Edexcel GCSE English Language key terms

The distinctive personality or perspective conveyed by a narrator’s language and observations.

The voice that tells a story; the narrator is not necessarily the author.

Writing about real people, events, experiences or ideas, rather than an invented story. It can include opinions and personal interpretations.

The speed at which events seem to unfold for the reader, influenced by the detail, sentence construction and organisation of writing.

A section of writing that groups related ideas or marks a meaningful change, such as a new focus, time, place or speaker.

An accurate restatement of a text's meaning in your own words.

Additional information inserted into a sentence, often enclosed by commas, dashes or brackets.

A writer’s particular viewpoint or attitude towards a subject.

The perspective through which a story is presented, including who narrates it and what that narrator knows.

A group of letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning, such as ‘un-’ in ‘unhappy’.

A short written instruction or starting point that suggests the subject of a piece of writing.

A word that stands in place of a noun or noun phrase, such as ‘I’, ‘she’, ‘it’ or ‘they’.

Reading a draft carefully to identify and correct errors before finishing it.

Fiction written in sentences and paragraphs rather than verse, such as a novel or short story.

What a writer wants a text to achieve, such as explaining information or helping a reader decide what to do.

An exact word or group of words copied from a text.

A reasoned answer that challenges an opposing argument or shows why it does not overturn the writer’s position.

The level and kind of language chosen to suit a situation, purpose and audience, such as formal or conversational language.

A word or phrase identifying who speaks and sometimes how, such as ‘she whispered’.

A piece of writing that describes and evaluates a book, film, event, place, product or experience, helping readers decide what to think or whether to try it.

A question asked to prompt thought or emphasise a point rather than obtain an answer.

A sentence in which main clauses run together without suitable punctuation or a grammatical connection. It is also called a fused sentence.

The greeting at the beginning of a letter, such as ‘Dear Ms Patel’.

Descriptive language that appeals to sight, hearing, smell, taste or touch.

Language that evokes sensory experience, such as a sight, smell, sound, taste or physical sensation.

Marking the beginning and end of a sentence, normally with a capital letter and appropriate end punctuation.

The place and time in which the events of a story happen.