Word of the Week
With its 120th word, Word of the Week has now come to an end. We hope you enjoyed this free feature and that it has given you an insight into the thinking and research behind the English Vocabulary Profile.
All 120 are still available to read in our archive, below. Each Word of the Week in the archive is followed by a link to the full entry for that word on the English Vocabulary Profile. To view the entries, you will need to subscribe to the EVP: to subscribe for free click here.
Word of the week: case
Learners first encounter the word case as something to carry things in, whether it is a pencil case or an item of luggage. However, the most frequent sense of this word is that of SITUATION, referring to a particular situation or example of something, as in in this case or a number of new cases of flu. This sense is given B1 in the EVP and it is recommended that the sense be taught at a fairly early stage, because learners will come across it a lot. There are also many useful phrases with case included in the EVP at B1 and B2 levels.To view the full entry for case on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
Word of the week: fine
Four parts of speech are included in the EVP entry for fine, with the adjective occurring from A1 level, the noun from B1 level, but the verb seemingly not known until B2 level. As an adverb, fine is primarily used in spoken English, so it is hard to be sure about the level here for the moment. However, a corpus of spoken learner data is in preparation.To view the full entry for fine on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
Word of the week: into
Learners at all levels often have problems with prepositions, but apparently less so with into. Five uses are included in the English Vocabulary Profile, starting at A1 level. Incidentally, the gadget referred to in the KET Learner example at CHANGE is a ‘language conveRteR’! The informal phrase to be into something is known from B1 level and is used with confidence by many learners.To view the full entry for into on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
