NLN NEX Verbal flashcards
NLN NEX Verbal · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Main idea
- The central point that the whole passage supports. It is broader than any single detail but no broader than the passage's actual scope.
- Supporting detail
- A fact, example, or statistic that backs up the main idea. Detail questions ask what the passage states, not what it implies.
- Inference
- A conclusion that must follow from stated evidence even though it is not stated directly. Valid inferences need no outside knowledge.
- Context clue
- Surrounding words that reveal an unfamiliar word's meaning, through restatement, contrast, example, or cause-effect relationships.
- Tone
- The author's attitude toward the subject, such as objective, critical, enthusiastic, or skeptical. Tone is conveyed through word choice.
- Author's purpose
- The reason the author wrote the passage: to inform, persuade, entertain, describe, or explain a process.
- Antecedent
- The noun a pronoun refers back to. It must agree in number and gender and make logical sense in the sentence.
- Chronological order
- Organization by time sequence, signaled by words such as first, then, after, meanwhile, and finally.
- Comparison-contrast
- Organization that shows similarities and differences, signaled by like, similarly, unlike, however, and on the other hand.
- Cause and effect
- Organization linking reasons to results, signaled by because, since, therefore, consequently, and as a result.
- Subject-verb agreement
- The verb must match its subject in number. Interrupting phrases do not change the subject's number.
- Comma splice
- Two independent clauses joined by only a comma. Fixed with a period, semicolon, or comma plus coordinating conjunction.
- Run-on sentence
- Two or more independent clauses written together without correct punctuation or a conjunction between them.
- Dangling modifier
- An introductory phrase that does not logically describe the subject of the main clause, creating an unintended meaning.
- Parallel structure
- Using the same grammatical form for items in a series or for elements joined by correlative conjunctions.
- Pronoun case
- Whether a pronoun acts as a subject (I, he, who) or an object (me, him, whom), determined by its role in the sentence.
- Who versus whom
- Who is a subject pronoun; whom is an object pronoun. Test by substituting he or him.
- Its versus it's
- Its shows possession, as in 'its color.' It's is a contraction meaning 'it is' or 'it has.'
- Their, there, they're
- Their is possessive, there indicates place, and they're means 'they are.' Choose by grammatical function.
- Collective noun agreement
- Words like team, group, and committee take a singular verb when acting as one unit and a plural verb when members act individually.
- Indefinite pronoun agreement
- Each, either, neither, everyone, and everybody are singular and take singular verbs and singular pronouns.
- Correlative conjunctions
- Paired conjunctions such as either...or and not only...but also. The elements they join must be grammatically parallel.
- Misplaced modifier
- A descriptive word or phrase placed too far from the word it modifies, so it appears to modify the wrong element.
- Active voice
- The subject performs the action, as in 'The nurse recorded the data.' Usually clearer and more direct than passive voice.
- Passive voice
- The subject receives the action, as in 'The data were recorded.' Formed with a form of be plus the past participle.
- Simple sentence
- One independent clause containing a subject and a verb, possibly with modifiers and phrases but no other clause.
- Compound sentence
- Two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction, a semicolon, or a conjunctive adverb.
- Complex sentence
- A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction.
- Fragment
- An incomplete sentence missing a subject, a verb, or an independent clause, often a dependent clause punctuated as a sentence.
- Comparative versus superlative
- Comparatives (-er, more) compare two items; superlatives (-est, most) compare three or more. Never use both forms together.
- Apostrophe use
- An apostrophe shows possession (the patient's chart) or forms a contraction (don't). Plural nouns ending in s take an apostrophe only.
- Transition words
- Words that signal relationships between ideas: however for contrast, therefore for result, for example for illustration, finally for sequence.