A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZGlossary What is the meaning of the word glossary? A glossary is a list of words with their meanings in specific language. English Glossary What is an English glossary? An English glossary is a list of words with their meanings relevant to the English language and other subjects. Here are further guidelines. |
| Abbreviations |
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Doctor (Dr or Dr.) Professor (Prof.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acronym |
An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. 6D - Six-Dimensional An acronym is a word derived from the initial letters of the words of a phrase:For example, the word radar comes from "Radio Detection and Ranging". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alphabet | A set of symbols, components, or letters in a particular order that are used for writing a language. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ambigram | An ambigram is a word, art form or other symbolic representation, whose elements retain meaning when viewed or interpreted from a different direction, perspective, or orientation.Ambigrams are exercises in graphic design that play with optical illusions, symmetry and visual perception. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonym | A word or word group with a meaning opposite to that of another word or word group, for example hot (cold), go away (come back). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract Noun | A noun (such as courage or freedom) that names an idea, event, quality, or concept. Contrast with concrete noun. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Active Voice |
The verb form or voice in which the subject of the sentence performs or causes the action expressed by the verb. Contrast with passive voice. We use the active as opposed to the passive voice, when we are as interested in the person who does something as in the thing that is done. We repair cars in our garage is an example of the active voice. In the active voice, the subject of the verb does the action (eg They killed the President). See also Passive Voice. Asif ate six shrimp at dinner. (active) At dinner, six shrimp were eaten by Asif. (passive) Active voice The hunter saw the deer. Passive voice The deer was seen by the hunter. Here are further guidelines. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Action Verb |
Action verbs specify the action performed by the subject.
Examples: "John ran to the store." "Amy swims very well." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adverbial Particle |
Adverbial particles are prepositions that are considered part of the verb because they change the meaning of the verb. Some verbs allow one or more words between the verb and the particle. Example: "Turn font color="green">off the lights.", "Turn the lights off." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjective |
The part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a pronoun. Adjective forms: positive, comparative, superlative. Adjective: adjectival.
A word like big, red, easy etc. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun. This is a word that describes something or someone, for example, a tall man, strong wind, a huge house. Adjectives modify nouns and have three forms or degrees: Positive - new Comparative - newer Superlative - newest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adverb |
The part of speech (or word class) that is primarily used to modify a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Adverbs can also modify prepositional phrases, subordinate clauses, and complete sentences. A word like slowly, quietly, well, often etc. An adverb modifies a verb. This is a word that gives more information about a verb or adjective, for example, She ran quickly; I often go out at night; My __________ is stunningly beautiful; It's very cold. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Example: "Amy walks gracefully". "She is very pretty". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aesthetic | A sense of beauty or an appreciation of artistic expression. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appreciation | The act of discerning quality and value of literary texts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attitude | A way of thinking about a situation/idea/character. For example, an author or audience may be subjective, supportive or antagonistic towards something or someone. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Audience | The group of readers, listeners or viewers that the writer, designer, filmmaker or speaker is addressing. Audience includes students in the classroom, an individual, the wider community, review writers, critics and the implied audience. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Author | The composer or originator of a work (for example, a novel, film, website, speech, essay, autobiography). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Affix | A prefix, suffix, or infix: a word element (or morpheme) that can be attached to a base or root to form a new word. Noun: affixation. Adjective: affixable. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agreement | The correspondence of a verb with its subject in person and number, and of a pronoun with its antecedent in person, number, and gender. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Analytical texts | Texts whose primary purpose is to identify, examine and draw conclusions about the elements or components that make up other texts. Analytical texts develop an argument or consider or advance an interpretation. Examples of these texts include commentaries, essays in criticism, reflective or discursive responses and reviews. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appositive | A noun, noun phrase, or series of nouns used to identify or rename another noun, noun phrase, or pronoun. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Article |
A type of determiner that precedes a noun: a, an, or the.
The "indefinite" articles are a and an. The "definite article" is the. English has three articles: the - The "definite" article refers to specific objects. a, an - The "indefinite" articles refer to unspecified members of a class. The article "a" is used before a word starting with a consonant sound and "an" is used before a word starting with a vowel sound. Examples: "the mouse", "a mouse", "an orange mouse", "an honor" (H is silent), "a horse" (H is aspirated). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attributive | An adjective that usually comes before the noun it modifies without a linking verb. Contrast with predicative adjective. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Auxiliary (Auxiliary verb) |
A verb that is used with a main verb. Be, do and have are auxiliary verbs. Can, may, must etc are modal auxiliary verbs.
A verb that determines the mood or tense of another verb in a verb phrase. Also known as a helping verb. Contrast with lexical verb. These verbs, be, have, do are helping verbs, which are normally used with other verbs to create negatives and questions. Auxiliary verbs are used with other verbs to express moods or tense. Common auxiliary verbs are: will, would, may, might, shall, should, can, could, must Examples: "Amy will sing.", "Amy can sing." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Base | The form of a word to which prefixes and suffixes are added to create new words. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backronym |
An acronym is a word derived from the initial letters of the words of a phrase:For example, the word radar comes from "Radio Detection and Ranging". A backronym or bacronym is a phrase specially constructed so that an acronym fits an existing word. Backronyms can be constructed for educational purposes, for example to form mnemonics. An example of such a mnemonic is the Apgar score, used to assess the health of newborn babies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital Letter |
The form of an alphabetical letter (such as A, B, C) used to begin a sentence or proper noun; an uppercase letter, in contrast to lower case. Verb: capitalize.
