«What, I can’t say a full sentence every once in a while?»
The Logical Extreme of Catchphrase. Not only is this word or phrase something that a person habitually says and identifies that person, but that person never says anything else (and may well be unable to).
In short, someone with an extremely limited vocabulary. It may be a single word or a short phrase. The single word may be gibberish or a nonsense word. Sometimes, the tension that builds up from this limited communication is resolved by having the character finally add another word or two to their vocabulary. The limited vocabulary may be due to being very terse and laconic, not speaking the dominant local language, a mental disability, an old age-related condition, or because the speaker is a talking animal or alien species.
A Sub-Trope is Pok�mon Speak, where the only thing they can say is their name. See also Welcome to Corneria where NPCs in a video game only ever talk like this.
This does not mean they can’t say the phrase with many different tones and intensities, but the words seldom (if ever) vary.
Examples:
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Advertising
- In the Little Caesars’ commercials, the eponymous character only says «Pizza, pizza!»
- An early-2000s commercial for the Visa Check Card featured NBA player Yao Ming. Yao attempts to buy a souvenir from a store by writing a check, but all the employees only respond «Yo!» and point to a sign that says checks are not allowed. Yao, who was still learning English, thought they were trying to say his name but just saying it incorrectly.
- During the 2019 U.S. tax season, financial software company Intuit ran a series of commercials for their TurboTax software in which every speaking character, in place of actual dialogue, only uses the word «free» throughout to emphasize the fact that using TurboTax «won’t cost you a cent». Three years later they shelled out $141 million to settle a class action lawsuit, as they made it very difficult for consumers to emerge without paying.
Anime & Manga
- Aggretsuko: The instructor at the yoga class Retsuko starts taking in episode 4 can only communicate by saying the word «Protein!»
- In Chainsaw Man, one of Quanxi’s assistants is a Genki Girl who can only say «Halloween.» She is actually the Cosmos Fiend, whose special ability is that she has all the knowledge that ever was and ever will be in her head. This leaves her in a perpetual state of information overload, unable to think of anything but Halloween—and can inflict it on other people if she can think about something other than Halloween for an instant.
- In the movie Dragon Ball Z: Broly � Second Coming, compared to his previous movie, all Broly ever says is «KAKAROT!» He does have one line that isn’t him yelling that near the end, «Not until you lie dead at my feet.»
- Nyu, Lucy’s innocent alternate persona in Elfen Lied, only ever says the word she was named by others after. Real Lucy, on the other hand, is a lot more eloquent.
- In The Promised Neverland, Adam only ever says a single number, 22194. After the Goldy Pond arc, he adds Emma’s ID number to his vocabulary.
- In Tamagotchi: The Movie, Mametchi invents a little portable named Mamesunnytchi to light up the way whenever it gets dark, since he’s scared of the dark. The only word Mamesunnytchi ever says is «twinkle».
- In Yuki Yuna is a Hero, the only fairy who can talk is Karin’s, Yoshiteru, and he only speaks one sentence, «All things must pass,» randomly and repeatedly. (Though of course, it winds up being meaningful near the finale.) This technically makes him the only male character with a line of dialogue.
Asian Animation
- Flower Fairy: In Season 7 episode 3, the Harvest Guardian only says «fengshou» («立秋»), or «harvest».
- Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: Boxer, Sparky’s pet boxing gloves, can only say «Get ’em!» (in the English dub, at least).
Comedy
- Stan Freberg’s famous record «John and Marsha» is a spoof of soap operas consisting of just the main characters saying each other’s name («John!» «Marsha!») in different dramatic intonations.
Comic Books
- In Adventures In The Rifle Brigade, only the officers of the title group have actual dialogue. The enlisted men are this trope: Sergeant Crumb («‘ey oop»), Corporal Geezer («Yer aht of ordah!»), and Private Hank the Yank («Gawd Dammit!»). The Piper, the final member of the squad, is The Voiceless.
- The Boys has Groundhawk of the G-Men; all he does is growl the word «Gonna!»
- Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy spends a long time only able to say «I am Groot». This started out being a reflection of how much his intelligence had been reduced since Tales to Astonish, but was later presented as if he was saying quite complex things if you could understand him (the first character to claim this was Maximus the Mad, and most people assumed he was living up to his name, but later Rocket Raccoon became a Translator Buddy). In Infinity Countdown, Groot’s speech returned to what it was in his original appearance.
- Saga has Lying Cat, whose spoken vocabulary only consists of «Lying», spoken when she hears a lie.
- X-Men has Rover the Sentinel, who can only say «Destroy!»
Comic Strips
- In B.C., the character Grog only says his name, usually quite loudly.
Fanfic
- Ashes of the Past: Mr. Suziko, who just says «Remarkable», such as in Chapter 180, until the end of Chapter 299, where Nurse Joy says it instead and he summarizes the contest in her place:
«It’s a draw!» Mr. Sukizo announced. «A wonderful display of skill, where the two Coordinators are exactly evenly matched to the point that they can’t even be separated by a tie break!»
He spread his hands. «It’s a heartwarming reminder that sometimes, even though a Contest is about picking winners, ultimately what really matters is that everyone does their best and has fun doing it!»
«Remarkable!» Nurse Joy agreed.
Mr. Contesta rubbed his temples. «I think I need a stiff drink. Nothing makes sense any more.» - A toddler Youmu in Apartment Gensokyo mostly says «Muh». She does have variations of the word (and can say other things besides the word) but «muh» is all she ever says.
Films — Animation
- The seagulls in Finding Nemo can only say «Mine!» whenever they see a potential meal (whatever unlucky sea creatures they want to hunt).
- Pumpkin Ellingboe from Klaus only ever says �Mine!�.
- Nugent the dog from Over the Hedge only says «Play!».
Films — Live-Action
- The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training: the Bears use the mentally challenged groundskeeper as a beard so they can go on a road trip without any supervision. All he can say is Hello! How are you?»
Except at the end when he says «Goodbye.»
- Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey: The alien Station can only say «station».
- In Death Line, the male cannibal can only repeat the phrase «Mind the doors» over and over again.
- In The Deer Hunter, Axel’s only line, repeated several times, is «Fuckin’ A.»
- Groot from Marvel Cinematic Universe only ever says «I am Groot». Though near the end of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), he manages to say, «We are Groot.»
- Throughout Hot Fuzz Lurch only says «Yarp», as an affirmative answer to any question, leading to a gag in which Nicholas, impersonating Lurch via walkie talkie, has to guess that «Narp» is a negative answer.
- Uh-Huh from The Little Rascals (1994); to the point it’s a Verbal Tic Name. At the end of the film, he reveals he has a very big vocabulary for a 5-year old boy; he just never had to say anything beyond «Uh-huh».
