Improve your vocabulary: Synonyms for "small" in English

http://www.engvid.com/ It gets tiring and boring to use the same vocabulary all the time. In this lesson, you'll learn new words you can use instead of the common English word "small". You'll also learn how to use these synonyms in different contexts and the correct grammatical form for them. The words include "tiny", "minuscule", "puny", "petite", "teeny", and more! Expand your vocabulary, and become a more refined speaker with this useful lesson.
http://www.engvid.com/vocabulary-synonyms-for-small/

TRANSCRIPT

Hi, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on small synonyms. If you've watched my lesson on big synonyms, this lesson has a similar idea. We're going to look at ways to make your vocabulary richer to make it stronger and to add variety. So I will be looking at some other ways that you can say "small" so that you don't sound like you're repeating the same adjectives, the same words again and again in your conversations or in your writings. So let's begin.

First, we have a sentence. "He's, she's, that's" -- you can say, "It's so" -- obviously, you could say "small" if you're talking about a building, a chair, a table, whatever it is that you're talking about. You can also say, "That's so little." So "little" and "small" are probably the two most common words that you likely know. And you might know the next one as well, which is "tiny". So you can have a tiny problem or a tiny headache, or a tiny issue with someone.

The next one might be new for some of you, and that word is "minuscule". Now, "minuscule" -- think of the word "mini", which is here. And again, "mini" just means "small", just means "little". If you wanted to make it a little more formal, you can say, "It's minuscule." So if you have the difference between buying one car and another car, but one car is much better, but the price difference is not very big, you can say, "The price difference is minuscule. I should pay the extra money and get the much better car." Okay? So a difference can be minuscule or small or little.

Next, we have the word "petite". This comes from the French word for "small", "petit" or "petite". I apologize for my pronunciation. We also use this word in English. In English, it means, like, "cute", so small that it's acute and adorable like this little thing. What is this? Hey. There's a little Pikachu in my pocket. So as you can see, this Pikachu is very petite, so cute, so small, so tiny that he's adorable. Okay, Pikachu. I'll see you later. He's small, but he's very heavy. I hope he'll be okay.

Next, we have the word "puny". Now, "puny" has a negative meaning. It's so small that it's weak, not strong. So a person can have puny muscles, for example. So again, "petite" -- cute and adorable; "puny" -- so small that it's weak, not strong.

Next, we've the word "mini" which we discussed. And the final three words are not as commonly used in writing, but we definitely use them in speech. So the word "wee". If you want to, you know, have a big problem, and when you're talking about this problem to your friend and you don't want to stress the size of the problem, and you want to say, "We have a wee problem, a small problem." Even if the problem is big and you want to make it smaller in the person's mind, you can say, "We have a wee problem, a teeny problem, a teensy problem." So all three of these words, they use the sound "ee". And you can stretch it out when you're saying it. "A wee problem, a teeny problem, a teensy problem."

And finally, we have one, two, three, four expressions where we're combining two different adjectives and we're making them sound really cute and adorable and small and tiny. So first, "itty-bitty". It sounds fun to say, right? So repeat after me, "itty-bitty". You can say "an itty-bitty problem", "I have an itty-bitty headache." Very cute. Adorable, almost.

Next, we have the words "teensy". And if you want to emphasize it even more, "teensy-weensy" okay? "Teensy-weensy." Same with the next one, "teeny-tiny." So all you're doing is combining teeny and tiny. And finally, we have "itsy-bitsy". So there is a children's nursery rhyme that goes "itsy-bitsy spider". And if you're lucky, maybe you'll get to hear it at some point.

So one more time, from the top, listen and repeat. Practice the pronunciation. "Little, tiny, minuscule, petite, puny, mini, wee, teeny, teensy, itty-bitty, teensy-weensy, teeny-tiny, and itsy-bitsy." Okay.

So if you'd like to test your understanding of how to spell these words, how to use them in context, as always, you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com. And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Bye.

"The itsy-bitsy spider went up the water spout. Down came the rain and -- hey. What are you looking at? -- washed the spider out. Out came the..."