TENSE
REFERRING TO THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE THROUGH VERBS.
MOOD
EXPRESSING YOUR ATTITUDE THROUGH VERBS.
VOICE
SHOWING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE VERB AND THE PARTICIPANTS.
CONJUNCTION
LINKING DEVICES BETWEEN WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES.
SUBORDINATION
THIS DESCRIBES THE DEPENDENCY OF A SECOND CLAUSE ON A MAIN CLAUSE.
DECLENSION
MODIFYING NOUNS TO SHOW THEIR ROLE IN A SENTENCE.
DIRECT OBJECT
WHO OR WHAT IS AFFECTED BY THE SUBJECT OF THE SENTENCE.
INDIRECT OBJECT
THE NOUN OR PRONOUN THAT RECEIVES THE DIRECT OBJECT.
CASE
THE GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF A SENTENCE.
VERB VALENCY
DESCRIBES HOW FLEXIBLY VERBS ARE USED AND COMBINED WITH OTHER WORDS.
ORTHOGRAPHY
THE STANDARDISED WRITING SYSTEM OF LANGUAGE. SPELLING & PUNCTUATION.
CLAUSE
THE SMALLEST GRAMMATICAL UNIT THAT CAN EXPRESS A COMPLETE IDEA.
METATHESIS
A SWITCHING PLACE OF TWO SOUNDS IN A WORD OVER TIME OR BY BORROWING.
EXPANDED EPITHET
DESCRIPTION (OFTEN INVOLVING A VERB) PUT BETWEEN AN ARTICLE AND A NOUN.
ADVERBIAL
A WORD OR PHRASE THAT TELLS HOW, WHERE, WHEN OR EXTENT.
MODIFIER
A WORD THAT LIMITS OR QUALIFIES ANOTHER WORD.
MODAL PARTICLE
OPTIONAL FILLERS THAT TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT THE SPEAKER’S ATTITUDE.
IMPERSONAL VERB
A VERB WITH NO CLEAR SEMANTIC SUBJECT.
TRANSITIVE VERB
A VERB WHICH HAS TO HAVE AN OBJECT.
INTRANSITIVE VERB
A VERB WHICH DOES NOT HAVE AN OBJECT.
INTONATION
THE VARIATION IN SPOKEN PITCH.
STRESS
THE EMPHASIS GIVEN TO A PARTICULAR WORD OR SYLLABLE IN SPEECH.
DIAERESIS
MARKS ADDED TO LETTERS THAT MODIFY THEIR PRONUNCIATION OR STRESS.
CONJUGATION
CHANGES TO VERBS INDICATING PERSON, NUMBER, TENSE, VOICE, MOOD, ETC.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
ANY PHRASE HEADED BY A PREPOSITION.
COGNATE
SIMILAR WORDS BETWEEN LANGUAGES OR DERIVATIONS WITHIN A LANGUAGE.
COLLOCATION
WORDS THAT ARE OFTEN FOUND TOGETHER.
CONNOTATION
A SECONDARY MEANING TO A WORD OR EVOCATION CUNJURED UP BY ITS USE.
SYNONYM
WORDS WHICH SHARE A SIMILAR MEANING.
ANTONYM
WORDS WHICH, IN SOME SENSES, MAY BE CONSIDERED OPPOSITES OR EXTREMES.
SEMANTIC FIELD
WORDS CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER BY A SHARED CONCEPT.
PARALINGUISTIC FEATURES
COMMUNICATIVE FEATURES BEYOND LANGUAGE, SUCH AS GESTURES AND SIGNS.
ACCENT
PRONUNCIATION, INTONATION, PITCH, TONE AND STRESS.
DIALECT
REGIONAL OR SOCIAL VARIETY OF LANGUAGE: ACCENT, GRAMMAR AND LEXICON.
POLYGLOT
A PERSON WHO SPEAKS 4 - 8 LANGUAGES FLUENTLY.
BILINGUAL
SOMEONE WHO IS FLUENT IN TWO LANGUAGES AND USES BOTH REGULARLY.
NOMENCLATURE
THE TECHNICAL AND SPECIFIC WORDS RELATED TO A DISCIPLINE.
ETYMOLOGY
THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF A WORD.
STYLE
LEVEL OF FORMALITY, FROM VULGAR TO HIGHLY FORMULAIC.
REGISTER
VARIETY OF LANGUAGE USED FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE OR SETTING.
COMPARATIVE
A WAY OF COMPARING TWO ELEMENTS OF A SENTENCE.
SUPERLATIVE
A WAY OF EXPRESSING ‘THE MOST’ OR ‘THE LEAST’.
SUBJECT
WHO OR WHAT PERFORMS THE ACTION.
INVERSION
SWITCHING AROUND THE SUBJECT AND VERB: SVO →VSO.
AUXILIARY VERB
A VERB USED TO ADD FUNCTIONAL OR GRAMMATICAL MEANING TO A CLAUSE.
MODAL AUXILIARY
A VERB WHICH ADDS ATTITUDE TO A CLAUSE.
INTERFERENCE
INFLUENCE FROM ANOTHER LANGUAGE ON THE LANGUAGE BEING LEARNT.
RENDITION
VERBALISING A CONCEPT OR IDEA.
INTERPRETING
TRANSFERRING ONE LANGUAGE INTO ANOTHER BY SPEAKING.
TRANSLATION
TRANSFERRING ONE LANGUAGE INTO ANOTHER BY WRITING.
IN-GROUPING
USING SHARED LINGUISTIC FEATURES TO SHOW BELONGING TO A SOCIAL GROUP.
IDIOLECT
AN INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUE WAY OF SPEAKING, VOCABULARY & USE OF GRAMMAR.
PHRASE
A GROUP OF WORDS THAT SERVE A SINGLE FUNCTION IN A SENTENCE.
INTERROGATIVE
A PRONOUN USED TO CREATE QUESTIONS FROM STATEMENTS.
AUTONOMY
THE ABILITY TO BE CONFIDENT & INDEPENDENT IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE.
GENDER
A GRAMMATICAL GROUPING OF NOUNS WHICH SHARE CHARACTERISTICS.
ROOT
THE SMALLEST UNIT OF A WORD THAT CARRIES THE ESSENCE OF ITS MEANING.
INFINITIVE
THE UNCONJUGATED FORM OF THE VERB.
PREPOSITION
USED TO EXPRESS RELATIONAL, SPATIAL OR TEMPORAL RELATIONSHIPS.
PRONOUN
USED INSTEAD OF A NOUN TO REFER TO SPECIFIC PEOPLE OR THINGS.