Compare meanings
A word-classification question gives five words. Four share a meaning or property; one falls outside that group. Look for a category, function, kind of change or quality.
Read all five before deciding. A word can have several meanings, so use its ordinary meaning in this group. Its spelling or length does not establish the shared property.
Try naming what a flute, cello, oboe and piano have in common. Does an easel share that property?
Check every member
A flute, cello, oboe and piano are musical instruments. An easel holds a picture while someone paints or displays it. It is not a musical instrument, so easel is the word outside the group.
“Made from wood” would be a weaker reason: materials vary, and an easel can also be wooden. The musical-instrument category explains all four members and excludes the fifth.
Some groups share an action or quality instead of an object category. Keep the property specific enough to distinguish the words.
Use the property in a new group
Now compare whisper, speak, shout, mutter and listen. Four describe producing spoken words. One describes paying attention to sound.
Choose the word that falls outside the spoken-word group. The lesson uses two choices to check the method; the practice uses all five words as choices.
Try it
Which word falls outside the group of actions that produce spoken words?
- Mutter
- Listen
Show the answer
Listen
Correct. Whisper, speak, shout and mutter describe producing spoken words. Listen describes paying attention to sound, so it falls outside that group.
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Practice Word classification