The Basic Words : Basic English
by C. K. OGDEN
Writer of "Basic English" and
Director of the Orthological Institute

LONDON :
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & Co., Ltd. 1932
Psyche Miniatures, General Series No. 44

The Letter A

a (an), adj., ei; un, une; em, eine.

A man ; give the ball a kick ; the selection of a paint ; a bit of ; quite a good book ; he has £100 a year ; an apple ; an hour.

ABC , noun, Basic words. The letters ; the first steps.


able (un-, -ly), adj., 'eibl; capable, intelligent; filhig.

An able teacher ; an able book ; the work was ably done.
* (Able to make).

able-bodied, adj. Basic words. With a strong body.

about, prep., adv., a'baut; environ, autour de; urn, herum.

(e) Roughly: on the question of ; a peu près: au sn jet de; fast, ungeföhr: über.
Trees about the house ; walking about the streets. There are about enough ; at about 4. A book about history ; be right about the facts. The servants are about ; looking about for a place.
The glass is about to be broken.
(How did this come about ?) (Hanging about.)

account, noun, a'kaunt, récit, cornpte rendu, explication; Bericht.

(s)   Money account; cornpte; Rechnung, Konto.
Give an account of. Have an account with ; keep accounts. ; put it on the account.
(Take into account.)
no account ; on account of ; goods on account.


acid (-ly), adj, noun, 'a~sid; acide; sauer.

Sharp in feeling.
The fruit has an acid taste. She gave him an acid look ; "Don't be foolish," he said acidly. It was burned by an acid.

across, prep., a'kras; en travers de, sur; (quer) über.


A bridge across the river ; go across the road ; put one stick across another.
(He came across some papers ; put an idea across by advertisement).

act (-or, ..ing, -ed), noun, aekt;   action ; Tat, Handiung.


(e)   Division of a play ; acte; Akt.
actor, acteur ; Schauspieler.
(s)   Person acting in a theater;
Do a kind act ; he was in the act of taking the money ; acting as a brake. A good third act.. He is an actor.
*Acid acting on material.

addition, noun, a~'di5an; addition, surcroit ; Zusatz.


(e)   Act of addition; action d'ajouter on d'additioner; Addition, Ergänzung.


Make an addition to a building ; a good addition. The addition of water to milk ; do addition ; bad at addition.
* In addition to this.

adjustment, noun, a'd3Astmant; réglage, mise au point, adaptation, réglement; Richtigstellung, Anpassung.

Make an adjustment ; an adjustment of the amount ; by the adjustment of a screw.

advertisement, noun, ad'vaitismant; annonce, afjiche, réclame; Anzeige, Reklame.

(e)   Public attention: act of advertisement; publicité: réclame; Reklame: Anlcundigung, Reklame.
Put an advertisement for a secretary in the paper ; the store has an advertisement for soap in the window. Do it for advertisement ; get good advertisement. Undertake the advertisement of goods.

after, prep., conj., 'a:ft~; apses: apses que; nach: naclidem.

Some time after an event ; go after a rat. I took it after he came.
* After all,they were young ; looking after a store.
** A picture after Rembrandt.


aftereffect, noun, Basic words. An effect coming about after a time.
aftertaste , noun, Basic words. Taste experienced in mouth after takingfood or drink.
afterthought, noun, Basic words. A later thought.


again, adv. a'gein; de nouveau, encore; wieder.

He did the work again; then, again, he is old ; say it again and again.

against, prep. a'geinst; contre; gegen.

On opposite side to (in war, feeling, and so on).
Resting against the wall ; come up against a stone. Fighting against an army ; be against change ; have something against a person.

agreement, noun, a'gri:mant; pacte, contrat; Vereinbarung, Vertrag.

(e) Condition of agreement; accord; Undereinstimmung.
Make an agrement with ; keep (to) an agreement. Be in agreement with ; there is not much agreement between them.
* Come to an agreement).

air (-er, -ing, -ed), noun, c~; air; Lt4t.

(e) Behavior, look; Miene.

