Glossary of Terms
Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar - Glossary of Terms
This is a basic list of definitions and examples of terms used in spelling, punctuation and grammar.
| Term | Symbol | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adjective | A describing word that is added to nouns to describe what kind, colour, size, which one or how many. | The big, hairy, brown dog was taking a nap on the leather sofa. | |
| Adverb | A describing word that is added to verbs to tell us where, when, how, in what way or to what extent an action is performed. | * Stacy carefully coloured in her art poster. * The bus arrived late. | |
| Antonym | A word that means the opposite to another word. | * Hot is an antonym of cold. * Fast and quick are antonyms of slow. | |
| Apostrophe |  | These are used to show missing letters and to show possession. | * It is becomes it's. * The dog chewed up Lenny's slippers. |
| Article | The words the, a or an which go before a noun. | A cat ran across the road in front of a car. | |
| Brackets |  | These are used to separate extra information in a sentence. | Jacob (in class 2B) had the main role in the school play. |
| Capital letter | These are used at the start of a sentence and for proper nouns. 'I' is always written with a capital letter. | There was a party at Mat's house on Saturday. | |
| Clause | A part of a sentence that has a verb and someone doing the action. | Mark plays football every Sunday. | |
| Colon |  | These are used to introduce some lists and to join sentences. | I need to get the following for the birthday party: balloons, a cake, candles, party hats and a card. |
| Comma |  | These are used to separate items in a list, separate extra information and to join clauses. | * Fred bought a pair of shoes, a cap, two pairs of socks and a magazine. * Ryan's brother, who is a year older than him, is always late. * When the summer holiday is over, we will be starting secondary school. |
| Compound Word | When two words are put together to form a new word with a new meaning. | "Lady" and "bird" together makes "ladybird". "Cup" and "board" together makes "cupboard". | |
| Connective | A word or words used to link two clauses or sentences. | I baked some cupcakes today and they tasted delicious. | |
| Contraction | When two words are joined together with an apostrophe to make a new word. | 'Do not' can be contracted to 'Don't'. | |
| Dash |  | These are used to separate extra information in a sentence. | Best friends - Jo and Kev - loved building model cars. |
| Direct speech | The actual words that are said by someone. | John shouted, "Wait for me!" | |
| Ellipses |  | These can be used to add suspense, leave a sentence hanging or to show an interruption in speech. | * Shelly turned the handle of the front door and it creaked open slowly... * "Er...I was hoping you could maybe...help me out?" |
| Exclamation mark |  | These are used to show strong feelings and for some commands. | * The trapeze act at the circus was amazing! * Be quiet! |
| Full stop |  | These are used to show the end of a sentence. | I went to dance class yesterday. We are performing at a gala next week. |
| Homophone | Words that sound the same but have a different meaning. | * Greg went to the park today. * I want a piece of cake too. * There were two squirrels in the tree. | |
| Hyphen |  | These are used to join two words together to make a single unit or one meaning. | Isla bought some free-range eggs at the market. |
| Inverted commas |  | These are used to show direct speech. | "It's time to tidy up," said Miss Dale. |
| Main clause | The important part of a sentence that would make sense on its own. | Catherine played the piano until her fingers ached. | |
| Noun | A "naming" word that names a person, place or thing. | Kerry went to the cinema on Tuesday to watch the new Disney film. | |
| Phrase | small part of a sentence that usually does not have a verb in it. | Selina watched a film at the cinema. | |
| Plural | More that one of something. | There were lots of birds in the sky. | |
| Prefix | Letters than can be put in front of a word to change its meaning. | Andy was unhappy that he had to miss the football match this week. | |
| Preposition | A word that tells you how things are related. | Poppy roasted some marshmallows over the campfire. | |
| Pronoun | A word that can be used instead of a noun. | Liam finished his homework quickly as it was due tomorrow. | |
| Question mark |  | These are used at the end of a question. | What is your favourite food? |
| Reported speech | This is what someone has said but not in their own words. | Sam told me that he went to Blackpool last week. | |
| Semi-colon |  | These are used to separate lists of longer things and to join sentences. | In school today, class 3 had literacy hour; played rounders; went on a nature walk; and made a poster. |
| Subordinate clause | The less important part of a sentence which would not make sense on its own. | The dog chased after the ball until it was out of breath. | |
| Suffix | Letters that can be put after a word to change its meaning. | Mr Trussel marked class 7T's homework carefully. | |
| Synonym | A word with the same or a similar meaning to another word. | Glad, cheerful, delighted and pleased are all synonyms of happy. | |
| Verb | A doing or being word. | * Hannah was looking out of the window. * Danny is happy that it's finally the weekend. |