Having state above mentioned, this is still a sage advice to test words you’ve probably already come across or heard somewhere. So below are the Top 10 GRE words beginning with the letter ‘A.’ Words are illustrated in such manner that you will learn them without inducing any aberrant psychological states.

Amiable (adj.) – friendly; good natured likable

Amiable is also very similar to amicable, another common GRE word. However amiable is commonly applied to people or relationships. Though, sometimes it is used for occasions too. While, amicable is not applied to people at all but to human interactions and their outcomes.

Affable (adj.) – easy to talk to; gentle and gracious

Affable is similar to amiable. The differences are subtle and as far as the GRE is concerned you can treat them as the same word. Like amiable, this word is great to use to describe people. An affable person is easy to converse; approachable; amicable.

Attenuate (v) – Reduced or weakened, as in strength, value. to taper off/become thinner

Attenuate can refer to both abstract and tangible things (e.g. you must attenuate feeling of animosity towards your peers to become a gentle being; the rod is attenuated at one end).

Anomalous (adj.) – not normal, out of the ordinary

This is simply the adjective of anomaly, which is a noun. Anomalous can be used in cases to describe something that is not typical, like this Rainy summers that we are witnessing here in northern India.

Ambiguous (adj.) – open to more than one interpretation

Let’s say I have two friends, Mike and Paul. Let’s say I have invited one friend to my house, then that is ambiguous. Who do I mean? Paul or Mike?

Shipra Srivastava

Sequester

Segregated, providing privacy or seclusion; Example, 1-When a person becomes depressed, s/he tries to sequester himself from the society 2-  It is not right to sequester certain people on the basis of their caste and creed.

Entitlement

Right granted by law or contract, claim; Example, 1- This is every child’s entitlement to get their parents’ support. 2- Only few are entitled to get free pass.

Tumultuous

Noisy, disorderly; Example, 1- Last night there was so much tumultuous situation in my neighborhood . It seemed like some mischief was going on. 2- When I lost my permanent job that was tumultuous period of my life.

Pedantic

Marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects; Example, 1-The professor’s lecture was so pedantic that students found it tough to retain in it. 2- Some people are so pedantic in performing religious rituals that they create havoc for everybody.

Notoriety

The quality of being notorious; Example, He had an ambition to be celebrity fashion designer instead he had gained notoriety for being fashion fopa.

Soporific

Tending to induce sleep, drowsy; Example, You feel sleepy after taking cough medicine because generally all cough syrups have soporific properties.

Shipra Srivastava

Through this post I have tried to come up with some effective vocabulary learning tactics. Read the following words with the strategy associated to lock them in your memory permanently.

Break a word into meaningful sentences

Abridge (verb)

Abridge means shorten; if you have read this word for first time then I think there would be no problem in learning the meaning of this word. But, tough part is how you will retain the meaning of this word. Well, try to learn this word with following tactics:

Abridge can be break as     a and bridge

Now construct a statement, bridges are made to shorten the distances. I think now you will not forget the word abridge and its corresponding meaning.

Affluent ( adj )

Affluent means wealth

Affluent can be broken as   I flew went

Well, now construct a sentence, only rich people can afford to fly by airplane.

Attach some body movement with word

Believe it or not, this is very effective. When you attach a body movement with the word then you learn that word faster and retain that word longer. Let me tell you how this works. When you find some new word then you need to make some physical gesture or facial expression or any physical movement. But make sure that gesture or facial expression should compliment the new word. Like if you are learning a new word baleful which means harmful.

Harmful is kind of negative word so when you are learning the word baleful associate it with a facial expression which conveys a nasty feeling. (What type of facial expression you make when you see something dirty). So next time when you hear the word baleful then the associated gesture automatically pops in your mind. And, you can recognize the meaning with that gesture. This works very much like a picture dictionary.

We are eager to hear from you on this post. Kindly leave your valuable suggestions beneath this blog.

Shipra Srivastava

Team Learnwordlist.com

Reversion (noun)

Reversion means return to previous state (condition, belief, or interest). Eg. The girl’s reversion to old school was an indication of her exceptional dedication towards studies.

Untenable (adjective)

Untenable means unable to believe or maintain. Eg. Though, she is good natured person but today her behavior was untenable.

Dissent (noun)

Dissent means disagreement within an organization.  Eg. At the time of approving the proposal there were many voices of dissent.

Travesty (noun)

Travesty means comedy that makes mockery of something (parody). Eg. Their production of ‘Julius Caesar’ was the worst – it was a travesty.

