Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Active (Voice)

The active voice occurs in a sentence/clause when the subject of the sentence/clause performs the action of the verb, eg. "Sally lost her prize." "The sun shone on the bare rock." The active verb gives a sense of immediacy and is a direct and natural way of writing and speaking. See also: Passive (voice) BACK | INDEX

Adjectivals

Adjectivals give more information about the noun. They can be single words (adjectives), phrases or clauses and act in the following kinds of ways: as determiners, as classifiers, as quantifiers or as factual or comparative describers. BACK | INDEX

Adverbials

Adverbials (adverbs) give more information about verbs, adjectives, other adverbs or even a whole clause or sentence. Put simply, the adverbial indicates: How? When? Where? Why? BACK | INDEX

Antonym

An antonym is a word opposite in meaning to another, eg,"hot" is to "cold". The use of an antonym is an indirect means that the writer can use to link up new information with previously given information. See also: synonym. BACK | INDEX

Auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs are helping verbs. They assist verbs to express differences in time, eg. "The boy has been playing football." "The boy had been playing football'; to express obligation, eg, "The man must come home soon." To indicate probability, eg, "The train may come late today." BACK | INDEX

Circumstances

Circumstances indicate "when", "where", "how" "who with" happenings are taking place. Therefore, they are adverbials. BACK | INDEX

Clause

A clause represents a unit of meaning in a text and essentially consists of a subject and what is said about the subject. If it is a main clause/idea, it can stand alone and, in written language, is called a simple sentence which must have a finite verb. However if the clause is a subordinate (or dedependent) one, that is, a clause that carries a subordinate idea, it begins either with a connector or conjunction, or if it is an adjectival clause, with a relative pronoun. Dependent clauses must be attached to a main clause. BACK | INDEX

Clause level grammar

Clause level grammar points to how the writer uses different types of clauses to promote interaction between and among participants in the text; for example, the participants in a narrative/recount could be communicating with one another, or the writer could be communicating with the reader. These kinds of clauses are of four kinds: statement, question, exclamation and command. Also among the participants in a narrative, the writer can use direct speech or he/she can have speech shown in a reported form. BACK | INDEX

Cohesion and cohesive devices

Cohesion is the means a writer uses to ensure there is a logical sequence of ideas across the text to assist with coherence. There are several devices the writer or speaker can use to achieve cohesion, namely, referring words, pointing words, word associations such as repetition, synonyms and antonyms, collocation and word sets and lastly, text connectives.

Collocation

Collocation occurs in a text when the writer uses words that typically occur together and are seen to be related to each other, eg, "river, bank, water, current, flow". There are also pairs of words that typically go together, eg. "fish and chips", "husband and wife", "bacon and eggs". Collocation gives a sense of cohesion in a text by creating such relationships. BACK | INDEX

Comparative

Comparative is a term used when a relative amount of a quality is compared with the original amount, eg a pretty girl BUT a prettier girl. (The second girl has more of the quality known as "pretty" than the first.) Generally the comparative is formed by adding "er" to the original form of the adjective. If the original adjective ends in a "y", the "y" changes to "i" before the "er" is added. BACK | INDEX

Complement

A complement gives more information about the subject. It normally follows a relating verb group such as: "be", "become". e.g. Paris is the capital of France. BACK | INDEX

Complex Sentences

Complex sentences have at least one subordinate clause which is dependent on the main clause for it to make sense. eg, "After the graduation ball had concluded, the students felt tired and emotional." BACK | INDEX

Complex Verbs

Complex verbs are verb groups made up of two verbs. Each verb contributes to the meaning the writer wishes to convey, eg, "He started eating his lunch", "She went to look for her brother." The complex verb group can be quite lengthy, eg., "Mary had been wishing to knit him a pullover." BACK | INDEX

Compound Sentences

Compound sentences consist of two main clauses joined by a co-ordinating conjunction like "and" or "but". eg. "The whistle blew and the train departed." The ideas in each clause are of equal status. BACK | INDEX

