KS2 SATs 2024 — English GPS Paper 1: Questions

The idea

Synonyms are words with the same or similar meanings, like 'swift' and 'rapid'; antonyms are words with opposite meanings, like 'ancient' and 'modern'. GPS questions often ask you to match words, or to pick the closest meaning — and near-misses are planted to catch rushed readers.

Synonyms are rarely perfect swaps. 'Said' can become 'whispered' or 'bellowed', but those add extra meaning about volume. Precise vocabulary means choosing the word whose shade of meaning fits the sentence exactly, not just approximately.

Prefixes can flip meaning to make antonyms: 'un-', 'dis-', 'in-' and 'im-' turn 'happy', 'agree', 'correct' and 'possible' into their opposites. Checking for prefixes is a fast way into antonym questions. If you are stuck between two choices, read the sentence aloud with each word in place and listen for which one fits the meaning better.

Worked example

Give a synonym for 'rapid' and an antonym for 'ancient', as used in this sentence: 'The rapid river had carved the ancient valley.'

1. 'Rapid' describes the river's speed. Words with a similar meaning include 'swift' and 'fast' — 'swift' matches the describing job here.
2. 'Ancient' means very old. Its opposite is 'modern' or 'new'.
3. Check the swaps keep the sentence sensible: 'the swift river' works, and 'modern' is the true opposite of 'ancient'.

Answer: A synonym for 'rapid' is 'swift' (or 'fast'); an antonym for 'ancient' is 'modern' (or 'new').

Watch out

• Picking a word that is loosely connected rather than truly similar in meaning — it must match the meaning in this sentence.
• Forgetting prefixes: words like 'impossible' and 'disagree' are antonyms built with a prefix.