Vocabulary Enhancing tips

A Research has proved that human mind retains faces better than anything else. So always try to associate a word with Picture/ face to store in your memory enduringly. Eg. If you are learning word ‘amicable’ (means friendly) you can associate amicable with some of your favorite friend. This way the face of your dear friend will remind you word amicable.

Discussing words with your peers is also an effective way of improving your vocabulary. All you require to do form a group but make sure all group members should be of fairly equal ability. So there will be no fear of one dominating other.

There are many vocabulary enhancing softwares available in market. Some are very effective but be careful before buying such software do not fall prey to any misleading advertisement. Always check the demo version before buying the actual software.

Taking test from time to time is also very an effective way of learning and enhancing your word power.

Kindly leave your comment beneath this article and feel free to ask any query related to this post.

Shipra Srivastava

Team Learnwordlist.com

Accentuate means to stress or intensify. Let’s see a sentence using the word ‘accentuate’: she raised her hand in order to accentuate her point. (She raised her hand because she wanted to stress her point)

Abeyance means a temporary suspension. Let’s see a sentence using the word ‘abeyance’: He kept his temper in abeyance for several moments, when he found out what she had done. (He had to hold his anger when he found out the mischief done by her).

Abstemious means taking food in moderation. Let us see its use in sentence: My father takes a very abstemious diet due to his poor health conditions.

Abet means to approve or support any action or plan .He can no longer abet ( support ) your silly plan of action.

Revision techniques

Write it down…reread it…speak it out loud. Memorize and practice words more and more. It is a very important rule of revision.

Time Table is an important part of Words Revision .You can make your own schedule for revising word list like: which word list has to be revised when, and on which wordlist you require to work again. By seeing your timetable you can understand your strengths and weaknesses.

Flash Cards are pieces of cards with a word on one side and its definition on the other side. The idea behind this revision technique is that it helps connect the word to its definition in the student’s mind. This is a quick and simple way of effective revision.

Online Flash Cards

If you have to learn words through mnemonics, [you have learnt  word aberrant following way Sounds like (ab aur rent = now more rent ), if you are told to pay extra rent then the stipulated one then this will be an Aberrant behavior of your land lord ] then do not forget to revise all the points of mnemonic.

Of course, self testing is also an effective way of revision.

Take this test and see how many words you have retained from the above mentioned words

Most importantly, do revision on a weekly basis or every fortnight. Do not try to revise all at one go.

Yes, revision is a stressful part of study, but it doesn’t need to be a source of fear or trepidation. Follow the techniques suggested here. Surely the stress and fear associated with revision will reduce. Kindly do share with us your views comments underneath this blog.

Shipra Srivastava

Team Learnwordlist.com

Look at the following sentences:

1. Turn to the left. You will then see the building.

2. Peter took his food. He went to school.

Instead form these sentences in following manner:

1. Turning to the left, you will see the building.

2 . Having taken his food, Peter went to school.

“When doer of actions is doing two action simultaneously then form these types of sentences by ‘verb + ing’ ( example 1) and when doer of action has done the second action after finishing the first action then form these kinds of sentences by ‘having + verb 3 form’ (example 2 ).”

1. The moon had set. New day has arrived.

2. The deal was signed .All were happy.

Instead form these sentences in following manner:

1. The moon having set, new day has arrived.

2. The deal having being signed, all were happy.

“When doers of action of both sentences are different and it seems from there verbs that second action has fallowed the first action then form sentence this way.”

1. He failed many times. He hopes to score well.

2. She reached the office.Then she finished her work.

3. You helped me. Otherwise I can not do this.

Instead form these sentences following way:

1. In spite of having failed many times, he hopes to score well.

2. After reaching office, she finished her work.

3. I can not do this with out your help.

“When you are joining two contradicting sentences then use ‘inspite of’(example 1), if there is ‘then’ in sentence use ‘after’ to join sentences(example 2) .If there is ‘otherwise’ then use’ but for’ or ‘ without’(example 3) to join sentence” .

1 Somebody has broken the chair. I do not know him.

2 He has done something. No one knows it.

3. He has gone to which place. I do not know it.

Instead form these sentences in following way:

1 I do not know who has broken the chair.

2 No one knows what he has done.

3 I do not know where he has gone.

“Use ‘who’, ’what’, ’where’ in place of ‘somebody’,’ something’, ‘some place’ respectively to join sentences.