Compound Tenses

Compound tenses (past, present, future) are tenses which require at least one auxiliary verb, eg, "I had been eating my lunch." BACK | INDEX

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are connecting words. They can operate within a sentence in a co-ordinating way by linking one word to another, one phrase to another, one clause to another. This usage indicates that the parts that are connected are of equal value. If they operate in a subordinating way, they are connecting parts of a sentence that are unequal, that is, a linkage is being made between a main idea and a subordinate idea. Conjunctions operate within the sentence. BACK | INDEX

Connectives (text)

Connectives are words that show how the text is developing and contribute to the cohesion of the text by linking ideas. They can clarify, show cause/result, indicate time, sequence ideas, add information, state condition/concession Connectives operate both within the sentence and between sentences across the text. BACK | INDEX

Co-ordinating conjunctions

Co-ordinating conjunctions link main clauses, words and phrases. And, but and or are three co-ordinating conjunctions. BACK | INDEX

Definite Article

The definite article is actually a determiner - "the". There are times that the writer uses it as a cohesive device when he/she is referring back to something which has already occurred in the text and which is now being treated specifically, eg. "A blue vase stood on the table, the blue vase that my aunt had given me for a wedding present." BACK | INDEX

Demonstrative Pronouns

These are the 'pointing' words - this, that, these, those BACK | INDEX

Dependent Clauses

In complex sentences the dependent clause (also known as the subordinate clause) relies on the main clause for its meaning to be clear. Dependent clauses are linked to the main clauses or introduced by subordinating conjunctions. . eg, "It started to rain heavily while we waited for the bus." BACK | INDEX

Determiners

Determiners actually belong in the adjectival basket. They are of three kinds: the article, such as a, an, the, some; the pointing word, such as this, that, these, those; the possessive word, such as my, his, Mary's. (NB These words always precede a noun and according to context, refer to that noun in a specific or a not so specific way.) BACK | INDEX

Direct Object

A direct object is always a noun group which is having the action performed on it or done to it., eg., "The white rabbit saw Alice." BACK | INDEX

Dummy Subject

When used with verbs like be and become to show the existence of something, the word there is the dummy (or indefinite) subject.
eg. There is a house at the end of the road with a red roof. BACK | INDEX

Embedded Clause

Embedded clauses occur when the writer splits up a clause to insert an adjectival clause. Here the adjectival clause that has separated the noun group from its verb and other components related to it, is said to be "embedded" in the noun group, eg., "The policeman who found the girl was highly praised in the media. The main clause in this sentence is "The policeman [...] was highly praised in the media. BACK | INDEX

Empty Verbs

'Empty' verbs are formed, for example, by combining the verb, "have" or "do" or "give" or "take" with a noun, eg., "He is having a talk with his friend." These are more common in spoken language. BACK | INDEX

Exposition

This text type seeks to present an argument or point of view. BACK | INDEX

Extended (or complex) noun groups.

These are several words used together which typically occur in school textbooks and academic writing. They allow a great deal of information to be presented concisely. e.g. Consideration of the effects of ciimate change and its effects on people's health must be considered. BACK | INDEX

Figurative Language

Figurative language is a tool the writer uses to concentrate/communicate meaning in a special way. There are many options open to the writer but the ones most frequently found in writing for children are: the metaphor, the simile, onomatopoeia, and personification. BACK | INDEX

Finite verbs

The finite is the form of the verb in a particular time frame such as past, present, future. Its spelling may alter according to whether its subject is singular or plural, eg. "He runs into the room.', "They run into the room." The form of this verb, "run/s" indicates that the action of running is occurring in the present and not the past (ran) or the future (will run). BACK | INDEX

Focus

See Sentence Focus BACK | INDEX

Implied Subject

Sometimes the subject of the sentence is not written or said but is implied such as in a command: "Stop!". It can also occur when the subject of two independent clauses is the same: "We ate our dinner then watched television." BACK | INDEX

