English Vocabulary: 5 verbs to make you sound smart

Hey, guys. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this vocabulary lesson on:

"5 Verbs to Sound Smart". Now, you may have already checked out my lesson on five nouns

to sound smart, five adjectives to sound smart; and today, we're looking at the verbs.

So, from the top, we have the verb: "ostracize". All right? So repeat it after me: "ostracize".

Okay. So what "ostracize" means is to exclude someone, generally from a social group like

a family, or a team, or any kind of religious group as well. So to exclude, shun, or snub

them from a specific group. So, for example: "He was ostracized for his beliefs." So this

person had different beliefs than the other people in his social group, and the other

people in his social group basically pushed him away and didn't allow him to return. They

looked at... They looked down on him like he was less than them. He was ostracized;

he was excluded from the group. So, again, you can be ostracized for your beliefs, you

can be ostracized for something you say, you can be ostracized for something you do. So,

for example, if you follow, you know, a system of faith, a religion that tells you that you

have to act a certain way, if a person doesn't act that way, they could be ostracized by

members of their religious community. Okay?

The next one: "garner". So think... Look at my hands. "Garner", which means to get, to

acquire, to earn. You can also think of it as to collect. So, the example we have on

the board is: "They garnered a poor reputation." So this group of people basically acquired

a poor reputation for their beliefs or their actions. You can also, for example, garner

evidence. Like if you're a police officer, you can also garner information. So you can

say: "We have been trying to garner, collect, or get, or acquire as much information as

possible." Or: "The police haven't garnered enough evidence to, you know, send the suspect

to jail."

Next, we have: "contemplate". Now, some of you might be familiar with this word because

it's similar to something, you know, in a Spanish language, for example. And: "to contemplate"

means to consider or to think about something. So, for example: "We have contemplated moving

to a new city." So this could be a family or a boyfriend and girlfriend, or a couple

and, you know, they have: "Hmm, okay, we have talked about it, we have thought about it,

we have considered, contemplated moving to a new city." So if you're having a difficult

time making a decision or it takes you a long time to think about the process of decision

making, you can use the word: "contemplate". Okay?

Next one is: "differentiate". So you might already see the word or hear the word: "difference".

Right? In this word. "Differentiate" is the verb form of: "difference". So to be able

to tell the difference, you can differentiate between two or more things, or people, or

objects. For example: "I can't differentiate between my twin cousins." An important thing

to remember about differentiate is if you want to talk about and mention the two things

you are comparing, you can use the preposition: "between", so you differentiate between "A"

or "B", or "A" and "B". Okay? So to be able to tell the difference. My twin cousins look

the same, I can't differentiate between the two of them.

And finally, we have the verb: "fluctuate". This comes from the noun: "fluctuation". So

"to fluctuate" is to change or vary, usually at regular intervals. So the sentence we have

on the board relates to the stock market. For example: "The dollar has been fluctuating"-has

been going up, going down, changing, hasn't been stable-"a lot this month." So if something

is constantly changing; going up, going down, going left, going right - it is fluctuating.

So what are some things that can fluctuate? We can talk about the economy, you can also

talk about the weather. So you can say: "The weather has been fluctuating a lot this week."

You can also talk about, you know, your beliefs or the things you say if they're inconsistent

with one another.

Okay, guys, so from the top, let's just listen and repeat for the pronunciation of these

words. "Ostracize", "garner", "contemplate", "differentiate", and "fluctuate".

Okay, guys, so again, if you want to test your understanding of how to use these words

in a sentence, how to spell them correctly, and just, well, how to use them correctly...

I mean even if you know what the word is, it's a different story to be able to use it

and incorporate it into your everyday vocabulary. All right, guys, as always, check out the

quiz on www.engvid.com and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I'll see

you guys later. Take care.