how sailors navigated, the illusion that readers cannot comprehend an alphabetic text until they have first decoded it to sound has had a strong impact on reading education. It too has acquired the status of an absolute truth around which a set of self-affirming theoretical principles has also developed.
Yet a definitive experiment, which proves the illusion, has never been done. Nowhere can I find an experiment that conclusively proves that comprehending alphabetic print demands readers must first convert visual symbols to sound. Nowhere.
On the other hand evidence that challenges the illusion is continually emerging.
Pre-lingually, the deaf are one example. They have no access to sound. In theory they can’t decode to sound. But they learn to read. How?
Then there are homonyms such as rite and right, meat and meet. Decoding these produces identical sounds, yet we can still work out what they mean. How? Are there lexical and grammatical cues embedded in the visual shape that take precedence over sound?
Homographs (words spelt the same but pronounced differently) are another example. In the sentence «He wound the bandage around the wound» it is impossible to say either homograph correctly until after the meaning has been accessed. Perhaps decoding to sound works for all words except homonyms and homographs? That doesn’t make sense.
People can also learn to read non-alphabetic writing systems with the same degrees of efficiency and effectiveness as readers of alphabetic scripts. This means we have evolved with nervous systems that can go from visual symbol to meaning without first going through sound. Perhaps the alphabetic symbols C-A-T could also be read as a visual sign which means «cat» , just as readers of Chinese must do?
Some commentators claim an alphabetic system evolved to make reading easier to do and easier to learn. This has no support. The evidence is that the alphabet evolved to support writing not reading.
An alphabetic system such as English enables people to make marks in a simple and consistent matter. In essence, alphabets are writers’ (not readers’) «tool kits» for putting words together. From a stock of just 26 basic shapes all the words of the English language can be represented. Moreover these 26 letters have names that define their shape. This means novice writers can be told to write «d» «o» «double l» (doll) instead of «First do a ball and put a stick on its right hand side, then another ball and then two sticks next to each other.» This is a much more cost-effective way of constructing and transcribing meaning than logographic systems such as Chinese, ancient cuneiform or Egyptian hieroglyphics. In essence the invention of the alphabet made writing and transcribing much easier for scribes. The invention of paper and the printing press made the scribing process more accessible to more people. This made reading more accessible, but there is no evidence it had any significant effect on the reading process.
The ecological research I’ve completed in schools has convinced me that a «reading-is-decoding» definition of reading unintentionally creates teaching practices that alienate many less advantaged children from deep engagement in life-long reading. An American teacher has identified this phenomenon as «Read-i-cide», defined thus: «The systematic killing of love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools.»
Some approaches to decoding demand hours of intensive drill and practice on small «bits» of language that are devoid of meaning, before meaningful texts can be read. Meaning-making is put on hold until decoding skills are developed. This makes it hard for learners to do what evolution designed them to do — go straight to meaning from visual symbol using linguistic clues other than sound, clues such as spelling, syntax, background knowledge.
A decoding-first theory assumes comprehension can be fixed up after decoding is mastered. Evolution theory suggests meaning is paramount from the start — not something that can be added later. The examples above indicate it is possible to access meaning without first accessing sound.
Does this mean I advocate a «zero-phonics» approach for literacy education? No. I ask that we teach phonics mindfully not mindlessly.
It makes more sense to teach the phonic knowledge, which the «decode-to-sound-first» theorists think is vital in the context of learning to write rather than in the context of learning to read. Why do they feel so threatened by such a suggestion?
Associate professor Brian Cambourne is a principal fellow at the faculty of education at the University of Wollongong.
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На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать грубую лексику.
На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать разговорную лексику.
He remained quiet for a few minutes, trying to make sense of the words.
Children use words in their oral vocabulary to make sense of the words they see in print.
Дети используют слова в своей устной речи, изучают смысл слов, которые они видят в печати.
You hear someone talking or see the printed page but cannot make sense of the words
Вы слышите, как кто-то говорит, или видите печатный текст, но не может понять смысл слов.
I can still smell that bad coffee, I can still recall the memory of scrabbling to make sense of the words I was hearing.
Я до сих пор чувствую запах этого плохого кофе, я все еще могу вспомнить воспоминания о скрэбблинге, чтобы понять слова, которые я слышал.
Результатов: 2304029. Точных совпадений: 7. Затраченное время: 405 мс
Documents
Корпоративные решения
Спряжение
Синонимы
Корректор
Справка и о нас
Индекс слова: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900
Индекс выражения: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200
Индекс фразы: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200
Словосочетания
make sense — быть понятым; иметь смысл; быть нужным
to make sense — иметь смысл, быть нужным
make sense of — разбираться в; понять смысл; осмысливать
it doesn’t make sense — это лишено всякого смысла; это вздор; это чушь
His attitude doesn’t make sense. — Его отношение трудно понять.
It doesn’t make sense, it makes no sense at all. — Это лишено всякого смысла, полная чушь.
make no sense — не иметь никакого смысла
that makes sense — логично
it makes no sense — в этом нет смысла
it makes no sense at all — это совершенно бессмысленно; это лишено всякого смысла; это вздор
This decision makes sense. — Это решение логично.