Indefinite Subject

See Dummy Subject BACK | INDEX

Independent Clause

An independent clause is one that can stand alone and make sense. It must contain a finite verb. It may also be called a simple sentence, eg. "The dog ran across the road." In complex sentences an independent clause may also be called a main or principal clause, eg, "When the wind blows, the cradle will fall. " BACK | INDEX

Indirect Object

The indirect object is the noun group that tells us to whom or for whom the action is done, eg, "They read us (ido) a story (do)." "Throw him (ido) the ball (do)." BACK | INDEX

Infinitive

The infinitive is the basic (base) form of the verb, often preceded by the preposition "to". It can be coupled with a finite verb to form a complex verb, eg. "That year I began to write my memoirs." It can also function as a noun, eg. "To write your memoirs requires a good memory." BACK | INDEX

Information Report

Information reports are text types which describe and classify natural and manufactured phenomena. BACK | INDEX

Interrogative Pronouns

These are also question words including: Who? What? Which? Who? Whose? BACK | INDEX

Main Clause

See Independent clause. BACK | INDEX

Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made. The words, "like" or "as" are not used, eg "He stood within the rippling shadows of the late afternoon.' 'These days with so many new views on the subject, I am a lone voice in the wilderness."BACK | INDEX

Modals

Modals are of four kinds: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs. They all convey information about the degree (high, medium or low) of obligation, certainty or usuality (rarely, sometimes, often).
Modal Nouns: possibility (low modality), probability (medium modality, necessity (high modality).
Modal Verbs: could, may, might, would (low modality); should, will, can, need to (medium modality); must, ought to, shall, has to (high modality)
Modal Adjectives: possible, probable, necessary
Modal Adverbs: possibly, probably, necessarily. BACK | INDEX

Narratives

Narratives are text types which relate stories to entertain or sometimes to instruct the listener or reader. BACK | INDEX

Negative Sentences

Negative sentences are formed by putting "not" or "never" inserted after the first finite verb, eg, "I am not going to town today." (Note: "not" is sometimes abbreviated to "n't". BACK | INDEX

Nominalisation

In formal writing verbs are often put into a noun form to allow the focus of the sentence to be on the ideas or arguments being presented, instead of on the people carrying out the actions.eg. Careful observation (noun) will result in the discovery (noun) of the birds' habitat (noun). INSTEAD OF:
If we observe (verb) them carefully, we will discover (verb) where the birds live (verb). BACK | INDEX

Non-finite clauses

These are clauses without a finite verb. They are considered as clauses, not phrases, because they contain a verb, but there is no indication from the verbs in these clauses of whether the occurrence is happening in the past, present or future. This form of the verb is called the non-finite (or infinitive) form. Since all clauses need to have a verb, a non-finite verb means the clause is also non-finite. Non-finite clauses are always dependent clauses since they cannot make sense on their own. Forms that non-finite verbs can take are: infinitive; the –ing form; and the past participle. BACK | INDEX

Nouns and Noun Groups

Nouns are naming words for people, places, animals, things and ideas. According to the context in which they are used and the manner in which the writer wishes them to be viewed, they can be one or more of the following categories:
Living/non-living, human/non-human, masculine, feminine, neuter, general/particular, concrete/abstract, objective/subjective, countable/uncountable, common/proper, collective, singular/plural, compound.
Noun groups is a term which can be used for single nouns, pronouns (we, he, they etc) and phrases such as a beautiful smile. BACK | INDEX

Object

The object in a clause or sentence is the noun group which is the receiver of the action.
eg. They grew some flowers.
Objects may be direct or indirect. (See under Direct
Objects and Indirect Objects) BACK | INDEX

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a device used by the writer to indicate the sounds of an action. It is an imitation in sound of the thing described. eg The wind whistled as it lashed the waves. BACK | INDEX

