Botswana PSLE English flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Subject-verb agreement

The rule that a verb must match its subject in number: a singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Simple past tense

A verb form showing an action finished before now, usually made by adding -ed to regular verbs, as in walked, or by an irregular form such as went.

Present perfect tense

A verb form made with has or have plus the past participle, linking a past action to the present, as in She has finished her homework.

Definite article

The word 'the', used before a noun that is specific, already mentioned, or known to both speaker and listener, as in the book on my desk.

Indefinite article

The words 'a' or 'an', used before a singular countable noun mentioned for the first time or not identified specifically; 'an' precedes vowel sounds.

Common noun

A general name for a person, place, thing or idea, such as teacher, village or courage, written without a capital letter unless it starts a sentence.

Proper noun

The specific name of a particular person, place, day or title, such as Gaborone, Thabo or Monday, always beginning with a capital letter.

Adjective

A word that describes or gives more information about a noun or pronoun, such as tall, rainy or three, and can appear before the noun or after a linking verb.

Adverb

A word that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb, often ending in -ly, telling how, when or where something happens, as in quickly or yesterday.

Preposition

A word showing the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word, often of place or time, such as in, on, under, after or during.

Conjunction

A word that joins words, phrases or clauses, such as and, but, or, because and although; coordinating conjunctions join equal parts.

Pronoun reference

The way a pronoun such as he, she, it or they points back to a noun already named, so the reader knows exactly who or what is meant.

Direct speech

The exact words a speaker says, placed inside quotation marks with reporting verbs such as said, and separated by punctuation, as in She said, "I am ready."

Reported speech

A way of telling what someone said without quoting exact words, shifting tense and pronouns, as in She said that she was ready.

Active voice

A sentence pattern in which the subject performs the action, as in The boy kicked the ball; it is usually clearer and more direct than passive voice.

Passive voice

A sentence pattern in which the subject receives the action, formed with a form of be plus the past participle, as in The ball was kicked by the boy.

Question tag

A short phrase added to the end of a statement to ask for agreement, using the opposite auxiliary, as in You are coming, aren't you?

Comparative adjective

The form of an adjective used to compare two things, made with -er or the word more, as in taller or more careful, usually followed by than.

Superlative adjective

The form of an adjective used to compare three or more things, made with -est or the word most, as in tallest or most careful, usually preceded by the.

Main idea

The central point a passage is about, usually stated in a topic sentence or implied across several sentences; every paragraph supports it.

Supporting detail

A fact, example or reason in a passage that explains or proves the main idea, helping the reader accept or understand the central point.

Inference

A conclusion drawn from clues in a text rather than a statement made directly, such as deciding a character is frightened from shaking hands and short speech.

Context clue

Information in the words or sentences around an unfamiliar word that helps the reader work out its meaning, including definitions, examples and contrasts.

Synonym

A word with a meaning the same as or very close to another word in a particular context, such as begin and start, or big and large.

Antonym

A word with a meaning opposite to another word, such as hot and cold, or generous and mean; contrast clues in a passage often signal an antonym.

Prefix

A group of letters added to the front of a word to change its meaning, such as un- in unhappy or re- in rewrite.

Suffix

A group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or word class, such as -ful in hopeful or -ness in kindness.

Homophone

One of two or more words that sound alike but differ in spelling and meaning, such as their, there and they're, or to, too and two.

Full stop

The punctuation mark placed at the end of a statement or command, showing the sentence is complete, as in The rain has stopped.

Comma in a list

A punctuation mark used to separate three or more items in a series, as in We bought bread, milk and sugar, replacing the word 'and' between items.

Apostrophe for possession

A mark showing ownership: add 's to a singular noun (the girl's bag) and an apostrophe after the s to a plural noun (the girls' bags).

Paragraph topic sentence

The sentence, usually first in a paragraph, that states the paragraph's main point and is then supported by the remaining sentences.