Castilla y León PAU English key terms

The central point a whole text communicates, broader than any single detail. In a reading task you state it in your own words after identifying what every paragraph contributes to it.

A sentence, usually first in a paragraph, that announces what that paragraph is about. Locating topic sentences speeds up matching paragraphs to headings or summaries.

Reading quickly for general meaning, ignoring unknown words and details. It is the right first pass before detailed questions, and it helps you decide whether a text is narrative, argumentative or expository.

Moving the eyes rapidly over a text looking only for specific information such as a date, a name or a number, without reading everything. Useful for questions that ask when, who or how many.

A conclusion drawn from evidence in the text rather than stated directly. Exam questions phrased 'what does the author suggest' or 'what can be concluded' require this, and the answer must be supported by the passage.

A question format where a statement is checked against the text. 'False' means the text contradicts it; 'not stated' means the text is silent, so no evidence exists either way. Do not confuse the two.

Expressing the same meaning with different wording and structure. Correct options in reading tests are usually paraphrases of the text, so matching identical words is a warning sign rather than proof.

A word with a meaning close to another in a given context. Recognising synonym chains across a text and its questions is one of the most reliable reading strategies.

A word expressing the opposite of another, such as 'scarce' and 'abundant'. Antonyms often appear in distractors, so noticing contrast signals helps you reject wrong options.

The way pronouns and expressions like 'this', 'they' or 'the former' point back or forward to other words. Resolving references is essential for understanding long sentences and for cohesion questions.

The attitude an author conveys through word choice, such as ironic, critical, neutral or optimistic. Tone questions ask you to justify your choice with evidence from the text.

The reason a text was written: to inform, persuade, entertain, warn or instruct. Identifying it guides your interpretation of structure and of the vocabulary chosen.

The word or phrase in a question that carries the information you must locate in the text. Underlining keywords before rereading saves time and prevents rereading the whole passage.

A word or phrase joining ideas, such as 'however', 'therefore', 'although' or 'in addition'. Connectors signal contrast, cause, result or addition, and they are frequently tested in gap-fill exercises.

The way sentences and paragraphs are linked through connectors, pronouns, repetition and consistent terminology so the text reads as one unit. Cohesion is assessed in both gap-fill and composition tasks.

The logical organisation of ideas so the text progresses clearly from one point to the next. A coherent composition has a clear introduction, ordered body paragraphs and a conclusion, with each paragraph developing one idea.

A group of sentences developing a single idea, visually separated by indentation or a line break. In exam compositions, four or five well-developed paragraphs are usually expected.

The level of formality suited to the situation and reader. Formal writing avoids contractions, slang and vague words like 'thing', which matters in opinion essays and formal letters.

The habitual combination of words, such as 'make a decision', 'heavy rain' or 'strongly disagree'. Wrong collocations are among the most visible errors in compositions and appear in lexical gap-fill tasks.

A verb combined with a particle or preposition that changes its meaning, such as 'give up', 'look after' or 'put off'. These are common in cloze tests and in informal writing.

A fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words, such as 'a piece of cake' or 'under the weather'. Recognising idioms prevents literal misreading in reading texts.

Changing a base word into another part of speech using prefixes and suffixes, as in 'succeed' to 'successful' or 'success'. A standard exam task gives a root word and asks for the correct derived form in context.

A letter group added at the start of a word to change its meaning, such as 'un-', 'dis-', 'mis-' or 'over-'. Knowing whether a prefix is negative or intensifying helps in word-formation tasks.

A letter group added at the end of a word to change its grammatical class, such as '-ness', '-ment', '-ful' or '-less'. Choosing the right suffix depends on the grammatical slot the word must fill.

The grammatical category a word belongs to: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition and so on. Deciding which class a gap requires is the first step in any cloze or word-formation item.

Choosing between tenses according to time reference and aspect, for example past simple versus present perfect, or 'used to' versus 'would'. Time markers in the sentence usually decide the answer.

A structure expressing a condition and its result. The first conditional uses present plus 'will'; the second uses past plus 'would'; the third uses past perfect plus 'would have'. Mixed forms combine past condition with present result.

A construction where the object of the action becomes the subject, formed with 'be' plus past participle, as in 'The report was published'. It is used when the doer is unknown, unimportant or obvious.

A clause introduced by 'who', 'which', 'that', 'whose' or 'where' that describes a noun. Defining clauses add essential information without commas; non-defining clauses add extra information between commas and never take 'that'.

Conveying someone's words indirectly, with backshift of tense and changes to pronouns and time expressions, as in 'She said she had finished'. Reported questions keep statement word order.

A helping verb such as 'can', 'must', 'should', 'might' or 'needn't' expressing ability, obligation, deduction or possibility. Each modal carries a distinct meaning, so context decides which fits.

The structure a verb requires after it, such as infinitive ('decide to go'), gerund ('enjoy reading') or preposition plus gerund ('insist on paying'). These patterns must be memorised and are tested in cloze items.

A short word showing relationships of time, place or manner, such as 'in', 'on', 'at', 'by' or 'despite'. Fixed combinations with adjectives and verbs must be learned as units.

A structure that avoids naming an agent, such as 'It is said that', 'It is believed that' or 'There is a tendency to'. These forms raise the formality of an essay and are useful in opinion writing.

The set of words and expressions associated with a recurring exam theme such as environment, technology, education or health. Preparing clusters of topic vocabulary improves both range and precision in compositions.

A composition presenting and justifying a personal position on an issue. It needs a clear thesis, arguments supported by reasons or examples, acknowledgement of another view, and a conclusion restating the position.

A letter to an institution or unknown reader, opening with 'Dear Sir or Madam' and closing with 'Yours faithfully'. It avoids contractions and slang, and states its purpose in the first paragraph.

A writing task shaped by given instructions or prompts, such as notes to include, a word limit and a required text type. Following the brief exactly is part of the assessment, alongside language accuracy.

The stated number of words a composition should contain. Writing far below it loses content marks; writing far above it increases error risk and may be penalised, so plan before writing.