Meanings and Representations

• Register


  Refers to the degree of formality used in language. It also refers to the shared language between a group of people.
• Adjective Clause


  An adjective clause is a clause which provides information for a noun in another part of the sentence

  
  

  Examples:

  • The cake that she bought was delicious.
  • I visited the town where they met.
  • She will always remember the day when the accident happened.
• Adverb


  An adverb that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb.
• Preposition


  A preposition word that shows the relationship between a noun and or pronoun and another word in the sentence.
• Determiner


  A word before a noun which provides additional information, such as quantity or relationship.

  
  

  Examples:

  • 'these' apples
  • 'my' house
  • 'the' King
• Apposition


  Apposition is a noun phrase which follows another noun phrase to provide additional information about it.

  
  

  Examples:

  • James, her father, is a nice man.
  • Mr. Wilson, my teacher, is very strict.
  • Isaac Newton, who discovered gravity, was a mathmetician.
• Lexical field


  Lexical fields are the 'families' words belong to.
• Euphemism


  A euphemism is an indirect, more appropriate way of saying something vulgar or offensive.
• Dysphemism


  A dysphemism is a derogatory or negative term used instead of a neutral one.

  
  

  Examples:

  • 'kicked the bucket'
  • 'fag'
  • 'puke'
• Personification


  Personification is a figure of speech in which human feelings and behaviours are applied to inanimate objects.
• Minor sentence


  A minor sentence is a sentence which does not contain a main verb or subject. These are often to resemble conversation (answers to questions, common expressions, onomatopoeia) or emphasise something.

  
  

  Examples:

  • 'Sounds good'
  • 'First come, first served'
  • 'No.'
• Simple sentence


  A simple sentence is a sentence which contains only one independent clause.

  
  

  Examples:

  • He ran fast.
  • Are you coming to school?
  • What a nice day.
• Compound Sentence


  A compound sentence contains two or more clauses linked by a conjunction.

  
  

  Examples:

  • She needs to go to the shop for some bread.
  • I don't like chocolate ice cream, but I like strawberry.
  • I love history and geography.
• Complex sentence


  A complex sentence is sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

  
  

  Examples:

  • I should go now, or else I will be late for work.
  • Although I hate maths, I have to study it so I can pass my exam.
  • When she got to the bus stop, it had already driven off.
• Fronted adverbial


  Fronted adverbials are words or phrases placed at the beginning of a sentence to describe whatever follows.

  
  

  Examples:

  • In 1914, World War I began.
  • Before it went dark, I walked the dog.
  • Nervously, I walked into the doctor's office.
• Fronted conjunction


  When conjunctions are used at the beginning of a sentence.

  
  

  Examples:

  • But how does that make sense?
  • And now, the show will begin.
  • Yet, he was still wrong.
• Contraction


  Contraction is when words are combined into shortened forms, such as 'don't' and 'I'm'.
• Declarative sentence


  A declarative sentence is a sentence that makes a statement.
• Deixis


  Deictic expressions cannot be understood unless the context of the utterance is known, like 'here' or 'there'.
• Denotation


  The denotation of a word is its objective, dictionary definition.
• Field-specific lexis


  Field-specific lexis is vocabulary associated with a particular topic or field.
• Filler


  Fillers are common expressions or words inserted into speech with no meaning, to account for thought.

  Examples:

  • 'Like'
  • 'You know'

  Sounds like 'um' and 'er' are filled pauses.
• Passive voice


  The passive voice is when the subject of a verb is the element affected by the action.

  • The movie Jaws was directed by Steven Spielberg.
  • The man was caught by security.
  • Over there is where you will find them.
• Superlatives


  Superlatives are adjectives which indicate the highest degree, like 'nicest', 'greatest', or 'longest'.
• Nouns

  Concrete nouns are nouns which can be literally seen or interacted with. Examples would be dog, tree, chair, house, etc...

  
  

  Abstract nouns are ideas and concepts, and not literal things, such as love, fear, birth, imprisonment...

  
  

  Proper nouns refer to specific, individual things, people or places of which there is only one. For instance, David Attenborough, Berlin, Big Ben...

  
  

  Collective nouns refer to a group of individuals. Examples would be gang, bunch, group, class.
• Lists


  A list separated by commas rather than conjunctions is an asyndetic list.

  
  

  Example:

  • I need eggs, milk, sugar, bread, tea, pasta...

  
  

  A list separated by conjunctions is a syndetic list.

  Example:

  • I need eggs and milk and sugar and bread...
• Hypophora


  A hypophora is a question followed by an answer in a text.
• Noun Phrase in Apposition

  Example:

  
  

  A noun phrase in apposition:

  • KPMG's UK chair, Bill Michael