Vocabulary, Sounds, Spelling and Idioms

Question 8 carries only five marks, and it is the cheapest five marks on the paper. Every item in it — a prefix, a phrasal verb, a homophone, an idiom, a stressed syllable — is something that can be learnt in advance and cannot be reasoned out on the day. A candidate who has spent twenty evenings on this unit answers the whole question in four minutes and walks into Question 1 with time in hand.

35.1 What Question 8 asks

Five one-mark items, drawn from this pool:

Item	Looks like
Word formation	Make a noun from decide.
Prefix or suffix	Add a prefix to legal to give the opposite.
Phrasal verb	Replace tolerate with a phrasal verb using put.
Collocation	Choose: he ___ a decision (made / did / took).
Homophone / confusable	Choose the right word: The affect / effect was immediate.
Spelling	Correct the spelling: recieve, occured.
Stress	Mark the stressed syllable: increase (verb).
Sound	Which word has a different vowel sound: bird, word, board?
Idiom or proverb	What does burn the midnight oil mean?

35.2 How English words are built

Almost every long English word is a root with something screwed on at each end. Take the root apart and the meaning falls out.

Model answer 35.2 — a word-formation item

Question. Complete the sentence with the correct form of the word in brackets: The committee's (decide) was announced on Friday, and nobody was (satisfy) with it. [1]

Model answer. decision and satisfied.

Why it scores. The first gap follows committee's and precedes a verb, so it must be a noun: decide takes -ion, and decide + ion gives decision, not ~~decidation~~. The second gap follows was and describes people, so it must be a past participle used as an adjective: satisfied, not satisfying — a thing is satisfying, a person is satisfied. Deciding the part of speech before choosing the suffix is the whole method.

Prefixes change the meaning; suffixes change the part of speech.

Prefix	Sense	Examples
un-, in-, im-, il-, ir-, dis-, non-	not	unfair, incomplete, impossible, illegal, irregular, disagree, non-stop
mis-	wrongly	misunderstand, misspell, misjudge
re-	again	rebuild, reconsider, reunite
over- / under-	too much / too little	overcharge, overslept / underpaid, underestimate
pre- / post-	before / after	prepaid, precaution / postpone, post-war
co- / inter- / trans-	together / between / across	co-worker, international, transplant
anti- / auto- / multi-	against / self / many	antiseptic, autobiography, multilingual

Suffix	Makes a	Examples
-ment, -ion, -ity, -ness, -ance, -ship	noun	judgement, decision, ability, kindness, performance, friendship
-er, -or, -ist, -ian	person noun	teacher, actor, novelist, musician
-ise / -ize, -fy, -en	verb	modernise, simplify, strengthen
-ful, -less, -ous, -al, -ive, -able	adjective	useful, careless, famous, national, attractive, readable
-ly	adverb	quickly, hardly, carefully

35.3 Collocations

A collocation is a pair of words that English happens to put together. There is no rule; there is only usage, and an examiner can hear the wrong one at once.

Verb	Goes with
make	a decision, a mistake, progress, an effort, arrangements, friends, noise
do	homework, the dishes, a favour, business, research, one's best
take	a photograph, an examination, part, care, a risk, medicine, a seat
have	a bath, breakfast, a look, a word with, an argument, fun
give	a speech, permission, advice, a hand, an example
pay	attention, a visit, a compliment, a fine, respect
heavy	rain, traffic, smoker, loss
strong	tea, coffee, wind, opinion, accent

35.4 Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
put up with	tolerate	We put up with the noise for a year.
put off	postpone	The meeting was put off till Sunday.
call off	cancel	The match was called off because of rain.
look into	investigate	The ward office promised to look into it.
look after	take care of	She looks after her grandmother.
bring up	raise (a child, a topic)	He was brought up in Ilam.
break down	stop working; lose control	The bus broke down at Mugling.
turn down	reject	They turned down my application.
carry out	perform	The team carried out a survey.
come across	meet or find by chance	I came across an old photograph.
get over	recover from	It took him a month to get over the fever.
give in	surrender	He argued for an hour and then gave in.
run out of	have no more left	We ran out of petrol at Dumre.
take after	resemble (a relative)	She takes after her mother.
set up	establish	They set up a cooperative in 2078.