- The invading Martians in Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! can speak only one syllable («Ack»), changing its timing and infliction to change the meaning. Somehow, Doctor Kessler is able to translate this monosyllable language into English.
- In Trading Places, the two very big jailbirds call bullshit on Billy Ray’s bragging; one of them only ever says «Yeah!» to what the other one has just said.
Except at the end when he says «Goodbye.»
Literature
- In The Belgariad, the boy known as «Errand» only says the word «Errand» for the first part, mainly because the only thing Zedar ever told him was «I have an errand for you.» He eventually learns to talk normally.
- Discworld:
- The Librarian only says «ook», «eek» and «ooo».
- In The Wee Free Men there’s a man in fairyland who only says «sneebs». Slight twist in that his actual meaning (normal words) appears in the hearer’s brain.
- In a dream sequence in Wintersmith, Tiffany Aching meets the «Jolly Sailor» who appears on her grandmother’s tobacco packets. He can only say «A Good Smoke in Any Weather!» because that’s what’s written in his speech bubble on the packet.
- Quoth the raven subverts this by refusing to say «the N word», «nevermore» (and was thus named by a previous owner, a wizard with a deplorable sense of humor).
- Another animal character with a vocabulary like this is the Death of Rats, whose dialogue consists entirely of «SQUEAK» (always in all capitals).
- Cody from Language Arts knew a lot of words as a toddler, but lost all of them except for «God.» That word got shortened to «Gaaaah,» which he applied to everything, including his sister Emmy.
- In Mary Poppins, the Bird Woman only says two phrases: «Feed the birds!» and «Tuppence a bag!». Subverted in the sequels that reveal that she can also speak other words, when not selling birdseed.
- In Edgar Allan Poe’s «The Raven», the only thing the titular bird ever says is «Nevermore».
- Hodor from A Song of Ice and Fire can only say «Hodor». Interestingly, Hodor’s actual name is Walder, but since the only thing he ever says is Hodor people started to call him that.
Live-Action TV
- On All That, Kel Mitchell’s recurring character Lump Maroon only ever says the word «Jupiter».
- The Korean boy adopted by the Bluths in Arrested Development only says «Annyong», which the others assume is his name. It’s actually «Hello» in Korean. In the finale of the regular series it is revealed that not only can he speak English, but he’s actually a spy getting revenge on the Bluths for stealing his father’s frozen banana business. And his real name is Hel-loh.
- In Bread, small-time gangster Yizzel only says the single word «Yeah!», usually in response to his more talkative colleague (billed as ‘Yizzel’s Mate’) calling on him for support.
- Magnitude from Community only ever says his Catchphrase, «Pop pop!» In an episode where he is told he can no longer use the phrase, he becomes extremely distraught.
- In Father Ted, the elderly Father Jack Hackett’s minimalist vocabulary is something of a recurring gag.
Drink! Girls! Feck!
- Kimmy’s boyfriend Dwayne from Full House only ever says «Whatever».
- Mystery Science Theater 3000. In the episode Time Chasers, 1985-Mike Nelson’s coworker at the cheese factory only ever says, «Dude.» He actually manages to convey quite a bit just by varying his tone.
- The Clive Anderson and Drew Carey runs of Whose Line Is It Anyway? featured an improv game titled «Two Line Vocabulary», in which two panelists are each limited to two different lines’ worth of dialog.
Podcasts
- The Juntawa in Mission to Zyxx speak a tonal, highly-contextual language which consists entirely of the word «Juntawa».
Puppet Shows
- All Bunsen’s partner Beaker from The Muppet Show can say is «Meep meep».
- Sesame Street:
- Frazzle is a monster who can only say «Arrrrgh!» In a song dedicated to him his friends tell the audience how he says certain words or expresses emotions, all of which are «Arrrgh!»
- In the early ’90s, a female construction worker Muppet named Stella was often seen with Biff and Sully, and all she could say was «Yo!»
Radio
- Sy, a Recurring Character on The Jack Benny Program (played by Mel Blanc) was a Mexican who mostly said «Si», and the rest of his vocabulary was made up of similar words.
Roleplay
- Kwang the squirrel from Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues. Hyeon is capable of speaking with animals, and most are able to converse with him okay, but Kwang is only capable of saying «Mom» in various inflections.
Theatre
- In The Addams Family musical, zombie butler Lurch communicates in a low growl. Naturally, the Beinekes can’t understand him at all. Also subverted: at the end of the show, Lurch starts the song «Move Toward the Darkness».
- In Lady Windermere’s Fan, the only phrase Lady Agatha says is «Yes, Mamma».
- In Monica Bauer’s play The Maternal Instinct, there is a homeless woman who can only say the word «Ouch».
Video Games
- The Arfenhouse games (and movies) have giant Pringles cans that say nothing but «BUUUUH!»
- Borderlands: Steve the bandit only has one word in his entire vocabulary: «Hey-o!» In the Massive Multiplayer Crossover game Poker Night 2, Borderlands regular CL4P-TP lampshades this:
CL4P-TP: Well, of COURSE you won with those cards. Even Steve would’ve won with those cards, and all he can say is «Hey-ooo!»
Steve: [off-screen] Hey-
CL4P-TP: SHUT THE @#$% UP STEVE. And people say I’m annoying. - Chibi-Robo!: The only thing Jenny can say is «Ribbit,» unless she’s talking to Chibi-Robo in the frog suit. She grows out of it in later games.
- In The Darkside Detective, zombies can only say «Brains!» with a variety of inflections, but are able to convey meaning to anyone who knows the language.
- The dwarf Sandal in the Dragon Age franchise is an Idiot Savant who has a gift for enchanting weapons and armor—rare for his species. «Enchantment» is also the only word he can say.
- Fallout:
- Vault 108 in Fallout 3 featured a cloning experiment Gone Horribly Wrong, and the clones were only able to utter the name of their original template called «Gary».
- In Fallout 4, the Super Mutant Behemoth Swan can only say his name, which is a step above other Behemoths, who don’t speak at all.
- In Five Nights at Fuckboy’s, Chica, as well as her Withered and Phantom counterparts, is only capable of saying «Devour my hot bird ass Freddy». Sometimes, she adds «dead» before «Freddy» when talking about him being dead, or replaces «Freddy» with other name of whoever she addresses (like Splash Woman), or just drops «Freddy» entirely, but otherwise, she’s incapable of saying anything else. The only time when she said something other than her usual phrase is when she and her fellow animatronics got trapped in the 80’s, resulting in Chica uttering a single «Fuck». Though, as her conversation with Freddy in Act 3 of the third game shows, she can convey different meanings with her phrase, which can be understood by anyone who knows her closely.
- Five Nights at Vault 5: The only thing the third robot ever says is shouting «Intruder!» whenever he sees the player.
