RBSE Secondary English key terms

A reading text the candidate has not studied before, followed by questions testing literal understanding, inference, vocabulary in context, and the writer's purpose. Answers must be drawn from the passage itself.

The central point a paragraph or passage is built around, usually stated or implied in a topic sentence. Distinguishing it from supporting details is the most common comprehension skill tested.

The sentence, often first in a paragraph, that announces what the paragraph is about. Remaining sentences support, illustrate, or qualify it. Locating it speeds up skimming and summary writing.

A conclusion drawn from evidence in the text rather than stated directly. Valid inferences must be supported by clues in the passage, not by personal opinion or outside knowledge.

Reading quickly for gist, letting the eye pass over the text to catch headings, first sentences, and repeated key words. Useful for matching headings or choosing a title.

Reading rapidly with a specific target in mind, such as a date, name, or figure, ignoring everything else. It is the fastest way to answer factual questions about an unseen passage.

The attitude a writer conveys through word choice and sentence structure, for example ironic, nostalgic, indignant, or matter-of-fact. Tone questions require quoting words that reveal that attitude.

A letter written to an official, editor, or institution in a polite, impersonal register, following a fixed layout: sender's address, date, receiver's address, subject, salutation, body, and closing.

A personal letter to a friend or relative using a conversational tone, contractions, and personal news. It still needs a salutation, a coherent body, and a proper closing.

A short public announcement displayed on a board, usually boxed, with a heading, date, issuing authority, and a body of about fifty words giving what, when, where, and whom to contact.

A factual account of an event written for a newspaper or institution, typically with a headline, byline, and answers to what, when, where, who, why, and how, in past tense and third person.

An official notice sent to many people at once, announcing a decision, meeting, or instruction. It is written impersonally, often in third person, and ends with the name and designation of the issuer.

The level of formality suited to an audience and purpose. Formal writing avoids contractions, slang, and first-person emotion; informal writing permits them. Choosing the wrong register loses marks in writing tasks.

The way sentences are linked so a paragraph reads as one unit, achieved through pronouns, repeated key words, and linking devices such as however, therefore, and in addition.

A tense formed with has or have plus the past participle, used for actions completed at an unstated time, for experience, and for states continuing to the present, often with since or for.

A tense formed with had plus the past participle, showing that one past action happened before another. It is the standard choice when narrating two past events in sequence.

A construction in which the object of the action becomes the subject, formed with a form of be plus the past participle. Used when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious.

A sentence pattern in which the subject performs the action, as in the teacher marked the papers. It is usually clearer and more direct than the passive and is preferred in narrative writing.

Conveying someone's words indirectly without quotation marks, which requires backshifting tenses, changing pronouns, and adjusting time and place words such as now to then and here to there.

Quoting a speaker's exact words inside quotation marks, with the reporting clause and punctuation placed correctly, as in She said, "I am tired."

A helping verb such as can, may, must, should, or ought to that expresses ability, permission, obligation, possibility, or advice. It takes no -s in the third person and is followed by a bare infinitive.

The rule that a verb must match its subject in number and person. Traps include phrases between subject and verb, collective nouns, and indefinite pronouns such as each and neither, which take singular verbs.

The determiner a, an, or the. Indefinite articles introduce a non-specific singular countable noun; the definite article marks something already known or unique, and is omitted before uncountable nouns used generally.

A word such as in, on, at, by, or of that links a noun or pronoun to another element and shows place, time, manner, or relation. Fixed combinations must be learnt as units.

A word close in meaning to another, such as brief and short. True synonyms are rare, since words differ in formality and collocation, so context decides which substitute fits.

A word opposite in meaning to another, such as generous and mean. Antonyms may be graded, as with hot and cold, or absolute, as with alive and dead.

A fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words, such as to let the cat out of the bag meaning to reveal a secret. Idioms must be learnt whole.

A verb combined with an adverb or preposition to create a new meaning, such as give up, put off, or look after. Some are separable, as in turn the light off, and some are not.

Replacing a phrase with a single precise word, for example a person who loves books becomes bibliophile, or something that cannot be avoided becomes inevitable. Precision earns marks in vocabulary sections.

The habitual pairing of words, as in make a decision rather than do a decision, or heavy rain rather than strong rain. Wrong collocations make otherwise grammatical sentences sound foreign.

A description of a fictional person built from what the text says about their appearance, speech, actions, and how others respond to them. Evidence from the text must support every claim made.

The underlying idea a literary work explores, such as courage, loss, or social injustice. A theme is expressed as a full statement, not as a single word, and is supported by incidents and dialogue.

A gap between what is said or expected and what is actually meant or happens. Verbal irony says the opposite of what is meant; situational irony reverses expectation, often producing a wry or critical effect.

A deliberate technique used in poetry, including simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, and imagery. Naming the device is worth little unless its effect on meaning or mood is explained.

Language that appeals to the senses to create a vivid mental picture. Analysing imagery means quoting the words and saying what sight, sound, or feeling they produce in the reader.

The pattern of end rhymes in a poem, labelled with letters so that abab means alternating rhymes and aabb means couplets. A change in pattern often signals a shift in mood or argument.

A grouped set of lines in a poem, separated by a space, functioning like a paragraph. Stanza length and shape can signal a turning point or a refrain in the poem's development.

A question that quotes lines from a studied text and asks the candidate to identify the speaker, situation, and significance. It tests close knowledge of the prescribed book rather than general reading skill.

A word naming a group, such as team, jury, or flock. It usually takes a singular verb when the group acts as one unit, and a plural verb when members act separately.

A noun that has a plural form and can be counted, such as chair or idea. Uncountable nouns like advice and furniture take no plural and no indefinite article.