The party was excellent, and I would like to thank all the people <u>concerned</u>.
- (a)cared
- (b)attentive
- (c)dependable
- (d)uninvolved
Correct — D, 'uninvolved'. In 'all the people concerned' the word means the people involved in the matter, so its reverse is those who had nothing to do with it — 'uninvolved'.
- (a)cared — 'Cared' reverses nothing; it is a past-tense verb where an adjective is needed, and caring belongs to the other sense of 'concerned' in any case.
- (b)attentive — Attentive belongs to the worried, caring sense of 'concerned' and is a near-synonym of it rather than an opposite.
- (c)dependable — Dependable is about being reliable, which is a different quality altogether from being involved in something.
'Concerned' has two senses — concerned about something means worried about it, while 'the people concerned' means the people involved — and the position of the word decides which sense is meant.
Placed after the noun, as in 'the people concerned' or 'the authorities concerned', the word carries the involvement sense; placed before a noun, as in 'a concerned parent', it carries the worried sense. Here it follows 'the people', and the speaker is thanking those who helped with a party, so involvement is what has to be reversed.
- 'As far as I am concerned' uses the involvement sense.
- A concerned expression is a worried one, while the people concerned are those involved.
- 'Uninvolved' and 'unconnected' both reverse the involvement sense.
- Reading the caring sense and then hunting for the opposite of 'worried'.
- Choosing an option that does not even match the word class of the underlined word.
Asked as an antonym item — choose the word most opposite in meaning to the underlined word.
He was quite <u>concerned</u> about his son's career.
- (a) unrelated
- (b) indifferent
- (c) dispassionate
- (d) carefree
Answer(b) indifferent
The same word set in the other of its two senses: there it followed 'about' and carried the worried sense, so the key was 'indifferent'; here it follows 'the people' and carries the involvement sense.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In 'Please inform the authorities concerned', the word 'concerned' means
- (a)worried
- (b)involved
- (c)careful
- (d)senior
Answer(b) involved — after the noun, 'concerned' carries the involvement sense.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the word most opposite in meaning to 'involved' in 'the people involved in the project'.
- (a)engaged
- (b)uninvolved
- (c)interested
- (d)employed
Answer(b) uninvolved — the prefix un- reverses the participle.