Out in the air ; take in air ; birds in the air ; airing the room ; go out for an airing ; put on an air of interest ; foolish airs.

aircushion, noun, Basic words. Cushion full of air.
airman, noun, Basic words. Driver of airplane.
airplane, noun, Basic words. Winged machine for flight.
air-tight, adj. Basic words. Not letting air in.
alcohol, 'ailbh3l. International word.
algebra, '~uld3ibr~. International name of science.

all , adj., adv., pron. ~l; tout; l (-er, -e, -es), ganz.

All men are the same ; all the day ; at all times. All in black ; all covered with dust. All were happy ; all is quiet.
* He is not at all interesting ;(All but one are bad.)
** all day (night). (All right ; after all).
(For all that ; all the year round ; all the same).

almost, adv. '~:lmoust; presque; fast, beinahe.

ready ; almost there ; the boy is almost a man.

aluminum, ~lju'minj~m. International word.

am (are) . See be.

ammonia, a'mounj~. International word.

among, prep. a'mntJ; parmi, entre, unter, zwischen.

Be among one's friends ; among one's books ; working among the poor ; among other things ; make a division among ; we have 5 cents among us.

amount, noun a'maunt; quantité, montant (d'une somme); Men ge, Betrag.

a small amount of food ; gold in great amounts ; he made payment of the full amount.

amusement, noun, a'mju:zment; amusement; Belustigung, Spasz.

Pleased interest ; thing causing amusement: act of causing amusement; Unter- r haltung.
humor gives me no amusement ; a look of amusement. Get amusement out of watching trains. Sailing is a good amusement. Plays for the amusement of the public.

and , conj., fend; at; und.

He and I ; I came and he went ; it was round and fat ; and then he said ; I went and saw him.
*(And so on).

angle, noun, 'mtjgl; angle; Winkel, Ecke.

Angle of a room: point of view ; coin: angle, cdté; Winlcel, Eclce: Winkel.

An angle formed by two lines meeting. Put the table in the far angle of the room. Looking at the picture from a different angle ; seeing the question from a different angle.
The boxes were at right angles to one another).

anger(-ly), noun, 'mi~gri; en colère, fdche; zornig, bose.

feeling anger ; an angry face ; ; an angry man ; angry words ; an angry red ;  make oneself angry about ; they were talking angrily.
* (Be angry with a learner).

animal, noun. 'animal; animal; Tier.

All animals but man. Man is an animal. Be kind to animals.
(s) Person of low development.

another, adj., pron. Basic words.

A different or further (one). (They saw one another.).

answer (-er, -ing, -ed), noun, 'a:nm; réponse; Anttvort.

Give an answer to a question ; answering a letter (bell) ; answering for a friend.
* (In answer to a question).
**Answering to an account.

ant , noun. ant; fourmi; Ameise.

There is an ant in the food.

any , adj., pron., adv. 'eni; aucun (-a), n'impotte lequel; irgendein (-e), irgendwelche (-r, -a).

I haven't any friends ; have you any wool? ; come at any time. I haven't any of that ; take any of them. He is not any wiser.
(at any rate).

anybody ,pron. Basic words. Any person.
anyhow , adv., Basic words. 1. Whatever takes place. 2. In any way.
anyone , pron. Basic words. Any person.
anything, pron. Basic words. Any thing.
anywhere, adv. Basic words. In (at, to) any place.

apparatus (apparatuses), noun. ap~'reibs; appareil ; Apparat.

Put up an apparatus. ; different apparatuses ; an apparatus of tax-control.

apple, noun. 'api; pomme ; Apfel.

The apples are still green.

approval, noun, ~'pru~val; approbation ; Billigung, Beif all.

approval to ; say with approval ; have a feeling of approval ;
* Get goods on approval.

arch (arches, -er, -ing, -ed), noun. aDtJ; arc, arche ; Bogen.

Arch like form.


archer, (e)   One using as an instrument of war with a curved bit of wood or other elastic material with a cord stretched between the ends
archer ; Bogenschiitze.

arch of a bridge ; the church has pointed arches. A foot with a good arch ; the cat is arching its back. The bird was wounded by an archer.

argument, noun, 'a:gjurront; argumentation ; Auseinandersetzung, Wart wechsel.

Line of reasoning ; argument, raisonnement ; Argument.
an argument with somebody. A good argument for putting an end to war ; his argument was.

arithmetic, noun a'riOm~tik. International name of science.

arm (-er, -ing, -ed), noun,   a:m; bras; Arm.

Long structure like an arm.

