Figurative Language Glossary

Figurative Language Glossary

by Elisaria Berliana

Adjective​

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a word that is used to describe a noun, e.g., the red house.​

Indirect (reported) speech​

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a reported version of words actually spoken, c.g. He said that his younger brother was not a very good cook.​

Adverb

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a word, frequently ending in -ly, that is used to describe the action expressed by a verb, e.g Joe ate hungrily."

Inference

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something suggested but not clearly stated, e.g. "The inference of his statement was that his younger brother was not a good cook.' Note: the speaker will imply something, and the listener will infer something from what is said.

Alliteration

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the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words in a phrase, e.g the cold, clear, call of the curlew

Apostrophe

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a punctuation mark (‘) used on a noun to indicate possession or to show that a letter or letters have been omitted from a word.

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Interjection

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a word or exclamation that is added to a sentence, usually to express emotion, e.g. 'Ow!That hurt."

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Colloquial Language

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informal, conversational words or phrases, often peculiar to a particular age group, e.g. 'It was a really cool gig.

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Audience

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the people for whom authors have written their work.

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Language

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the use of the accepted conventions of expression and grammatical usage which are common to speakers and writers of English of all ages throughout the world.

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Autobiography

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the life story of the person who is writing the book.

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Metaphor

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an indirect comparison in which it is implied that one thing is like another, e.g. The banner of smoke flew from the factory chimney

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Biography

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Someone's life story written by another person.

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Narrative

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something which tells a story or part of a story

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Non-fiction

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writing which conveys true details or information about something.

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Noun

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a word that gives a name of a person, place, thing or abstract idea.

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Clause 

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a group of words containing a verb. A main clause/independent clause makes sense on its own;  a subordinate clause/dependent clause depends on a main clause for its sense to be clear.

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Onomatopoeia

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a word that sounds like the thing it is describing, e.g. crasb, bang.

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Compare

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to find similarities between two or more things

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Opinion

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a view held by someone which is not necessarily true and cannot be proved by scientific means, e.g. 'Cardiff City is the greatest football team in the world.'

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Conjunction

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a word which joins parts of a sentence together, e.g. and, but.

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Consonant

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all the letters in the alphabet that are not vowels

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Contrast

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to show the ways in which two or more things are different.

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Direct speech

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the words actually spoken by someone indicated by speech marks (‘...’).

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Paragraph

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a collection of sentences relating to a single topic.

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Phrase

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a group of words that do not contain a verb,  'She ate her breakfast while on the bus.

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Poetry

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there are so many interpretations of this that it is virtually impossible to describe it in a short phrase. It is a form of literary expression using language in a heightened way to convey emotion to the reader and frequently uses a regular rhythm and rhyme.

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Drama

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a text written to be performed in a theatre by actors.

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Emotive vocabulary

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: the particular mood or feeling of a piece of writing, e.g. happy, sarcastic, sad

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Fact

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a statement that is demonstrably true, e.g. Vegetables grow in the ground.

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Preposition

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a word, usually placed before a noun, to indicate a spatial relationship, e.g. 'She put the book on the table

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Fiction

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a made-up story such as a novel.

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Genre

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a particular type of literature or other art form, e.g. novel, poetry, science fiction.

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Pronoun

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a word that takes the place of a noun, e.g. Joe wanted his dinner; when it came he ate it quickly'

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Idiom

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a figurative expression peculiar to a language which cannot be directly translated into another language and retain the same meaning, e.g. It was raining cats and dogs.

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Prose.

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ordinary spoken or written language; language which is not verse.

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Rhetorical question.

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a question that does not expect an answer, e.g. Are we really going to complain about an extra day's holiday?

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Implication.

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a meaning which is suggested but not directly stated, e.g. It might be a good idea to leave the cooking to your older brother' implies that the person spoken to is not a very good cook

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Simile

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a direct comparison introduced by 'like' or as', e.g. ‘The smoke hung from the chimney like a drooping flag.

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Theme

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the main idea or topic in a piece of writing, e.g. "The theme of this piece of writing is childhood”.

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Slang

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informal words or phrases,more acceptable in spoken than written language, e.g. ‘I find this a complete pain in the neck.'

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Tone

 

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the choice of words used by a writer or speaker.

 

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Verb

 

 

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a word that expresses an action or a state of being, e.g. Joe ate his dinner. Joe no longer felt hungry

 

 

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Structure.

 

 

 

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the way in which a writer has ordered and arranged a piece of writing

 

 

 

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Vocabulary

 

 

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the range of words used by a writer or speaker.

 

 

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Vowel

 

 

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the letters aeiou; all other letters are consonants.

 

 

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Style

 

 

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the way in which something is written; the distinctive qualities of how writers express themselves.

 

 

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Syllable

 

 

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a single unit of sound within a word, e.g. ‘birthday' is a word containing two syllables.

 

 

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