- Tisiphone from Hades: Her vocabulary consists purely of «murder» and «murderer», usually spoken with plenty of Trrrilling Rrrs. Zagreus starts out somewhat creeped out by both this and her appearance, but soon learns to take it in stride and begins openly snarking at her. She later learns one additional word: «Zagreus» to which she uses to form the sentence «Murder Zagreus».
- Bon Bonne from the Mega Man Legends series can only say «babu». Justified, since he is a baby.
- Most zombies in the Plants vs. Zombies series can only say the name of their favorite food and greatest desire, «brains».
- In Resident Evil 3, Nemesis can only say «S.T.A.R.S.» because he’s a Living Weapon engineered to fight members of our hero’s organization S.T.A.R.S.
Web Animation
- Battle for Dream Island: David is only able to say «Aw, seriously?».
- Seen in the Newgrounds flash series Larry the Littlest Freakin Knight, with a minion who can literally only say «yes». The big bad thinks it’s hysterical, and makes him say yes to increasingly absurd and embarrassing questions.
Webcomics
- The Turk from Clockwork Game, could only say one word: «Echec», meaning «Check». Justified in that it was a machine, and its vocal apparatus (designed in the 19th-century) could only say that one word. Previously, it was unable to speak at all.
- In Hoofstuck, Cloud Kicker’s only dialogue is «Cloud!» It’s apparently a proper language, as a few characters actually understand her. It even shows up as a Painting the Medium gag: when you play as Cloud Kicker in the interactive flash walkaround, the text on all her prompt buttons is replaced with «Cloud!»
- Housepets! : Daisy has only said «Hi! I’m Daisy!» during the course of the strip.
- Early on in Scandinavia and the World, Finland only ever says «Perkele.» It’s an obscenity. Averted later, though.
- When Bubbles the intelligent watercooler first appears in Skin Horse, all she can say is the phrase «Service is my only joy!» As she develops (and starts dating Unity) she begins using fragments of this sentence to mean different things. (Muttering «Service, service» when she’d rather be on a date with Unity, for instance.) And then she spontaneously develops the ability to say «Service is NOT my only joy!» under Tigerlily’s influence.
- After she spends some time with one of the Killotron robots (who themselves have a downplayed example where they will replace certain words in sentences with their One Word, like the Smurfs), she learns the word «destroy», bringing her total vocabulary to seven words.
Web Original
- A man in this video only says «hello» while he is stuck in an elevator. That is until he surprises us at the very last 5 seconds with «fucking bastards!».
- There was much amusement in 2014 at the release of a phone app called Yo, which did nothing but send out the word «Yo» to whoever the user wanted to contact. Naturally, it proved wildly popular.
Web Videos
- Critical Role:
- In Campaign 1, after Doty is left in the Nine Hells, Taryon creates a new Doty, and gives him the ability to speak one word: «Tary».
- In Campaign 2, after Mollymauk is revived, he is only able to say «empty», though he eventually calls the other members of the Mighty Nein he knows by the tarot cards he made of them; Yasha is Love, Beau is Rumors, Veth is Tinkerer, Caleb is Magician, Fjord is Sea, and Jester is Joy.
- In one of The Nostalgia Critic‘s commercial reviews, this is used for a joke in the commercial about Denny’s «Red, White & Blue» pancakes. When the old man says «America» in response to the question about what the pancakes taste like, the Critic goes off on an inspired tangent about how the entire history and everything the country stands for is contained within these pancakes, only to realize shortly after that «America» is all that the old man can say.
- In Yugioh The Abridged Series Bandit Keith’s underling Bones only says «Brains», though the inflection changes and translates to more complex sentences. It is unclear whether others actually understand his meaning.
- Clint of Lazy Game Reviews has a «Christmas Clone» of himself that shows up every December to force him to do Christmas Episodes. His vocabulary consists entirely of the word «Christmas».
Western Animation
- Bunsen Is a Beast: The Halloween Episode «Beast Halloween Ever» features a candy-obsessed beast named Sweet Teeth, who is unable to say anything besides «candy». Somehow, this doesn’t prevent the other characters from understanding him.
- Chowder: Shnitzel can only say «Radda». When he drew a card in a board game and read it, the card contained the text; «Radda radda radda.»
- Dexter’s Laboratory: One episode has Dexter screw up trying to learn French in his sleep and wake up the next morning only able to say «omelette du fromage» (roughly «omelette with cheese».) Curiously, though, he finds that saying that actually works in normal conversation, to the point that he’s able to answer class questions, order lunch, and even bring about world peace just by saying that single phrase. But the only thing he can’t do? Speak the password to his laboratory.
- The Flamin’ Thongs: Rerp’s entire vocabulary consists one word: «Rerp». Nevertheless, Holden seems to understand him. Lampshaded is «Jurassic Dork» when Holden asks Rerp what he should name his new pet diprotodon. Rerp replies «rerp», and Holden considers that for few seconds before deciding two pets named «Rerp» would be too confusing.
- Gravity Falls: Shmebulock is the only forest gnome who’s cursed to say his own name and nothing else. He tends to communicate with body language to compensate for the lack of verbal diversity. Same goes with his father Shmebulock Sr. However, he can be seen shouting «Queen!» with the other gnomes in the first episode to Mabel.
- Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: Jimmy’s Do-Anything Robot dog Goddard only ever says «Bark!» — and not like a normal dog would; he actually, literally says that word as-is, just like it’s spelled.
- Josie and the Pussycats: When the show was Recycled IN SPACE!, it appended the alien creature Bleep, who speaks only in bleeps. Fortunately, Genius Ditz Melody is Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish and can easily translate Bleep-speak into English. Curiously, no reverse translation is needed for Bleep, who can understand English just fine.
- Lilo & Stitch: The Series:
- 627, who has been designed by Jumba to be even more powerful than Stitch himself. Not only that, but he also cannot be turned good and the only word that he can say is «Evil» (although the later Stitch! anime expanded his vocabulary).
- The same show also introduced Felix, a Neat Freak experiment who could only say «Dirty!»
- Max and Ruby: Roger only ever says «Uh huh» and «uh-uh». In later seasons, he starts speaking more.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- The vocabulary of Big Macintosh mostly consists of two words: «Eeyup» and «Nope». Thie is a case of flanderization, as he did have more dialogue in his first appearance, which is handwaved in «Hearts and Hooves Day» when Apple Bloom points out that Big Mac is rather shy when it comes to ponies he’s not related to. Most of his other dialogue falls under O.O.C. Is Serious Business. He does start talking more in later seasons, especially around his girlfriend.
- Pinkie Pie’s twin sister Marble Pie only says «Mmm-hmm».
- ReBoot: Al is never seen, he is only ever heard shouting «WHAT?» from offscreen.
- Road Runner: The only thing that the Roadrunner ever says is «Beep Beep».
- Rugrats: Played with for Chuckie. Although he can use actual dialogue with the babies, in the last three seasons, following Rugrats in Paris, the only word he can say to the adults is «No,» regardless of the context.