In writing, letters can be written two ways; T or t, for instance. T is a capital letter, or upper case, and t is lower case. Capital letters are used at the beginning of a Sentence and for a Proper Noun. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capitonyms | A capitonym is a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized; the capitalization usually applies due to one form being a proper noun or eponym.[ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consonants |
B;C;D;F;G;H;J;K;L;M;N;P;Q;R;S;T;V;W;X;Z are the English consonants.
A consonant is a sound formed by stopping the air flowing through the mouth. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Case | A characteristic of nouns and certain pronouns that expresses their relationship to other words in a sentence. Pronouns have three case distinctions: subjective, possessive, and objective. In English, nouns have only one case inflection, the possessive. The case of nouns other than the possessive is sometimes called the common case. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clause |
A group of words that contains a subject and a predicate. A clause may be either a sentence (an independent clause) or a sentence-like construction within a sentence (a dependent clause).
A group of words containing a subject and its verb (for example: It was late when he arrived). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cloze | This is a type of test where you have a text with gaps which you must put a word into. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Collocation | This is where two or more words naturally go with each other, for example, strong wind, heavy rain, sour milk. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comparative adjective | We use comparative adjectives to compare two or more things. For example, My house is bigger than yours, but yours is more expensive than mine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Noun | A noun that can be preceded by the definite article and that represents one or all of the members of a class. As a general rule, a common noun does not begin with a capital letter unless it appears at the start of a sentence. Common nouns can be subcategorized as count nouns and mass nouns. Semantically, common nouns can be classified as abstract nouns and concrete nouns. Contrast with proper noun. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comparative | The form of an adjective or adverb involving a comparison of more or less, greater or lesser. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Complement | A word or word group that completes the predicate in a sentence. The two kinds of complements are subject complements (which follow the verb be and other linking verbs) and object complements (which follow a direct object). If it identifies the subject, the complement is a noun or pronoun; if it describes the subject, the complement is an adjective. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Complex Sentence | A sentence that contains at least one independent clause and one dependent clause. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Compound-Complex Sentence | A sentence that contains two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Compound Sentence |
A sentence that contains at least two independent clauses.
Compound sentences consist of two or more simple sentences separated by conjunctions. <Compound Sentence> = "Either" <Imperative Sentence> "or" <Imperative Sentence> Example: "Asif is already here and Amy is coming soon." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conditional Sentence |
Conditional sentences are used to describe the consequences of a specific action, or the dependency between events or conditions. Conditional sentences consist of an independent clause and a dependent clause. <Dependent Clause> = ("if" | "when") <Declarative Sentence> <Independent Clause> = <Independent Clause> <Dependent Clause> Example: "You will be sorry if you don't come soon." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conditional Clause | A type of adverbial clause that states a hypothesis or condition, real or imagined. A conditional clause may be introduced by the subordinating conjunction if or another conjunction, such as unless or in case of. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conjunction |
The part of speech (or word class) that serves to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. The two main types of conjunction are coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.
A word used to connect words, phrases and clauses (for example: and, but, if). Conjunctions are used to connect sentences or part of sentences. Common conjunctions: and, or, but Paired conjunctions: Either ... or, Neither ... nor Subordinate conjunctions introduce subordinate clauses. where, when, while, because, if, unless | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conjugation |
The presentation of the complete set of inflected forms of a verb.
Click here to conjugate over 7,400 regular and irregular English verbs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consonants and Vowels |
English uses 26 letters: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ AEIOU are vowels. BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXYZ are consonants. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Context | The environment in which a text is responded to or created. Context can include the general social, historical and cultural conditions in which a text is responded to and created (the context of culture) or the specific features of its immediate environment (context of situation). The term is also used to refer to the wording surrounding an unfamiliar word that a reader or listener uses to understand its meaning. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Convention | An accepted practice that has developed over time and is generally used and understood, for example, the use of specific structural aspects of texts such as in report writing with sections for introduction, background, discussion and recommendations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contraction | A shortened form of a word or group of words (such as doesn't and won't), with the missing letters usually marked by an apostrophe. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordination | The grammatical connection of two or more ideas to give them equal emphasis and importance. Contrast with subordination. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Count Noun | A noun that refers to an object or idea that can form a plural or occur in a noun phrase with an indefinite article or with numerals. Contrast with mass noun (or noncount noun). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Declarative Sentence |
A sentence in the form of a statement (in contrast to a command, a question, or an exclamation).
Declarative Sentences are used to form statements. Declarative sentences consist of a subject and a predicate. The subject may be a simple subject or a compound subject. <Declarative Sentence> = <subject> <predicate> Example: "This is a declarative sentence." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Definite Article | In English, the definite article the is a determiner that refers to particular nouns. Compare to indefinite article. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Demonstrative | A determiner that points to a particular noun or to the noun it replaces. The demonstratives are this, that, these, and those. A demonstrative pronoun distinguishes its antecedent from similar things. When the word precedes a noun, it is sometimes called a demonstrative adjective. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dependent Clause | A group of words that has both a subject and a verb but (unlike an independent clause) cannot stand alone as a sentence. Also known as a subordinate clause. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dependent preposition | This is a preposition that always goes with a verb, noun or adjective, for example, I'm relying on you; put your trust in me; I was critical of his methods. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Determiner |
A word or a group of words that introduces a noun. Determiners include articles, demonstratives, and possessive pronouns.
