Guessing Unknown Words from Context
How to work out what an unfamiliar English word means from the sentence around it — instead of stopping to look it up.
At B1 you will meet unknown words in almost every text. Stopping for each one destroys your reading speed and your comprehension. Most of the time, the sentence tells you enough.
Step 1: decide if you actually need it
Read to the end of the sentence first. Often the word doesn't matter:
The room was full of ornate furniture.
Do you need ornate to know the room had furniture in it? No. Move on.
Step 2: find the word class
- After the / a, or after an adjective → it's a noun.
- After to, or with -ed / -ing → it's a verb.
- Before a noun → it's an adjective.
Knowing what kind of word it is already narrows the meaning enormously.
Step 3: look for the four context clues
Definition — the text explains it directly:
Photosynthesis, the process by which plants make food from sunlight, happens in the leaves.
Contrast — a signal word tells you it means the opposite of something you know:
The first attempt was a disaster, but the second was flawless. (Flawless is the opposite of a disaster: perfect.)
Contrast signals: but, however, although, unlike, whereas, on the other hand.
Example — the examples define it:
He collected memorabilia — old match tickets, signed shirts, team photos.
Example signals: such as, for example, including, like, or a dash followed by a list.
Cause and effect — the result tells you the meaning:
The bridge was so dilapidated that the council closed it. (Something that gets closed for safety is in bad condition.)
Step 4: check your guess
Put your guess back into the sentence and see if it still makes sense. If it does, keep reading. You do not need a perfect definition — "something like decorated" is enough to keep going.
What not to do
Do not guess from a similar-looking word in your own language. False friends are common and dangerous: English sensible means reasonable, not sensitive; actually means in fact, not currently; eventually means in the end, not possibly.
Test yourself
The quiz below gives you unknown words with context. Use the clue, not a dictionary.