- The Simpsons: In «Who Shot Mr. Burns», Mr. Burns awakens from a coma, with only the words «Homer Simpson» in his vocabulary.
- SpongeBob SquarePants: The anchovies only ever say «meep», over and over again. Although this is (sometimes) averted in later episodes.
- Star Trek: Lower Decks: In «Cupid’s Errant Arrow», although the parasite can say other words, it mostly just exclaims «Lover!» over and over again.
- Teen Titans Go!:
- One episode had Cyborg and Beast Boy apparently only be able to say the word «waffles».
- Pain-Bot can only say one of two things: «Pain» and «All I know is pain».
- The Banana Bandits from Top Wing can only say «Banana».
- The Tick has two alien races, the Whats and the Heys, whose languages consist solely of the words «What» and «Hey» respectively. The Whats sent to gain the Tick’s aid do speak fluent English, and their interrogator also appears to speak Hey quite well.
- T.U.F.F. Puppy: Bird Brain’s Bumbling Henchmen Duo Owl and Bat only say «Who?» and «Where?» respectively, which drives him mad.
Real Life
What is One Word Substitution? Word Substitution simply means using a specific word to replace a wordy phrase or sentence and making it shorter, more concise and clearer to understand. This way, the word becomes identical to the sentence thus providing the same meaning as the wordy sentence. The best way to master this concept is to learn their meanings by putting them in a particular sentence or visualising them through an interesting story. One-word substitution questions frequently occur in many competitive exams such as SBI PO, UPSC, CAPF, CDS, RRB, SSC etc. Read this blog to find 100+ one-word substitutions with examples as well as practice questions and quizzes for competitive exams.
This Blog Includes:
- What is One Word Substitution in the English Language?
- How to Solve One-Word Substitution?
- Why Do We Need One-Word Substitutions?
- Categories of One Word Substitution
- 100+ One Word Substitutions with Examples
- Study-Related One-Word Substitution with Examples
- One-Word Substitution For Government/Systems
- One Word Substitution For Venue Or Spot
- One-Word Substitutes For Profession/Research
- Group/Collection-related One Word Substitution
- Person/People-related One Word Substitution
- Profession-related One Word Substitution
- Terms-related One Word Substitution
- Killing-related One Word Substitution
- Top 40 One-Word Substitutions Asked in Competitive Exams
- One-Word Substitution Sample Questions
- [BONUS] One Word Substitution Quiz
- FAQs
What is One Word Substitution in the English Language?
One-word substitution is the use of one word in place of a wordy phrase in order to make the sentence structure clearer and avoid lengthy sentences. The meaning, with the replacement of the phrase, remains identical while the sentence becomes shorter.
How to Solve One-Word Substitution?
Before checking on the examples for one word substitutions, let’s see how to solve them. These can be solved by identifying its ‘root word’ or core meaning and then identifying the prefix and suffix. Many words like Anthropology come from the root word anthrōpos which means humans (Here ‘Anthro’ is the prefix and ‘ology’ is the suffix). Hence anthropology means the study of humanity. To gain mastery in understanding root words, you should be familiar with the etymology and linguistics of the words.
Did you know? ‘ology‘ is the most common suffix in science which means “a branch of knowledge“. (Example: Psychology, Biology).
Another common suffix is “cracy” which comes from the Greek word “kratia” which means “rule or government“. (Example: Autocracy, Democracy)
Why Do We Need One-Word Substitutions?
One-word substitutions are important as they make communication in the English language much more concise, lucid, and easy. People can remember words and communicate bigger meanings through simple words. For example, saying “She is someone who puts forth an idea which she herself doesn’t believe” is much harder as compared to just saying “She is a Hypocrite”. One-word substitutions make our sentences more precise and reduce complexity. These substitutions also help us to classify words based on the suffixes which makes it easy to categorize them and put similar words together.
Categories of One Word Substitution
There are different categories of One Word Substitution:
- Study-related
- Terms-related
- Group/Collection
- Government/Political Systems-related
- People/Person
- Profession/Occupation
- Science/Research
- Killing/Death-related
- Sound/Event/Spots
100+ One Word Substitutions with Examples
Here is the complete list of 100+ One Word Substitutions for competitive exams:
| Study-related | One Word Substitution | Examples |
| Study of Stars | Astronomy | I love this book on Astronomy. |
| The study of statistics is known as | Demography | The demography of the whole town’s population has been mapped. |
| The study of ancient writing and scriptures | Palaeography | These three university professors have been immersed in the research and study of Paleography for over a decade. |
| The study of rocks and soil | Geology | My Geology homework is not going to be completed by the final submission date. |
| The ancient search for a universal panacea, and of the philosopher’s stone. The medieval version of the study of Chemistry | Alchemy | The magician wanted to learn Alchemy to master some ancient spells. |
| The study of the evolution of mankind | Anthropology | Anthropological research helps us trace our civilization. |
| The study of the Human Mind | Psychology | I am really interested in studying Psychology and how the mind works. |
| The practice of writing dictionaries | Lexicography | She works in the Lexicography department of the publishing house. |
| The study of plants | Botany | Her interest in plants motivated her to pursue this course in Botany. |
| The study of rocks and soils | Geology | Do I need to study Geology before going rock climbing? |
| The study of languages | Philology | How many languages does Philology cover? |
One-Word Substitution For Government/Systems
| One Word Substitutes | Government/System |
| A state of disorder due to the absence or non-recognition of authority or other controlling systems | Anarchy |
| A form of government in which power is held by the nobility | Aristocracy |
| A system of government by one person with absolute power | Autocracy |
| A self-governing country or region | Autonomy |
| A system of government in which most of the important decisions are taken by state officials rather than by elected representatives | Bureaucracy |
| A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives | Democracy |
| A state, society, or group governed by old people | Gerontocracy |
| A state or country run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens | Kakistocracy |
| Government by new or inexperienced hands | Neocracy |
| Government by the populace | Ochlocracy |
| A small group of people having control of a country or organization | Oligarchy |
| Government by the wealthy | Plutocracy |
| Government not connected with religious or spiritual matters | Secular |
| A form of government with a monarch at the head | Monarchy |
| A political system based on the government of men by God | Thearchy |
One Word Substitution For Venue Or Spot
| List of One-Word Substitutions | Venue/Spot |
| A collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people | Archives |
| A large cage, building, or enclosure to keep birds | Aviary |
| A building where animals are butchered | Abattoir |
| A place where bees are kept; a collection of beehives | Apiary |
| A building containing tanks of live fish of different species | Aquarium |
| A place or scene of activity, debate, or conflict | Arena |
| A collection of weapons and military equipment | Arsenal |
| An institution for the care of people who are mentally ill | Asylum |
| A hole or tunnel dug by a small animal, especially a rabbit, as a dwelling | Burrow |
| A collection of items of the same type stored in a hidden or inaccessible place | Cache |
| A public room or building where gambling games are played | Casino |
| A large burial ground, especially one not in a churchyard | Cemetery |
| A room in a public building where outdoor clothes or luggage may be left | Cloakroom |
| A place where a dead person’s body is cremated | Crematorium |
| A Christian community of nuns living together under monastic vows | Convent |
| The nursery where babies and young children are cared for during the working day | Creche |
| A stoppered glass container into which wine or spirit is decanted | Decanter |
| A large bedroom for a number of people in a school or institution | Dormitory |
| The nest of a squirrel, typically in the form of a mass of twigs in a tree | Drey |
