Tamil Nadu HSE First Year English key terms

A comparison between two unlike things introduced by 'like' or 'as', used to make description vivid, as in 'her voice was like a bell'.

A figure of speech that states one thing is another without using 'like' or 'as', carrying meaning across from one field of experience to another.

Giving human qualities to animals, objects or abstract ideas, so that a non-human thing appears to feel, speak or act like a person.

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses, allowing a reader to see, hear, smell, taste or touch what is described in the text.

Repetition of the same initial consonant sound in nearby words, as in 'silent, slow and solemn', producing rhythm and emphasis.

A word whose sound imitates the noise it names, such as 'buzz', 'hiss' or 'clang', making description more immediate and audible.

The pattern in which end sounds of lines rhyme, usually labelled with letters such as abab or aabb, showing the poem's structural design.

The measured arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse, giving a poem its regular beat or rhythm.

A group of lines forming a unit in a poem, separated by a space from other groups and often developing one idea or image.

A line or phrase repeated at intervals in a poem or song, often at the end of stanzas, reinforcing theme or mood.

Deliberate reuse of a word, phrase or structure to emphasise an idea, build rhythm or create emotional force in a passage.

An object, person or action that stands for a larger idea beyond its literal meaning, such as a lamp standing for knowledge.

The central idea or insight about life that a literary work conveys, such as the value of freedom or the pain of loss.

The attitude a writer or speaker takes towards the subject or reader, conveyed through word choice and phrasing, such as ironic, tender or bitter.

The emotional atmosphere a text creates in the reader, produced by setting, imagery and diction rather than by the writer's stated attitude.

A gap between what is said or expected and what is actually meant or happens, producing contrast, humour or pointed criticism.

Writing that uses humour, exaggeration or irony to expose and criticise human follies, institutions or social behaviour, often with a corrective purpose.

A figure of speech in which the speaker addresses an absent person, a dead person or a non-human thing as if it could hear and reply.

A lyric poem of praise or celebration, often dignified in tone and addressed to a person, object or abstract quality.

A narrative in which characters and events stand for abstract ideas, so that the story carries a second, moral or political meaning beneath the surface.

The principal character around whom a story is built and whose choices drive the plot forward.

The character or force that opposes the protagonist and creates the central conflict of a narrative.

The methods a writer uses to build a character, whether by direct description or by showing speech, action and the reactions of others.

The ordered sequence of events in a narrative, usually moving through exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.

The struggle between opposing forces in a story, whether person against person, person against nature, or person against inner doubt.

The point of greatest tension in a narrative, where the central conflict reaches its peak and the outcome begins to turn.

The final part of a narrative in which the conflict is settled and the reader learns the outcome of the main events.

The time and place in which a narrative unfolds, shaping atmosphere and often influencing the behaviour of the characters.

The voice that tells a story, which may be a participant in the events or an outside observer with limited or full knowledge.

The perspective from which a story is told, such as first person, third person limited or omniscient, affecting what the reader can know.

A conclusion drawn from evidence in the text rather than stated directly, requiring the reader to connect clues and reason from them.

The central point a passage conveys, supported by details; identifying it is the first step in summarising and comprehending a text.

Information surrounding an unfamiliar word in a passage that helps a reader work out its meaning without consulting a dictionary.

A word with a meaning close to that of another word, useful for expanding expression and for guessing meaning from context.

A word opposite in meaning to another, such as 'generous' and 'stingy', often used in questions testing vocabulary range.

A meaningful unit attached to the front of a word to change its meaning, as 'un-' in 'unfair' or 'pre-' in 'preview'.

A meaningful unit added to the end of a word to change its meaning or grammatical class, as '-ness' turning 'kind' into a noun.

The process of building new words from existing ones through affixes, compounding or conversion, tested through fill-in and transformation tasks.

A sentence construction in which the subject performs the action, as in 'The poet wrote the lines', generally clearer and more direct.

A construction in which the subject receives the action, formed with a form of 'be' plus the past participle, as in 'The lines were written'.

The grammatical form of a verb that locates an action in time, showing whether it happens in the past, present or future.

The rule that a verb must match its subject in number and person, so a singular subject takes a singular verb form.

A group of words containing a subject and a finite verb; it may stand alone as a sentence or depend on another clause.

A group of related words that functions as a unit within a sentence but lacks a subject and finite verb together.

The form used to convey what someone said without quoting directly, requiring shifts in tense, pronouns and time words.

A restatement of a passage in one's own words while keeping the original meaning, used to show comprehension and to avoid copying.

A brief account of a text's main points in the writer's own words, omitting examples and minor detail while preserving the central sense.

The sentence, usually near the start of a paragraph, that announces the paragraph's controlling idea and is developed by the sentences that follow.

The quality of a paragraph in which every sentence supports one controlling idea, with no digression into unrelated material.

The quality that makes a piece of writing flow logically, achieved through clear ordering of ideas and suitable linking words.

The linking of sentences through pronouns, repetition and connectors so that a text holds together as a single connected piece.

A letter written to an official, editor or institution in a polite, impersonal register, following a fixed layout of address, subject and salutation.

The greeting at the opening of a letter or email, such as 'Dear Sir' or 'Respected Madam', whose form depends on the relationship and register.

The level of formality in language suited to a situation, ranging from formal official writing to relaxed conversational style.

A question asked for effect rather than for an answer, used in speeches and persuasive writing to push the audience towards a conclusion.

Writing or speech that aims to change a reader's belief or move them to act, using reasons, evidence and appeals to feeling.

A short speech delivered with little or no preparation on a given topic, testing fluency, structure and confident delivery.

A structured exchange in which several participants discuss a topic, assessed on relevance, clarity, listening and cooperation.