What does postgraduate mean?
Word: Postgraduate
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Postgraduate means a student who is studying for a higher degree after finishing a first university degree. As an adjective, it describes that kind of study.
How do you spell postgraduate?
Syllables: post - grad - u - ate
Tricky part: The middle is graduate, with a u before the a. Postgradute and postgraduete are the usual slips.
Watch out for: postgradute, postgraduete, postgradduate
Memory tip: Think of the day you graduate: a postgraduate goes back to study after that day, so the whole of graduate stays inside.
Postgraduate in a sentence
Example 1: After her BSc, my sister became a postgraduate in botany at Delhi University.
Example 2: The college offers postgraduate courses in journalism and law.
Example 3: Postgraduate students often work as teaching assistants.
Fun Fact
Post comes from the Latin word for after, as in postscript, a note added after the end of a letter.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word: postgraduate
a) lecturer
b) undergraduate
c) professor
d) scholar
Show answer
b) undergraduate. An undergraduate is still working on a first degree, the stage before postgraduate study.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) semester
b) scholarship
c) university
d) posgraduate
Show answer
d) posgraduate. Post keeps its t, even though it runs straight into the g.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
aturpgosteda
a) graduation
b) gradation
c) outrageous
d) postgraduate
Show answer
d) postgraduate. Graduation and gradation need an i and an n, and outrageous needs a second o and u, so it is postgraduate.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
After finishing her degree, my cousin joined a postgraduate course in enviromental science.
a) finishing
b) postgraduate
c) enviromental
d) course
Show answer
c) enviromental. Environment has an n before the m.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which qualification would a postgraduate student be working towards?
a) a BCom in accounts
b) a Class 12 certificate
c) an MA in history
d) a BA in history
Show answer
c) an MA in history
2. In many countries, a postgraduate degree such as an MA or MSc usually takes about ____.
a) two years
b) five years
c) ten years
d) six months
Show answer
a) two years
