Vocab Flashcards
Verb
A word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a sentence, such as hear, become, happen.
Adverbs
A word or phrase that modifies the meaning of an adjective, verb, or other adverb, expressing manner, place, time, or degree (e.g. gently, here, now, very ).
Adjectives
A word naming an attribute of a noun, such as sweet, red, or technical.
Nouns
A word (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things ( common noun ), or to name a particular one of these ( proper noun ).
Common Noun
A noun denoting a class of objects or a concept as opposed to a particular individual.
Proper Nouns
A name used for an individual person, place, or organization, spelled with an initial capital letter, e.g. Jane, London, and Oxfam.
Pronoun
A word that can function as a noun phrase used by itself and that refers either to the participants in the discourse (e.g. I, you ) or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse (e.g. she, it, this ).
Personal Pronoun
Each of the pronouns in English ( I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, and them ) comprising a set that shows contrasts of person, gender, number, and case.
Abstract Noun
A noun denoting an idea, quality, or state rather than a concrete object.
Concrete Noun
A noun denoting a material object rather than an abstract quality, state, or action.
Collective Noun
A count noun that denotes a group of individuals (e.g. assembly, family, crew ).
Alliteration
The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
The alliteration of ‘sweet birds sang’
Onomatopoeia
the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g.
Pathetic Fallacy
The attribution of human feelings and responses to inanimate things or animals, especially in art and literature.
Foreshadowing
Be a warning or indication of (a future event).
Dramatic Irony
The expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Foreboding
A feeling that something bad will happen; fearful apprehension.
“with a sense of foreboding she read the note”
Lexis
The total stock of words in a language
Superlative
The highest quality of a word
Modal Verb
An auxiliary verb that express necessary or possibility. Must, shall, will
Determiner
A person or thing that determines the kind of reference
Empathize
To understand and share someone else’s feeling
Symbolism
the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.
Motif
a pattern or recurring idea in an artistic
work.
Slang
Informal words used mostly in speech within a particular social group
Jargon
Special words or expressions used by a profession or group that are difficult for others to understand.
Colloquial
Used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary.
Oxymoron
a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction e.g Great Depression Jumbo shrimp Cruel to be kind Pain for pleasure Clearly confused Act naturally Beautifully painful Painfully beautiful Deafening silence Pretty ugly
Medias res
To start a story in the middle of action