| A room or building equipped for gymnastics, games, and another physical exercise | Gymnasium |
| A storehouse for threshed grain | Granary |
| A large building with an extensive floor area, typically for housing aircraft | Hangar |
| A box or cage, typically with a wire mesh front, for keeping rabbits or other small domesticated animals | Hutch |
| A place in a large institution for the care of those who are ill | Infirmary |
| A small shelter for a dog | Kennel |
| A place where wild animals live | Lair |
| A place where coins, medals, or tokens are made | Mint |
| A collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition | Menagerie |
| A building or buildings occupied by a community of monks living under religious vows | Monastery |
| A place where bodies are kept for identification | Morgue |
| A piece of enclosed land planted with fruit trees | Orchard |
| A large natural or artificial lake used as a source of water supply | Reservoir |
| A small kitchen or room at the back of a house used for washing dishes and other dirty household work | Scullery |
| A close-fitting cover for the blade of a knife or sword | Sheath |
| A room or building for sick children in a boarding school | Sanatorium |
| A place where animal hides are tanned | Tannery |
| A large, tall cupboard in which clothes may be hung or stored | Wardrobe |
One-Word Substitutes For Profession/Research
| One Word Substitution | Profession/Research |
| The medieval forerunner of chemistry | Alchemy |
| A person who presents a radio/television programme | Anchor |
| One who studies the evolution of mankind | Anthropologist |
| A person who is trained to travel in a spacecraft | Astronaut |
| The scientific study of the physiology, structure, genetics, ecology, distribution, classification and economic importance of plants | Botany |
| A person who draws or produces maps | Cartographer |
| A person who writes beautiful writing | Calligrapher |
| A person who composes the sequence of steps and moves for a performance of dance | Choreographer |
| A person employed to drive a private or hired car | Chauffeur |
| A person who introduces the performers or contestants in a variety show | Compere |
| A keeper or custodian of a museum or other collection | Curator |
| The branch of biology concerned with cyclical physiological phenomena | Chronobiology |
| A secret or disguised way of writing | Cypher |
| The study of statistics | Demography |
| The use of the fingers and hands to communicate and convey ideas | Dactylology |
| A person who sells and arranges cut flowers | Florist |
| A line of descent traced continuously from an ancestor | Genealogy |
| The therapeutic use of sunlight | Heliotherapy |
| The art or practise of garden cultivation and management | Horticulture |
| One who supervises in the examination hall | Invigilator |
| The theory or philosophy of law | Jurisprudence |
| A person who compiles dictionaries | Lexicographer |
| The scientific study of the structure and diseases of teeth | Odontology |
| One who presents a radio programme | Radio Jockey |
| The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing | Rhetoric |
| The branch of science concerned with the origin, structure and composition of rocks | Petrology |
| One who studies the elections and trends in voting | Psephologist |
| An artist who makes sculptures. | Sculptor |
| The scientific study of the behaviour, structure, physiology, classification and distribution of animals | Zoology |
| Group/Collection | One Word Substitution | Examples |
| A group of sheep | Flock | I saw a shepherd down the hill with a flock of sheep. |
| A family of young animals | Brood | Mr Styles like spending hours bathing the brood of horses in the stable. |
| A number of people travelling together in a big van or jeep | Caravan | A caravan of hippies just passed by. |
| A series of stars | Constellation | This constellation looks like a burger! |
| A large group of people | Horde | A horde of college students was gathered around the voting booth. |
| A temporary police force | Posse | Jake went to arrest the criminal with his posse. |
| A group of cattle or sheep | Herd | Keep your herd of cows in the backyard. |
| A number of fish swimming together | Shoal | I saw a shoal of mackerel on that side of the river. |
| A group of worshippers | Congregation | The congregation will happen at St. Mary’s Church at 4pm tomorrow. |
Must Read: 50 Common Difficult Idioms with Examples
| Person/People | One Word Substitution | Examples |
| The one who loves mankind | Philanthropist | He became a renowned philanthropist after joining Buddhism. |
| The one who looks at the brighter side of everything | Optimist | Louis has always been the biggest optimistic person I know. |
| The one who looks at the negative/dark side of everything. | Pessimist | I am always on the edge of becoming a total pessimist. |
| The one who does not believe in God. | Atheist | I am neither an Atheist nor a religious person. |
| The one who eats human flesh | Cannibal | The police caught these cannibals from the jungle. |
| Someone who regards the world as their country | Cosmopolitan | Globalisation will give rise to more cosmopolitans. |
| The one who loves good food and knows a lot about it | Gourmet | I could have been a Gourmet if I liked spicy food! |
| Someone who lives in solitude | Recluse | I want to become a recluse after I retire. |
| Someone who speaks more than one language | Polyglot | I took up Turkish to become a Polyglot. |
| A person who boasts of one’s achievements | Egotist | She saw him as a thoughtless egotist. |
| People who can vote in an election: | Electorate | Last year’s electorate comprised of many first-time voters. |
| A person who loves himself the most | Narcissist | John is a narcissist and will never love anyone else but himself. |
| A person who draws maps | Cartographer | A cartographer can help you find the right way through a complex forest land through his mastery of maps. |
| A person who abandons his religion | Apostate | Watching his daughter die of cancer made Steve become an apostate. |
| A person was appointed to settle a dispute between two parties | Arbitrator | In their final judgement, the jury presented that it is necessary for the parties to have an arbitrator to reach mutual consent. |
| The one who knows everything | Omniscient | He is such a know-it-all but he is not an omniscient. |
| The one who is all powerful | Omnipotent | We often stereotype a superhero as an Omnipotent but it’s important to have some flaws to make them human. |
| The one who is present everything | Omnipresent | Technology has become synonymous with omnipresent nowadays. |
| Someone who is eighty years old. | Octogenarian | My grandpa is an octogenarian. |
| The one who settles in another country. | Immigrant | It isn’t easy being an immigrant in the USA. |
| Someone who cares about mankind. | Humanitarian | She is known for her humanitarian efforts. |
| Person/People | One Word Substitution | Examples |
| Someone trained to travel and operate a spacecraft. | Astronaut | Kalpana Chawla is one of the greatest women astronauts. |
| The one who makes maps or charts | Cartographer | We need a cartographer to decode these cryptic maps. |
| Someone who sells or grows flowers or studies or writes about flowers. | Florist | Harry is my favorite florist and I like how he gives unique facts about what every flower symbolises. |
| Someone with a beautiful handwriting | Calligrapher | I started as a calligrapher and then became a tattoo artist. |
| The supervising person during an examination | Invigilator | The invigilator is too lazy to even check the students in the back. |
| Someone who presents or hosts a radio show | Radio Jockey | A radio jockey needs to have brilliant communication skills. |
| Someone who choreographs dances attuning certain sequences of steps and movements along music | Choreographer | Can you find me a wedding choreographer? |
| Someone who is the custodian or the keeper of a museum | Curator | I like being a curator as I get to meet artists from different parts of the world. |
| A person who doesn’t like humankind devoids himself of human society | Misanthrope | Grinch wasn’t the mean-spirited misanthrope most of us took him to be. |
| A person who collects coins as a hobby | Numismatist | As a Numismatist, I have a huge collection of currencies from almost all the countries around the world. |
| Someone employed to drive a hired car | Chauffeur | The chauffeur will come by 4 pm to the venue. |
| Someone who walks by foot. | Pedestrian | This side of the road is for Pedestrians. |
| Someone who is reserved and shy. | Introvert | I like being an introvert and I am happy with a small social circle. |
Also Read: 50 Difficult Phrases with Meanings!