Автоматический перевод
смысл, иметь смысл, делать чувство, разобраться, сделать чувство, приобретать смысл, обрести смысл, осмыслить, обретать смысл
Перевод по словам
make — марка, изготовление, производство, модель, делаться, делать, производить, совершать
sense — смысл, чувство, ощущение, значение, чувствовать, ощущать, понимать
Примеры
I don’t get it — it doesn’t make sense.
Не понимаю — это бессмыслица какая-то.
Jim has spaced out and nothing he says will make sense.
Джим под кайфом и несёт какую-то бессмыслицу.
Why did she do a thing like that? It doesn’t seem to make sense.
Зачем ей было так поступать? Мне кажется, это не имеет смысла.
Would it make sense for the city authorities to further restrict parking?
Имеет ли смысл для городских властей ещё больше ограничить парковку?
Hiring somebody to do the legwork in the hunt for a property can make sense.
При покупке недвижимости неплохо иметь под рукой человека, который бы взял на себя всю беготню.
That never seems to make sense to the outsiders. *
Непосвященным этого никогда не понять.
It doesn’t make sense, the jewels were there a minute ago. *
Ничего не понимаю — драгоценности только что были здесь.
ещё 18 примеров свернуть
Примеры, отмеченные *, могут содержать сленг и разговорные фразы.
TOEFL Success Read the passage to review the vocabulary you have learned. Answer the questions that follow.
Johannes Gutenberg’s ingenious use of movable type in his printing press had a wide range of effects on European societies. Most obviously, readers no longer had to decipher odd handwriting, with ambiguous lettering, in order to read a written work. Gutenberg gave each letter standard forms, a move that had connotations far beyond the printing business. The inscriptions on tombstones and roadside mileposts, for example, could now be standardized. The cost of books decreased. Even illiterate people benefited indirectly from the advent of this invention, as the general level of information in society increased. However, Gutenberg’s press was of limited use for languages that used picture-like symbols for writing instead of a phonetic system. Systems of symbolic pictographs, each of which denotes a word, require many thousands of characters to be cast into lead type by the printer. Phonetic systems, like the Latin alphabet, use the same few characters, recombined in thousands of ways to make different words.
Bonus Structure — Most obviously introduces an easyto-see effect and implies that lessclear effects will come later.
sense
perceive, grasp, comprehend
Not to be confused with:
cents – pennies, bronze coins
since – from then until now; between then and now; before now
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
sense
(sĕns)
n.
1.
a. Any of the faculties by which stimuli from outside or inside the body are received and felt, as the faculties of hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste, and equilibrium.
b. A perception or feeling produced by a stimulus; sensation: a sense of fatigue and hunger.
2. senses The faculties of sensation as means of providing physical gratification and pleasure.
3.
a. An intuitive or acquired perception or ability to estimate: a sense of diplomatic timing.
b. A capacity to appreciate or understand: a keen sense of humor.
c. A vague feeling or presentiment: a sense of impending doom.
d. Recognition or perception either through the senses or through the intellect; consciousness: has no sense of shame.
4.
a. Natural understanding or intelligence, especially in practical matters: The boy had sense and knew just what to do when he got lost.
b. often senses The normal ability to think or reason soundly: Have you taken leave of your senses?
c. Something sound or reasonable: There’s no sense in waiting three hours.
5.
a. A meaning that is conveyed, as in speech or writing; signification: The sense of the criticism is that the proposal has certain risks.
b. One of the meanings of a word or phrase: The word set has many senses.
6.
a. Judgment; consensus: sounding out the sense of the electorate on capital punishment.
b. Intellectual interpretation, as of the significance of an event or the conclusions reached by a group: I came away from the meeting with the sense that we had resolved all outstanding issues.
tr.v. sensed, sens·ing, sens·es
1. To become aware of; perceive: organisms able to sense their surroundings.
2. To grasp; understand: sensed that the financial situation would improve.
3. To detect automatically: sense radioactivity.
adj.
Genetics Of or relating to the portion of the strand of double-stranded DNA that serves as a template for and is transcribed into RNA.
[Middle English, meaning, from Old French sens, from Latin sēnsus, the faculty of perceiving, from past participle of sentīre, to feel; see sent- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
sense
(sɛns)
n
1. (Physiology) any of the faculties by which the mind receives information about the external world or about the state of the body. In addition to the five traditional faculties of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, the term includes the means by which bodily position, temperature, pain, balance, etc, are perceived
2. (Physiology) such faculties collectively; the ability to perceive
3. (Physiology) a feeling perceived through one of the senses: a sense of warmth.
4. a mental perception or awareness: a sense of happiness.
5. moral discernment; understanding: a sense of right and wrong.
6. (sometimes plural) sound practical judgment or intelligence: he is a man without any sense.
7. reason or purpose: what is the sense of going out in the rain?.
8. substance or gist; meaning: what is the sense of this proverb?.
