DENOTATIONS & CONNOTATIONS | English Lesson
Kevin Spaans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz9V1FfC6bA

Transkript (automatisch erstellt)

0:00 Hey everyone, welcome to another English grammar lesson. Today we're going to be talking about denotations and connotations.
0:15 So what exactly are denotations and connotations? Well, a word's denotation is its dictionary definition, its literal meaning. So for example, curious
0:26 and nosy have the same denotation. They're the same dictionary definition. They both mean that you are being inquisitive, that you are interested in
0:34 learning or knowing about something. However, curious and nosy do not have the same tone. One of them sounds a bit more positive
0:43 and one of them sounds a bit more negative. So even though two words might have the same denotation, the same dictionary
0:50 definition, they can have a different tone, a different energy, a different connotation. So once again, the denotation of a word
0:59 is simply that word's dictionary definition. So just think, dictionary starts with the letter D,
1:06 definition starts with the letter D, and denotation starts with the letter D. So it should be pretty easy to remember. Denotation equals dictionary definition.
1:17 And connotation refers to a word's tone, a word's energy. And that could be both positive or negative potentially. So what I'm going to do now is I'm going
1:26 to give you some words that have the same denotation, the same dictionary definition, but different connotations, different tones. And it will be up to
1:35 you to decide which of those words has a more positive connotation and which has a more negative connotation. So let's start with the words aroma and
1:44 stench. Now both of these words have the same denotation, the same dictionary definition. They both mean a smell or an
1:52 odor. Question is, which of these words is more positive and which of these words is more negative?
1:59 Does the room have a nice, pleasant aroma? Or does the room have a nice, pleasant stench?
2:05 Does the locker room have a gross, nasty aroma? Or does the locker room have a gross, nasty stench?
2:13 Well, the more positive of these two words is aroma, and the more negative one is stench. So, aroma would have a more positive connotation, and stench
2:22 would have a more negative connotation. Let's look at a couple more. How about mob and crowd? Well, they both mean roughly the same
2:31 thing. They both mean a large group of people. But one of them has a more positive connotation, more positive tone or
2:38 energy, and one of them has a more negative connotation. Question is, which is which? Well, give yourself a point if you said
2:47 the more positive word is crowd, and the more negative word is mob. Okay? Last one.
2:54 Selective and picky. Well, both of these words have pretty much the same denotation. They both mean that you're very careful in your choice
3:03 of things. But which of these has a more positive connotation, and which of these has a more negative connotation?
3:10 Answer is, selective is more positive, while picky is more negative. Cool. Well, whether you came here for a refresher or just now learning this
3:20 stuff for the first time, hope this video helped. Be sure to check out the free practice down in the description. And until next time, thanks again.