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Verbal Reasoning Glossary for 11 Plus Exam

a shortened version of a word or phrase.

  • A.S.A.P.  “As soon as possible”

a concept or idea; something that cannot be seen, heard or touched.

the first letters of words put together as a short version and said as a single word.

a word used to describe a noun.

a word usually used to describe a verb.

words or letters put in the order in which they would come in the alphabet

a word with an opposite meaning to another word.

a person in a story, play script or other kinds of narrative text.

a word that stands for a group or collection of things.

a word that is used to compare two things.

2 or more words put together to make a new word.

A word that joins two clauses or sentences

  •  ‘and’
  • ‘but’
  • ‘therefore’…

a word used to join together two or more sentences.

The 21 letters of the alphabet that aren’t vowels.

a conversation between two or more characters in a story.

a small or young version of something or somebody.

the actual words people say to each other.

saying no twice, so that it means yes.

a word which does not follow common rules and needs to be learned separately.

female, like a girl or a woman.

Text that has been made up by the author, about imaginary people and events.

using ‘l’ or ‘we’.

following rules; polite.

tells whether something is male or female.

a word that sounds the same as another and is spelled the same but has a different meaning.

  • ‘I want to play’ and ‘I saw a play.’

a word that sounds the same as another but has a different meaning and is spelt differently.

  • hair and hare
  • too, two, to

Language that creates a vivid picture in the reader’s mind.

  • He ran as fast as a leopard.
  • …swinging his hands like a bear.

a word that stands for a noun but not a particular one.

e.g. everything, something, anything, etc…

the name of a verb starting with ‘to’.

e.g. to wait.

relaxed and chatty

the beginning of a piece of writing, setting the scene or introducing characters or ideas.

does not follow the usual rules.

part of a sentence which contains a verb.

male, like a boy or a man.

A way of describing something by saying that it is something else.

  •  The detective listened to her tales with a wooden face.
  • I was lost in a sea of nameless faces.

a lesson that stories like fables teach a reader.

A type of 11 + question that gives you options to choose from.

the person telling the story.

saying no or not.

Text that is about facts and real people and events.

A word that names something.

e.g. ‘John’, ‘dog’, ‘love’, ‘tree’

who or what is being affected by the subject and the verb in a sentence.

words that sound the same as their meanings.

a sentence or set of sentences describing one stage of a piece of writing, separated from the next paragraph either by a line space or an indent

where someone or something is having something done to them

a word that stands for a noun and shows who, e.g. lime, we/us, they/them, etc.

A way of describing something by giving it human feelings and characteristics.

e.g. The wind howled in the night.

a group of words which has a meaning but is not a complete sentence.

the problem or dilemma developed in a story.

more than one.

saying yes

a word that stands for a noun and shows to whom it belongs, e.g. mine, yours, his, hers. etc.

decide what may happen next, using clues in the text to support what you say.

A string of letters that can be put in front of a root word to change its meaning.

e.g. ‘un-‘ can be added to ‘block’ to make ‘unblock’.

a word that shows the position, direction or timing of a noun.

a word used instead of a noun: he. it, they, we, you, she, etc…

how you say a word.

a wise saying, often very old

a special name (or title) of a person, place or thing.

Start with a capital letter.

e.g. Paris, John, Christmas, Sir Alfred

a piece of continuous writing, as opposed to a poem.

words which end with the same sound.

the main part of a word to which prefixes and/or suffixes can be added.

a group of words that go together to make sense. usually starting with a capital letter and ending with a full stop.

a letter that cannot be heard in a spoken word.

A way of describing something by comparing it to something else, using ‘like’ or ‘as’… ‘as’

e.g. “The stars were a thousand diamonds, glittering in the sky.’

only one .

A car, one dog, the tree…

a form of English which is used as a guide for good English.

The person or thing doing the action of a verb in a sentence. e.g. ‘I laughed.’ ,

e.g. I run.
 the bird flew.

A string of letters that can be put after a root word to change its meaning.

e.g. ‘-er’ can be added to the end of ‘read’ to make ‘reader’.

a word that is used to describe the most, the biggest, the best, the worst, etc.

part of a word that contains at least one vowel and makes one sound.

A word with a similar meaning to another worde.g. ‘big’ is a synonym of ‘huge’,

e.g. ‘small’ is a synonym of ‘tiny’

used to show if a verb is in the past, present or future.

using ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’.

An action or doing word,  or a being word

To have, to be, to buy, run, is…

the range of words that a person knows and can use.

The letters A, E, I, O and U

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