| Terms | One Word Substitutions | Example |
| Indefinite period of time | Aeon | Those days became boring, aeon and too long to pass. |
| Appreciation of beauty, by a set of principles. | Aesthetics | I found this website quite appealing especially because of its aesthetics |
| Spartan snowstorms with uncontrollable winds | Blizzard | On our way back to the hotel, we got caught in a blizzard. |
| An eccentric manner of living | Bohemian | She felt embarrassed when her friends made fun of her bohemian clothing. |
| Huge fire for celebration | Bonfire | The campers spent their night by the bonfire. |
| Dwarfed varieties of trees and shrubs in pots | Bonsai | Her room was filled with bonsai plants. |
| The remote regions of a country which are far away from the rivers | Hinterland | Her cottage was situated in a hinterland deprived of any beautiful scenery. |
| Complex situation or a mix-up | Imbroglio | The romantic imbroglio happened when he met my landlords assuming they were my parents. |
| Make someone feel young | Rejuvenate | This exfoliating scrub can completely rejuvenate your skin. |
| Not showing enough care and attention | Remiss | I realised that she was totally remiss in finishing her daily tasks. |
| A shelter for a Dog | Kennel | Our new pup spent all his day hiding inside the kennel. |
| Where wild animals live | Lair | I found a hidden lair in the forest but was too afraid to go inside it. |
| A place where coins are made | Mint | This industrial facility is actually a mint which manufactures coins. |
| Ordinary and Dull | Mundane | I am bored with the mundane life of the quarantined days. |
| Published after someone’s death | Posthumous | Mr Smith’s posthumous works brought him an immense number of accolades. |
| The profession of teaching or the approach or style of teaching | Pedagogy | It was his unique approach to pedagogy that made him every student’s favourite. |
| The symbols of royalty | Regalia | The queen was adorned in full regalia. |
| A political system solely based on the government of men by God | Thearchy | The village was ruled by the system of thearchy. |
| A person promises to tell the truth in court | Oath | I couldn’t disrespect the oath and thus revealed everything. |
| Beginning to exist and evolve | Nascent | Biotechnology bloomed from a nascent sector to a booming industry. |
| Ethically good behaviour one has | Virtue | Patience is seen as the virtue of a man. |
| Humour that describes the weaknesses | Satire | Ghasiram Kotwal is an incredibly written satire on the political scenario of Maharashtra in the early 20th century. |
| Changing the direction of one’s path suddenly | Veer | He veered the car in the other direction as the deer came in the way. |
| Enjoy something for an extended time | Savour | Don’t forget to savour this delectable wine! |
| Someone who is wrongly blamed for things that others have done | Scapegoat | They used him as a scapegoat to accuse him of the whole conspiracy |
| Space where animal hides are tanned | Tannery | The leather for this coat has been skinned in the tannery. |
| Determined to achieve something | Tenacious | She was tenacious enough to chase after her dream of becoming a film actor. |
| The sound of Parrots | Screech | I woke up to the screeching of birds by the window. |
| Using a word or name that is inappropriate | Misnomer | It’s quite a misnomer to call it a victory since he scored the lowest marks in the test. |
| A government that has a monarch as the head | Monarchy | With a king ruling the country, the Monarchy is different from a democracy. |
| The sound of Camels | Grunt | In the vastness of the desert, the only sound you can hear is the constant grunting of camels from far away. |
| Events manifested by festivities | Fiesta | Last night’s party was a total fiesta. |
| The ranting of a person | Whine | Aakriti is always whining about the weather. |
| People who are extremely poor | Destitute | Ajay grew up in a destitute existence. |
| Absolute freedom to act as one wishes | Carte blanche | Her mother gave her carte blanche to follow the career path she wants to. |
| A person who is unsure about God’s existence | Agnostic | Though he was raised in a conservative Hindu family, he remained agnostic most of his life. |
| Extreme physical or mental sufferings | Agony | He fell to the ground in agony. |
| Japanese form of self-defense with the usage of locks holds | Aikido | He has mastered Aikido and his next goal is to learn Kung fu. |
| A soldier who fights for the sake of money | Mercenary | You are a mercenary and you kill people with any guns! |
| An accolade or honour bestowed in recognition for an achievement: | Laurel | She enjoyed the laurels of her acting achievements. |
| A person who behaves without moral principles | Immoral | Lying is completely immoral even if it is done for a good purpose. |
| Charging a politician with a serious crime | Impeach | Trump was impeached recently but it didn’t really affect his position as the president. |
| Government instructions that limit trade in some way | Embargo | With the danger of virus hovering over the whole world, an embargo on international trade was mutually decided upon. |
| Believer of fate | Fatalist | I am fatalist for I believe that our destiny has already been written. |
| Loves being social and enjoys the company of others | Gregarious | Gurleen is a gregarious girl and we often call her the social butterfly of our class! |
| Trees grow without underbrush. | Grove | This garden is filled with beautiful groves that amazingly complemented the tall trees |
| An office with high salary but no work | Sinecure | After listening to the perks that Seema has at her office, Vishal assumes as if she works at a Sinecure. |
| A person who betrays and descents and organisation or country | Renegade | It is currently flashing in the news that a renegade policeman shot three innocent people. |
| One who is much concerned about details and accuracy | Fastidious | Virat is fastidious about his hair. He makes sure that he visits the salon at regular intervals. |
| A place for storage of arms and ammunition | Arsenal | The officer informed the soldier about his new posting in Arsenal. |
| One who is expelled from a religious community | Excommunicate | His misconduct at the previous religious gathering led to his ex-communication. |
| A person who eats too much | Glutton | As soon as the guests left, Riya didn’t miss a chance to call our cousin glutton. |
| Something which can be copied | Immitable | As the captain’s approach for the finale was imitable, he is still called a legend. |
| Killing-related | One Word Substitution | Examples |
| When someone kills their own father | Patricide | Jean was arrested for patricide. |
| The act of killing a king | Regicide | The monarchy fell with the regicide. |
| The killing of a person by another | Homicide | He went to jail on the charge of homicide. |
| The killing of one’s child | Filicide | The police filed a report about filicide that happened in the C block. |
Top 40 One-Word Substitutions Asked in Competitive Exams
One-Word Substitution Sample Questions
Now that you have understood the concept of one-word substitution, let us sample some sample questions so that you develop a strong command over it!