9. specific meaning; definition: in what sense are you using the word?.
10. an opinion or consensus
11. (Mathematics) maths one of two opposite directions measured on a directed line; the sign as contrasted with the magnitude of a vector
12. (Logic) logic linguistics
a. the import of an expression as contrasted with its referent. Thus the morning star and the evening star have the same reference, Venus, but different senses
b. the property of an expression by virtue of which its referent is determined
c. that which one grasps in understanding an expression
13. (Linguistics) logic linguistics
a. the import of an expression as contrasted with its referent. Thus the morning star and the evening star have the same reference, Venus, but different senses
b. the property of an expression by virtue of which its referent is determined
c. that which one grasps in understanding an expression
14. make sense to be reasonable or understandable
15. take leave of one’s senses See leave28
vb (tr)
16. (Physiology) to perceive through one or more of the senses
17. to apprehend or detect without or in advance of the evidence of the senses
18. to understand
19. (Computer Science) computing
a. to test or locate the position of (a part of computer hardware)
b. to read (data)
[C14: from Latin sēnsus, from sentīre to feel]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
sense
(sɛns)
n., v. sensed, sens•ing. n.
1. any of the faculties, as sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch, by which humans and animals perceive stimuli originating from outside or inside the body.
2. these faculties collectively.
3. their operation or function; sensation.
4. a feeling or perception produced through one of the senses: a sense of cold.
5. a faculty or function of the mind analogous to a physical sense: the moral sense.
6. any special capacity for perception, estimation, appreciation, etc.: a sense of humor.
7. Usu., senses. sanity: Have you taken leave of your senses?
8. a more or less vague perception or impression: a sense of security.
9. a mental discernment, realization, or recognition: a sense of value.
10. a motivating awareness: a sense of duty.
11. sound practical intelligence.
12. reasonable thought or discourse: to talk sense.
13. substance or gist; content: You missed the sense of his statement.
14. value; merit: There’s no sense in worrying.
15. a DNA sequence that is capable of coding for an amino acid (disting. from nonsense).
16. the meaning of a word or phrase in a specific context, esp. as isolated in a dictionary or glossary.
17. consensus: the sense of a meeting.
v.t.
18. to perceive by the senses; become aware of.
19. to grasp the meaning of; understand.
20. to detect (physical phenomena, as light or temperature) mechanically, electrically, or photoelectrically.
Idioms:
1. in a sense, to some extent; in a way: In a sense, the book was oddly gripping.
2. make sense, to be reasonable or comprehensible.
[1350–1400; Middle English (n.) < Latin sēnsus sensation, feeling, understanding =sent(īre) to feel + -tus suffix of v. action]
Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Sense
See Also: INTELLIGENCE
- As reasonable as Latin —Anne Sexton
- Beyond rationality … like stepping out into deep space, or going to the center of the world, or both at once —Susan Engberg
- Common sense is as rare as genius —Ralph Waldo Emerson
See Also: RARITY
- Human reason is like a drunken man on horseback; set it up on one side, and it tumbles over on the other —Martin Luther
- Like precious stones, his sensible remarks derive their value from their scarcity —W. S. Gilbert
- Logic, like whisky, loses its beneficial effect when taken in too large quantities —Lord Dunsany
- A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it —Rabindranath Tagore
- Reason in man is rather like God in the world —St. Thomas Aquinas
- Reason is a bladder on which you may paddle like a child as you swim in summer waters; but, when the winds rise and the waves roughen, it slips from under you, and you sink —Walter Savage Landor
- Reason is like the sun, of which the light is constant, uniform, and lasting —Samuel Johnson
- Sense, like charity, begins at home —Alexander Pope
Pope’s Moral Essays can be credited with the first of many “Charity begins at home” comparisons.
See Also: CHANGE, EDUCATION, PEACEFULNESS, SENSE
- Tried to size up the situation reasonably, to tote odds like a paramutual —Jonathan Valin
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Sense
rhyme or reason Sense, justification, explanation, cause, motivation; reasonableness, reason. The rhyme of the phrase remains as a superfluous alliterative element, providing added emphasis. Apparently it originally referred to amusement or entertainment, since works written in verse were considered aimed toward those ends; the reason of the phrase meant instruction or enlightenment, the supposed province of prose. Today the words usually appear in negative structures or contexts denoting their absence: without rhyme or reason, neither rhyme nor reason, what possible rhyme or reason? The expression was used in this sense of ‘reasonableness’ only as early as 1664 by Henry More:
Against all the laws of prophetic interpretation, nay indeed against all rhyme and reason. (Mystery of Iniquity)
An anecdote frequently recounted about Sir Thomas More, however, indicates that the phrase may have been in common parlance by the 15th century. A budding author, on requesting the learned man’s opinion of a work, was told to convert it to rhyme. Having done so, he submitted it to Sir Thomas’ judgment once again, upon which the scholarly wit devastatingly remarked, “That will do. ’Tis rhyme now, anyway, whereas before ’twas neither rhyme nor reason.”
