11 plus Synonyms questions

What a Synonyms question looks like

Synonyms is a vocabulary format used in 11 plus English work. One word is printed on its own in capitals, five options follow, and each option is a single word. Your child picks the one closest in meaning to the word in capitals. What makes it its own thing, rather than a version of the other vocabulary formats, is what sits around the answer: the four wrong options usually pull the opposite way or belong to a different idea altogether, so the answer is the only option that agrees with the word instead of reversing it. There is no sentence to read, no full definition to choose between, and no bracketed groups of words to compare across.

The words cover a wide range. Some are ones a Year 5 child already uses: brave, neat, tired, shout, discover, kind. Others are met in books rather than in conversation: paltry, tacit, quagmire, plethora, capricious. Adjectives are the most common, but verbs and nouns turn up just as often, so a question can rest on fortify, quench, malice or plight as easily as on gloomy.

Example one

OBSTACLE

• path
• reward
• shortcut
• helper
• barrier

Say what the word means in your own words first, before looking down the list. An obstacle is something in the way, something that stops you getting past. Now read all five options and ask which one says that. A barrier is a thing that blocks the way, so barrier and obstacle mean much the same.

The answer is barrier.

Path and shortcut are the tempting ones, and they are tempting for a reason: all three words belong to the idea of a journey. Being about the same subject is not the same as meaning the same thing. A path and a shortcut help you get somewhere, and an obstacle is what stops you.

Example two

FORTIFY

• weaken
• strengthen
• destroy
• harm
• undermine

If the word is unfamiliar, look inside it for a part you know. Fortify carries fort, and a fort is a strong, defended place, so fortify is likely to be about making something stronger. Strengthen says exactly that.

The answer is strengthen.

Notice what the other four have in common: weaken, destroy, harm and undermine all pull the same way as each other, and it is the opposite way from the answer. That is the usual shape of this format, and it is useful. When four options agree with one another and one stands apart, the one standing apart is very often the answer. Undermine is the option that catches children out, because it is the longest and most grown-up-sounding word on the list, and hard words attract a child looking at a hard question.

Example three

IMPROMPTU

• scripted
• scheduled
• unplanned
• prepared
• rehearsed

Scripted, scheduled, prepared and rehearsed are four ways of saying the same thing: worked out in advance. Unplanned is the odd one out, so it is the one to test. An impromptu speech is one given on the spot, with no preparation, which is unplanned.

The answer is unplanned.

Scheduled is the trap here, and it is a clever one. Impromptu looks and sounds like prompt, and a child who knows prompt means on time will drift towards a word about timing. The two words are not related in meaning, and this is worth saying out loud when it happens: looking inside a word is a good habit, but the part you find has to make sense of the whole word.

How to answer it

1. Say what the word in capitals means in your own words before reading any option. Once the five options are in your head they start arguing with you, and it is much harder to hold on to what you already knew.
2. Decide whether the word feels positive, negative or neutral. Malice, squalid and paltry feel bad. Jubilant, immaculate and bountiful feel good. That alone rules out two or three options on most questions.
3. If the word is unfamiliar, look inside it. Fortify holds fort, invigorate holds vigour, and inaudible holds audible. Then check that the part you found makes sense of the whole word.
4. Read all five options before choosing. Look for the group that agrees with itself, because those are usually the wrong ones, and give the option standing apart from that group your full attention.
5. Check the one you have chosen by using both words in the same short sentence. If they can swap places and the sentence still says the same thing, it is a real match.

Common mistakes

• Answering the opposite question. Because the wrong options usually pull the opposite way, the most attractive wrong answer is often a straight opposite: weaken for fortify, scarce for abundant, cheerful for morose. A child moving quickly between formats picks one and never doubts it.
• Choosing a word from the same subject. Path and shortcut for obstacle, storm and trickle for deluge, ember and spark for inferno. These share a topic with the word rather than a meaning, and telling those two things apart is most of the skill.
• Picking the hardest-looking word. On a difficult question, an unusual option feels like the serious answer. Undermine, negotiate and dilapidated all win votes they have not earned.
• Being caught by a look-alike. Capture sits under captivate, inhabit sits under inhibit, and persuade sits under coerce. Words that share letters do not have to share meanings, and the ones that nearly do are the hardest of all.
• Stopping at the first option that is roughly right. The answer is the closest match, not merely a related word, so the remaining options still need reading. Quench is satisfied by satisfy, not by any of the water words sitting near it.

How to practise 11 plus Synonyms questions

Reading is what actually builds this, because a synonym question turns on the shade of a word rather than its dictionary entry, and shades are picked up from seeing words used in real sentences. Alongside that, short and regular beats long and occasional, which is the pattern we set out in how much 11 plus practice a child needs each day. When your child gets one wrong, ask them to say what their chosen word means and then use both words in the same sentence: most of the time they hear the mismatch themselves, and that lasts far longer than being told the answer. 11+ Daily has a Synonyms project alongside the other eleven plus English formats, on laptop, tablet or phone, and the full set is listed on our 11 plus English practice page. Every question is original to 11+ Daily, nothing is a past paper and nothing is licensed from another publisher, and the bank is re-checked in rounds.

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