The list below offers eight factors
worth considering whenever you are trying to choose the right word for a
particular context.
Conciseness
Some writers make the mistake of believing
that the more words they use, the more authority their writing will have. In
fact, no readers appreciate having to wade through wordy prose. They tend to
give much more weight to economical writing, in which the presence of every
word can be justified.
Connotation
Be alert to not only a word’s
denotation (dictionary definition) but also its connotation—the set of ideas
that is associated with it. For instance, psychiatric hospital and madhouse
are synonyms, but the former conjures up an image of an organized institution
while the latter suggests a den of chaos and squalor.
Familiarity
A word
may communicate your meaning exactly, but if your readers have never heard it
before, it is obviously not a good choice. Although you cannot know the exact
range of your readers’ vocabulary, you can usually make some assumptions about
their familiarity with many words. A common foreign phrase, for instance, will
likely be understood by a doctoral candidate but leave a junior high school
student baffled. The same student may have no trouble with a slang expression
that would be meaningless to someone from another country. If you suspect that
your audience could be unfamiliar with a word, use a more universally known
synonym instead.
Formality
You would naturally use a different
vocabulary in a note to your best friend than in a memo to your company’s
president. The reason has to do with levels of formality. Your friend would
expect you to use informal language and slang. The same words, however, might
make the company president question whether you take your job seriously enough.
Determining the proper level of formality is sometimes difficult. If in doubt,
err on the side of formality: Standard words and proper grammar and punctuation
are unlikely to offend any reader. (See Informal Words and Phrases and Slang
for a discussion of when informal language is appropriate.)
Freshness
Your readers’ attention is likely to
stray if you litter your work with too many overused words or phrases. Keep
your writing fresh by trying to find new ways of saying things instead of
relying on trite expressions.
Simplicity
Almost always, the simplest word or
phrase you can use to make a point is the best. Simple language is likely to be
understood by the broadest possible audience. It also has the advantage of
never seeming mannered or pretentious.
Sound
Even when
reading silently, you are sensitive to the sound of words. You hear in your
head the way combinations of vowels and consonants flow together. A group of
short words will make you read quickly, but you will instinctively slow down
when you encounter a series of multi-syllabic ones. Be conscious of the rhythm
of your prose: Sometimes it will dictate which word from a group of synonyms
will have the greatest impact in your work.
Precision
Avoid
using vague words. Writing, for example, that a lecture was “interesting” is to
say little. Entertaining, informative, or controversial are all
better choices because these adjectives provide more precise information. When
choosing between synonyms, think carefully about the small ways in which their
definitions differ, and select the word that most closely fits your
meaning. Bear in mind that there is no pure synonymy in all languages. There must be a slight
difference between two synonymous words; otherwise we can do without one of
them. In fact, both are needed. Study the following pairs of words
carefully:
sky / heaven:
heaven: the place believed to be the home of God where good
people go when they die.
sky:
the space above the earth that you can see when you look up, where clouds and
the sun, moon and stars appear.
Both of them mean in Arabic "ÇáÓãÇÁ" but: “Heaven” has a divine
meaning, and “Sky” has a general or scientific meaning.
canal / river:
canal: a long straight passage dug in the ground and filled
with water for boats and ships to travel along.
river: a natural flow of water that continues in a long
line across land to sea/ocean.
garden / park:
garden: The area of land next to a house, where there are
flowers, grass, and other plants, and often a place for people to sit.
e.g. Our house has a small garden.
park: a large open area with grass and trees, especially
in a town, where people can walk, play games etc.
e.g. Let's go for a walk in the park.
among / between:
among: in or through the middle of a group of people or
things.
among the crowd.
between: in or through the space that separates two things,
people, or places
e.g. I sat down between Mary and Sue.
answer / reply:
answer: respond to a question: the information requested by a
spoken or written question
reply:
respond to what somebody says: to say or write something in response to what
somebody else has said or written
• replied that she wouldn't be available to take the job
make / do:
make: do something: used with a range of nouns to describe
an action, where "make" is used rather than a more specific verb
• She made no effort whatsoever to pass her exams.
do: a
verb indicating that somebody performs an action, an activity, or a task. It is
often used as an informal equivalent of more specific and less frequent verbs,
e.g. "do your nails" instead of "paint your nails."
• He usually did the cleaning on a Sunday morning.
sound:
something that you hear, or what can be heard, the sound produced by something
(television or radio program, film etc)
e.g. Did you just hear a rattling sound outside?
e.g. We apologize for the loss of sound during that
report.
voice: the
sounds that you make when you speak, or the ability to make these sounds, the
quality of sound you produce when you sing.
e.g. I could hear angry voices in the next room.
e.g. Sophie's got a lovely singing voice
floor / ground
floor : the
flat surface that you walk on indoors
e.g. The mother is sweeping the floor
ground : the
solid surface of the earth
e.g. We sat on the ground to eat our picnic
door / gate:
door: the
large flat piece of wood, glass etc that you open and close when you go into or
out of a building, room, vehicle etc, or when you open a cupboard.
e.g. can you open the door please?
gate: the
part of a fence or outside wall that you can open and close so that you can
enter or leave a place.
e.g.
long / tall:
long:
measuring a great length from one end to the other, continuing or traveling a
great distance from one place to another, continuing for a large amount of
time, or for a larger amount of time than usual.
e.g. she has a long hair. Another one:
A long history of success.
tall: a
person, building, tree etc that is tall is a greater height than normal, you
use 'tall' to say or ask what the height of something or someone is 6ft/2m/12
inches etc tall.
e.g. he is young and tall
e.g. How tall is that building?
talk / speak:
talk: to say things to someone as part of a conversation,
to discuss something serious or important with someone, to produce words and
express thoughts, opinions, ideas etc.
e.g. I could hear Sarah and Anna talking in the next room.
e.g. Is there somewhere we can talk in private?
e.g. She was talking so fast I could hardly understand
her.
speak:
to talk to someone about something , I spoke to her last Wednesday, to be able
to talk in a particular language, to say something that expresses your ideas or
opinions.
e.g. I spoke to her last Wednesday.
e.g. He spoke very softly.
e.g. Do you speak Chinese?
begin / start:
begin: to start doing something , if
something begins, or you begin something, it starts to happen or exist from a
particular time, if a book, film, or word begins with something, it starts with
a particular event or letter.
e.g. As everybody's here, let's begin.
e.g. They began a system of blood tests for employees.
e.g. 'Psychosis' begins with a P.
start: to do something that you were not doing before, and
continue doing it, to begin happening, or to make something begin happening, to
begin a new job, or to begin going to school, college etc
e.g. Have you started your homework?
e.g. The party was just getting started when Sara
arrived.
e.g. Ahmad starts by explaining some basic legal
concepts
happen / take place:
happen:
We say the accident happened to refer to an action that happened without any
previous arrangements.
take place: We say his marriage will take place next week to refer to a previously
arranged action.
such / so:
such: is followed by a noun e.g. It was such a shock.
so: is followed by an adjective. e.g. It was so shocking.
decorate / adorn:
decorate: is used of a room or a house. e.g. a beautifully decorated room.
adorn: is used of people. e.g. She adorned herself with jewels.
This list seems to be endless. Can you add any more pairs of synonyms? Send what you write to me so that i will be able to publish them on the net in your www.art-en.com .
Prepared by : Msallam Kombaz