JCE Chichewa key terms

The opening words or first line of a speech, story, or letter, used to greet the audience and signal the topic that will follow.

The closing words of a speech, letter, or story that sum up the message, thank the audience, or hand over to the next speaker.

The introduction or beginning section of a piece of writing or a talk, where the subject is announced and the reader is drawn in.

A heading or chapter title that names a section of a text; also used for the topic or subject being discussed in a passage.

A story, report, or account of events, either spoken or written; in reading passages it refers to the main narrative content being told.

A traditional folk tale passed down orally, often featuring animals and ending with a moral lesson for the listeners.

A proverb: a short, fixed saying that carries traditional wisdom and is used to comment on a situation indirectly.

Explanatory words or phrases that clarify meaning; in comprehension questions they point to the part of a text that explains a statement.

The meaning or sense of a word, phrase, or passage; candidates are often asked to give the tanthauzo of an underlined expression.

Words used to compare things, such as 'like' or 'as', which create similes and help describe people or events vividly.

A simile or comparison drawn between two unlike things to make a description clearer or more striking in speech and writing.

A friend or companion; in dialogue comprehension the word signals a familiar, informal relationship between the speakers.

A neighbour or person living nearby; used in conversation passages about community life, borrowing, and local cooperation.

A village or small rural settlement; a common setting in listening passages and stories about traditional life and communal work.

A chief or traditional leader who settles disputes and leads the community; frequently appears in cultural reading passages.

An opportunity or chance; used in passages about education, employment, and decisions, and often the object of verbs like 'kupatsa'.

A choice or decision made between options; in comprehension passages it labels the moment a character decides what to do next.

A thought, idea, or opinion; used when reporting what a character is thinking or when asking a candidate to state the main idea.

A question; in the exam it refers to the item being asked, and in dialogue it marks an utterance that expects an answer.

An answer or reply given to a question; candidates must match the yankho to the exact wording of the funso asked.

A letter written to a person or office; a common composition task requiring a greeting, body, and closing formula.

A paragraph of a written text; each ndime usually develops one idea and begins on a new line.

A verb: the word that carries the action or state in a sentence and agrees with the subject through its prefix.

A noun: a word naming a person, thing, place, or idea; in Chichewa nouns fall into classes that control agreement.

A sentence: a complete utterance containing a subject and predicate that expresses a full thought.

A simple sentence containing one independent clause, used as the base pattern from which longer sentences are built.

A compound or complex sentence joining two or more clauses with connectors such as 'ndipo' or 'koma'.

Antonyms: words with opposite meanings, such as 'wamtali' and 'wamfupi', tested in vocabulary matching items.

Synonyms: different words sharing a similar meaning, such as 'wokondwa' and 'wosangalala', used in vocabulary questions.

Tense or time: the grammatical marking that shows whether an action happened in the past, present, or future.

Spoken or colloquial expressions used in everyday conversation, including greetings and polite forms heard in listening tasks.

A greeting meaning 'hello'; the standard opening word in spoken exchanges and informal letters to friends.

To understand or comprehend what is heard or read; the core skill tested in listening and reading comprehension sections.

To explain or describe something in detail; a common instruction word telling candidates to give reasons or narrate events.

To write; used in composition instructions such as writing a letter, a story, or a short essay on a given topic.