GAT General key terms

A word that carries the same or nearly the same meaning as another word in a given context, so replacing one with the other leaves the sentence's sense largely unchanged.

A word whose meaning is opposite, or nearly opposite, to another word's meaning, such as hot and cold, allowing a sentence to express contrast.

A comparison built on a stated relationship between two pairs of words, where the first pair shows the rule that the second pair must follow.

A hint inside the surrounding sentence or passage, such as a definition, example, contrast, or cause, that helps a reader work out an unfamiliar word's meaning.

The emotional or cultural colouring a word carries beyond its literal meaning, such as the difference in feeling between 'thrifty' and 'stingy'.

The direct, dictionary meaning of a word, separate from the feelings, images, or associations it may trigger in a reader's mind.

A fixed phrase whose meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words, such as 'break the ice' meaning to start a conversation.

One of two or more words that sound the same when spoken but differ in spelling or meaning, such as 'right' and 'write'.

A letter group attached to the front of a base word that changes its meaning, as 'un-' turns 'kind' into 'unkind'.

A letter group attached to the end of a base word that changes its meaning or its grammatical role, as '-ness' turns 'kind' into a noun.

The core part of a word that carries its basic meaning, to which prefixes and suffixes can be added to build related words.

The central point a passage is built around, usually stated or strongly implied in a topic sentence, which the other sentences support.

The writer's attitude towards the subject, revealed through word choice and sentence style, such as critical, amused, neutral, or sarcastic.

A comparison of two quantities of the same kind, written as a to b, a:b, or a fraction, showing how many times one contains the other.

A statement that two ratios are equal, allowing an unknown value to be found when the other three parts are known.

A way of expressing a number as a fraction of one hundred, used to compare parts of a whole or changes in size.

The sum of a set of values divided by the number of values, giving the everyday average of the group.

The middle value in a set of numbers arranged in order; with an even count, it is the average of the two middle values.

The value that appears most often in a set of numbers; a set may have one mode, several modes, or none.

The smallest positive number that is a multiple of each number in a given set, useful when adding fractions with unlike denominators.

The largest number that divides each number in a given set exactly, often used to simplify fractions or split quantities into equal groups.

An arrangement of items in which order matters, so choosing the same items in a different order counts as a different outcome.

A selection of items in which order does not matter, so choosing the same items in a different order counts as one outcome.

A number between zero and one that expresses how likely an event is, found by dividing favourable outcomes by all equally likely outcomes.

Interest calculated on the original amount plus any interest already added, so the balance grows faster than with simple interest.

The amount of one quantity for a single unit of another, such as kilometres per hour or price per kilogram, found by dividing.

A statement offered as evidence or support in an argument, which the arguer expects the audience to accept as true.

The claim an argument is trying to establish, which should follow from the premises offered in its support and which the reasoning is meant to prove.

An unstated belief that an argument depends on, which must be true for the premises to support the conclusion even though the arguer never says it aloud.

A conclusion drawn from given statements or evidence rather than stated directly, judged by how well the evidence supports it.

Reasoning that moves from general rules to a specific case, where the conclusion must be true if the premises are true.

Reasoning that moves from specific observations to a general rule, where the conclusion is probable rather than certain and may be overturned by new evidence.

A formal argument made of two premises and a conclusion, arranged so that a shared term links the two premises.

The property of an argument whose conclusion must be true whenever its premises are true, regardless of whether those premises are actually true.

A sentence of the form 'if A then B', where A is the condition and B is the result that follows whenever A holds.

The logically equivalent form of 'if A then B', namely 'if not B then not A', which is true whenever the original is true.

A single case that shows a general claim or rule to be false, because it satisfies the conditions but breaks the stated result.

A puzzle in which items must be arranged in a single sequence, such as a row of seats or a list of dates, using the clues given.

A puzzle in which items must be sorted into two or more categories or teams according to rules that limit which items can share a group.