This is a word used before a noun which identifies what the noun refers to. Words like my, her, this, that, what, which, whatever, either, other, another, some, any, both, many, much, every, enough, no et-cetera are determiners. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dictionary |
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon. (English Dictionaries) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Digital texts | Audio, visual or multimodal texts produced through digital or electronic technology, which may be interactive and include animations and hyperlinks. Examples of digital texts include DVDs, websites and e-literature. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Direct Object | A noun or pronoun in a sentence that receives the action of a transitive verb. Compare to indirect object. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Editing | This means reading intensively to check that a piece of writing is accurate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| English alphabet | Here are further guidelines. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ellipsis | The omission of one or more words, which must be supplied by the listener or reader. Adjective: elliptical or elliptic. Plural, ellipses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exclamatory Sentence | A sentence that expresses strong feelings by making an exclamation. (Compare with sentences that make a statement, express a command, or ask a question.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Figurative language | Word groups/phrases used in a way that differs from the expected or everyday usage. They are used in a non-literal way for particular effect (for example, simile – ‘white as a sheet’; metaphor – ‘all the world’s a stage’; personification – ‘the wind grabbed at my clothes’). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finite verbs | Verbs that have a specific tense and a subject with which they grammatically agree (see verb). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Formal Description |
A Formal Description is like a mathematical formula that when applied to words produces a correctly formed sentence structure. The expression <noun phrase> = "the" <specific proper noun> means that you can create a "noun phrase" by first writing the article "the" and then writing a specific proper noun. Example: "the Grand Canyon". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fluency | This is the ability to be able to talk at normal speed without having to search for words or hesitate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Future Tense | A verb form indicating action that has not yet begun. The simple future is usually formed by adding the auxiliary will or shall to the base form of a verb. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gap-fill | This is a type of test where there is a gap which you must fill with one of a number of alternatives given. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender |
Gender is the classification of nouns and pronouns according to distinctions in sex. There are four genders: Masculine, Feminine, Common, and Neuter. Masculine gender denotes the male sex. Feminine gender denotes the female sex. Common gender denotes either sex. Neuter gender denotes the absence of sex. Examples: Masculine: he, father, king Feminine: she, sister, princess Common: child, cousin, neighbor Neuter: it, table, dress | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | The categories into which texts are grouped. The term has a complex history within literary theory and is often used to distinguish texts on the basis of their subject matter (for example, detective fiction, romance, science fiction, fantasy fiction), form and structure (for example, poetry, novels, biography, short stories). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gerund | These are sometimes called 'ing nouns', because they act like nouns, although they look like present participles. For example, I love eating pizza; Hunting is a sport that should be banned. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gist | The gist of an article is the overall idea of it; what it is basically about and the point it makes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender | A grammatical classification which in English applies primarily to the third-person singular personal pronouns: he, she, him, her, his, hers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gerund | A verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grammar |
The set of rules and examples dealing with the syntax and word structures of a language.
The structure of the language we use and the description of language as a system. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head | The key word that determines the nature of a phrase. For example, in a noun phrase, the head is a noun or pronoun. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Homonyms | A Homonym is a word that is written and pronounced the same way as another, but which has a different meaning. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Homophone |
Homophones are words that have the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings, for example, ate and eight; knight, and night
Homophones are words that are spelled differently but sound the same. HOMOPHONE EXAMPLES: 'Rain', 'rein' and 'reign' 'To', 'Two', and 'Too' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Homograph (homographs) | Homographs are words that are written the same way but have different meanings and often different pronunciations: 'Wind' can mean the movement of air when talking about the weather. It can also mean to follow a course or way that is not straight; the road winds through the mountains. These are different words with different pronunciations although they are written the same way. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hybrid texts | Composite texts resulting from a mixing of elements from different sources or genres (for example, infotainment). Email is an example of a hybrid text, combining the immediacy of talk and the expectation of a reply with the permanence of print. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idiom |
A set expression of two or more words that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. An idiom is a group of words in a certain order that together have a particular meaning. The meaning is not the same as the meanings of each word understood on its own. For example, To "have bitten off more than you can chew" is an idiom that means you have tried to do something which is too difficult for you. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idiom | A group of (more or less) fixed words having a meaning not deducible from the individual words. Idioms are typically informal expressions used by particular social groups and need to be explained as one unit (for example, ‘I am over the moon’, ‘on thin ice’, ‘a fish out of water’, ‘fed up to the back teeth’). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Imperative Mood | The form of the verb that makes direct commands and requests. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Imperative Sentence |
A sentence that gives advice or instructions or that expresses a request or command. (Compare with sentences that make a statement, ask a question, or express an exclamation.) Imperative sentences are used in commands. Imperative sentences consist only of predicates with verbs in infinitive form. The implied subject is "You". Frequently, imperative sentences are terminated with an exclamation point. Examples: Come here! Don't drive outside your lane. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Imaginative texts | Texts whose primary purpose is to entertain or provoke thought through their imaginative use of literary elements. They are recognised for their form, style and artistic or aesthetic value. These texts include novels, traditional tales, poetry, stories, plays, fiction for young adults and children including picture books, and multimodal texts such as film. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indefinite Article | The determiner a or an, which marks an unspecified count noun. A is used before a word that starts with a consonant sound ("a bat," "a unicorn"). An is used before a word that starts with a vowel sound ("an uncle," "an hour"). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Independent Clause | A group of words made up of a subject and a predicate. An independent clause (unlike a dependent clause) can stand alone as a sentence. Also known as a main clause. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indicative Mood | The mood of the verb used in ordinary statements: stating a fact, expressing an opinion, asking a question. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indirect Object | A noun or pronoun that indicates to whom or for whom the action of a verb in a sentence is performed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indirect Question | A sentence that reports a question and ends with a period rather than a question mark. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Infinitive |
The infinitive is the most basic form of any verb, the part you will find in the dictionary. There are two types of infinitive, the bare infinitive, which is just the verb, and the full infinitive, which has the word to before it.
