Category: Blog Post 3

Simple antonyms: married and single

1. Bob is married
2. Bob is single

Simple antonyms are contradictory. If one is true the other cannot also be true. There is no middle ground between the words married and single

Gradable antonyms: interesting and boring

1. This movie is interesting
2. this movie is boring

Gradable antonyms are intermediate terms. The movie could’ve been interesting, boring, or in neither and it could’ve been just ok to watch.

Reverses: open and close

1. She will open the box
2. She will close the box

These are reverse terms because they are denoting motion and are opposite in directions of each other.

Converses: older and younger

1. Kim is older than me
2. I am younger than Kim

These are a converse pair because there is an asymettric relation between older and younger.

Taxonomic Sisters: Sprite and Ginger ale

1. I like sprite
2. I like Ginger ale

Sprite and ginger ale are taxonomic because they have a hyponymous relationship and are both classified as sodas.

Simple Antonyms . ON/OFF

1. The light is on.
2. The light is off.

On and off mean the opposite of each other. If the light is on, it cannot also be on.

Gradable Antonyms.   WIN/LOSE

When playing a game there is always a winner and a loser.

Reverses.  UP/DOWN

They are opposite, something can either go up or down. If you move up you are not moving down, if you move down you are not moving up.

Converses.  MOTHER/DAUGHTER

1. Mary is Sally’s mother
2. Sally is Mary’s daughter

If you switch the order of the names and switch the words “mother” and “daughter” the sentences will still have the same meaning.

Taxonomic Sisters.   CAKE/PIE

Cake and pie are both hyponyms of desserts.

 

Simple antonyms             dead / alive

a) The goldfish is dead.

b) The goldfish is alive.

Because these two sentences are contradictory (one must be true, and the other false), dead and alive are simple antonyms. Something cannot be both dead and alive, or in an intermediate state.

 

Gradable antonyms        boring / interesting

(a) This movie is boring.

(b) This movie is interesting.

(c) This movie is neither boring nor interesting.

(a) and (b) can’t both be true, but they can both be false, so they are contrary. This means that boring and interesting are gradable antonyms

 

Reverses             create / destroy

One of these actions undoes the other.

 

Converses           teacher / student

(a) Dionna is Mark’s teacher.

(b) Mark is Dionna’s student.

If you replace teacher with student (or vice versa), and switch the order of the two names, you get a sentence with the same propositional meaning.

 

Taxonomic sisters           cherry / apple

A cherry is a kind of fruit, and so is an apple. They are both hyponyms of fruit.

Simple antonyms

Hard, soft

• This pizza crust is hard.
• This pizza crust is soft.

These are an example of simple antonyms because they can be used as contradictory sentences. The pizza crust is either hard or soft not both or either.

 

Gradable antonym

Hot/ cold

• Lily’s room is hot.
• Lily’s room is cold.

These are an example of gradable antonyms because they can be one true and false or both true.

 

Reverse Pairs

Enter, exit

• Jackie enters, from the front door.
• Jackie exists from the back door.

These are examples of reversible pairs because they denote motion or change in the opposite.

 

Converse Pair.

Husband, wife

• Jimmy is Lizeth’s husband.
• Lizeth is Jimmy’s wife.

These are examples of converse pairs because they entail the relationship between Jimmy and Lizeth.

 

Taxonomic sisters

Amphibian, toads

• Amphibians are all cold-blooded, aquatic gill-larvae stage.
• Toads are amphibians.

These are taxonomic sisters because toads are the hyponym of the hypernym Amphibian.

Simple Antonyms 

Pass/fail

Nancy passed her road test.

Nancy failed her road test.

Simple antonyms are contradictory. Nancy has to either pass or fail her road test. This means that only one sentence can be true.

Gradable Antonyms

Clean/messy

Sara’s room was clean.

Sara’s room was messy.

These are gradable antonyms because her room can’t be both clean and messy.  It has to be one or the other.

Reverses

open/close 

The store was open today.

The store was closed today.

These are reverses because they denote motion or change in opposite directions.

Converses

father/son

Jerry is Tom’s father.

Tom is Jerry’s son.

Father and son are a converse pair because there is an asymmetric relationship between the two.

 

Taxonomic Sisters 

lizards/chameleons 

Lizards are a kind of reptile.

Chameleons are a kind of reptile.

Lizards and chameleons are taxonomic sisters because they are reptiles. They are the hyponym of the hyperonym reptile.

1.Simple antonyms–  Correct, Incorrect. 

• Answer choice b is correct.
• Answer choice b is incorrect. 

One of these sentences must be true and the other must be false.  They can’t both be false because answer choice b has to be either true or false.  This shows that correct and incorrect are simple antonyms.

 

2. Gradable antonyms–  Easy, Difficult.  

• This exam is easy.
• This exam is difficult. 

One of these sentences may be true, or they may both be false.  A student can find an exam to be easy, difficult, or somewhere in between, making easy and difficult gradable antonyms.  

 

3. Reverses– Build, Dismantle.

• My brother built a sand castle.
• My brother dismantled a sand castle.

Build and Dismantle are a reverse pair because something is either built or dismantled.  

 

4. Converses– Buy, Sell

• X bought the car from Y = Y sold the car to X.

