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.
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