Working-men get strong arms ; with open arms. The arm of a machine ; the arm of a coat. The nation has no arms ; arming for war.
** A baby in arms ; nations in arms. (They went arm in arm ; the men took up arms).

army (armies), noun, a:mi; armée; Hear.

armies = Instruments of war ; armes ; Waif en.

(e) A number of persons ; multitude.

The boy is going into the army ; the army has a new chief ; armies were smaller then. An army of boys went to the house.

art ,  noun, a:t; art; Kunst.

(e)   Way of doing.
A work of art ; he puts his art first ; a museum of bad art. Art came before Science. The art of cooking ; I am learning the art of seeming interested.

as ,   adv., conj., pron., az; aussi (. . . qua), comma ; (so as) wie1i ala.

As hard as iron ; he came as slowly as before. As far as I see ; look on as wrong ; as an example ; please be so good as to come ; as we go higher the air gets colder. Such things as drink.
It seems as if ; as to (for) that. (So as to get it right ; he has horses as well as cows).
* It is as the wise men say ; the same tomorrow as it is today.
** As a man ; as you are here.

asbestos *, az'besbs. International word.

at ,   prep., at; a, chez ; an, urn, bei, in, zu.

At a point ; at Tokyo ; at the top ; at 4; at his request ; at what price.
1. The men are at war (peace, work, play, rest).
2. They were happy at first (last).
3. They were at a great distance from their country.
4. They did not go to bed at night.
5. At times they were covered with small insects.
6. There was some surprise at their desire to get back.
7. There were at least (most) 1,000 persons at the station.
8. They had the interests of their country at heart.
9. There were bad at (good at, quick at, slow at, expert at, working at) languages.
10. They are looking at (pointing at, laughing at, firing at, and so on) the camera-men.
(Not at all interesting ; be at a loss ; knowledge at first (second) hand ; days at school ; at present ; at any rate ; at right angles to).
** at a run ; at a profit (loss). (Have a go at ; at all events ; three at a time ; get at details ; at table ; at sea ; at pleasure ; make eyes at.)

attack, (-er, -ing, -ed), noun, ~'tak; attaque ; Angriif, Anf all.

An attack against his views ; the army made a sudden attack ; a new line of attack ; attacked by a disease ; attacking a question.
* An attack on a man.

attempt (-er, -ing, -ed), noun, ~'tempt; essai, tentative ; Versuch.

an attempt to get the news ; wounded in the attempt ; attempting to do.

attention, noun, ~'ten5an; attention; Aufrnerksainkeit, Achtung.

Care, looking after; soin(s); Pfiege, Behandlung.
attention to ; keep one's attention on ; great powers of attention. The baby gets no attention.

attraction, noun, ~'trakfan; attraction ; Anziehung[skraft].

Pleasing quality (thing) ; condition of (undergoing) attraction ; attraction, attrait: attraction; Reiz, Attraktion: Anziehung.

The attraction of the earth for bodies. She has no attraction off the stage ; have an attraction for ; the attraction of the idea ; coming attraction. The attraction of the sea by the moon ; their attraction to one another. Be an attraction to.

authority, noun, ~:'63riti; autorité, autorisation ; Autoritiit, VoUmacht, Ansehen.

(e) Person or body in authority ; person with special knowledge ; autorité: autorité ; BehOrde: Autorität.

have authority over the army ; what authority have you? ; be in authority ; be under the authority of the chief. Go to a higher authority ; come before the authorities. An authority on the Great War.
** (On good authority).

autobus, noun, '3:toubAs. International word.   bus

automatic (un-, -ally), adj., ~:b'matik; automatique; automatisch.

Get chocolate from an automatic machine ; his behavior was automatic ; an automatic reaction ; he got up automatically.

automobile, noun, '3:tomobi:l. International word.

awake, adj, ~'weik ; éveillé ; wach.

The baby is awake very early ; Be awake to the danger. I came awake suddenly.  
** (Wide awake.)

away, adv. Basic words. At some distance.


To next : the Letter B

A , B , C , D , E , F , G , H , I , J , K , L , M , N , O , P , Q , R , S , T , U , V , W , X , Y , Z
< back     |   isl     |     tbw     |     next >
URL : http://ogden.basic-english.org/texts/tbwa.html