A verbal--usually preceded by the particle to--that can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The basic form of a verb as in to work or work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Irregular verb |
Irregular verbs do not have a predictable pattern of conjugation. Compare Verb and the Verb "to be" below. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interjection |
An exclamation inserted into an utterance without grammatical connection (for example: oh!, ah!, ouch!, well!). Interjections express strong feeling or emotion and have no grammatical relation to any other word in a sentence. Some common interjections are: Oh, Alas, Aha, Bah, Whew. Examples: "Aha! I found it!". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interactive communication | This is the ability you should have to communicate your meaning to other people and understand what they mean. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interlocutor | In the speaking part of the exam, the interlocutor is the person who interacts with you, while the examiner takes no part in the conversation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intransitive verb | An intransitive verb is a verb that, rather than being followed by the object of a sentence, is followed by, for example, a preposition. Reply is an intransitive verb. You can't say, I replied him; you have to use the preposition to. I replied to him. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inflection |
A process of word formation in which items are added to the base form of a word to express grammatical meanings. Inflections in English include the genitive 's; the plural -s; the third-person singular -s; the past tense -d, -ed, or -t; the negative particle 'nt; -ing forms of verbs; the comparative -er; and the superlative -est. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| -ing Form | A contemporary linguistic term for the present participle and gerund: any verb form that ends in -ing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intensifier | A word that emphasizes another word or phrase. Intensifying adjectives modify nouns; intensifying adverbs commonly modify verbs, gradable adjectives, and other adverbs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interjection |
The part of speech that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone.
An exclamation inserted into an utterance without grammatical connection (for example: oh!, ah!, ouch!, well!). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interrogative Sentence |
A sentence that asks a question. (Compare with sentences that make a statement, deliver a command, or express an exclamation.) Interrogative sentences are used to form questions. Interrogative sentences frequently start with auxiliary verbs, or pronouns and adverbs such as "Who", "What", "Where", "When", and "Why". Interrogative sentences are terminated by a question mark. Examples: Where are you? Will Asif come for dinner? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interrupting Phrase | A word group (a statement, question, or exclamation) that interrupts the flow of a sentence and is usually set off by commas, dashes, or parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intransitive Verb | A verb that does not take a direct object. Contrast with transitive verb. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Irregular Verb | A verb that does not follow the usual rules for verb forms. Verbs in English are irregular if they do not have a conventional -ed form. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Irregular Noun |
The plural form of a noun is generally formed by adding an "s" or "es" ending to the singular form. Irregular nouns do not follow this rule. Examples: maximum, maxima child, children | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interpretive texts | Texts whose primary purpose is to explain and interpret personalities, events, ideas, representations or concepts. They include autobiography, biography, media feature articles, documentary film and other non-fiction texts. There is a focus on interpretive rather than informative texts in the senior years of schooling. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joke | A joke is something, like a funny story, that is said or done in order to make people laugh. It is often a play with words or provides an unexpected ending. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Keyword | These are important words that give information about what comes before or after a word, for example, firstly, secondly, lastly, primarily, in conclusion, et-cetera. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | A system of meaning, in spoken, written, visual and physical modes, for communicating ideas, thoughts and feelings. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language accuracy | This refers to the ability to communicate accurately grammatically. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language features | The features of language that support meaning (for example, sentence structure, noun group/phrase, vocabulary, punctuation, figurative language, framing, camera angles). Choices in language features and text structures together define a type of text and shape its meaning. These choices vary according to the purpose of a text, its subject matter, audience, and mode or medium of production. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language patterns | The arrangement of identifiable repeated or corresponding elements in a text. These include patterns of repetition or similarity (for example, the repeated use of verbs at the beginning of each step in a recipe, or the repetition of a chorus after each verse in a song). The patterns may alternate (for example, the call and response pattern of some games, or the to and fro of a dialogue). Other patterns may contrast (for example, opposing viewpoints in a discussion, or contrasting patterns of imagery in a poem). The language patterns of a text contribute to the distinctive nature of its overall organisation and shape its meaning. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Letter (message) |
A letter is a written message from one party to another. Here are further guidelines. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Letter (alphabet) | There are 26 letters in the English alphabet; the letters are the individual characters that are used to represent sounds in a written form, either individually or in combination with other letters. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lower Case | A lower case letter is the small version; a,b,c,d,e,f,g are lower case, but A,B, C, D, E, F, G, are capital or upper case letters. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Linking Verb |
A verb, such as a form of be or seem, that joins the subject of a sentence to a complement. Also known as a copula. Linking verbs associate attributes (adverbs or adjectives) with a subject. Common linking verbs are: be, look, become Examples: "Asif is smart." "Tara became angry." "The patient looked pale." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mass Noun | A noun (such as advice, bread, knowledge) that names things which cannot be counted. A mass noun (also known as a noncount noun) is used only in the singular. Contrast with count noun. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Media texts | Spoken, print, graphic or electronic communications with a public audience. They often involve numerous people in their construction and are usually shaped by the technology used in their production. The media texts studied in English can be found in newspapers and magazines and on television, film, radio, computer software and the internet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medium | The resources used in the production of texts, including the tools and materials used (for example, digital text and the computer, writing and the pen or typewriter). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Metalanguage | Language used to discuss language (for example, language used to discuss film or literary study such as miseen- scène, symbolism, characterisation or language used to talk about grammatical terms such as ‘sentence’, clause’, ‘conjunction’). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mode | The various processes of communication: listening, speaking, reading/viewing and writing/creating. Modes are also used to refer to the semiotic (meaning making) resources associated with these communicative processes, such as sound, print, image and gesture. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mood | The atmosphere or feeling in a particular text. For example, a text might create a sombre, reflective, exhilarating or menacing mood or atmosphere depending on the imagery or other language used. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Modal Verb |
A verb that combines with another verb to indicate mood or tense.
