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: hard
The word hard is both an adjective and adverb. Learners first meet the adjective at A1 with the meaning DIFFICULT, and the learner example for that sense is one that is no doubt voiced by many students! At A2, the meaning SOLID seems known and at B1, the meaning USING EFFORT is added, as in hard work. The phrase be hard on (someone) is included at B2, and illustrates how the core meaning of certain adjectives is often extended, as in this example: Don’t be too hard on him – he’s new to the job. The phrase be hard on (something), as in Stress can be hard on any relationship will be considered for the C levels, along with other phrases featuring the adjective. There are also further meanings and uses of the adverb to consider above B2.To view the full entry for hard on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
Word of the week: foot
The word foot is a relatively short entry up to B2 level. As a basic part of the body, it is taught early on and this meaning has been given A1, even though no learner examples have been found in the Cambridge Learner Corpus before A2 level (this could be to do with the tasks set for writing in A1 examinations). The phrase on foot is used a lot from B1 level, although not always accurately. A common learner error is by foot, with apparent confusion of the prepositional phrases for means of transport, such as by car, by train – see the entry for by in the Word of the Week Archive. At the C levels, our entry for foot will include some frequent idioms, for example put your foot down, put your foot in it, put your feet up, as well as further phrases such as the foot of (something) and set foot in/on.To view the full entry for foot on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
Word of the week: lose
The entry for the verb lose illustrates the wealth of information that is included in the EVP. The core meaning NOT FIND is known at A2 level and three further meanings appear to be acquired at B1. Six phrases with the verb are given at B2 level, including lose your life, lose your temper, lose touch together with the meaning TIME/OPPORTUNITY, as in We lost valuable time stuck in traffic. It is clear that this frequent verb is a useful one for learners to have an in-depth knowledge of, with a focus on its collocations at B2 and beyond. The C levels research will investigate whether additional phrases such as lose count of (something) and the informal use lose it are known. With regard to the latter phrase, it may be difficult to establish an accurate CEFR level until spoken learner data is available to the project. The phrase is quite colloquial in its use, as in the Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary example I was trying so hard to stay calm but in the end I just lost it. Do your students ever use it? Please get in touch with your views by using the Feedback button.To view the full entry for lose on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