Some common errors in sentence formation:

1. Grammar and punctuations errors.

2. Spelling mistakes.

3. Improper capital letter usages.

4. Improper joining of sentences.

Do bear in mind that if you are habitual of making short, simple sentences then you need to start working on forming complex sentences because this will give you an edge for AWA section. Do not use colloquial language in the AWA essay. Along with these pay attention on above mentioned errors as well. If master all these skills then nothing can stop you in scoring well in AWA section.

Do share with us your views on this blog in a feedback section below this blog.

Wishing you success ahead!!!

Regards,

Shipra Srivastava

Learnwordlist.com

* Purchase a good pocket dictionary regardless if you already have a large one, and always carry it with you.

* Regular reading of newspapers, novels, books, magazines and other formal and informal manuscripts can surely help you in improving vocabulary.

* Be alerted for new words and when come across some new word then consult your dictionary, both for its meaning and the nearest opposite meaning word.

* Try to guess the meaning of a new word by analyzing it’s root, stem, suffixes then cross check your guessed meaning with dictionary meaning. This exercise will surely help you in learning new words.

* Try to form all the possible sentences by using all the possible meaning of new words.

* Use mnemonics or memory trick to learn the meaning of a new word.

* Try to relate a new word with words that you already know. For example, Impropriety meaning not proper other words related to this can be improperness, unsuitable, indecorum. Now make a list of words that can be considered as Impropriety.

* Play word games like: Scrabble, Boggle, Mad Libs and do solve crossword puzzles.

* Always learn vocabulary with its contextual meaning as isolated vocabulary can create confusion. For example, take a word ‘garnish’ ,which you may have heard in many cookery shows ,when chef says ,” Now garnish Parsley with boiled potatoes. This context clarifies the meaning of garnish.

* A genuine interest in words is mandatory to improve vocabulary. Never let go any opportunity to learn a new word.

* Make flashcards of the words and run through them regularly. You can also visit learnwordlist.com for on line flash cards.

* Create images of word using your imagination.

* Simply talking with other peoples and watching television can help you in learning new words.

* Last but not the least take all the vocabulary test on learnwordlist.com .And do register yourself with learnwordlist.com for regular vocabulary updates.

Regardless, what technique you follow train yourself beforehand to deal with all types of vocabulary questions that may appear in GRE exam. With the intention of excellent GRE score, you will need to learn words at a much faster rate. Now, I hope you must have found some word of advice to improve your vocabulary. Kindly share your views by posting your comment in feedback section, below this blog.

Wishing you success!!

Regards,

Shipra Srivastava
Learnwordlist.com

Subject Verb Agreement

A Subject should always agree with its Subject in number

Eg: The library is very useful for studying

Split Infinitives

Avoid splitting infinitives, i.e. placing a word between to and the verb following

Eg: to quickly go, to cautiously enter (wrong usage)

Participles

Participles should be used with caution. Unrelated participles mess up the meaning of the

Sentence

Eg: Wrong Sentence: Walking along the road a scorpion stung me.

Right Sentence: Walking along the road I was stung by a scorpion

Closing Participles

Expressions like hoping to hear from you soon and looking forward to hearing from you

Instead say:

Eg: I/We hope to hear from you soon.

I/We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Singular Collective Nouns

A singular collective noun always takes a singular verb

Eg: A committee of eight members is to be formed.

Preposition

Avoid ending a sentence with a preposition.

Eg: Is there a book which I can find the information in? (is a wrong usage)

Grammar Tip: remove ‘in’

Either/neither/each/every/any take singular verbs

Eg: Each student was given an identity card

None should be treated as a plural

Eg: None of the applicants are satisfactory

Kind/sort/type are all singular nouns

Eg: This kind of problem was common in the past

That sort of thing is very common

Less/fewer

Less is used for quantity

Fewer is used for number

Eg: Less money should be spent on this project

Fewer than a dozen enquiries have been received

Between/among

Between is used for two things inevitably

Among is used for group

Eg: The rope was pulled between the two poles

Use Shall after I/We in statements expressing simple future tense

In statements expressing determination or intention use Will

Would means ‘if you are willing to’

Should means ‘if you are able to’

Try constructing sentences using these rules. You can share them all here and get them

evaluated by experts.

Wishing you Success!!

Anu Veluri

Manager- learnwordlist.com

Here are some common queries that bother students. The questions go with answers in order to help you precisely.

How do I choose a course?

Some students are born with passion for a certain subject. Such students are blessed indeed. But it is no sin if you are not born with such inclination. You have a myriad of disciplines to choose from. You just need to make a choice. What inspires you? Which Subject you feel satisfied delving deeper into? First make basic analyses of these things. Once you have answers to these questions. Look into the aspects that are mentioned below.

