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

A 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.