June 10, 2011 - Word of the Day: scare

It always surprises me to learn how many of my students don't know this word. They know "afraid" or "fear," but they don't know "scare" or "scary." Use this word when describing feelings of fear.

As a verb, it looks like this:

• The thunder and lightning scared the children.
• Did the tornado scare you?
• This movie will scare a lot of people.
• That strange man scares me.

As an adjective, you have two choices: "scared" or "scary."

• Why does she have that scared look on her face?
• They look very scared. What's wrong?
• Nightmare on Elm Street is a scary movie.
• That geometry test was scary. ("Scary" sometimes means "difficult," "unusual," or "weird.")
• Sheila's hair looks kind of scary today.

You can find more words to learn here.