Picturesque Expressions: A Thematic Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1980 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
sense
Past participle: sensed
Gerund: sensing
| Imperative |
|---|
| sense |
| sense |
| Present |
|---|
| I sense |
| you sense |
| he/she/it senses |
| we sense |
| you sense |
| they sense |
| Preterite |
|---|
| I sensed |
| you sensed |
| he/she/it sensed |
| we sensed |
| you sensed |
| they sensed |
| Present Continuous |
|---|
| I am sensing |
| you are sensing |
| he/she/it is sensing |
| we are sensing |
| you are sensing |
| they are sensing |
| Present Perfect |
|---|
| I have sensed |
| you have sensed |
| he/she/it has sensed |
| we have sensed |
| you have sensed |
| they have sensed |
| Past Continuous |
|---|
| I was sensing |
| you were sensing |
| he/she/it was sensing |
| we were sensing |
| you were sensing |
| they were sensing |
| Past Perfect |
|---|
| I had sensed |
| you had sensed |
| he/she/it had sensed |
| we had sensed |
| you had sensed |
| they had sensed |
| Future |
|---|
| I will sense |
| you will sense |
| he/she/it will sense |
| we will sense |
| you will sense |
| they will sense |
| Future Perfect |
|---|
| I will have sensed |
| you will have sensed |
| he/she/it will have sensed |
| we will have sensed |
| you will have sensed |
| they will have sensed |
| Future Continuous |
|---|
| I will be sensing |
| you will be sensing |
| he/she/it will be sensing |
| we will be sensing |
| you will be sensing |
| they will be sensing |
| Present Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I have been sensing |
| you have been sensing |
| he/she/it has been sensing |
| we have been sensing |
| you have been sensing |
| they have been sensing |
| Future Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I will have been sensing |
| you will have been sensing |
| he/she/it will have been sensing |
| we will have been sensing |
| you will have been sensing |
| they will have been sensing |
| Past Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I had been sensing |
| you had been sensing |
| he/she/it had been sensing |
| we had been sensing |
| you had been sensing |
| they had been sensing |
| Conditional |
|---|
| I would sense |
| you would sense |
| he/she/it would sense |
| we would sense |
| you would sense |
| they would sense |
| Past Conditional |
|---|
| I would have sensed |
| you would have sensed |
| he/she/it would have sensed |
| we would have sensed |
| you would have sensed |
| they would have sensed |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
| Noun | 1. | sense — a general conscious awareness; «a sense of security»; «a sense of happiness»; «a sense of danger»; «a sense of self»
awareness, cognisance, cognizance, knowingness, consciousness — having knowledge of; «he had no awareness of his mistakes»; «his sudden consciousness of the problem he faced»; «their intelligence and general knowingness was impressive» sense of direction — an awareness of your orientation in space sense of responsibility — an awareness of your obligations |
| 2. | sense — the meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted; «the dictionary gave several senses for the word»; «in the best sense charity is really a duty»; «the signifier is linked to the signified»
signified meaning, signification, import, significance — the message that is intended or expressed or signified; «what is the meaning of this sentence»; «the significance of a red traffic light»; «the signification of Chinese characters»; «the import of his announcement was ambiguous» word meaning, word sense, acceptation — the accepted meaning of a word |
|
| 3. | sense — the faculty through which the external world is apprehended; «in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing»
sensory faculty, sentiency, sentience, sensation faculty, mental faculty, module — one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind sense modality, sensory system, modality — a particular sense sensitivity, sensitiveness, sensibility — (physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation; «sensitivity to pain» |
|
| 4. | sense — sound practical judgment; «Common sense is not so common»; «he hasn’t got the sense God gave little green apples»; «fortunately she had the good sense to run away»
common sense, good sense, gumption, horse sense, mother wit sagaciousness, sagacity, discernment, judgement, judgment — the mental ability to understand and discriminate between relations logic — reasoned and reasonable judgment; «it made a certain kind of logic» nous — common sense; «she has great social nous» road sense — good judgment in avoiding trouble or accidents on the road |
|
| 5. | sense — a natural appreciation or ability; «a keen musical sense»; «a good sense of timing»
appreciation, grasp, hold — understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something; «he has a good grasp of accounting practices» |
|
| Verb | 1. | sense — perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles; «He felt the wind»; «She felt an object brushing her arm»; «He felt his flesh crawl»; «She felt the heat when she got out of the car»
feel perceive, comprehend — to become aware of through the senses; «I could perceive the ship coming over the horizon» feel — be felt or perceived in a certain way; «The ground feels shaky»; «The sheets feel soft» |
| 2. | sense — detect some circumstance or entity automatically; «This robot can sense the presence of people in the room»; «particle detectors sense ionization»
detect, discover, notice, observe, find — discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of; «She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water»; «We found traces of lead in the paint» |
|
| 3. | sense — become aware of not through the senses but instinctively; «I sense his hostility»; «i smell trouble»; «smell out corruption»
smell out, smell perceive — become conscious of; «She finally perceived the futility of her protest» |
|
| 4. | sense — comprehend; «I sensed the real meaning of his letter»
understand — know and comprehend the nature or meaning of; «She did not understand her husband»; «I understand what she means» |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
sense
noun
4. (sometimes plural) intelligence, reason, understanding, brains (informal), smarts (slang, chiefly U.S.), judgment, discrimination, wisdom, wit(s), common sense, sanity, sharpness, tact, nous (Brit. slang), cleverness, quickness, discernment, gumption (Brit. informal), sagacity, clear-headedness, mother wit When he was younger he had a bit more sense.
