Word families and partnerships

One way to learn and remember new words is to put them together as a family.

‘Family’ (word family):- parents, in-laws, relative, sibling, ex-husband/wife, half-brother/sister, step-sister/brother, next of kin, spouse, cousin, nephew, niece, nuclear family, extended family (some words in the family)

‘School’ (word family):- teacher, homework, uniform, term, subject, timetable, break, canteen, detention, expel, an award, syllabus, marks, exams (some words in the family)

If you make a grammatical error [Yesterday I go to the supermarket], it is likely that someone will understand you whereas if a mistake has to do with vocabulary [Gong Li is a Chinese supermarket – instead of superstar], there could be some confusion!

Some pairs of words and phrases are often found together in what is called a word partnership.

e.g. a balanced diet, to tell a joke, to make a decision, to wrap a gift, to apologize for a misunderstanding.

Expecting what will follow in a word partnership makes reading and listening easier.