PNG Grade 8 English key terms

The ability to hear spoken language and understand its meaning, including main ideas, details, and the speaker's purpose. It involves focusing on what is said and making sense of it.

A way of listening that involves giving full attention to the speaker, not interrupting, and showing that you are following by nodding or asking clarifying questions. It helps you understand and remember what you hear.

Communicating without words, through body language, facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice. These cues can support or change the meaning of spoken words.

The attitude or feeling a speaker or writer expresses through word choice and voice, such as friendly, serious, or sarcastic. Tone affects how a message is received.

The way a word is spoken, including the sounds of its letters and where the stress falls. Clear pronunciation helps listeners understand you.

The extra force or emphasis placed on a particular syllable or word when speaking. In English, stress can change the meaning of a word or show which idea is important.

The rise and fall of the voice when speaking, which can show whether a sentence is a question, a statement, or expresses emotion. It adds meaning beyond the words themselves.

The most important point that a paragraph, passage, or speech is about. It is often stated in a topic sentence or must be inferred from the details.

Facts, examples, reasons, or other pieces of information that explain or prove the main idea. They help the reader understand and trust the main point.

A sentence, usually at the beginning of a paragraph, that states the main idea of that paragraph. It guides the reader about what the paragraph will discuss.

A conclusion you reach by using clues in the text and your own knowledge, even though the information is not stated directly. It is an educated guess based on evidence.

The words and sentences around an unfamiliar word that help you figure out its meaning. These clues can be definitions, examples, synonyms, or opposites.

To give a short statement of the main points of a text or speech in your own words. A summary leaves out minor details and keeps the most important information.

To restate someone else's idea in your own words while keeping the meaning the same. It is often used to show understanding or to avoid copying directly.

The reason a writer creates a text, such as to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain. Recognizing the purpose helps you understand how to read the text.

A sentence that states the main argument or central idea of an essay or longer piece of writing. It usually appears near the beginning and guides the whole text.

A group of sentences that develop one main idea. Paragraphs are separated by indentation or spacing and help organize writing into clear sections.

Words or phrases such as however, therefore, and in addition that connect ideas and show how sentences or paragraphs relate. They make writing flow smoothly.

The quality of writing that is clear, logical, and well organized, so ideas connect smoothly. Coherent writing is easy for the reader to follow.

An early version of a piece of writing that is not yet finished. Writers create drafts to get their ideas down and then improve them through revision.

The process of reviewing and improving a draft by adding, removing, or reorganizing ideas. It focuses on making the content clearer and more effective, not just fixing errors.

The stage of writing where you check and correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and word choice. It comes after revising the ideas.

The final check of a piece of writing to find and correct small mistakes such as typos, missing words, or punctuation errors. It is done just before publishing or submitting.

A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea, such as teacher, village, book, or freedom. Nouns can be common or proper, concrete or abstract.

A word that shows an action or a state of being, such as run, think, or is. Every complete sentence needs at least one verb.

A word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun, such as happy, red, or three. It gives more information about the person, place, or thing.

A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb, often telling how, when, where, or to what extent. Examples include quickly, very, and yesterday.

The part of a sentence that tells who or what performs the action or is being described. It usually comes before the verb and must agree with it in number.

The part of a sentence that contains the verb and tells something about the subject. It includes the verb and any objects or complements.

The form of a verb that shows when an action happens: past, present, or future. Consistent tense helps readers follow the timeline of events.

The rule that a singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb. For example, 'She runs' but 'They run'.

Marks such as periods, commas, question marks, and quotation marks used in writing to separate ideas, show pauses, and clarify meaning. Correct punctuation makes writing easier to read.

A punctuation mark (,) used to separate items in a list, mark a pause, or set off parts of a sentence. It helps avoid confusion and makes sentences clearer.

A word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word, such as big and large. Synonyms help you vary your word choice when writing.

A word that has the opposite meaning of another word, such as hot and cold. Knowing antonyms helps you understand word relationships and express contrast.

A letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning, such as un- in unhappy or re- in rewrite. Knowing prefixes helps you decode unfamiliar words.

A letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or part of speech, such as -ful in hopeful or -ly in quickly. Suffixes can help you figure out a word's meaning.

The basic part of a word that carries its main meaning and to which prefixes and suffixes can be added. For example, 'help' is the root of 'helpful' and 'unhelpful'.

A figure of speech that compares two things by saying one is the other, without using like or as. For example, 'The classroom was a zoo' suggests it was chaotic.

A figure of speech that compares two things using the words like or as, such as 'as brave as a lion'. It helps create vivid images in the reader's mind.

Language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words to create a special effect or image, such as metaphors, similes, and personification. It is common in poetry and descriptive writing.

The central message or underlying idea about life that a literary work explores, such as friendship or courage. A theme is not the same as the plot; it is what the story makes you think about.

The feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates in the reader, such as suspenseful, cheerful, or gloomy. It is often built through word choice and setting.

The way an author reveals a character's personality, appearance, and motives through description, actions, dialogue, and other characters' reactions. It helps readers understand the people in a story.

The sequence of events that make up a story, including the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. It is what happens and how it unfolds.