intelligence stupidity, foolishness, silliness, idiocy, folly
6. meaning, definition, interpretation, significance, message, import, substance, implication, drift, purport, nuance, gist, signification, denotation a noun which has two senses
verb
1. perceive, feel, understand, notice, pick up, suspect, realize, observe, appreciate, grasp, be aware of, divine, discern, just know, have a (funny) feeling (informal), get the impression, apprehend, have a hunch He had sensed what might happen.
perceive miss, overlook, misunderstand, be unaware of, fail to grasp or notice
come to your senses realize, understand, wake up, catch on (informal), become aware Then she came to her senses. She had almost betrayed herself.
make sense be clear, be understood, come together, have meaning It all makes sense now.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
sense
noun
1. The capacity for or an act of responding to a stimulus:
2. The condition of being aware:
3. The faculty of thinking, reasoning, and acquiring and applying knowledge:
Slang: smart (used in plural).
4. The ability to make sensible decisions:
5. A healthy mental state.Often used in plural:
Slang: marble (used in plural).
6. What is sound or reasonable:
Idiom: rhyme or reason.
7. That which is signified by a word or expression:
acceptation, connotation, denotation, import, intent, meaning, message, purport, significance, significancy, signification, value.
verb
1. To be intuitively aware of:
2. To view in a certain way:
3. To perceive and recognize the meaning of:
accept, apprehend, catch (on), compass, comprehend, conceive, fathom, follow, get, grasp, make out, read, see, take, take in, understand.
Chiefly British: twig.
The American Heritage® Roget’s Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
إحْساسحاسَّةحاسَّهشُعورمَعْنى
sentitsignificat
smyslvýkladvýznamvýzvacit
sansdømmekraftfølelsefornemmefornemmelse
aistiaistiamerkitystunto
čulosmisao
értelemérzés
dómgreindmerkingmerking, òÿîingskyn, -gáfaskyn, skilningarvit
感覚気づくセンス分別察する
감각
nesuvokiantnesuvokimasšeštasis pojūtissveika nuovoka
apziņaapzinātiesbūtībaizjūtajēga
dobrý vkus
občutekpomensmiselzaznatirazum
sinnebemärkelsebetydelsemening
ความรู้สึก
giác quan
Collins Spanish Dictionary — Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
sense
n
(= instinct, appreciation) → Sinn m; his sense for what is appropriate → sein Gefühl nt → or Gespür nt → dafür, was angebracht ist; sense of colour (Brit) or color (US) /justice → Farben-/Gerechtigkeitssinn m
(= good sense) (common) sense → gesunder Menschenverstand; haven’t you sense enough or enough sense to stop when you’re tired? → bist du nicht vernünftig genug aufzuhören, wenn du müde bist?; he had the (good) sense to … → er war so vernünftig or klug or gescheit und …; you should have had more sense than to … → du hättest vernünftiger sein sollen und nicht …; there is no sense in that → das hat keinen Sinn, es ist zwecklos; there’s a lot of sense in that → das hat Hand und Fuß, das ist ganz vernünftig; what’s the sense of or in doing this? → welchen Sinn hat es denn, das zu tun?; there is no sense in doing that → es ist zwecklos or sinnlos, das zu tun; there is no sense in crying → es hat keinen Sinn zu heulen; there’s some sense in what he says → was er sagt, ist ganz vernünftig; there’s some sense in doing that → es wäre ganz vernünftig, das zu tun; to be full of good sense → grundvernünftig sein; to talk sense → vernünftig sein; you’re just not talking sense → du bist doch völlig unvernünftig; now you’re talking sense → das lässt sich schon eher hören; he hasn’t the sense he was born with → er hat nicht für fünf Cent Verstand (inf); to make somebody see sense → jdn zur Vernunft bringen
to make sense (sentence etc) → (einen) Sinn ergeben; (= be sensible, rational etc) → sinnvoll or vernünftig sein, Sinn machen; it doesn’t make sense doing it that way/spending or to spend all that money → es ist doch Unsinn or unvernünftig, es so zu machen/so viel Geld auszugeben; why did he decide that? — I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense → warum hat er das beschlossen? — ich weiß es nicht, es ist mir unverständlich or es macht keinen Sinn; the whole thing fails to make sense to me → die ganze Sache leuchtet mir nicht ein; it makes good or sound sense → das scheint sehr vernünftig; it makes good financial/political sense to … → aus finanzieller/politischer Sicht gesehen ist es sehr vernünftig, zu …; sometimes life just doesn’t make sense → manchmal ergibt das Leben einfach keinen Sinn; her conduct doesn’t make sense to me → ich werde aus ihrem Verhalten nicht schlau (inf); he/his theory doesn’t make sense → er/seine Theorie ist völlig unverständlich; it all makes sense now → jetzt wird einem alles klar; it doesn’t make sense, the jewels were there a minute ago → das ist ganz unverständlich, die Juwelen waren doch eben noch da; to make sense of something → etw verstehen, aus etw schlau werden (inf); you’re not making sense (in explaining sth, in plans, intentions etc) → das ist doch Unsinn; (in behaviour, attitude) → ich werde aus Ihnen nicht schlau (inf); now you’re making sense (in explaining sth) → jetzt verstehe ich, was Sie meinen; (in plans, intentions etc) → das ist endlich eine vernünftige Idee
sense
:
sense datum
n → Sinnesdatum nt
sense group
n (Ling) → Sinngruppe f; (Comput Ling: in SGML- or XML-text) → Bedeutungsgruppe f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
sense
(sens) noun
1. one of the five powers (hearing, taste, sight, smell, touch) by which a person or animal feels or notices.
