Y05W25VC Word Roots — -aud- (hear)

The root -aud- comes from Latin and carries the core meaning of 'to hear'. It appears in words that relate to sound, listening, and the experience of receiving spoken or musical content. Understanding this root helps unlock the meaning of many academic and formal English words. This module explores six academic words and three further examples built on this root.

Word Families

These three words all use -aud-. As you read, notice how the meaning 'hear' helps explain each word.

audience

/ˈɔːdiəns/

au‑di‑ence

noun

An audience is the group of people who watch, listen to, or read a piece of work.

Example: She thought carefully about her audience before deciding to write in a formal and respectful tone.

Synonyms: readers, viewers, listeners

Collocations: the target audience, address an audience, consider the audience

audio

/ˈɔːdiəʊ/

au‑di‑o

adjective

Something described as audio is related to sound or hearing, especially recorded or broadcast sound.

Example: The students used an audio recording of a community leader to analyse the speaker's tone and language.

Synonyms: sound, acoustic, spoken

Collocations: audio recording, audio file, audio description

audible

/ˈɔːdɪbəl/

au‑di‑ble

adjective

Something that is audible is loud enough to be heard.

Example: Her voice became more audible once she moved closer to the microphone.

Synonyms: hearable, loud enough, clear

Collocations: barely audible, clearly audible, audible to

Academic Vocab

community

/kəˈmjuːnɪti/

com‑mu‑ni‑ty

noun

A community is a group of people who live in the same area or share common interests, values, or goals.

Word family: communal (adj.)

Example: The school worked closely with the local community to organise the annual clean-up day.

Synonyms: group, society, neighbourhood

Collocations: local community, a sense of community, community spirit

belong

/bɪˈlɒŋ/

be‑long

verb | [belong – belonged – belonged]

To belong means to feel accepted and part of a group, or to be the proper place or owner of something.

Word family: belonging (n.)

Example: She felt she truly belonged to the group after they worked together on the community project.

Synonyms: fit in, be part of, be a member

Collocations: belong to, feel you belong, a sense of belonging

connect

/kəˈnɛkt/

con‑nect

verb | [connect – connected – connected]

To connect means to link things or people together so they relate to or communicate with each other.

Word Breakdown: con- (prefix meaning ‘together’)

Word family: connection (n.), connected (adj.)

Example: The new community garden helped connect families who had never met before.

Synonyms: link, join, relate

Collocations: connect with, connect to, connect people

include

/ɪnˈkluːd/

in‑clude

verb | [include – included – included]

To include means to make someone or something part of a group or activity.

Word family: inclusion (n.), inclusive (adj.)

Example: She made sure to include all members of the group when assigning roles for the project.

Synonyms: involve, incorporate, bring in

Collocations: include everyone, include in, make sure to include

society

/səˈsaɪɪti/

so‑ci‑e‑ty

noun

Society refers to all the people living together in a country or community, sharing laws, customs, and values.

Word family: social (adj.), socially (adv.)

Example: Schools play an important role in preparing young people to participate fully in society.

Synonyms: community, culture, public

Collocations: members of society, society as a whole, contribute to society

together

/təˈɡɛðə/

to‑geth‑er

adverb

‘Together’ means with another person or group, or in a combined way.

Example: The students worked together to design a mural that represented their community.

Synonyms: jointly, as a group, in partnership

Collocations: work together, come together, together we can

Confusing Words

coarse vs course

These two words sound exactly the same but have different meanings.

  • coarse — Coarse' is an adjective meaning rough in texture or manner, or consisting of large particles — for example, The coarse sand at the northern beaches was very different from the fine white sand further south.
  • course — Course' has several meanings: it can refer to a route or direction, a series of lessons or study, or the courses of a meal — for example, She enrolled in a writing course to develop her skills.

Memory rule: A helpful trick: 'coarse' means rough — think of 'c-o-a-r-s-e' as rough around the edges. If you mean a path, study programme, or part of a meal, use 'course'.