11.4 Words and Phrases

Vocabulary

Word Meaning Example sentence
harvest the gathering of ripe crops The village celebrated a rich harvest.
hymn a song of praise and thanksgiving They sang a hymn to the sun.
bountiful giving generously; plentiful The fields gave a bountiful yield.
yield the amount of crop produced The yield was the best in years.
abundance a very large quantity There was an abundance of grain.
gratitude the feeling of being thankful They offered gratitude to nature.
toil hard work; labour Their long toil was rewarded.
ripen to become ready to harvest The sun helped the grain ripen.
nourish to feed and help grow The rains nourished the young crops.
reap to cut and gather a crop The farmers came to reap the fields.
offering something given in devotion They made an offering to the gods.
divine relating to God or a god They saw the divine in nature.

Phrases and expressions

Expression What it means
harvest hymn a song of thanks for the harvest
reap the harvest to gather the crop (or, enjoy the reward of work)
fruits of (one’s) labour the rewards of hard work
give thanks to express gratitude

Exam Tip Note the “farming cycle” words: ripen → reap → harvest → yield. Learning them as a sequence helps you understand the poem and answer vocabulary questions. Bountiful and abundance are useful words for any writing about plenty.

Use what you’ve learnt

Fill each blank: harvest, gratitude, toil, ripen, bountiful.

  1. The warm sun helped the grain ___.
  2. The village celebrated a rich, ___ crop.
  3. They sang in ___ to the powers of nature.
  4. Their long ___ in the fields was rewarded.
  5. The whole community gathered for the ___.
  1. ripen   2. bountiful   3. gratitude   4. toil   5. harvest