2. a feeling. He has an exaggerated sense of his own importance.
3. an awareness of (something). a well-developed musical sense; She has no sense of humour.
4. good judgement. You can rely on him – he has plenty of sense.
5. a meaning (of a word).
6. something which is meaningful. Can you make sense of her letter?
verb
to feel, become aware of, or realize. He sensed that she disapproved.
ˈsenseless adjective
1. stunned or unconscious. The blow knocked him senseless.
2. foolish. What a senseless thing to do!
ˈsenselessly adverbˈsenselessness nounˈsenses noun plural
(usually with my, ~his, ~her etc) a person’s normal, sane state of mind. He must have taken leave of his senses; When he came to his senses, he was lying in a hospital bed.
sixth sense
an ability to feel or realize something apparently not by means of any of the five senses. He couldn’t hear or see anyone, but a sixth sense told him that he was being followed.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
sense
→ حاسَّة smysl sans Sinn αίσθηση sentido aisti sens čulo senso 感覚 감각 zintuig fornuft zmysł sentido чувство sinne ความรู้สึก duyu giác quan 感觉
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
sense
n. sentido, facultad de percibir por medio de los órganos sensoriales;
common ___ → ___ común;
___ of hearing → ___ del oído;
___ of humor → ___ del humor;
___ of sight → ___ de la vista;
___ of smell → ___ del olfato;
___ of taste → ___ del gusto;
___ of touch → ___ del tacto;
v. sentir.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
sense
n sentido; — of balance sentido de(l) equilibrio; — of hearing sentido del oído or de la audición; — of humor sentido del humor; — of sight sentido de la vista; — of smell sentido del olfato; — of taste sentido del gusto; — of touch sentido del tacto
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Sensory language spices up your writing and allows readers to experience your words as if they’re living your story. You can use sensory words in any type of writing, including business writing.
How to use sensory details
Aarggh …
A thumping headache.
Does it ever happen to you?
You should work, but you can’t. You don’t want to deal with your to-do list, an overflowing inbox, an incessant stream of tweets.
You find your walking boots and get out.
The smell of rain lingers in the air. A gentle breeze soothes your aching head. You watch the sun rays play with the golden leaves.
Can you picture the scene?
That’s because of the sensory details
You might think that sensory words are for poets and novelists. For creative spirits. Not for serious business people like you and me.
But that’s not true.
Using sensory language can help you captivate your audience—a business audience, too. Sensory language helps readers experience your words, almost as if they’re present, right in the middle of your story. What’s more, sensory details add personality and flavor to boring content, helping you stand out in a sea of grey voices that all sound the same.
Shall I explain?
The science behind sensory words
Sensory words are more powerful and memorable than ordinary words because they make your reader see, hear, smell, taste, or feel your words.
When reading non-sensory words, your brain processes text. But when you read sensory words different areas of your brain light up. Your brain processes sensory words as if you taste a sweet cake, as if you see a dazzling display of colors, as if you feel a rough texture.
And we also know from research that when we can hold a product the desire for the product increases. Might we be able to increase desire simply by using sensory words so people can imagine holding our products?
Sensory words can even boost sales. Research into menus suggests that describing dishes using sensory words makes more people buy them.
So, sensory words are truly magic.
What are sensory words?
Sensory words are descriptive—they describe how we experience the world: how we smell, see, hear, feel or taste something.
- Words related to sight indicate colors, shape, or appearance. For instance: gloomy, dazzling, bright, foggy, gigantic.
- Words related to touch describe textures. You can use them to describe feelings and abstract concepts, too: gritty, creepy, slimy, fluff, sticky.
- Words related to hearing describe sounds. For instance: crashing, thumping, piercing, tingling, squeaky. Often these words mimic sounds—that’s when they’re called onomatopoeic.
- Taste and smell are closely related. Most taste and smell words are easy substitutes for bland words like good, nice, or bad. For instance: zesty, tantalizing, sweet, stinky, stale.
