Vocabulary Progression: Useful Words
Click on the sub-link below to find an alphabetical, age appropriate list of useful words which will be explored in different tenses and word classes during Year 2.
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Vocabulary Progression: Word Maps
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Vocabulary Progression: Idioms
An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative or non-literal meaning to the phrase. Eg. "Piece of cake" is an expression for something that is very easy. The idioms we will focus on in Year 2 are:
Idiom | Meaning |
Bug eyed | Eyes bulging from amazement. |
Butter someone up | To be friendly to someone so that they do what you want. |
Cheap as chips | Something very inexpensive. |
Green fingers | Someone who likes gardening. |
Eats like a horse/ bird/ rabbit | Someone who eats a lot/ only a little/ lots of vegetables. |
In a tick | Do something very quickly. |
In hot water | In trouble. |
Nosey parker | Someone who is too inquisitive about someone/something. |
Not hurt a fly | Be caring to everything. |
Packed like sardines | Lots of people/things in a small space. |
Spill the beans | Talk about something that should be a secret. |
Tongue in cheek | Saying something in an insincere way. |
When pigs fly | Something impossible. |
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Vocabulary Progression: Common Prefixes and Suffixes.
As seen in our Grammar page a suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word and changes the word's meaning. A prefix does exactly the same however, the letter or group of letters are added to the beginning of the word.
To progress our vocabulary we need to understand why each one is used so what is the meaning of each prefix/ suffix. The prefix and suffixes we will work to be successful at understanding in Year 2 are:
| Prefix | Suffixes |
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Meaning: again/back | Meaning: in the present | Meaning: condition of | Meaning: state of being | Meaning: full of | Meaning: without | Meaning: how something is |
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Dictionary:
In Year 2 we begin to introduced using a dictionary to find the definition of a word to help understand it's meaning. This is a skill which will be explored more in Year 3 but we do enjoy searching an online dictionary. The following link is reliable children's dictionary and used in school:
Wordsmyth Kids Dictionary
If you would like more information on how to use a dictionary click the link below to watch the You Tube video which explains all the skills you need to know!
You Tube: Introduction to Dictionary Skills.
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Synonyms:
These are words that mean exactly or nearly the same as another word and are used to improve your writing, make it less repetitive and more exciting for the reader/ audience. We use a thesaurus which is similar to a dictionary to search for better words to use in our writing. Eg. A synonym for big: huge, enormous, gigantic, massive.
To explore words to improve your vocabulary you can search online using the link below:
Children's Online Thesaurus