English Glossary
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or expression.
Acronyms
These are pronounced abbreviations. Use all capitals and no fullstops to abbreviate names and titles and pronounce it letter by letter, for example: British Broadcasting Corporation is known as the BBC.
Adjective
An adjective is a word that ‘modfies’ a noun or pronoun.
For example, in the sentence, “The big dog barked” the adjective is ‘big’.
Adverb
An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs generally answer one of four questions: how, when, where, or to what extent.
For example:
He ran fast. (how)
He responded immediately. (when)
He put it there. (where)
He became extremely happy. (to what extent, modifies adjective)
Adding the suffix -ly to an adjective commonly turns the word into an adverb:
For example:
‘quick’ becomes ‘quickly’
‘cold’ becomes ‘coldly’
allegory
This is a story in which people, things, and actions represent an idea or generalization about life;
the literal meaning of the story can be interpreted at a symbolic level.
alliteration
This is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words next to, or near each other, to produce an effect.
For example: ‘Tony touts treble trouble’ .
Allusion
A reference in literature to a familiar person, place or thing. For example: mythological,
biblical, literary or historical.
ambiguity
This is when a writer arranges it so that two or more meanings are possible. This can produce thought-provoking effects. Poems are sometimes shaped so that their meaning is deliberately ambiguous, or uncertain,
Analogy
A comparison of two or more similar objects
Anecdote
A short summary of an interesting or humorous event.
Antithesis
see Contrasting pairs.
Assonance
This is the repetition of similar vowel sounds to produce an effect.
Audience
Intended reader, listener or viewer.
A poem that tells a story; originally, ballads were written to be sung, and many still retain the simplicity and the patterns of repetition which are typical of song lyrics.
A caesura is a pause in the middle of a line of verse (usually marked by a comma or full stop).
Clause
A clause is a group of words containing a subject and verb which forms part of a sentence.
The first sentence is made up of two clauses: the first clause from "A clause" to "verb," the second from "which" to the end.
Colloquial expressions
This is a local or regional dialect expression; common to place or culture. Everyday words and phrases; the sort of language found in ordinary speech. What is colloquial in one region, culture, historical period or occupation may not be so in another.
Complex and Compound-Complex Sentences
A complex sentence is a sentence made up of one main clause and at least one subordinate clause.
A compound-complex sentence is a sentence made up of more than one main clause and at least one subordinate clause. It is the combining of a compound sentence with a complex sentence.
Consonant
Any letter of the alphabet other than a, e, I, o or u, ie not a vowel.
Consonance
This is like a cross between assonance and alliteration; it is the repetition of similar-sounding consonants in words or syllables.
Contrasting pairs
Pairs of lines which draw attention to contradiction, disagreement, unfairness, or injustice. They are often used in speeches to persuade people of the rightness of an argument.
See also Pattern of three.
Couplets
Lines of poetry arranged in pairs. They are often rhymed, in which case they are rhyming couple.
A particular version of a language used between native speakers from a particular region or culture. Dialects have their own distinctive accent, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.
Diction
This is the choice of words or vocabulary the poet uses.
Dissonance
This is the opposite of euphony. It is when a poet purposefully combines words to make an unattractive or unpleasant sound.
Drama
Drama is any piece of writing, consisting of dialogue, designed to be performed by actors, for example “Macbeth”.
This is when the natural pause in the sense of the words comes at the end of the line.
Enjambment
This is when the sense runs on from one line of verse to the next without pause. (It is the opposite of End-stopped lines)
Euphony
This is when the words combine to make a melodious or beautiful sound
A name for all these ways of using language to give emphasis, variety or vividness to writing or speech; metaphors, euphonies, alliterations are all figures of speech.
This is one of a group of words that share the same spelling or pronunciation (or both) but have different meanings
A pattern of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.
An image is a mental picture created by the words that a writer chooses for effect:
It is the descriptive language used to create a particular picture, feeling, or mood in the reader’s imagination. See also image, metaphor, simile. . An image can be visual (to do with seeing), aural (to do with hearing) or tactile (to do with touching or feeling)
Irony
Irony is saying one thing and meaning another. It gives a contrast between what is expected and what actually is.
A metaphor is a comparison of two unlike things It gives a type of image which describes something as though it were actually something else.
Metre
In poetry the technical term for regular rhythm in a poem is its metre. It is ‘the beat’ of the poem
See also iambic metre, rhythm and syllable.
Mood
The atmosphere of a piece of writing (or any work of art) and the feelings which it evokes.
Narrator
The speaker or person who tells what happens in a poem or a story. The narrator’s views and experiences may be those of the poet, but it would be a mistake to assume that this is always the case.
