Learning antonyms, words that have opposite meanings, for words you already know is a good way to expand your vocabulary.

Identifying antonyms while reading can be useful. Thinking of an antonym for a word you read and replacing it in the sentence to make the whole sentence mean the opposite thing is a good way to make sure you understand the word’s meaning.

Look at example 1.

1. Why do you look serious?
   Why do you look joyful?

If I were just learning the meaning of the word serious, I could replace it with the antonym joyful.

Then I’d ask myself: Does the sentence mean the opposite? If the answer is yes, I know that I understand the meaning of serious.

Let’s look at two more example of antonyms:

• It is warm today, but the weekend will be chilly.
• I can’t carry that heavy bag. Please give me one that is light.

For additional practice, you may complete Antonyms, page 12