35.5 Words that are easy to confuse

Pair	The difference
affect / effect	affect is the verb, effect the noun: the rain affected the crop; the effect was severe
advice / advise	noun with c, verb with s
practice / practise	same rule: daily practice (n.), to practise (v.)
principal / principle	the principal is a person or the chief thing; a principle is a rule
stationary / stationery	stationary = not moving; stationery = paper and pens
complement / compliment	complete it / praise it
lose / loose	lose a match; a loose knot
its / it's	possessive / it is
their / there / they're	belonging to them / in that place / they are
accept / except	receive / leave out
weather / whether	rain and sun / if
desert / dessert	sand; to abandon / the sweet course
lie / lay	lie down (no object); lay the book down (object)
beside / besides	next to / in addition to
later / latter	afterwards / the second of two

Homophones sound identical and are spelt differently: to / too / two, there / their, hear / here, write / right / rite, piece / peace, flour / flower, son / sun, sea / see, knew / new, whole / hole, bear / bare, wait / weight.

35.6 Spelling rules that actually pay

1. i before e except after c, when the sound is ee: believe, achieve, field — but receive, deceive, ceiling. Exceptions: seize, weird, either, neither, protein.
2. Doubling. In a word of one syllable ending consonant–vowel–consonant, double the final letter before -ing, -ed, -er: stop → stopping, big → bigger. In a longer word, double only if the last syllable is stressed: beGIN → beginning, preFER → preferred, but ENter → entering, BENefit → benefited.
3. Silent e. Drop it before a vowel suffix, keep it before a consonant suffix: hope → hoping but hopeful; use → usable but useful. Keep the e after c or g to protect the soft sound: notice → noticeable, courage → courageous.
4. y to i. After a consonant, y becomes i: happy → happiness, carry → carried, beauty → beautiful. After a vowel it does not: play → played, enjoy → enjoyed.
5. -ful as a suffix has one l: careful, useful, beautiful — though full as a word has two.
6. all-, well-, till- lose a letter in compounds: always, almost, welcome, until.

The eighteen most misspelt words in NEB answer books

accommodation · necessary · occurred · separate · definitely · received · beginning · committee · embarrass · immediately · government · privilege · maintenance · recommend · occasion · questionnaire · rhythm · conscience

35.7 Sounds: what the symbols mean

English spelling is unreliable, so dictionaries describe sounds with the International Phonetic Alphabet. You are not expected to transcribe; you are expected to recognise the common symbols and to hear the contrasts that Nepali does not make.

Symbol	As in	Nepali speakers often say instead
/θ/	think, bath	थ — an aspirated t, giving tink
/ð/	this, mother	द — a hard d, giving dis
/v/	very, have	व as w, giving wery
/z/	zoo, rose	ज, giving joo, roj
/f/	fan, office	फ, giving phan
/æ/	bad, cat	/e/, so that bad and bed sound alike
/ɜː/	bird, word	a full r, giving burd
/ə/	about, teacher	a full vowel — the schwa disappears

Two other habits worth naming. English allows consonant clusters that Nepali does not, so a vowel creeps in: film becomes fil-um, school becomes is-cool. And English word endings matter: the -ed of walked is /t/, of played is /d/, and of wanted is /ɪd/ — three different sounds from one spelling.

35.8 Stress, and the noun–verb shift

Every English word of more than one syllable has one syllable said louder, longer and higher. Put it in the wrong place and a listener may not recognise the word at all.

Model answer 35.3 — a stress item

Question. Mark the stressed syllable in present in each of these sentences. (a) They gave him a present. (b) The head will present the prizes. [1]

Model answer. (a) PREsent (b) preSENT

Why it scores. In (a) the word follows a and is the object of gave, so it is a noun, and a two-syllable noun of this pair takes its stress on the first syllable. In (b) it follows the auxiliary will, so it is a verb, and the stress moves to the second. The test is never the spelling; it is the job the word is doing in that sentence.

Other pairs that behave the same way: increase, object, subject, permit, rebel, contrast, suspect, insult, progress, protest, desert, produce, project.

Three suffixes that pull the stress to the syllable immediately before them:

Suffix	Pattern	Examples
-ion, -ial, -ious	stress the syllable before	eduCAtion, inDUStrial, inDUStrious
-ity, -ical, -ic	stress the syllable before	aBIlity, eCOnomical, sciEntific
-graphy, -logy, -ometer	stress the syllable before	phoTOgraphy, bioLOgy, thermOmeter

Suffixes that do not move the stress: -ness, -ment, -ly, -ful, -less, -er, -ing, -ed. So HAPpy → HAPpiness, GOVern → GOVernment.

35.9 Forty-four idioms and proverbs

Model answer 35.1 — how an idiom question is answered

Question. Explain the meaning of a blessing in disguise and use it in a sentence. [1]

Model answer. It means something that seems unfortunate at first but turns out to be lucky. Missing the early bus was a blessing in disguise, because it skidded off the road above Mugling.