Paragraph

Paragraphing is a method the writer uses to organise the material of a text into topics/sub-topics. Each paragraph contains one topic/sub-topic and is a visual means for helping the reader to follow the text in a logical manner. BACK | INDEX

Passive (Voice)

The Passive voice occurs in a sentence/clause when the doer of the action of the verb is not the subject. It is a means for the writer to create an indirect or impersonal way of writing. It also puts the focus in the sentence/clause on the receiver rather than the doer, eg., "The day's mail was delivered by the baker's son." See also: Active (voice) BACK | INDEX

Past Participle

The past participle is a verb form ending in "-ed", "-en", "d" or "t". It is coupled with parts of the verbs "to be" and "to have" to form a tense, eg., "I was attacked by the stranger." " Have you eaten your breakfast? " The past participle can also convey a sense of description when used in a phrase, "The paper, revised by the editor, was ready for publication." Here it is functioning as an embedded clause. BACK | INDEX

Personification

Personification is the treating of a non-living object as though it were living, eg The engine, a tiger straining to break free. BACK | INDEX

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are formed with the addition of either an adverb or a preposition, or a preposition and a noun. They give an informal note to a written text. The addition of the adverb/preposition alters the literal meaning of the verb, eg., "The oil-tank blew up." (meaning, 'exploded' not the literal meaning of "let out a current of air". "Take hold of yourself." (meaning ' control ' not ' grab'). BACK | INDEX

Phrase and Word Level Grammar

Phrase and word level grammar refers to the different kinds of words and phrases a writer uses to construct meaning and create interest in the text. They consist of: noun and verb groups, pronouns, adjectivals and adverbials. E.g. Expositions will often contain many abstract nouns as they are discussing ideas and arguments. BACK | INDEX

Pointing words

Pointing words are one means of the writer's obtaining cohesion in a sentence or text. They are actually the pointing out or demonstrative pronouns referred to in the section on pronouns. They are: this, that, these, those. E.g.. "As she entered the room, she saw the red bag on the table as she had expected.. That was the signal that danger was lurking outside." (The first "That" in the second sentence refers back to the information in the first sentence, ie. "the red bag on the table". BACK | INDEX

Prepositional Verbs

Prepositional verbs are formed with the addition of a preposition to a verb which does not alter the literal meaning of the verb, eg, "I listen to the radio." The purpose of the preposition is to link the noun to the verb. BACK | INDEX

Prepositions

Prepositions are relating words and often indicate position, "up", "on", "in". They relate or connect the word or words that follow them with some other part of the sentence. A group of words (phrase) beginning with a preposition is a prepositional phrase which can be either adverbial or adjectival. eg., the man with a limp (adj.); He walked with a limp. (adv.). BACK | INDEX

Pre-determiners

Pre-determiners are formed from quantity adjectives. In a sentence where the determiner is preceded by a quantity adjective, the quantity adjective functions as a pre-determiner, eg, " All the king's men arrived at the gate." "Give me less of the first kind and more of the second kind." BACK | INDEX

Present Participle

The present participle is a verb form ending in "-ing". It is coupled with parts of the verbs "to be" and "to have" to form a tense, eg., "I have been walking with my friend in the park." "I was walking in the park when we met." The present participle can also convey a sense of description when used in a phrase, " Laughing loudly, he stepped into the boat." BACK | INDEX

Principal Clauses

See Independent Clause BACK | INDEX

Pronouns

Pronouns are words which stand in place of nouns, for example, "That's Sam Smith. He is my neighbour whose dog bit the postman yesterday." Both he and whose refer to (replace/stand in place of) Sam Smith.
Pronouns have a large number of functions, hence the variety: Personal, Possessive, Pointing (Demonstrative), Relative, Question (Interrogative), Reflexive, Indefinite, Distributive, Reciprocal, Quantity. BACK | INDEX

