How to expand your English vocabulary using synonyms

Why do you need to expand your English vocabulary? The most common reasons I've heard from students are:

• To express myself like a native speaker.
• To express in English what I mean in my native language.
• To understand native speakers.
• To read books/blogs/news/twitter fluently.
• To watch news, movies, TV shows fluently.
• To pass TOEFL, IELTS, etc.

One of the best ways to expand your vocabulary is to learn synonyms for words you already know. Synonyms are words and phrases that have similar or the same meaning.

For example, I know the word "to look". But you can look in different ways, and here you can expand your vocabulary with the words "to stare", "to view" and others.

How can you increase the number of synonyms in your English?

1. Read a lot of English

In addition to the fact that synonyms are often used in fiction to enhance the meaning of a word, the format also requires that you not repeat the same word, so authors are forced to use synonyms. This is where the context helps you to learn the word.

2. Use monolingual English dictionaries and thesaurus

My vocabulary has grown tremendously since I started using a monolingual dictionary instead of a bilingual one! And when you come across a word you don't understand, look it up first. In 99% of cases, a synonym with a more general meaning is used to interpret a word.

For example, the already mentioned word "to stare". The interpretation begins with the words "to look". What other synonyms are there?

Click on synonyms and related words or go to the thesaurus and you will be taken to the page of words that mean to look or not to look.

You have found a synonym. What should you do with it?

• First, I suggest rephrasing the sentence using the synonym. See if it changes the meaning of the sentence and if it is appropriate in this context. For example, "it is rude to stare vs It is rude to admire". They seem to be synonyms, but they have slightly different meanings. What about "it is rude to look at"?
• Secondly, think of your context for this word: what you or someone else could "look at for a long time" and under what circumstances. And now try using this synonym in a sentence. For example, "when I'm really tired, I don't watch a TV show, I just stare at the screen, and it doesn't matter what's on."

Many online dictionaries provide examples of how to use a word in a sentence. This familiarizes you with the different contexts in which the word is used.

3. Play games and do crossword puzzles in English

Any games that require you to guess or explain a word or make up a story increase your vocabulary and help you memorize words because of the many pleasant emotions that arise in the game. For example, Scrabble, Dixit, Wordle.

4. English synonym cards

If you're used to using flashcards to learn words, this time instead of translating new words, write synonyms. I highly recommend writing an example of usage in a sentence. Applications like Quizlet will help you to have flashcards at hand.

5. Mindmaps

They seem to be created for synonyms: you place the main word in the center, and synonyms and synonymous phrases branch out from it. Here is one of the free online services for creating mind maps.

6. Write with Grammarly

Grammarly not only helps you to write more correctly, but also makes sure you don't repeat yourself by suggesting different synonyms. I strongly recommend checking the suggested synonyms in a dictionary to make sure that the word can be used in your context.

7. Movies / TV shows / vlogs in English

It works in a similar way to reading books, with the only drawback being that it's a bit difficult to check the word because you have to hear it in the flow. Videos, on the other hand, provide not only sound, but you can also see the pronunciation visually. And this is a huge advantage if you also want to improve your pronunciation.

8. ChatGPT

Yes, you can simply ask artificial intelligence what are the synonyms for a word, its meaning, and ask for an example of its use. Also, AI does not forget to remind you that synonyms have different meanings or connotations, and therefore you should use them carefully in context. I suggest that you treat AI suggestions critically, because the responsibility for using the proposed text lies with the user.

Enriching your vocabulary with synonyms can be fun and enjoyable. Practice regularly, have fun, and you will be pleasantly surprised by the results!