Vanessa walked very slowly as she climbed the hill.
Have you ever thought if there is a word that denotes the action of walking slowly? Well, there is. The word ‘trudge’ means to walk slowly and wearily will slow and heavy steps. The sentence can therefore be rewritten as Vanessa trudged as she climbed the hill. Don’t you think this word expresses the action exactly, and the sentence looks better? This is the power of vocabulary. Knowing the right words and where to use them will make your writing a lot better and clearer.
Building your vocabulary can be a great way to improve your language skills. However, not knowing where to start can make the task a little harder for you. So here are some tips on what you can do to build your vocabulary. The first step is to learn the names of the things you see around you. There are many living and nonliving things that you get to see on a daily basis. Names of flowers, birds names, animals names, names of different colours, names of places, etc., will add to the list of nouns in your vocabulary. This will not only help you improve your vocabulary range but also help you identify every little thing you see all around you.
Once you have learnt various nouns, try learning adjectives that classify the nouns that you have learnt. For example, if you learn the word ‘human being’, find out all possible adjectives that you can use to describe more about a human being. Tall, skinny, short, plump, stout, muscular, beautiful, pretty, smart, handsome, etc., are words that describe the physical appearances of a human being. Likewise, words such as clever, kind, honest, generous, stingy, poor, friendly, reliable, devout, etc., are words that describe the qualities of a human being. You can try doing the same with every noun you come across.
Most English language learners do not make an effort to learn a lot of verbs; they just try to manage with the verbs they learn initially. Now, instead of going through a number of verbs aimlessly, what you can do is find verbs that represent actions associated with the nouns you have learnt already. For instance, if ‘human being’ is the noun you have learnt, look for words that denote actions done by the human being. Sit, stroll, jump, run, stand, walk, skip, squat, talk, murmur, shout, care, cook, etc., are examples of such verbs.
One effective method to keep track of your vocabulary is to create a table or list like the following.
| Noun | Verb | Adjective |
| Dress | BuyWearStitchDesignPurchase | RedLongShortFloralSleeveless |
| Baby | CryFeedCrawlNurseDandle | CalmCuteTinyCrankyDelightful |
| Bird | CawChirpBroodAlightMigrate | FledgedMigratoryGregariousOmnivorousWeb-footed |
Another way is to learn synonymous words of verbs and adjectives. The only thing that you have to take care of when doing this is to also learn the meaning of the synonymous words so that you know what they mean exactly. Check out the table below.
| Adjective | Synonyms | Verb | Synonyms |
| Happy | MerryJoyfulElatedEcstaticCheerful | Jump | JoltSpringPlungePouncePlummet |
| Sad | UnhappySorrowfulDepressedMelancholicHeartbroken | Eat | ChewGorgeDevourSwallowGormandise |
| Clever | BrainyAstuteBrilliantDexterousQuick-witted | Fly | FlitGlideHoverFlutterAviate |
| Thin | PunyLeanGauntSkinnyRawboned | Talk | GossipWhisperLectureDiscussCommunicate |
Vocabulary building is not a day’s task. You have to be determined, learn new words regularly and also make appropriate use of the words you learn in your conversations. Association is the best way to learn as it will also help you remember the words easily. So, what are you waiting for? You know what to do; start now.