Tremble vs. Shiver vs. Shudder vs. Shake

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What’s the difference between Tremble, Shiver, Shudder and Shake? These four words are very similar but not identical. In all three cases the body (or a part of it) ‘vibrates’ but for different reasons. Let’s have a look at these examples from my Reading/Activity book, ‘Aethelflaed and the Rock Star’ (available on Amazon as e-book and paperback):

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  1. On her first day of work in the restaurant, as Aethelflaed went up to welcome her first diners, she held her hands together to keep them from trembling.
  2. Aethelflaed (accidentally) offended her Italian customers. They thought she had called them donkeys, so they walked out of the restaurant. The owner of the restaurant saw this , and shook her head.
  3. Later Aethelflaed remembered the scene from the restaurant, and shuddered.
  4. Aethelflaed noticed that the boy’s shoulders were shaking. He was crying.
  5. After being in the water, Aethelflaed was shivering, although it was a bright sunny day.
  • Which of the three match these definitions:
  1.  ________ implies nervousness or fear.
  2. . ________ implies cold.
  3.  ________ is when you move one part of your body, of another person’s body (their hand, for example) or an object (the wind ______ the trees). You can also use it to replace tremble, but in extreme situations: ‘He was _______ with fear’.
  4.  ________ very short body vibration because of horror or disgust, when you see a snake or spider, for example.

This is one of many exercises and explanations in the ‘Aethelflaed’ book series. You can get them on Amazon for just 0,99€ / 0,99$ / etc…, or get the first chapters free if you subscribe to my monthly newsletter.

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