These words express the same relation, but with the positions reversed.  In any scenario where someone bought an item, there is someone that sold the item.  Similarly, in any scenario in which someone sold an item, there is someone that bought the item.  This means that the words buy and sell are a converse pair.  

5. Taxonomic sisters– Apple, Banana

                             Fruit

/\

Apple     Banana

Apple and Banana are taxonomic sisters because they are both types of fruit.  These two hyponyms share the same hyperonym.  

 

1. Simple Antonyms

Pass / Fail 

a. I will pass the test if I study.

b. Usually, if I dont study for a test I fail.

You cannot pass and fail an exam at the same time making these two antonyms.

2.Gradable Antonyms

Bright/Dull 

a. My room was looking a little dull with white walls, so I painted the walls yellow.

b. The new yellow walls in my room make the room bright and fun.

When looking at the examples used in the sentence, the walls in your room can either be bright or dull. But the walls could also be plain, colorful, dark light etc.

3. Reverse Pair

Left/ Right

a. I need to turn left in two blocks to get to my destination.

b. If I turn right the next block, I’ll have to make a U-Turn.

This set of Reverse Pairs indicate a motion or change in opposite directions.

4. Converse Pair

Teacher/ Student

a. John is Bill’s teacher.

b. Bill is John’s student.

This is a converse pair because there is asymmetric relation between the two, those being the teacher and the student.

5. Taxonomic Sisters

Deer/Moose

Moose and Deer are taxonomic sisters because Moose are the largest members of the deer family. They are both apart of the Cervidae species. The X, being moose, and Y, being deer, represents that the relationship of the two are hyponymous therefore “An X is a kind of Y”.

 

 

Simple Antonyms: New/ Used

The can is new.

The can is used.

The can can not be both new and used because once something is used it is no longer new.

Gradable Antonyms: Neutral/ Drive

The car is in neutral.

The car is in drive.

the car can also be in sport and park so it has multiple options.

Reverse: Readable/ Unreadable

Your hand writing it readable.

Your hand writing it unreadable.

It can only be either or because either ya can read it or ya cant there isn’t really an in-between.

Converse: Employer/ Employee

She is my employer.

I am her employee.

One simply cant exist without the other. So both go together but separate

Taxonomic: Cheddar/ Mozzarella

The cheddar cheese was spoiled.

The Mozzarella cheese had not melted.

Both cheeses are from a bigger category which is cheese in general.

1. Outside/Inside: SIMPLE ANTONYMS

(a) The kids played outside.

(b) The kids played inside.

There is no middle ground for these antonyms. The kids can’t play half outside, or kind of inside. It is one or the other. They are either outside or inside.

2. Expensive/Cheap: GRADABLE ANTONYMS

(a) The concert tickets were expensive.

(b) The concert tickets were cheap.

These are words that can be put on a scale. They are not binary in that neither of these sentences have to be true. The tickets could’ve either been expensive, cheap, or reasonably priced making neither sentence true. The tickets could’ve also been extremely cheap or kind of expensive. There is a lot of gray area making these gradable antonyms.

3. Lower/Raise: REVERSES

(a) Jane lowered the volume on the radio.

(b) Mark raised the volume on the radio.

These are reverse pairs because they indicate opposite directions of motion. The force is being applied on the same scale of volume in either direction. Whether it is being raised or lowered.

4. Student/Teacher : CONVERSES

(a) Prof. Pentangelo is the teacher of Kristin.

(b) Kristin is the student of Prof. Pentangelo.

These sentences mutually entail each other and are a paraphrase of one another. If it is true that Prof. Pentangelo is Kristin’s teacher, then obviously Kristin must be their student.

5. Rose/Orchid: TAXONOMIC SISTERS

(a) Rose is a kind of flower.

(b) Orchid is a kind of flower.

Rose and Orchid are 2 hyponyms that belong to the same hyperonym of flower. This makes them taxonomic sisters because they are 2 things that lie under the same category.

Simple Antonyms

Innocent/guilty

The man is deemed innocent

The man is deemed guilty 

When these words are used in sentences, the sentences turn to be contradictory (one sentence must be true and the other must be false). There is also no middle ground, meaning the referent has to be either one or the other, it can’t be both, and it can’t be neither. Therefore, innocent/guilty are simple antonyms.

Gradable Antonyms

Friendly/unfriendly

Sam is friendly 

Sam is unfriendly 

Typically belong to the same semantic domain but name opposite ends of the scale. These sentences are contrary, meaning they both can’t be true but both may be false or one may be true and the other is false. Sam can either be friendly or unfriendly, or neither. This reflects that friendly/unfriendly are gradable antonyms.

Reverse Pairs

Forward/backward

Go forward 2 spaces

Go backward 2 spaces

These are words that denote motion or change direction. In these sentences “forward” and ‘backward” demonstrate that they are in fact reverse pairs.

Converse Pairs

Teacher/student

James is my teacher

I am James’ student

Converse pairs represent an asymmetric relation between two entities. They have relation but their arguments are reversed.

Taxonomic Sisters

Flamingo/Peacock

Flamingo and peacock are taxonomic sisters.  They are hyponyms (“when two words stand in a generic-specific relationship we refer to the more specific term as the hyponym and the more generic term as the hypernym) of birds. When we say “An X is a kind of Y” there is a taxonomic relationship between X and Y. Therefore, flamingo and peacock are taxonomic sisters.