Seniors,

Im consulting the Saadat Ali Shah book for English Paper but this book contains a large number of idioms and pair of words that is impossible to learn all of them and keep them in mind.
Kindly guide me what is the proper way to learn a Synonyms , Antonyms , Idioms and Pair of Words.
Do I have to learn all of them or should I consult only the past papers.

I need your guidance in this regards so do tell me the proper way.

I have the same Question ... lets see who help us in this matter..

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"Nothing will stop me, and whether I'm here or where ever I may be, I'll say what I feel."

In my view, we should learn Idioms of Past Papers, & improve vocabulary through reading Daily Dawn, Well know & Quality Novel, Articles, Books etc then point out the words & get their meanings & start using them in our regular life ...

& For Essay, precis & Grammar section, we should consult Syed Sadat Ali Shah..

What is your Opinion ??

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"Nothing will stop me, and whether I'm here or where ever I may be, I'll say what I feel."

Dear, One of my friend learnt by heart 2000 idioms, but you know what, he only got 2 idioms out of 5 in the question paper from what he learnt. same is the case with synonyms and antonyms.. so, you just have to do your best and if you are lucky enough, you will do maximum of them right.

But, let me give you a golden tip,
keep your mind open on the examination day, just focus on idioms and synonyms and antonyms.. and you will get closer to their meanings. this would be potentially your most reliable strategy on that day.

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Build your dreams, or some one else will hire you to build theirs.

Please elaborate... I am unable to get your point exactly..

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"And whoever puts all his trust in ALLAH, He will be enough for him" (Al-Quran 65:1)

for example, you have an idiom
"blood is thicker than water"

think over it, what does 'blood' suggest you? of course some sort of relation or bond, and so the 'water' must be used against it. now at least you have got the idea that the idiom is about relatives and non-relatives.. now, the word 'thicker' must have been used in connection with endorsing something as opposed to 'water' which is thinner.
so, after summarizing the total idea that you have made about the idiom, you will come closer to its true meaning i.e. "family relationships are stronger and more important than other kinds of relationships"

Also, you have to be a kind of tricksy when making sentences.. if you are not totally sure about the meaning then make sort of "double-meaning" sentence which may include the sense of multiple possible meanings. i think you are getting my point.

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Build your dreams, or some one else will hire you to build theirs.

but from where one should get these ideoms and pair of words to memorize them before the examination day? Preparing the past papers alone would be a good strategy or not? as there is no defined syllabus for the ideoms and pair of words.

As far as synonyms and antonyms are concerned, you must keep in mind that some words leak out their meanings if you concentrate on their syllables.

example, when i was taking english precis paper during CE-2012, there was a word
"INSIPID"

i divided it into its syllables, i.e
IN - SIP - ID

'IN' is used when we have to make the opposite of any word.
'SIP' means, drinking slowly by taking full flavour

so, i got nearer to its meaning.. i.e something opposite of 'taking flavour' , or something flavourless..
as i had to choose its antonym amongst a. Silly b. Tasty c. Active d. Thin
i chose b. Tasty.

May be many people find my theory weird, but at least it worked for me well.

Dear, learning idioms and synonyms/antonyms from past papers is not a good strategy from my point of view. Due to the immensity of english idioms and words, examiner need not to repeat them.

Wren and Martin is a good book for that purpose.

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Build your dreams, or some one else will hire you to build theirs.

At least 5 to 10 idioms are enough in a single day. Jot them down on paper or flesh card and read, understand and then memorize them. Use those idioms into two or even three different sentences of your own.
Not only this but, use idioms in daily conversation. InshaAllah Ta'ala you will improve your idioms very soon.

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Sheeba Hussain

i don't think idioms are worthy of being prepared and crammed,just for 5 marks I dont feel any need of overburdening my mind..anyways thr is an academy named nova in islamabad being run by ms Mather sb...he prepares a list of 500 idioms every year and claims dat every year about 3,4 idioms comes from his list...ironically,his claim has been proved correct every time

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Mere Mann ko Bhaaya me ne Kutta kaat k khaya