Q1. An individual who is unable to express or interact easily
A) Extrovert
B) Introvert
C) Ambivert
D) None of the Above
Q2. A stream of water moving very fast
A) Current
B) Tide
C) Torrent
D) Storms
Q3. Shikha spends a lot of money on clothes. Her cousins call her a:
A) Frugal
B) Economical
C) Miser
D) Spendthrift
Q4. Asmita works really hard for the upliftment of poor children. She even donates half of her salary to NGOs. She is:
A) Philanthropist
B) Selfish
C) Tightfisted
D) None of the Above
Q5. It is impossible to see through it.
A) Translucent
B) Fragile
C) Opaque
D) Transparent
Q6. Aman is really scared of thunderstorms. He suffers:
A) Acrophobia
B) Ophidiophobia
C) Nephophobia
D) Astraphobia
Q7. She caught the robbers
A) Courageously
B) Frightened
C) Cowardly
D) None of the above
Q8. Lalit has a good knowledge of Music. His father calls him:
A) Incompetent
B) Amateur
C) Maestro
D) Beginner
Q9. After attending a career counseling session, he understood that his ____ was cooking:
A) Niche
B) Supplant
C) Replacement
D) None of the above
Q10. You can’t park your truck here. It is:
A) Lawful
B) Allowed
C) Unauthorized
D) None of the Above
Answers:
- B
- C
- D
- A
- C
- D
- A
- C
- A
- C
[BONUS] One Word Substitution Quiz
One Word Substitution Quiz
FAQs
Q1. How to learn one-word substitutes?
Ans. Techniques for One-Word Substitution:
1. Comprehend the whole meaning of a sentence or a group of words.
2. Look for terms that have a comparable meaning to the sentence and use them instead.
3. Discover the replacement words for the statement and keep the word in your memory for later usage.
4. Improving your vocabulary (synonyms and antonyms)
Q2. What is one-word substitution also known as?
Ans. One-word substitutions are also referred to as “Verbatim.” One-word substitution is a technique that substitutes a word for a context without altering the meaning of the original context.
Q3. What is a one-word substitution in English Class 7?
Ans. Single words used to represent a person, an item, a place, etc. instead of a set of words are known as one-word substitutions. Words that sound the same but have diverse meanings are referred to as homophones.
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-
#2
«One for the road» is a saying that basically means «one more before you go».
The reception is the ability to pick up tv/radio signals. So good reception means good tv/radio quality.
Last edited: Oct 27, 2010
-
#7
Years ago, people in the UK travelling on horseback or in open carriages would have no protection from the weather except what they were wearing, so could easily become very cold. They might well stop at an inn during their journey, and if so, they might use the opportunity to have an extra (alcoholic) drink to fortify themselves against the elements just before they left. This drink wouldn’t be for thirst or even for socialising, but would be referred to as «one for the road». The need has long since disappeared, but the idiom lives on. The first joke is simply manufacturing an absurd situation (a man with a lot of tarmac — used for covering roads) to make a pun on the phrase possible.
As has already been mentioned, an ariel is an antenna for picking up television or radio signals, and if it is placed correctly so as to be doing this job well (i.e. giving a clear picture on the television with no interference), we would say the reception is good. Reception is also the term used for a party directly after a wedding, where the new couple «receive» their guests for a celebration. Once again, the second joke is manufacturing an absurd situation to allow «reception» to be ambiguous and so make a pun possible.
-
#8
The reference to two aerials getting married is the actual installation. In many cases you have Ultra High Frequency (UHF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) TV transmissions. One antenna alone cannot receive both types of signals. Two aerials, one for UHF and the other for VHF, are then installed on one «pole» and a combiner is used to put both signals onto one cable which goes down to the TV. The combiner is the case of the signals get «married» (combined) and thus become one, because of the married (combined) signal the TV picture (Reception) for either transmissions ( UHF and VHF) is very good. With only one aerial the reception for that frequency range would be good but for the other frequency range it will be poor.
Cable TV does not use aerials. Satellite TV uses «dishes», parabolic reflectors as an «aerial».
I am trying not to be technical so hopefully I am not confusing the issue. But maybe saying a «yagi antenna» instead of an aerial could have more meaning for you.
The way this joke is put, it sounds as if the installation is rather messy, but it works quite well.
Last edited: Oct 27, 2010
Published on
April 23, 2015
by
Shane Bryson.
Revised on
October 24, 2022.
The following is a list of commonly deployed phrasal verbs that find one use or another in academic texts. These (and others) can be acceptably used in academic texts. Along with these examples, however, are a number of one-word substitutions to illustrate that in each case the phrasal verb can be easily replaced.
Table of contents
- Separable
- Inseparable
As you look through the substitutions, be aware that phrasal verbs (like other verbs) often have more than one definition and more than one context of proper use.
This flexibility means that although these substitutions work for the examples given, and although the examples are common uses of phrasal verbs, a suggested replacement will not cover every possible use of its phrasal verb.
