English Terminology Flashcards
Common noun
All nouns that
aren’t proper
nouns
Proper noun
specific people
and places: Paris,
Andrew, Venus
Concrete noun
things that exist
physically:
computer, house,
dog
Abstract noun
things that do not
exist physically;
feelings, ideas and
qualities
Collective noun
groups of people,
animals or objects:
team, family, flock,
gaggle, litter, herd
Pre-modifying
adjectives
Come before a
noun to describe it
Post-modifying
adjectives
Come after the
noun to describe it
Comparative
adjectives
Compare one noun
to another e.g.
bigger, smaller
Superlative
adjectives
The adjective is the
least or the most
e.g. ‘biggest’,
‘strongest’
Noun phrases
Nouns modified by
adjectives that
could be replaced
by a pronoun e.g.
‘the beautiful
animal was kept in
a cage’
Dynamic verb
A verb you can
physically see e.g.
running, walking
Stative verbs
A verb that is a
state not an action
e.g. thinking,
wondering
Transitive verbs
A type of dynamic
verb that requires a
noun e.g. ‘she
kicked the ball’
Intransitive verbs
Don’t require a
noun e.g she
sneezed, she
laughed
Infinitive verbs
A verb you can’t tell
the tense from e.g.
to wake, to run, to
love
Finite verbs
A verb you can tell
the tense of e.g.
she was waiting
Auxiliary verbs
These help us
understand the
tense of another
verb. There are only
three – be, do,
have.
Modal auxiliary
verbs
These tell you the
necessity of
possibility attached
to a verb e.g.
should, could,
would, may, might
Adverbs
Modify verbs by
telling us the
manner, time,
place, frequency,
degree, quantity or
evaluation of a
verb
Pronouns
Replace the noun
in a sentence. Harry
went to school
becomes he went
to school, the
pronoun replaces
Harry.
Personal pronoun
Replaces the
subject or object in
a sentence e.g. I,
we, me, him
Reflexive pronoun
Indicate object of a
verb is the same as
the subject of the
sentence e.g. ‘-
self/-selves in
themselves’ like in
‘they were going to
do it themselves
Indefinite pronoun
Do not refer to any
specific person of
thing e.g.
‘someone’
‘anything’
‘everything
Demonstrative
pronoun
They tend to point
to something e.g.
‘that’, this’ (but if it
comes before a
noun it isn’t the
pronoun)
Possessive pronoun
Show possession
(hers, ours, mine)
only when not
placed before the
noun.
Interrogative
pronoun
Used when asking
a question e.g.
who, whose,
which, what (in
who did this, which
is it)
Relative pronoun
Act as linking words
in a sentence
always placed
immediately AFTER
the noun they refer
to e.g. whom, who,
whose, which, that.
(The man, whohad
decided to go
home, was walking
very quickly)
Person
First person involves
you personally (I,
we, me, us, our,
my)
Second person is
you, your, yours
only
Third person
involves other
people e.g. he,
she, they, them,
their
Articles
There are only three
articles and they
are either definite
(the) or indefinite (a
or an)
Determiners
Often confused
with pronouns, they
are always before
the noun, not after
it e.g. this car is
new. They tell us
which ‘thing’ is
being referred to.
Quantifiers
Are a type of
determiner that
show quantity e.g.
he had ‘a few
cows’, he ‘did not
have enough milk’
Prepositions
A word that tells
you where or when
something is in
relation to
something else e.g.
inside, outside,
after, before
Coordinating
Conjunctions:
s join like with like
(i.e., they join a
noun with another
noun, an adjective
with another
adjective etc.). The
most common ones
are and, but, and
or.
Subordinating
Conjunctions
Subordinating
conjunctions join
subordinate clauses
to main clauses.
Common examples
are although,
because, if, since,
unless, until, and
while.
Correlative
Conjunctions
correlative
conjunctions are
used in pairs to join
alternatives or
equal elements. The
most common pairs
are either/or,
neither/nor, and not
only/but also.
onomatopoeia
words which sound like the noise they describe
alliteration
repetition of the same letter in 2 or more words close together
for effect.
sibilance
repeated use of the s sound for deliberate effect
plosive
the basic plosives in English are t, k, and p (voiceless) and d, g,
and b (voiced).
fricative
a fricative consonant, e.g. f and th.
emotive language
strong words which provoke an emotional reaction from the
reader
oxymoron
two opposite words placed right next to each other
hyperbole
exaggeration for effect
Metonym
A word, name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with
which it is closely associated. For example, Washington is a metonym for
the US government.
metaphor
Comparison without like or as
Extended
metaphor
Where a metaphor continues through an extract/ passage
simile
Comparison using like or as
personification
Something not living described with human qualities
pathetic fallacy
The personification of weather/nature.
rhetorical question
a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get
an answer.
Sensory imagery
Imagery relating to sight, smell, sound, touch and taste
Exclamative
A sentence type used to express surprise about something unexpected or extraordinary.
Interrogative
a sentence type that shows that it’s a question
Imperative
Imperative sentences are used to issue commands or instructions.
Declarative
A declarative sentence makes a statement (it declares something.)
repetition
When an idea, word or phrase is repeated
motifs
a dominant or recurring idea in an artistic work.
semantic field
a set of words that are linked through a theme or concept.
extended
metaphor
a comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a
paragraph, or lines in a poem.
juxtaposition
two or more ideas, places, characters, and their actions are placed side by side in a
narrative or a poem, for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts.
Irony
A device in which what appears, on the surface to be the case, differs radically from what
is actually the case.
