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: board
The word board is both a noun and a verb. Learners first meet the noun at A1, in the obvious classroom context of a surface on the wall that their teacher writes on. Two further noun senses are known at A2, INFORMATION and GAMES, and the phrase on board, within the topic of Travel, seems to be learned at B1 along with the related verb sense GET ON, as in She boarded the plane. The noun sense MEALS, as in full/half board, is given B2 level. Ongoing English Profile project research suggests that learners acquire the more figurative uses of board, including the idioms take sth on board and across the board, at the C levels.To view the full entry for board on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
Word of the week: use
The word use is extremely common in English. Note that because the pronunciation is different for the verb and the noun, this is provided at each part of speech rather than alongside the headword itself. Two verb senses are given, PURPOSE at A1 and REDUCE at B1, as well as the phrasal verb use up sth or use sth up at B2. Learners appear to know the core meaning of the noun USING from A2 level, with two further senses PURPOSE and WORD included at B1 level, and three phrases at B2 level: be (of) any/some use, be (of) no use, and be no use doing sth.To view the full entry for use on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
Word of the week: once
The word once is a adverb and a conjunction. According to the learner evidence, the two parts of speech are not learned simultaneously. The earliest meaning for learners is ONE TIME, as in once a week, which is known at A2 level, whereas the sense of PAST is acquired at B1, as in the learner example I once went to England… . Several phrases with the adverb once are included in the EVP, such as at once, once again and once more at B1, and for once and (every) once in a while at B2. The use of once as a conjunction, meaning ‘as soon as’, is at B2 level.To view the full entry for once on the English Vocabulary Profile, please click here.
