Grade 6 Primary English Synonyms And Antonyms – Examples Of Synonyms Notes
Primary English — Synonyms and Antonyms
Subtopic: Examples of Synonyms (Age 11, Kenya)
What are synonyms? Synonyms are words that have the same, or almost the same, meaning. We use synonyms to make our writing more interesting and to avoid repeating the same word.
Quick tip:
Synonyms are not always exactly the same — some are stronger or weaker. For example, "big" and "huge" are similar but "huge" shows a larger size than "big".
Common examples of synonyms
- Adjectives — big / large, small / little, happy / joyful, noisy / loud, quiet / silent
- Verbs — begin / start, help / assist, look / see, finish / end, tell / inform
- Nouns — teacher / instructor, house / home, car / vehicle, friend / companion
- Places / things (Kenyan context) — minibus / van (you might also hear "matatu" — a local name)
Examples in sentences
- Our teacher is kind. — Our instructor is kind.
- The bag is heavy. — The bag is weighty.
- We will start the lesson. — We will begin the lesson.
- He was very happy to see his friend. — He was very joyful to see his friend.
Remember: Use synonyms to make sentences better, but check meaning and form. Some synonyms change the sentence structure (for example: sleepy → drowsy, both adjectives; but "to sleep" is a verb).
Short practice — match the synonyms ✏️
Match column A with the correct word in column B.
- A. small
- B. begin
- C. quiet
- D. help
- E. house
- assist
- home
- start
- silent
- little
Show answers ✅
A → e (small = little), B → c (begin = start), C → d (quiet = silent), D → a (help = assist), E → b (house = home)
Short activity — use synonyms in your writing
Write 3 sentences about your school. Try not to repeat the same word twice — use synonyms instead.
Example: The pupils were excited about the picnic. The children were joyful as they lined up to board the minibus.
Well done! Keep practising synonyms — they help you become a better reader and writer.