‘Attribute‘ has a different meaning in the noun and the verb form. As a noun it means a quality or feature of something . As a verb it means to say that a situation is caused by something. The pronunciation is different too. For the noun form, we stress the first syllable, ATT, whereas for the verb, we stress the the second syllable, RI.
Examples:
- His kindness is one of his best attributes.
- What kinds of attributes does a good teacher need?
- That poem is often attributed to Shakespeare, but in fact it was written by a little know playwright.
Collocations: When you learn new vocab, make sure that you note collocations too. For this group of words some collocations are:
attitude to, attitude towards, attitudinal changes
attribute to, attributed to, best attribute
civil behaviour, civil unrest
code to live by, code for, code related to
commit a crime, committed to
Check the meanings of the words if you don’t already know them. Check the meanings of the various forms as sometimes they are different. You can check them at Time4english by clicking the words (http://www.time4english.com/aamain/lounge/awl.asp).
Complete the sentences below with the correct word and the correct form of the word.
- Not only soldiers, but also _______________ can become victims of war. (commit, civil)
- Some families have a very supportive ______________ towards their children’s education. (civil, attitude)
- Languages, mathematics and science are all kinds of _______________that people can learn and share. (code, attributes)
- Not everyone who _______________ a crime is punished. (code, commit)
- If a painting is _______________ to a famous artist like Van Gogh, it will be worth a lot of money. (attitude, attribute)
Answers (in the wrong order below)
4. commits 1. civilians 5. attributed 2. attitude 3. codes
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