Qualifications – Why do I need them?

Qualification is a testimonial that vouches for your skills, the skills that you developed. It shows that you are an industrious person. It also proves your responsibility and commitment towards a career. Any University stipulates certain qualifications as an eligibility condition for admission. Relevant work experience, project work and certain technical skills might also compliment your qualification.

What type of course should I do?

Your motives will choose the best course for your aims and goals. If you are career driven you will need a course relevant to your profession. If you are gregarious then opt for a vocational course.

If you want a career in tailoring or carpentry you need to join a vocational course. If you are basically inclined to researching, teaching then you need to pursue a course in academics. The difference between the two is that in a vocational course you need to do work with hands and work in collaboration with others. Whereas an academic course lets you present arguments, research and analyze.

Which type of study suits me the best?

Do you aspire to work immediately after completion of your studies? Or do you want to delve deeper into the topic that intrigues you? I mean are you interested in researching and things like that. Knowing what you want is very important. You should also check your own suitability to pursue a specific course. For example you can never be a good researcher if you cannot pay attention to details. If you are tied up to responsibilities and are working and still aspire to pursue a course that interests you, you can register in any distance learning course that’s of your choice. Courses that complement your current job and help you understand the field better.

How do I know if it’s a good course?

This is very very important. You need to know the viability of the course you plan to pursue. There is absolutely no use pursuing the course that doesn’t not help you grow career per se. You need to be very judicious while planning a course. And while doing it you should also seek a lot of professional advice. I seriously suggest you to do a small research on the current job market for that particular course, and the future too.

How can I be sure I’m making the right choice?

Be clear of your goal. If you’ve decided on a particular job, get an idea of what’s the job is about and if you’ll like it. Read careers information, buy trade magazines, and speak to people currently working in the job. This research is well worth it. It’s better to take your time rather than do a course that leads to a job you might not really want. You’ll ensure that you don’t waste any time and money.

What I am going to do after the course?

Plan for when you finish. If you are aiming for a particular job, do voluntary work while studying. If you’re doing an English course and want to be a journalist, you could write for the student newspaper or work for the radio. Having a plan will help you make the most of the opportunities that come your way when you’re on the course.

I am sure this blog helps you plan the right University course for a compelling academic career. For any clarification please do contact us. In fact you can leave your comments underneath this blog.

Wishing you all success in abundance!!

Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager- learnwordlist.com

(Inspiration drawn from Diana Hopkins and Pauline Cullen)

Let us now ask some fundamental questions to ourselves:

u    Why do you think you have fewer strengths worth celebrating?

• Because everyone has always pointed out your shortcomings – as you do yourself.
• Because you rarely get any positive feedback for a job well done
• Because the things you do well are so familiar to you that you take them for granted.
• Because you have learned to focus only on your mistakes

All these things have definitely pulled down your confidence levels. You might have felt utterly depressed about these things. But let me tell you, you are not bad at all. It’s only that you never considered the strengths you own. But unfortunately all these strengths lie within you dormant because you never took an account of them. Never considered them seriously. You need to evaluate your strengths and perhaps seek some guidance too from a good friend of yours. In s

Audit of strengths:

When have you last done a full audit or stocktaking of your strengths? This is not as easy as it seems because you will have discounted your strengths. It is a task indeed. Because you have started underestimating your strengths, and have grown lazy with all the life processes. You have become a dormant survivor. Try doing these things.

• Find a good listener to help you review everything you have done.
• Others may be more objective about what you can do than you can be.
• Discuss work and non-work projects you have been involved in over the last 2 years.
• Strive to avoid discounting the other person’s attempts to name your strengths

You will now certainly feel your strengths. Once you know them try to focus on them more and more to improve the quality of your life. And to see your score catapult in any exam that you take.

How can you appropriately celebrate your strengths?

• Make a list of your strengths and read it to yourself regularly, adding to it often.
• Praise yourself for what you have achieved. ( Never mind if others do not praise you)
• Compare yourself favorably with peers who have not done what you have done.
• Review your strengths whenever you are feeling defeated.

How does this exercise help your self esteem or confidence? Have you uncovered some strengths you had overlooked? Are you getting better at stressing the positive? If so please do share your experience with us. And please do share the techniques you adopt to identify your strengths. We are waiting anxiously for your response.

Wishing you success!!

Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager- learnwordlist.com