- Motion is sensory, too. By using active words or describing movement, you help your readers experience your words. For instance: vibrating, soaring, mind-boggling, staggering, bumpy.
You can create a multi-sensory experience in your writing. Here’s an example from Benjamin Myers’ book The Offing:
Sitting here now by the open window, a glissando of birdsong on the very lightest of breezes that carries with it the scent of a final incoming summer, I cling to poetry as I cling to life.
Within one sentence Myers shares a visual detail (the open window), an auditory detail (a glissando of birdsong), a sense of motion and touch (the lightest breeze), and a sense of smell (the scent of the incoming summer).
But sensory words are not just for novels …
Example sentences: How to appeal to the senses in business writing
In business writing, we don’t need to write sentences as poetic as Myers’ sentence above.
We can add a touch of poetry by using one or two sensory words—to make our writing more vivid and to shape a stronger writing voice.
You can find opportunities to use sensory words almost everywhere—in headlines and email subject lines, on your About page, in product descriptions, business emails, or e-newsletters.
For instance:
A headline without sensory words:
5 Tips for Turning Boring Information Into a Practical Tutorial
With sensory words:
5 Tips for Turning Drab Information Into a Tantalizing Tutorial
A business email without sensory words:
Unfortunately, I’m currently too busy to take on new projects.
With sensory words:
Unfortunately, my schedule is jam-packed; and I’m unable to squeeze in new projects.
A product description without sensory words:
These long-lasting cabinets are made from the best material, guaranteed for 10 years.
With sensory words:
These cabinets remain squeak-and-creak free. That’s guaranteed for 10 years.
A bio without sensory words:
Irreverent copywriter on a mission to eradicate gobbledygook and to make boring business blogs interesting.
With sensory words:
Irreverent copywriter on a mission to stamp out gobbledygook and to add sparkle to business blogs.
A sentence without sensory words from a blog opening:
Imagine your writing is slowing readers down.
With sensory words:
Imagine your readers trudging. Their shoes feel heavy. Squelch. Sploosh. Squelch. Sploosh.
Sensory details inject a dose of personality into your writing. They make your writing stand out, and help readers picture the scenes you’re describing.
Sensory words for emotions
Emotions can often be expressed with sensory words.
For instance, you can use the word prickly (tactile) to describe feeling irritated. And when you’re calm, you’re cool-headed (also tactile). When you’re energetic, you’re buzzing (auditory) or bouncing (motion). You can feel bitter (taste). You can be bright or gloomy (visual).
To find a sensory word for an emotion, think about the sensation that that emotion causes in your body. When you’re nervous you become jittery or jumpy. When you’re angry, your body temperature rises, so you feel fiery or hot-headed.
Amplify your words with sound symbolism
There’s a little-known category of words that can make your writing even more expressive.
You may have heard of onomatopoeic words?
Onomatopoeic words express a sound such as to squeal, whoosh, or boom!
But there’s a different, more subtle category of words. Words with sound symbolism are associated with a specific sensory experience. For his master’s thesis, James Harbreck studied such words and found that their usage has been increasing over the last two centuries.
Harbreck mentions examples like:
- Words starting with gl– are associated with light, such as glint or glimmer
- Words ending with –irl or –url often relate to circular or spiral motion or shape such as curl, swirl, whirl, or twirl
- Words ending with –ump tend to be associated with roundness or heaviness, such as lump, clump, hump, or rump
According to Harbreck, words with sound symbolism (more here) are used more regularly in fiction than non-fiction.
But we can change that.
We can use such words to make our writing glitter and glow more brightly.
The truth about captivating your audience
You can use the same words every business writer uses.
It’s a quick way to write a lot of text. But you sound the same as everyone else, and the noisy internet machine drowns out your words. Your message gets lost.
So, try to release your inner poet and pick your words with care and precision.
Make your readers crave your next article.
Get them to fall in love with your writing, and get them to fall in love with your voice.
A list of 75 sensory phrases
Sensory language #1: Visual words
Sensory language #1: Visual wordsSensory words for sight allow you to paint vibrant (or gloomy) pictures.
What are you seeing? What’s the size? What’s the light like? What are the colors?
Examples of visual words:
Gigantic
Teeny-tiny
Bulky
Glitter
Sparkling
Shimmering
Shiny
Glowing
Crooked
Hazy
Shadowy
Gloomy
Drab
Murky
Dull
Knotty
Vibrant
Sensory language #2: Tactile words
Sensory language #2: Tactile wordsSensory words for touch allow readers to sense the silky-smoothness of your words.
How does something feel when you touch it? What’s the texture? The temperature? How does the humidity or pressure of the air feel?
Examples of tactile words:
Fluffy
Gritty
Rough
Smooth
Slimy
Sticky
Creepy
Crisp
Hairy
Chilled
To stifle
Woolly
Crisp
Sensory language #3: Auditory words
Sensory language #3: Auditory wordsSensory words for hearing allow readers to hear what’s happening.
How does someone’s voice sound? What kind of sounds are made? Is it loud or soft?