Recount

Recounts are text types which relate a series of events. They are usually factual. BACK | INDEX

Referring words

Referring words are a cohesive device in writing in which the writer uses language to refer to information that has occurred earlier in the text. The most commonly used of these referring words is the pronoun. eg "Mary opened the gate when she heard the car coming up the driveway.
"She" refers back to the previously used noun, "Mary". BACK | INDEX

Relative Adverbs

‘When’ and ‘where’ are two words which can function both as conjunctions (e.g. I will let you know when they arrive; people want to live where there are good facilities) and as relative adverbs. When being used as relative adverbs they link the relative clause to the main clause by a connection of time and place and act like relative pronouns (e.g. this is the time of day when I always feel sleepy; the house where I was born is over there). See also: Wh-questions. BACK | INDEX

Relative Pronouns

These introduce relative (or adjectival clauses) giving more information about the noun group. They include which, who, where, whose, that.
eg. This is the house that Jack built. BACK | INDEX

Replacement words (Substitution; ellipsis)

Replacement words are a cohesive device in writing in which the writer uses language to replace verb groups or noun groups. eg. "She asked him to tell her the time and he did." The word, "did" refers back to the verb group, "to tell her the time". BACK | INDEX

Repetition

Repetition of words, phrases and sentences in a text can act as a cohesive device by taking the reader back to a piece of information previously given and now being emphasised by being repeated, eg, "It was a cold, dark tunnel they traversed to reach the hideout which was also cold and dark at the bottom of the hill.
Why did their friend arrange to meet them in such a cold and dark place?" The repetition also succeeds in building up tension and fear.
Repetition of some words in a text may simply be the writer referring to the same thing or things at different points in the text, eg, "Rabbits live in burrows and are a pest to the farmer because they destroy his grazing lands.
Rabbits, however, because of their size, edible flesh and fur often are marketable". Repetition can also be a very simply used device which helps the writer to emphasise one thing, eg, "It was very, very cold." BACK | INDEX

Sentence

A sentence is a group of words which makes sense, ending with a full stop, exclamation mark or question mark. It is the basic unit of written communication. Usually a sentence has two parts: the subject and what is said about the subject,e.g. Harry (subject) drives his father's truck (what is said about the subject). Note, the second part contains the verb, essential to creating meaning along with the subject. The sentence can be constructed with just a subject and a verb, or a subject, a verb and object (direct object and/or an indirect object). e.g. She was writing a letter to her boyfriend. (Letter is the direct object of was writing, and her boyfriend an indirect object of was writing, made to relate to the verb through the preposition, to. BACK | INDEX

Sentence Focus

See Theme. BACK | INDEX

Sentence Level Grammar

Sentence level grammar refers to the way the writer constructs sentences by combining different types of clauses within each sentence in order to build up meanings and relationships. The basic sentence is the Simple Sentence, consisting of a single clause. BACK | INDEX

Simile

A simile is a figure of speech which makes a direct comparison between two nouns of a different kind, using "like" or "as" to introduce the comparison, e.g. "He was as strong as a lion" or ""The snow on the ground was like fairy imprints in a silent world." BACK | INDEX

Simple Sentences

Simple sentences consist of a single clause containing a finite verb. e.g. The dish ran away with the spoon. BACK | INDEX

Simple Tenses

The simple present (or present simple) and simple past (or past simple) tenses need only one verb to indicate the time frame of a happening.
eg. She likes chocolate. (present).
He hated maths at school. (past) BACK | INDEX

Subject

The subject of a clause or sentence is the noun or noun group which is carrying out the action, the relating, the saying or the sensing.
eg. Migratory birds can fly very long distances. BACK | INDEX

Subject/verb agreement

When the subject of a clause or sentence is singular, the verb must be in the singular form too. Similarly when the subject is plural, the verb must also have a plural form. In English, the spelling change is usually only seen between the 3rd person singular (he/she/it, and nouns in the singular) and the 3rd person plural (they, and nouns in the plural) when the verbs are in the present tense. BACK | INDEX

