OCR GCSE English Language key terms

A language technique used to influence an audience or emphasise a message.

A question asked to encourage thought or emphasise a point rather than receive a spoken answer.

The beat and flow of writing, created through patterns of words, sentence structures and punctuation.

A word or base form to which a prefix or suffix can be added, such as ‘appear’ in ‘disappear’.

An error in which independent clauses are joined without the punctuation or connecting words needed to separate them or link them correctly.

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

A group of words connected by meaning, such as words associated with conflict or cold.

Description that draws on sight, sound, smell, taste or touch to help the reader experience a scene.

The marking of sentence boundaries using appropriate punctuation, including a capital letter at the beginning and an appropriate end mark.

The place and time in which a narrative happens.

A change in what the narrative directs the reader’s attention towards.

A phrase or sentence that guides an audience through the development of ideas, for example 'But how would this work?'

A comparison using 'like' or 'as' to connect two things.

A sentence containing one main clause.

Words identifying who speaks and sometimes how they speak, such as ‘she whispered’ or ‘Sam asked’.

The widely accepted variety of English used in education, publishing and many public contexts, with established grammatical conventions. It can be formal or informal.

The arrangement and development of a text, including the order of events, changes of focus, repetition and contrasts.

The manner of writing created by choices such as vocabulary, imagery and sentence patterns.

The grammatical matching of a verb to its subject in number and person: for example, ‘she writes’ but ‘they write’.

A group of words containing a verb that depends on another clause to complete its meaning, such as ‘although it was raining’.

Letters added to the end of a root word, often changing its meaning or grammatical role, such as ‘–ness’ in ‘happiness’.

A state of uncertainty or anxious anticipation about what will happen next.

Bringing together relevant ideas and evidence from different texts to establish a shared point.

The number of marks available for a question.

A verb form that helps show when an action or state occurs, such as ‘walks’ or ‘walked’.

A quotation or precise reference to a text used to support an explanation.

A quotation or precise reference to a text used to support an interpretation or judgement.