An auxiliary verb like can, may, must etc that modifies the main verb and expresses possibility, probability etc. It is also called "modal auxiliary verb". Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that aren't used to make questions and negatives, but instead are used to express ideas such as obligation (You must go home now), ability (I can swim), and permission (You may go to the toilet). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Modal Auxiliary | See Auxiliary Verb. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Modifier | A word, phrase, or clause that functions as an adjective or adverb to limit or qualify the meaning of another word or word group (called the head). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mood | The quality of a verb that conveys the writer's attitude toward a subject. In English, the indicative mood is used to make factual statements or pose questions, the imperative mood to express a request or command, and the (rarely used) subjunctive mood to show a wish, doubt, or anything else contrary to fact. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multiple choice | This is a type of test where you have, for example, a gap with four choices, only one of which is correct. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multiple matching | This is a type of test where you have, for example, five passages and five people's names. You must decide which person's opinion is contained in which passage. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multimodal text | Combination of two or more communication modes (for example, print, image and spoken text, as in film or computer presentations). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Narrative | A story of events or experiences, real or imagined. In literary theory, narrative includes the story (what is narrated) and the discourse (how it is narrated). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Narrative point of view | The ways in which a narrator may be related to the story. For example, the narrator might take the role of first or third person, omniscient or restricted in knowledge of events, reliable or unreliable in interpreting what happens. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Negation | A grammatical construction that contradicts (or negates) part or all of a sentence's meaning. Such constructions commonly include the negative particle not or the contracted negative n't. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Noun |
The part of speech (or word class) that is used to name or identify a person, place, thing, quality, or action. Most nouns have both a singular and plural form, can be preceded by an article and/or one or more adjectives, and can serve as the head of a noun phrase.
A word like table, dog, teacher, America etc. A noun is the name of an object, concept, person or place. A "concrete noun" is something you can see or touch like a person or car. An "abstract noun" is something that you cannot see or touch like a decision or happiness. A "countable noun" is something that you can count (for example: bottle, song, dollar). An "uncountable noun" is something that you cannot count (for example: water, music). A noun is a concrete thing, for example, a chair, table or bed, or an abstract term such as love, war and death. A word like table, dog, teacher, America etc. A noun is the name of an object, concept, person or place. A "concrete noun" is something you can see or touch like a person or car. An "abstract noun" is something that you cannot see or touch like a decision or happiness. A "countable noun" is something that you can count (for example: bottle, song, dollar). An "uncountable noun" is something that you cannot count (for example: water, music). A noun usually denotes a thing, place, person, quality, or action. Common nouns refer to ordinary things (mouse, tree, computer), whereas proper nouns refer to persons, specific things or specific places (John, the Brooklyn Bridge, Texas). Proper nouns are generally capitalized. Nouns have two common forms: singular and plural. Singular nouns refer to one object (book), plural nouns refer to two or more objects (books). Each noun form has a corresponding possessive form that is used to refer to the properties of the object ("the book's pages" means the pages of the book; "the books' pages" means the pages of the books). Nouns also have "gender" which is a classification according to distinctions in sex. Click here for plurals of regular and irregular English nouns. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | The grammatical contrast between singular and plural forms of nouns, pronouns, determiners, and verbs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Object |
A noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that receives or is affected by the action of a verb in a sentence.
In the active voice, a noun or its equivalent that receives the action of the verb. In the passive voice, a noun or its equivalent that does the action of the verb. In the sentence, Ann kissed Asif, Ann is the subject of the sentence, the one doing the kissing, and Asif is the object of the sentence, the one who receives the kiss. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Objective Case | The case or function of a pronoun when it is the direct or indirect object of a verb or verbal, the object of a preposition, the subject of an infinitive, or an appositive to an object. The objective (or accusative) forms of English pronouns are me, us, you, him, her, it, them, whom, and whomever. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Upper Case | In writing, letters can be written two ways; T or t. T is a capital letter, or upper case, and t is lower case. Capital letters are used at the beginning of a sentence and for a proper noun. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Participle |
A verb form that functions as an adjective. Present participles end in -ing; past participles of regular verbs end in -ed.
The -ing and -ed forms of verbs. The -ing form is called the "present participle". The -ed form is called the "past participle" (for irregular verbs, this is column 3). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Particle | A word that does not change its form through inflection and does not easily fit into the established system of parts of speech. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parts of Speech | Traditional term for the categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Part Of Speech | One of the eight classes of word in English - noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction and interjection. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passive Voice |
A verb form in which the subject receives the verb's action. Contrast with active voice.
