1.Simple Antonyms : A) occupied B) vacant
A) The bathroom is occupied.
B) The bathroom is vacant.
These two sentences are contradictory. There is no middle ground, meaning both sentences can’t be true and it can’t be that neither sentence is true. It must be one or the other. This proves that the two words: “occupied” and “vacant” are simple antonyms.
2.Gradable Antonyms: A) Rich B)Poor
A) I am rich.
B) I am poor.
These sentences are contrary meaning both sentences can’t be true but one can be true and one can be false or both can be false. A person cant be both rich and poor but they can be either rich or poor or can be neither rich nor poor. These two words “are opposite ends of a single scale and therefore belong to the same syntactic domain,” meaning that they are in fact gradable antonyms.
3. Reverse pairs: A) up B) down
A)Go up the stairs to get to my apartment.
B)Go down the stairs to get to my apartment.
These two words “up” and “down” “denote motion in opposite dirrections” illustrating that they are reverse pairs.
4. Converse Pairs: A) Husband B) Wife
A)Mike is Kates Husband.
B)Kate is Mikes wife.
A is the husband of B, B is the Wife of A
A and B are converse pairs because they “express the same basic relation, with the positions of the two arguments reversed.”
- Taxonomic sisters: A) Scorpions B) Spiders
Scorpions and spiders are taxonomic sisters because they are both hyponyms of arachnids. The pair of words are incompatible, A scorpion can not be a spider; and a spider cannot be a scorpion.
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