Noun
A noun is a word that signifies a person, place, thing, idea, action, condition, or quality.
For example:
doctor, home, cup, thought, safety, talented
This is the use of words (like ‘Cough’, ‘Boom’, ‘Tick’, ‘Gargle’ or ‘Mumble’) which sound like the thing they mean
Giving three successive examples of something to drive a point home; often used in speeches to persuade people of an argument. Frequently repetition of words is used to create the pattern.
See also Contrasting pairs.
Personification
This is a type of metaphor in which an author writes about an object or idea as though it were something alive, usually a person.
Phonetic presentation
A way of spelling which matches letters to the sounds of words.
Poetry
Poetry is basically anything that calls itself a poem. Poems usually use language in a much richer way than prose, often with rhythm, metre, rhyme, imagery and figures of speech. Poems are usually laid out in separate lines, so that the breaks come where the poet chooses rather than where good grammar might put them.
Pronoun
A pronoun takes the place of a noun in a sentence.
In English there are seven different kinds of pronouns.
The personal pronoun takes the place of a specific or named person or thing.
For example:
I, me or my.
The reflexive pronoun adds information by pointing back to a noun or another pronoun.
For example:
‘The man washed himself’
Prose
Prose is the ordinary form of written or spoken language. It is the opposite of poetry.
Puns
This is a play on words, or a paronomasia. A pun is a clever or funny use of words or expressions which allows the poet to create more than one meaning. Puns can be created by using words which look or sound similar but have different meanings.
The repetition of similar or identical sounds in a poem. Poems sometimes have rhyming words within the lines (internal rhyme) instead of, or as well as, at the end of them. If a poem has a pattern of rhyming lines this is called a rhyme scheme.
Rhythm
All writing or speech has some sort of rhythm; it is the pattern of strong and weak beats (or stresses); the pattern of sounds the words make. Writers usually make careful use of rhythm to create effects, for instance, echoing the meaning of the words in their rhythm.
Where and when the events of a story, play or poem take place.
Simile
A simile is a comparison of two unlike things using like or as. It gives an image using a direct comparison. Similes are almost always introduced by the words 'like', ‘as if’, or 'as', for example: ‘as fast as a train’
See also Image and Metaphor
Sonnet
A fourteen-line poem with a complicated rhyme scheme.
Sound pattern
A general term which refers to any words or lines where sounds are repeated to create a mood, a feeling, or the noises of everyday life
Stanza
An individual groups of lines in a poem. It is best to use the word stanza to make the distinction between a verse (of a poem) and verse (poetry in general). Traditionally poems were written in stanzas that had a regular number of lines and a regular metre and rhyme scheme — like sonnets.
Structure
The structure of a piece of writing is the way it is put together; the shape and organisation of the text. Does it have a clear beginning, middle and end, or does it move backwards and forwards in time?
Style
The style of a piece of writing is the way it is written. It is about how the language is used rather than what is actually being said.
Subordinate Clause
A subordinate clause depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning. It does not express a complete thought, so it does not stand alone. It must always be attached to a main clause which completes the meaning.
Subordinate clauses normally act as single part of speech. They can be either noun clauses, adjective clauses, or adverb clauses. They are sometimes called dependent clauses because they "depend" on a main clause to give them meaning.
Syllable
One of the sections that the sound of a word can be broken down into.
For example:
cat is one syllable and is called monosyllabic
din-o-saur is three syllables
Symbol
This is an image that is used more than once by a poet and which takes on a particular meaning and importance for that poet.
Syntax
The word order, or grammar that the poet uses. This can be very simple, or purposefully made complicated (possibly to create ambiguity, to allow for a more effective rhythm or to emphasise certain words)
The subject or subjects covered by a writer: not simply the facts and the happenings covered in the plot, but the underlying meaning behind them.
Tone
The author’s attitude, stated or implied, toward a subject, attitude or character. It tells you what sort of voice the writing has: sad, happy, angry, bitter, peaceful, serious, humorous, ironic, or sarcastic?
Transitions
The words or phrases that help tie ideas together
This is an individual section of a poem or part of its formal structure
See also stanza.
Voice
This is the voice of a poem helps to suggest its mood, attitude and purpose. Essentially, it can be defined as the way we might choose to express the words and lines, were we to read the poem out loud.
Vowel
These are the letters a, e, i, o and u. The remaining letters of the alphabet are called consonants.
Vowel sounds
It is difficult to define the ‘length’ of vowel sounds without taking into account the consonants placed next to them; if you are able to ‘sing’ or sustain a vowel sound, it is ‘long’, if the vowel sound allows you to speak it abruptly, it is ‘short’.