Examples of auditory words:
Buzz
Hubbub
Humming
Faint
Deafening
Squeaky
Earsplitting
Serene
To sizzle
To hiss
To shriek
Snappy
Boom!
Roaring
Thundering
Crunchy
Sensory language #4: Words related to taste and smell
Sensory language #4: Words related to taste and smellSensory words for taste and smell help you turn a bland text into lip-smackingly tasty writing.
What kind of aroma is there? Is it natural or artificial? Strong or subtle? Pleasant or repulsive? And does something taste sweet, sour, savory, salty, or bitter?
Examples of words related to taste and smell:
Bland
Rotten
Fragrant
Stale
Juicy
Stinky
Gooey
Bitter
Yummy
Lip-smackingly
Pungent
Zesty
Sweet
Spice
Sensory language #5: Motion words
Sensory language #5: Motion wordsWhen you use strong verbs to describe motion, readers experience the motion as if they’re there, too.
Is the car swerving? Is the flight turbulent? Is the sea choppy?
Examples of motion words:
Soaring
To resonate
To breeze through
Staggering
Blown away
Paralyzed
Eye-popping
Gobsmacked
Shocking
To grab
Jaw-droppingly good
Turbulent
Choppy
Swirling
To wriggle
6 books that showcase sensory writing
The books listed below showcase sensory writing.
When you see how others use sensory details in their writing, it becomes easier to appeal to the senses in your own writing, too.
To accelerate the learning process, pay attention to imagery in the text. How do the authors help you imagine the scenes they describe? Which smells, feelings, tastes, sounds, motions, and sights do they refer to? Which words do they use to describe those sensory experiences? Which words do you like best? Add your favorite sensory words to a list and see whether you can include them in your own writing.
You can learn from any type of writing. If you’re writing about business, you can learn from fiction or science writing, too.
The links below are affiliate links. If possible, please support your local bookstore.
1. A sensory novel
Elif Shafak excels at sketching multi-sensory images to transport her readers to a different world. Here’s an example:
The brothel where Leila worked was among the oldest in the area. A single fluorescent tube flickered at the entrance with the force of a thousand tiny matches catching light and burning one after another. The air was thickened by the scent of cheap perfume, the taps encrusted with deposits of limescale and the ceiling coated with the sticky brown stains of nicotine and tar from years of tobacco smoke.
From: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak
2. A sensory business book
Chip and Dan Heath are my favorite business writers. In their book The Power of Moments, they show how to weave miniature stories into your writing—even a business book.
The Power of Moments explains why certain customer service experiences have extraordinary impact. Here’s an example of their writing:
Let’s start with the cherry-red phone mounted to a wall near the pool. You pick it up and someone answers, “Hello, Popsicle Hotline.” You place an order, and minutes later, a staffer wearing white gloves deliver your cherry, orange, or grape Popsicles to you at poolside. On a silver tray. For free.
From: The Power of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
3. A science book that appeals to the senses
In his book The Eloquence of the Sardine, Bill François uses vivid imagery to show us what it’s like to be a fish. Here’s a snippet:
Some fish emit sounds through their swim bladders, pouches of gas located in their abdomens that keep them neutrally buoyant. They use these swim bladders as a drum, like children who tap out rhythms on their bellies after eating, an unaccountable music we’ve all made at one time or another. Patting their bellies like this, with the help of special stomach muscles, drum fish croak, groupers grunt and gurnards rumble. Their sounds are reminiscent of foghorns, drum solos or TV game-show buzzers.
From: The Eloquence of the Sardine: The Secret Life of Fish & Other Underwater Mysteries by Bill François, translated by Antony Shugaar
4. A nature book full of sensory language
Braiding Sweetgrass by botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer mixes Native American wisdom with western science, plus lots of sensory descriptions of nature. Here’s a sample:
You could smell ripe strawberries before you saw them, the fragrance mingling with the smell of sun on damp ground. It was the smell of June, the last day of school, when we were set free, and the Strawberry Moon, ode’mini-giizis. I’d lie on my stomach in my favorite patches, watching the berries grow sweeter and bigger under the leaves. Each tiny wild berry was scarcely bigger than a raindrop, dimpled with seeds under the cap of leaves. From that vantage point I could pick only the reddest of the red, leaving the pink ones for tomorrow.
From: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
5. A food memoir
As Nina Mingya Powles shows in her book Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai, food writing isn’t just about describing taste and smell.
Here’s a tiny taster:
I eat my guotie right there, standing beneath the fluorescent lights. First the crunch, then hot soup scalds my tongue – I wasn’t expecting so much soup – then gingery, garlicky pork in the middle.
From: Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai by Nina Mingya Powles
6. A guidebook to smell
In her book Revelations in Air, Jude Stewart describes a variety of aromas, the stories behind them and the memories that smells can evoke.
For instance, here’s how Stewart describes the smell of oranges:
They smell sparkling, clean, literally zesty. Oranges invigorate the nose with a bright acidic tang, over which plays a light, balanced sweetness. It’s affable and domestic, a lunchtime smell.
From: Revelations in Air by Jude Stewart
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