Why it scores. The meaning is given in a full clause, not as a synonym; the example sentence makes the meaning visible without repeating the explanation; and the idiom is used in its fixed form, with no word changed.

Everyday idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
a blessing in disguise	a misfortune that turns out well	Losing that job was a blessing in disguise.
break the ice	start a conversation in an awkward moment	He broke the ice by asking about our school.
burn the midnight oil	study or work far into the night	She burnt the midnight oil all Chaitra.
call it a day	stop work for the time being	After nine hours we called it a day.
cut corners	do a job cheaply and badly	The contractor cut corners and the wall fell.
once in a blue moon	very rarely indeed	My uncle visits once in a blue moon.
let the cat out of the bag	give away a secret by accident	Sujata let the cat out of the bag about the party.
the ball is in your court	it is now your turn to act	I have replied; the ball is in their court.
bite off more than you can chew	take on more than you can manage	He took five tuitions and bit off more than he could chew.
under the weather	slightly unwell	She stayed at home, feeling under the weather.
hit the nail on the head	say exactly the right thing	You hit the nail on the head about the timetable.
sit on the fence	refuse to take either side	The committee sat on the fence for three meetings.

Idioms of trouble and effort

Idiom	Meaning	Example
a drop in the ocean	far too little for what is needed	Rs 5,000 is a drop in the ocean when the roof costs three lakh.
face the music	accept the unpleasant consequences	He copied, and had to face the music.
beat about the bush	avoid coming to the point	Stop beating about the bush and name the fee.
in the same boat	in the same difficulty as others	We are all in the same boat this week.
get cold feet	lose one's nerve at the last moment	He got cold feet the night before the interview.
cost an arm and a leg	be extremely expensive	That laptop cost an arm and a leg.
go the extra mile	do more than is required	The nurse went the extra mile and carried the medicine up.
the last straw	the small trouble that makes it unbearable	The cancelled bus was the last straw.
a wild goose chase	a hopeless and wasteful search	Finding the office without an address was a wild goose chase.
throw in the towel	give up	He threw in the towel after the third attempt.
add fuel to the fire	make a bad situation worse	His apology only added fuel to the fire.
on thin ice	in a risky position	After two warnings he is on thin ice.
make ends meet	earn just enough to live on	With two jobs she barely makes ends meet.
at the eleventh hour	at the very last moment	The funds arrived at the eleventh hour.

Idioms of people and judgement

Idiom	Meaning	Example
pull someone's leg	tease playfully	Do not worry, he was pulling your leg.
turn a blind eye	pretend not to notice	The invigilator turned a blind eye.
a storm in a teacup	a great fuss about a trifle	The row over the badge was a storm in a teacup.
take with a pinch of salt	not believe entirely	Take his account of the marks with a pinch of salt.
read between the lines	grasp what is implied but unsaid	Read between the lines: the letter is a refusal.
see eye to eye	agree completely	The brothers rarely see eye to eye about the land.
let sleeping dogs lie	leave an old quarrel alone	Do not raise the boundary case; let sleeping dogs lie.
bury the hatchet	end a quarrel and be friends	After ten years the families buried the hatchet.
steal someone's thunder	take the credit meant for another	She announced it first and stole his thunder.
keep at arm's length	avoid becoming close to	She keeps campus politics at arm's length.
out of the blue	completely unexpectedly	A letter came out of the blue from my old teacher.
put the cart before the horse	do things in the wrong order	Buying furniture before renting the shop is putting the cart before the horse.
jump on the bandwagon	join a thing because it is popular	Every shop jumped on the bandwagon and sold momos.
a piece of cake	very easy	The vocabulary section was a piece of cake.
play it by ear	decide as you go along	We had no plan for Pokhara; we played it by ear.
keep one's fingers crossed	hope for good luck	I am keeping my fingers crossed for the result.

Proverbs

Proverb	What it teaches
A stitch in time saves nine.	Repair a small fault now and you avoid a large one later.
Don't count your chickens before they hatch.	Do not rely on a result before you have it.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.	Too many people managing one job ruin it.
Where there is a will there is a way.	Determination finds a method.
Rome was not built in a day.	Anything worth building takes time.
Empty vessels make the most noise.	Those who know least talk loudest.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.	Constant moving prevents you from settling or saving.
Necessity is the mother of invention.	Hardship forces people to think of new ways.
Look before you leap.	Consider the consequences before acting.
Birds of a feather flock together.	People of similar kinds keep company.
Make hay while the sun shines.	Use an opportunity while it lasts.
Actions speak louder than words.	What people do proves more than what they say.