Subordinate Clause

See Dependent Clauses BACK | INDEX

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions introduce subordinate or dependent clauses. Some examples of subordinating conjunction are: while, since, because, if, as, whereas BACK | INDEX

Superlative

Superlative means an amount of a quality is compared with the original, eg a pretty girl can be compared with one other girl and this second girl may be prettier, but a third girl may be compared with the first two and be termed the prettiest. The second girl has more of the quality that the first girl possesses but the third girl has the most when all three are compared. Generally the superlative is formed by adding "est" to the original form of the adjective. When the original ends in a "y", the "y" changes to "i" before the sign of the superlative is added. BACK | INDEX

Synonym

A synonym is a word with a similar meaning to another, eg, "hot" as to "fiery". The use of a synonym is an indirect way the writer has of linking up new information with previously given information in the text. See also: antonym. BACK | INDEX

Tense

Tense shows the time frame of a happening. Verbs may be in the present (action happening now), past (event happened in the past) or future (occurrence will take place in the future) tenses. BACK | INDEX

Text Types and Text Organisation

Text types are useful frameworks for teaching and understanding how we organise and structure what we say in different ways to achieve different purposes. In real life, texts are seldom rigidly delineated, for example, an advertising brochure may often combine recount and exposition.

Text organisation, on the other hand, refers to the way specific texts are constructed and how the information within them is organised. For example, a recount consists of: Orientation, a Record of Events and a Reorientation. Text organisation also refers to the writer's shaping of the Paragraphs to give coherence to the text, choice of Topic Sentences and Theme. The Theme controls the flow of information in a text and is found at the beginning of the clause. BACK | INDEX

Theme

In linguistic/language terms, theme (sentence focus) is a functional term which helps the reader understand how information is communicated in a sentence. It is the first part of a sentence, as far as the main/finite verb, but not including it, giving the known information that is shared between writer and reader. It paves the way for new information to be given in the sentence.

In literary terms, the word, "theme" has another meaning. It is the underlying message of the whole text which the writer states or implies, eg. The writer may be writing about the death of soldiers and his/her underlying theme could be the futility of war. BACK | INDEX

Verbs and Verb Groups

These words are used to indicate the action or state that is occurring. They are often called 'doing' or 'being' words. A well constructed main clause or sentence must have at least one finite verb. Types of verbs are: action (Jack climbed the beanstalk); saying (You shout too much); sensing (We felt cold); relating (Mo has dark hair). BACK | INDEX

Wh- questions

These are questions which are introduced by interrogative pronouns and adverbs such as who? what? which? when? where? how? e.g. Who is at the door? BACK | INDEX

Word Associations

The writer can make links in the text and so achieve coherence and cohesion with the use of repetition, synonyms, antonyms, collocation, word sets. BACK | INDEX

Word Chains

Word Chains are a means by which a writer can establish relationships or cohesion in a text. They consist of lexical items (words) and the semantic (meaning) relationships among them, such as: antonyms, synonyms, repetition and collocation. Together with grammatical devices of reference, such as: pronouns, the definite article, pointing words and replacement words (substitution) .
They allow the reader to see meaning being formed through the linking of ideas. BACK | INDEX

Word sets

Word sets are groups of words in a text which are related in various ways. They might be related in terms of the "whole" and the "part", eg., In a text a dog may be the subject and the writer keeps taking the reader back to the noun, "dog" by talking about its "ears", its "paws", its "tail". OR the text maybe about "classes" and "sub-classes", eg, "marsupials", "kangaroos", and "wombats". OR the text may be dealing with a relationship in which a thing/person is talked about in terms of its/her/his attributes, eg, "the girl" - "wilful, disobedient, punished, sorry, foolish." BACK | INDEX

Functional Grammar Support

Glossary