A learner of English interested in expanding his vocabulary and developing his writing skills bought a thesaurus and used to refer to it whenever he had to complete a writing task. He attempted to use a variety of words, but did not use appropriate words in his writing. The problem was he did not know the distinction between a meaning and a synonym. Since his teacher had told him to avoid repetition and vary his word choice, he used to just substitute a synonym for a particular word.
For example, the synonyms of faith are: trust, belief, confidence, conviction, credence, reliance, dependence, hope, optimism and hopefulness among others. These words are not meanings of the word ‘faith’ and therefore any of these words cannot be used in the place of the word ‘faith’. These are synonyms or similar words with subtle differences in meaning. It is the context which tells us which words we should use. Let’s look at common examples of how the words faith, trust, confidence and hope are used in different contexts.
• Faith: There was no rain in a village for many months and the villagers were much worried. They decided to gather in a place and pray to God for rain. On the day of the special prayer, all the villagers gathered near a temple and prayed. Only a little girl had come with an umbrella. That is faith.
• Trust: A young couple is playing with their two-year old child. The mother throws the child in the air and the child expresses its joy by laughing out loud. It is not scared because it knows that its father is there to catch her. That is trust.
• Hope: Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning but still we set the alarm in our clock to wake up. That is hope.
• Confidence: We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of having no knowledge of how the future is going to be. That is confidence.
Based on the contexts above, we understand how the four words vary in meanings.
In the sentences 1 and 2 below, it is not possible to replace the word ‘trust’ with ‘confidence’ and similarly in sentences 3 and 4 it is not possible to replace the word ‘confidence’ with ‘trust’.
1. The Chief Minister’s reputation is at stake and he has lost the trust of the minority communities.
2. She has a great deal of trust in the judiciary.
3. I gained lots of confidence after attending the training.
4. I have confidence in his ability to crack the CAT exam.
The synonyms for love (noun) are: affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth, intimacy, attachment, endearment, passion and desire among others. These words vary in meanings and therefore cannot replace the word ‘love’ in a sentence.
A good speaker or writer is said to have good diction. Diction refers to the choice in speech and writing. Choosing the right word and using it appropriately to express the intended meaning in speech or writing is an important skill a learner of English should master. How to develop good diction? The second part of this article will answer the question.
— rayanal@yahoo.co.uk