35.10 Marking checklist for Question 8

	Check	Mark at risk
1	Is my answer the part of speech the question asked for?	Word formation
2	Have I spelt the derived word correctly after the suffix rule (happy → happiness)?	Spelling
3	Negative prefix: im- before m/p, il- before l, ir- before r?	Prefix
4	Phrasal verb with a pronoun object — have I split it (turn it down)?	Phrasal verb
5	Collocation: make a mistake, take an exam, tell a lie, heavy rain?	Collocation
6	Confusables: advice/advise, affect/effect, its/it's, principal/principle?	Vocabulary
7	Stress: is the word a noun or a verb in this sentence?	Stress
8	Have I written the idiom in its exact fixed form?	Idiom
9	Does my example sentence show the meaning rather than repeat it?	Idiom
10	Have I answered all five items? None of them is worth skipping.	All

Chapter summary

• Question 8 is 5 one-mark items: word formation, prefix or suffix, phrasal verb, collocation, confusable, spelling, stress, sound, idiom.
• Prefixes change meaning; suffixes change part of speech. Learn one root and its whole family together.
• im- before m and p, il- before l, ir- before r, in- otherwise, un- with plain English words.
• Collocations have no rules, only usage: make a mistake, do homework, take an exam, tell a lie, heavy rain, strong tea.
• A phrasal verb with a pronoun object must be split: turn it down. Three-word phrasal verbs are never split.
• Spelling: i before e except after c; double the final consonant only when the last syllable is stressed; drop silent e before a vowel suffix; y → i after a consonant.
• Nepali speakers substitute for /θ, ð, v, z, f, æ, ɜː/ and lose the schwa; the -ed ending has three sounds — /t/, /d/, /ɪd/.
• Two-syllable noun–verb pairs shift stress: REcord (n.) but reCORD (v.). -ion, -ity, -ic, -graphy, -logy pull the stress to the syllable before them.
• An idiom is a fixed form. Change one word and it is no longer an idiom.

Practice questions

Vocabulary and word formation (1 mark each)

1. Make a noun from decide. [1]
2. Make an adjective from courage. [1]
3. Add a prefix to responsible to give the opposite. [1]
4. Add a prefix to mature to give the opposite. [1]
5. Choose: She ___ a serious mistake. (did / made / took) [1]
6. Choose: May I ___ your advice? (have / do / make) [1]
7. Replace tolerate with a phrasal verb using put. [1]
8. Replace investigate with a phrasal verb using look. [1]

Spelling, sounds and stress (1 mark each)

9. Correct: recieve, occured, seperate [1]
10. Add -ing: begin, enter, hope [1]
11. Add -ness: happy, lonely [1]
12. Which word has a different vowel sound: bird, word, board? [1]
13. Mark the stressed syllable: increase used as a verb. [1]
14. Mark the stressed syllable: photograph, photographer, photographic. [1]
15. How is the -ed pronounced in wanted, walked, played? [1]

Confusables and idioms (1 mark each)

16. Choose: The medicine had no ___. (affect / effect) [1]
17. Choose: Our ___ addressed the assembly. (principal / principle) [1]
18. Give the meaning of burn the midnight oil and use it in a sentence. [1]
19. Give the meaning of a drop in the ocean and use it in a sentence. [1]
20. Complete the proverb and explain it: Too many cooks ___. [1]

Answers

1. decision.

2. courageous — the e is kept to protect the soft g.

3. irresponsible — ir- before r.

4. immature — im- before m.

5. made — make a mistake.

6. have — have a word, have your advice; the usual collocation is take advice or have your advice.

7. put up with.

8. look into.

9. receive, occurred, separate.

10. beginning (last syllable stressed, so doubled), entering (first syllable stressed, so not doubled), hoping (silent e dropped).

11. happiness (y → i after a consonant), loneliness.

12. board — bird and word are both /ɜː/; board is /ɔː/.

13. inCREASE — the verb takes second-syllable stress.

14. PHOtograph · phoTOgrapher · photoGRAPHic — the stress moves each time because the suffix changes.

15. wanted /ɪd/, walked /t/, played /d/.

16. effect — it is a noun here.

17. principal — a person.

18. To work or study late into the night. He burnt the midnight oil for a month before the board examination.

19. An amount far too small for what is needed. A hundred sacks of rice was a drop in the ocean after the flood.

20. …spoil the broth. When too many people manage one piece of work, they ruin it.