What does knowing a new word mean?

It is not enough just to know the meaning (or meanings of a word). You also need to know:

  • Which words it is usually associated with.

For this, try to learn new words in phrases not in isolatins:

Write down words that commonly go together. These are called collocations:

Adjectives+nouns
Verbs+ nouns
Nouns in phrases
Words+prepositions
  • Its grammatical characteristics.

Note a special grammatical characteristics of new words. For example, note irregular verbs, uncountable nouns or nouns that are only used in the prural.

  • How it is pronounced.

Note any special pronunciation problems with new words.

  • Whether it is formal, informal or neutral.

Make a note if the word is partucalarly formal or informal in character, in other words if it has a particular register.