Grade 7 English FAMILY – READING:SYNONYMS AND ANTONYMS Notes
READING: SYNONYMS AND ANTONYMS — FAMILY (English)
Age: 12 • Context: Kenyan families (parents, grandparents, aunties/uncles, siblings). Topic focus: find and use synonyms and antonyms in short reading passages about family.
What are synonyms and antonyms?
- Synonyms — words that have the same or very similar meanings. Example: "mum" and "mother".
- Antonyms — words that have opposite meanings. Example: "older" and "younger".
Short reading passage (read carefully)
My mum and dad live in Nairobi with my elder sister. Every weekend, my grandparents (grandma and grandpa) visit from the village. I am the youngest child in the family, but I love helping my auntie and uncle when they come. My parents are married and they take good care of me.
Family words — common synonyms (same meaning)
- mother → mum, mom, mama
- father → dad, papa
- grandmother → grandma, granny
- grandfather → grandpa, granddad
- aunt → aunty, auntie (common in Kenya)
- child → kid
- parent → guardian (sometimes used)
- sibling → brother or sister (sibling is a general word)
Family words — common antonyms (opposites)
- older ↔ younger
- eldest ↔ youngest
- son ↔ daughter (opposite genders)
- married ↔ single
- child ↔ adult
How to find synonyms and antonyms in a reading passage
- Look for a word you don’t know and read the sentence again to see its meaning from context.
- Look for other words in the sentence or nearby sentences that repeat the idea — these can be synonyms.
- For antonyms, look for contrast words like but, however, although, or words that show opposite ideas (older vs younger).
- Try replacing the word with a suspected synonym to check if the sentence still makes sense.
Exercises — practice
-
From the passage, write one synonym for each word:
- a) mum → ________
- b) grandparents → ________
- c) youngest → ________
- d) auntie → ________
-
Find the antonyms (opposites) for these words (use family context where possible):
- a) elder → ________
- b) married → ________
- c) child → ________
-
Match (draw a line) or write the correct pair:
- 1. dad — ( ) mom
- 2. grandma — ( ) grandpa
- 3. brother — ( ) sister
-
Fill in the blank with a synonym from the box: (mum, dad, granny, kid)
"My ______ lives with us. She is my mother's mother."
Answers (check your work)
- Exercise 1:
- a) mum → mother (or mom)
- b) grandparents → grandma and grandpa (or grandparents = relations)
- c) youngest → smallest in age / junior / younger (antonym: eldest)
- d) auntie → aunt (or aunty)
- Exercise 2:
- a) elder → younger
- b) married → single
- c) child → adult
- Exercise 3:
- 1 — dad: mom (pair is father/mother)
- 2 — grandma: grandpa
- 3 — brother: sister
- Exercise 4: "My granny lives with us. She is my mother's mother." (granny = grandmother)
Tips for learners (quick)
- In Kenyan English, you may hear "aunty" and "uncle" as friendly forms — these are synonyms of "aunt" and "uncle".
- Use a dictionary for exact synonyms — sometimes two words look similar but have small meaning differences.
- Practice by reading family stories and spotting words that repeat the same idea (synonyms) or show opposites (antonyms).
Enjoy reading family stories and try to find more synonyms and antonyms. 👨👩👧👦 🧓 👧