Passive Voice In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb (eg The President was killed). See also Active Voice. The passive is formed with the auxiliary verb to be and the past participle of a verb. It's used when the thing you are talking about is more important than the person who is doing it. 'Cars are repaired in this garage' is an example of a passive sentence. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Past Tense | A verb tense (the second principal part of a verb) indicating action that occurred in the past and which does not extend into the present. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perfect Aspect | A verb construction that describes events occurring in the past but linked to a later time, usually the present. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Person | The relationship between a subject and its verb, showing whether the subject is speaking about itself (first person--I or we); being spoken to (second person--you); or being spoken about (third person--he, she, it, or they). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal Pronoun | A pronoun that refers to a particular person, group, or thing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Punctuation | In written English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Phrase |
Any small group of words within a sentence or a clause.
A group of words not containing a subject and its verb (eg on the table, the girl in a red dress). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paraphrase | Paraphrase is the ability to describe something without using the exact word, or to say what someone else said, but without using the exact words that they did. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Past modal | Most modal verbs don't have a past form, so they form the past with have + past participle. For example, My plane must have already left. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Past simple | The past simple is the most common past tense. For example, I ran down the street | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Past subjunctive | This is very rarely used, but when it is it looks strange, because If I were you, doesn't seem to be correct, but the verb to be is used in this way in this situation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Past participle | This is the third part of a verb, the past which is used to form perfect tenses and the passive form, for example, I have eaten my dinner; the Prime Minister has been murdered. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perfect tenses | The present, past and future perfect are formed with the auxiliary verb to be and the past participle of the main verb. They are tenses that usually refer to two connecting time periods. I have never been to Paris, is an example of the present perfect. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Phrasal verb | This is a combination of a verb and a preposition or adverb that usually have a meaning that can't be understood from each individual word. For example, We've run out of cigarettes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Possessive adjective |
My, your, his, her, its, their, are possessive adjectives.
This example will make you understand. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Present participle | This is the 'ing' part of a verb, used to make continuous tenses, for example, I was walking in the park yesterday evening. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Present perfect | The present perfect is formed from to have + past participle/to have + been + present participle of the main verb. It is used to talk about an event in the past, usually with some connection or consequence in the present, for example, The taxi has arrived or an event which began in the past and continues in the present, for example, I have lived with my aunt for the past three months. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pronunciation | This word refers to the combination of the sounds of the letters within words, the stressed parts of words and sentences, the way words join each other or change in rapid speech and the rising and falling of the voice during speech. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plural | The form of a noun that typically denotes more than one person, thing, or instance. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Possessive Case | The inflected form of nouns and pronouns usually indicating ownership, measurement, or source. Also known as genitive case. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polysemes | A polyseme is a word or phrase with different, but related senses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predicate |
One of the two main parts of a sentence or clause, modifying the subject and including the verb, objects, or phrases governed by the verb.
Each sentence (declarative sentence) contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The predicate is what is said about the subject. The predicate is the part of the sentence that contains a verb or verb phrase and its complements. The predicate of the sentence "John cried" is "cried". The predicate of the sentence "Amy will give me a letter." is "will give me a letter". Click here for detailed information about the Predicate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predicative Adjective | An adjective that usually comes after a linking verb and not before a noun. Contrast with attributive adjective. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prefix | A letter or group of letters attached to the beginning of a word that partly indicates its meaning. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preposition |
A word like at, to, in, over etc. Prepositions usually come before a noun and give information about things like time, place and direction.
Prepositions are the words like of, over, on, in, et-cetera, which sometimes give a meaning of place, time or direction, and are sometimes used in a combination with nouns, verbs and adjectives. Prepositions indicate relationships between different parts of the sentence. Common prepositions are: from, toward, in, about, over, above, under, at, below Examples: Clouds are over the earth and below the moon. John went toward the mountain at 3:00 O'clock. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prepositional Phrase | A group of words made up of a preposition, its object, and any of the object's modifiers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Present Tense | A verb tense that expresses action in the present time, indicates habitual actions, or expresses general truths. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Progressive Aspect | A verb phrase made with a form of be plus -ing that indicates an action or condition continuing in the present, past, or future. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pronoun |
A word (one of the traditional parts of speech) that takes the place of a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause.