Separable
Note: If it uses a pronoun, the separable phrasal verb must be separated (e.g. “He added up the number” but “He added it up”).
| Phrasal verbs | Example uses | Definitions and Replacements |
|---|---|---|
| Add up | James added up the number of affirmative responses. | calculate |
| Buy out | The large company bought out the smaller. | purchase (someone’s assets) |
| Buy up | The business’s assets were bought up in the auction. | purchase (all of something) |
| Call off | The order was to call off the strike immediately. | cancel |
| Carry on | The meeting will carry on in your absence. | continue |
| Carry out | Sam carried out the research because Jimmy couldn’t find the time. | execute |
| Cut out | Because the subsection was not directly relevant to the rest of the paper, Randal had to cut it out. | excise |
| Find out | The purpose of the literature review is find out what has been said on the topic. | discover |
| Get (it) over with (must be split) | Isa and the other participants were happy to get the laborious questionnaire over with. | complete |
| Get across | Lars’s paper has too many grammatical mistakes, meaning he couldn’t get his message across. | communicate |
| Give up | The outnumbered forces would not give up. | surrender |
| Hold up | When deadlines approach, a student cannot let anything hold up the completion of an assignment. | delay |
| Leave out | The witness left out a number of important details. | omit |
| Make up | We asked participants to make up a scenario in which they would be content. | fabricate |
| Make out | In the darkness he could not make out the size of the camp. | see |
| Pass up | We could not pass up this opportunity to collaborate. | forgo |
| Pass on | The common flu can be passed on through saliva. | transmit |
| Pass out | Our research assistants passed out four-hundred surveys to a random sample of shoppers. | distribute |
| Pick up | This study picks Dekker’s research up where he left it. | resume |
| Point out | Hendriks (2010) points out that such a study might be useful. | explain |
| Set up | The equipment’s sensitivity meant we had to set it up with utmost care. | arrange |
| Turn down | Regretfully, the board must turn down a number of applicants every year. | reject |
| Use up | The campers were thirsty after they used up the last of the water. | exhaust |
Inseparable
| Phrasal verbs | Example uses | Definitions and Replacements |
|---|---|---|
| Back out of | Several subjects backed out of their treatment. | abandon |
| Bear on | Foucault’s writings still bear on contemporary thought about prison. | influence |
| Catch up with | It will take some time for our newer coal mines to catch up with our older ones. | equal |
| Call on | I call on the work of other contemporary thinkers. | utilize |
| Call for | The act of aggression called for immediate response. | necessitate |
| Count on | The question is, should a citizen be able to count on its government to preserve free access to clean water? | rely on |
| Cut down on | Practiced writers cut down on unnecessary adverbs and adjectives. | reduce |
| Come up with | Hannah had to come up with a way to isolate the variable. | invent |
| Fall apart | The board of directors fell apart. | disintegrate |
| Get away | Several of them sought to get away from the cold winter night. | escape |
| Get along with | They commonly exaggerated the degree to which the indigenous tribes would not get along with one another. | be friendly with |
| Give in | After a long pause for thought, he gave in to the demands. | yield |
| Go on | Bakker went on to win a prestigious award. | continue |
| Hold on to | Sven tried everything, but could not hold on to his youth. | keep |
| Hold out | Bram would hold out until morning when the supplies arrived. | wait |
| Hold out on | Napoleon would not tolerate his generals holding out on him. | hide (something) |
| Look into | We have a hypothesis, but we must look into other possible explanations for the phenomenon. | research |
| Look out for | Among 50 respondents who regularly walk home from work in the middle of the night, 45 indicated looking out for criminals. | safeguard against |
| Make sure of | To print the name of interviewee, an author must make sure of the interviewee’s consent. | ensure |
| Pick up on | The data show various relationships that we had not picked up on. | notice |
| Put up with | The country will put up with a certain number of economic sanctions. | tolerate |
| See to | The custodian would see to the security of the building. | arrange |
| Take after | This new state takes after its regional neighbours. | resemble |
| Touch on | At the beginning of his speech, Finn found it necessary to touch on the circumstances of the event. | mention |
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Phrase definition: A phrase is a grammatical term referring to a group of words that does not include a subject and verb.
What is a Phrase? Examples, Definitions
What are phrases? A phrase is a group (or pairing) of words in English. A phrase can be short or long, but it does not include the subject-verb pairing necessary to make a clause.
Some examples of phrases include:
- after the meal (prepositional phrase)
- the nice neighbor (noun phrase)
- were waiting for the movie (verb phrase)
None of these examples contains a subject doing an action (subject-verb). Therefore, each example is merely a group of words called a phrase.
A phrase will always be more than one word.
Phrases vs. Clauses: a Hierarchy of Word Units
A phrase is any group of words that does not contain a subject completing an action.
When a group of words contains a subject doing an action (subject-verb), it becomes a clause.
Phrases can be added to sentences to make them more complex.
Concepts can begin with a single word and develop into a compound sentence.
Example:
- meal (word)
- after the meal (phrase)
- that mom prepared (clause)
- After the meal that mom prepared I felt full. (sentence)
- After the meal that mom prepared, I felt full because I ate too much. (complex sentence)
- After the meal that mom prepared I felt full, but my brother was still hungry. (compound sentence)
Before we go into different types of grammatical phrases, let’s look at a few more examples of phrases.
- In the air (prepositional phrase)
- Beside the bed (prepositional phrase)
- Along the road (prepositional phrase)
- To live and breathe (infinitive phrase)
- Looking stunning (participle phrase)
As you can see, English phrases can be just about any combination of words so long as they do not contain a subject-verb pairing.
Different Types of Phrase
What is a noun phrase? Noun phrases consist of a noun and its modifiers.
- the nice neighbor
- a soft, comfortable bed
What is a verb phrase? Verb phrases consist of a verb and its modifiers.
- were waiting for the movie
- felt a prick on his arm
What is an adverbial phrase? Adverbial phrases are phrases that act as adverbs. They modify verbs, adverbs, or adjectives.
- around the block (modifying where)
- after the meal (modifying when)
- in silence (modifying how)
What is a gerund phrase? Gerund phrases are essentially noun phrases that begin with a gerund.
- running through the woods
- jumping like a kangaroo
What is an infinitive phrase? Infinitive phrases begin with a verb infinitive and include any modifiers. Infinitive phrases function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.
- to run out of food
- to visit to the countryside
What is an appositive phrase? An appositive is essentially a noun phrase but one that renames another noun in the sentence.
- The tree, a tall redwood, was beautiful.
- The curtains were made of lace, a beautiful and delicate fabric.
What is a participle phrase? A participle phrase begins with a present (-ing) or past (-ed) participle. A participle phrase includes the participle and its modifiers. Participle phrases function as adjectives.
- The girls giggling and playing in the park never seemed to tire.
- Fatigued and dehydrated in the desert the men traveled on.
What is a prepositional phrase? A prepositional phrase is a group of words that includes a preposition and a noun. A prepositional phrase will function as either an adjective or an adverb.
- before church
- under the stairs
What is an absolute phrase? An absolute phrase includes a noun and a participle and any modifiers.
- the flag flying at half-mast
- her hair streaked with sunlight
Summary: What are Phrases?
Define phrase: The definition of phrase is any grouping of words that does not contain a subject and a verb. A phrase is a very basic word unit in English.
- Phrases Examples:
- Reading a book
- The tall basketball player
Contents
- 1 What is a Phrase? Examples, Definitions
- 2 Phrases vs. Clauses: a Hierarchy of Word Units
- 3 More Phrase Examples
- 4 Different Types of Phrase
- 5 Summary: What are Phrases?