SQU English Placement key terms

The central point that a whole passage is built around. Other sentences support, explain, or illustrate it, so a reader who states it correctly has understood what the text is mostly about.

A specific fact, example, reason, or statistic that backs up a larger claim in a text. Details answer questions about who, what, when, where, or how much rather than about the overall point.

A conclusion a reader draws by combining stated information with logic or background knowledge. The answer is not printed word for word, but the text gives enough evidence to make it the most reasonable reading.

A sentence, usually near the start of a paragraph, that announces what the paragraph will discuss. The remaining sentences develop or illustrate that announcement.

To read quickly for the general sense of a text, letting your eyes move fast over the lines. Readers skim to decide whether a passage is useful or to grasp its overall structure before reading closely.

To move your eyes rapidly through a text looking for one specific item, such as a date, name, or number, while ignoring everything else. Scanning answers a known question rather than building understanding.

Information in the surrounding words or sentences that helps a reader work out the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Clues include definitions, examples, contrasts, and the general sense of the sentence.

To restate the meaning of a sentence or passage in your own words while keeping the original sense. A correct paraphrase changes wording and structure but not the core information.

A short restatement of the most important points of a text, leaving out examples and minor details. A good summary is briefer than the original and contains no personal opinion.

The reason a writer produced a text, such as to inform, persuade, entertain, or instruct. Recognizing purpose helps a reader judge tone and decide which details matter most.

The attitude a writer expresses toward the subject, for example humorous, critical, neutral, or admiring. Tone is revealed through word choice and sentence style rather than stated directly.

The rule that a verb must match its subject in number: singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs. Errors often occur when words sit between the subject and the verb.

Keeping verbs in a passage in the same time frame unless a shift is clearly required by meaning. Unnecessary switching between past and present confuses the reader about when events happened.

A sentence pattern expressing a condition and its result, as in "If it rains, we will stay home." English uses several forms, including real, unreal present, and unreal past conditions.

A helping verb such as can, could, may, might, must, should, or would that adds meaning like ability, permission, possibility, or obligation. It is followed by a base verb without "to".

A sentence structure in which the object of the action becomes the grammatical subject, formed with a form of "be" plus a past participle, as in "The report was written by Ana."

A clause that describes a noun and begins with a word like who, which, that, or whose, as in "the student who won." It may be essential to the meaning or added as extra information.

A verb form ending in -ing that functions as a noun, as in "Swimming is good exercise." Gerunds can be subjects, objects, or objects of prepositions.

The base form of a verb, usually preceded by "to," as in "to study." Infinitives can act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, and certain verbs are followed by them rather than by gerunds.

The verb form used in perfect tenses and the passive voice, such as "eaten," "written," or "gone." Regular verbs form it with -ed, while irregular verbs must be memorized.

A group of words containing its own subject and verb. An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence; a dependent clause cannot and must attach to a main clause.

A word that joins words, phrases, or clauses, such as and, but, because, or although. Coordinating conjunctions link equal parts; subordinating conjunctions make one clause depend on another.

The relationship between a pronoun such as he, it, or they and the noun it stands for. Clear reference means the reader can tell exactly which noun the pronoun replaces.

A word with a meaning close to another word, such as "begin" and "start." True synonyms are rarely identical in every context, so register and collocation matter.

A word expressing the opposite of another word, such as "expand" and "contract." Recognizing opposites helps readers use contrast clues to guess unknown vocabulary.

A pairing of words that native speakers naturally use together, such as "make a decision" rather than "do a decision." Collocations are learned as chunks, not derived from rules.

A meaningful unit attached to the front of a word that changes its meaning, such as un- in "unfair" or re- in "rewrite." Knowing common prefixes helps readers decode unfamiliar words.

A meaningful unit added to the end of a word that often changes its part of speech, such as -ness turning an adjective into a noun. Suffixes also mark tense or number on verbs and nouns.

The core part of a word that carries its basic meaning and remains after prefixes and suffixes are removed. Recognizing roots from Latin or Greek helps with academic vocabulary.

The level of formality a speaker or writer chooses for a situation, ranging from casual conversation to academic prose. Word choice, contractions, and slang all signal register.

The essential overall meaning of spoken or written language, without the details. Listeners often catch the gist of an announcement before they understand every individual word.

Words and phrases such as "first," "however," or "in conclusion" that signal how a talk is organized. They help listeners predict what comes next and follow a speaker's structure.

An answer choice or detail that sounds plausible but is not supported by the text or recording. Distractors often repeat words from the passage while changing the meaning.

Writing brief, selective records of key points while listening or reading, using abbreviations and symbols. Effective notes capture structure and main ideas rather than every word.

The way sentences and paragraphs are linked so a text reads as one connected whole. Linking words, pronoun reference, and repeated key terms all create cohesion.

A sentence, usually in an introduction, that states the main claim of an essay and previews how it will be supported. It guides the organization of everything that follows.

A sentence that states the controlling idea of a body paragraph, usually placed first. It connects back to the thesis and tells the reader what the paragraph will prove.

A word, phrase, or sentence that moves the reader smoothly from one idea to the next, such as "in addition" or "on the other hand." Transitions show the logical relation between parts.

Two or more independent clauses joined without correct punctuation or a conjunction, producing a sentence that runs together. It can be fixed with a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus conjunction.