A word like I, me, you, he, him, it etc. A pronoun replaces a noun. Pronouns are words used instead of a noun. Demonstrative pronouns are this, that, and such. Example: That is pretty. Pronouns like who and which are interrogative pronouns when they introduce questions. Example: Which is pretty? Pronouns like who and which are called relative pronouns when they introduce clauses. Example: The flower, which is on the table, is pretty. Indefinite pronouns are each, either, some, any, many, few, and all. Example: Some are pretty. Personal pronouns are used to refer to persons. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal Pronoun | Personal pronouns stand in the place of a person's name. In the sentence "John went home.", the word "John" may be replaced with the personal pronoun "he". Personal pronouns have four cases: nominative (subjective), objective, possessive adjectives (genitive), and possessive. Pronouns have also "person" (1st, 2nd, or 3rd), "number" (singular or plural), and "gender" (masculine, feminine, or neuter) attributes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal Pronouns - Nominative (Subjective) |
The nominative pronouns are used in the subject of a sentence. Example: You have a book. Person,number Nominative 1st,singular I 2nd,singular you 3rd,singular he, she, it 1st,plural we 2nd,plural you 3rd,plural they | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal Pronouns - Objective Objective pronouns are used in the object of a sentence. |
Example: Give me the book. Person,number Objective 1st,singular me 2nd,singular you 3rd,singular him, her 1st,plural us 2nd,plural you 3rd,plural them | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal Pronouns - Possessive adjectives (Genitive) Possessive adjectives are sometimes called attributive possessive pronouns. They generally modify noun phrases. |
Example: This is my book. Person,number Possessive adjectives 1st,singular my 2nd,singular your 3rd,singular his, her 1st,plural our 2nd,plural your 3rd,plural their | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal Pronouns - Possessive Possessive pronouns are nominal in nature and they occur in the object of a sentence. |
Example: This book is mine. Person,number Possessive pronouns 1st,singular mine 2nd,singular yours 3rd,singular his, hers 1st,plural ours 2nd,plural yours 3rd,plural theirs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personification | The description of an inanimate object as though it were a person or living thing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perspective | The way a reader/viewer is positioned by the author through the text, or how a particular ideology is embedded in a text, for example, a feminist perspective. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Persuasive texts | Texts whose primary purpose is to put forward a point of view and persuade a reader, viewer or listener. They form a significant part of modern communication in both print and digital environments. They include advertising, debates, arguments, discussions, polemics and essays and articles. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Point of view | The opinion or viewpoint expressed by an individual in a text, for example an author, a narrator, a character or an implied reader. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Phrase | A group of words that forms part of a sentence and does not include a finite verb (see finite verbs). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Proper Noun | A noun belonging to the class of words used as names for unique individuals, events, or places. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Question |
A question is a sentence, a phrase or even just a gesture that shows that the speaker or writer wants the reader or listener to supply them with some information, to perform a task or in some other way satisfy the request.
Here are further guidelines. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quotation | The reproduction of the words of a writer or speaker. In a direct quotation, the words are reprinted exactly and placed in quotation marks. In an indirect quotation, the words are paraphrased and not put in quotation marks. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regular Verb | A verb that forms its past tense and past participle by adding -d or -ed (or in some cases -t) to the base form. Contrast with irregular verb. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relative pronoun | Relative pronouns are used to join two parts of a sentence together. For example, There's a dog that lives down the road from me. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reported speech | This is also known as 'indirect speech' and is a report of what someone said, without actually using the words that were spoken. For example, My mother said she was coming today. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relative Clause | A clause introduced by a relative pronoun (which, that, who, whom, or whose) or a relative adverb (where, when, or why). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rhetoric | The language of argument, using persuasive and forceful language. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rhetorical devices | Language techniques used in argument to persuade audiences (for example, rhetorical questions, repetition, propositions, figurative language). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sentence |
A group of words that express a thought. A sentence conveys a statement, question, exclamation or command. A sentence contains or implies a subject and a predicate. In simple terms, a sentence must contain a verb and (usually) a subject. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!).
The largest independent unit of grammar: it begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation point. A sentence is traditionally (and inadequately) defined as a word or group of words that expresses a complete idea and that includes a subject and a verb. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Singular | The simplest form of a noun (the form that appears in a dictionary): a category of number denoting one person, thing, or instance. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subject |
The part of a sentence or clause that indicates what it is about.
Every sentence(declarative) contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the main noun (or equivalent) in a sentence about which something is said. The subject is the part of the sentence which performs an action or which is associated with the action. The subject of the sentence "John cried" is the proper noun "John". The subject of the sentence "Lions and tigers growled." is the compound subject "lions and tigers". Click here for detailed information about the Subject. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scan | This is a method of speed reading where you quickly look through an article, only looking for one particular thing, for example, a name or date. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simile | A simile is a comparison between something and something else not related to it in any way except for the image it gives you, for example The sun was like a hot red ball. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simple past | The simple past is the most common past tense. For example, I got up at 7.00am this morning. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skim | This is a method of speed reading where you quickly look through an entire reading passage to get the general meaning or gist of the passage. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stylistic choices | The selection of stylistic features to achieve a particular effect. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stylistic features | The ways in which aspects of texts (such as words, sentences, images) are arranged and how they affect meaning. Style can distinguish the work of individual authors (for example, Jennings’s stories, Lawson’s poems), as well as the work of a particular period (for example, Elizabethan drama, nineteenth-century novels), or of a particular genre or type of text (for example, recipes, scientific articles, play-by-play commentary). Examples of stylistic features are narrative viewpoint, structure of stanzas, juxtaposition, nominalisation, alliteration, metaphor and lexical choice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Suffix | This is a small ending you put onto a word that changes its meaning or grammar. For example, He felt helpless as the tiger padded towards him. His detemination saw him through to the end of the race. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Superlative adjective | This is an adjective which describes the most etc., for example, He's the tallest person in the class. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subjective Case | The case of a pronoun when it is the subject of a clause, a subject complement, or an appositive to a subject or a subject complement. The subjective (or nominative) forms of English pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who and whoever. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subjunctive Mood | The mood of a verb expressing wishes, stipulating demands, or making statements contrary to fact. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Suffix | A letter or group of letters added to the end of a word or stem, serving to form a new word or functioning as an inflectional ending. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Superlative | The form of an adjective that suggests the most or the least of something. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SVO | subject-verb-object; a common word order where the subject is followed by the verb and then the object eg: "The man crossed the street" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Task achievement | This means being able to do what is asked of you in the speaking part of the exam. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Term Guidance Example | Here are further guidelines. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Verb "To Be" |
The verb "to be" is the most irregular verb in English.
It is conjugated as follows:
The form "ain't" is considered substandard; do not use it. Use "isn't", "aren't", "am not", or another appropriate form instead. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Text structure | The ways in which information is organised in different types of texts (for example, chapter headings, subheadings, tables of contents, indexes and glossaries, overviews, introductory and concluding paragraphs, sequencing, topic sentences, taxonomies, cause and effect). Choices in text structures and language features together define a text type and shape its meaning. Examples of text structures in literary texts include sonnets, monologues and hypertext. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Theme | The main idea or message of a text. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tone | Tone describes the way the ‘voice’ is delivered. For example, the tone of a voice or the tone in a passage of writing could be friendly or angry or persuasive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Types of texts | Classifications of texts according to the particular purposes they are designed to achieve. In general, in the senior subjects in the _________ Curriculum: English, texts are classified as imaginative, interpretive, analytical or persuasive types of texts, although these distinctions are neither static nor discrete and particular texts can belong to more than one category. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transitive verb | A transitive verb is a verb that is followed directly by an object. The verb love isn't followed by a preposition, but instead by the person or thing that the subject of the sentence loves, I love you. I hit my teacher is another example. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transformations | This is a type of question where you are given a sentence and the beginning of another sentence and a word. You've got to complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first one, using the word given. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tense |
The time of a verb's action or state of being, such as past, present, and future.
The form of a verb that shows us when the action or state happens (past, present or future). Note that the name of a tense is not always a guide to when the action happens. The "present continuous tense", for example, can be used to talk about the present or the future. Tense refers mainly to the time - past, present, and future. The Twelve Tenses of English Present Simple Present Perfect Present Continuous Present Perfect Continuous Past Simple Past Perfect Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous Future Simple Future Perfect Future Continuous Future Perfect Continuous | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transitive Verb | A verb that takes a direct object. Contrast with intransitive verb. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Uncountable noun | Uncountable nouns are simply, nouns that cannot be counted, either because there are too many individual parts of them, for example sugar, milk, beer, or because they are abstract, for example, love, peace, life. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verb |
The part of speech (or word class) that describes an action or occurrence or indicates a state of being.
A word like (to) work, (to) love, (to) begin. A verb describes an action or state. Verbs are words that describe actions, for example, He was walking through the park, or states, for example, this food smells good. Action verbs constitute the majority of English verbs. They include "sing", "write", "swim", etc. The typical regular verb conjugation is similar to: Infinitive (Vinf): start Present Participle (Ving): starting Past participle (Vpastp): started Person,Number Present Past (Vpast) 1st,singular I (V1s) start started 2nd,singular you (V2s) start started 3rd,singular he/she/it (V3s) starts started 1st,plural we (V1p) start started 2nd,plural you (V2p) start started 3rd,plural they (V3p) start started Click here to conjugate over 7,400 regular and irregular English verbs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verb Phrase |
Verb Phrases are sequences of auxiliary and action verbs that may show tense, mood, aspect, and voice. The future tense, for example, is constructed by placing "will" before an infinitive form of a verb as in "She will study tomorrow". Aspect refers to the manner in which the verb action is experienced. An example of present perfect aspect is "Asif has lived in Chicago". Click here for detailed information about Verb Phrases. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verb Tense | Verb tense is an inflectional form of a simple verb or verb phrase expressing a specific time distinction. For details, see the description of Predicate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verbal | A verb form that functions in a sentence as a noun or a modifier rather than as a verb. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Visual elements | Visual components of a text such as placement, salience, framing, representation of action or reaction, shot size, social distance and camera angle. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Voice | In the literary sense, voice can be used to refer to the nature of the voice projected in a text by an author (for example, ‘authorial voice’ in a literary text, or ‘expert voice’ in an exposition) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vowels | English has five vowels: AEIOU. The consonants W and Y are sometimes called semivowels because they can act as vowels in certain words. Vowels are sometimes categorized as short and long. A short vowel has generally a single tone, e.g., the A in "cat", whereas a long vowel usually has a diphthong sound, e.g., the A in "cake". Although English orthography is very irregular, many words double a consonant or use consecutive consonants after a vowel to indicate that the vowel is short. For example "boss" or "Boston" have short Os, and "rack" has a short A. The long vowel is normally indicated by following the vowel with a single consonant and another vowel, e.g., the A in "raking", or by using a terminal E which is called a "silent E". The A in "rake" and the O in "tone" are examples of long vowels. See also consonant. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Word | A sound or a combination of sounds, or its representation in writing, that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or a combination of morphemes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Word order |
Declarative Sentence Most English sentences (clauses) conform to the SVO word order. This means that the Subject comes before the Verb, which comes before the Object. Examples: I (S) bought (V) a new computer (O). She (S) doesn't like (V) dogs (O). Here are further guidelines. http://www.qureshiuniversity.org/wordorder.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wordbuilding |
This is the process of forming verbs and adjectives from nouns, or nouns from adjectives, et-cetera. Happiness and happy are both related. Knowing that happiness is the noun of the adjective happy (and that unhappy is the opposite of happy) is an example of wordbuilding. A word like (to) work, (to) love, (to) begin. A verb describes an action or state. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Word Class |
A set of words that display the same formal properties, especially their inflections and distribution. Similar to (but not synonymous with) the more traditional term part of speech. The word class of a word is whether it is a noun, verb, adjective or adverb, et-cetera. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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