Foundational Reading

Get back to basics with these essential terms related to reading. Review parts of speech, literary genres, text features, and more. This list will give you the vocabulary you need to understand and discuss what you read.
71 words 935 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. adjective
    the word class that qualifies nouns
  2. adverb
    a word that modifies something other than a noun
  3. affix
    a linguistic element added to a word
  4. article
    a determiner indicating the specificity of a noun phrase
  5. author
    a person who writes professionally
  6. chapter
    a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
  7. clause
    an expression including a subject and predicate
  8. conjunction
    a function word that serves to conjoin words or phrases
  9. consonant
    a letter of the alphabet that does not stand for a vowel
  10. definition
    a brief explanation of the meaning of a word or phrase
  11. describe
    give a statement representing something
  12. description
    a statement that represents something in words
  13. detail
    a single fact considered separately from the whole
  14. dictionary
    a reference book containing an alphabetical list of words
  15. drama
    a work intended for performance by actors on a stage
  16. emphasize
    stress or single out as important
  17. example
    an item of information that is typical of a class or group
  18. express
    communicate beliefs or opinions
  19. fiction
    a literary work based on the imagination
  20. glossary
    an alphabetical list of technical terms in a field
  21. heading
    a line of text indicating what the passage below it is about
  22. illustrator
    an artist who makes illustrations
  23. indentation
    the space left between the margin and a line set in
  24. index
    alphabetical listing of names and topics with page numbers
  25. infer
    conclude by reasoning
  26. letter
    a character in an alphabet used to represent speech
  27. lowercase
    relating to small (not capitalized) letters that were kept in the lower half of a compositor's type case
  28. margin
    the blank space that surrounds the text on a page
  29. narrate
    give a detailed account of
  30. nonfiction
    prose writing that is not formed by the imagination
  31. noun
    a content word referring to a person, place, thing or action
  32. novel
    an extended fictional work in prose
  33. oral
    using speech rather than writing
  34. paragraph
    one of several distinct subdivisions of a text
  35. passage
    a section of text, particularly a section of medium length
  36. pattern
    a repeated design, structure, or arrangement
  37. phrase
    an expression consisting of one or more words
  38. poem
    a composition in metrical feet forming rhythmical lines
  39. poetry
    literature in metrical form
  40. predict
    make a guess about what will happen in the future
  41. prefix
    an affix that is added in front of the word
  42. preposition
    a word before a noun or pronoun connecting to another word
  43. print
    the text appearing in a book, newspaper, or other printed publication
  44. pronoun
    a function word that is used in place of a noun
  45. prose
    ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
  46. punctuation
    the use of marks to clarify meaning of written material
  47. reader
    a person who can read; a literate person
  48. repeat
    say or state again
  49. root
    the form of a word after all affixes are removed
  50. sentence
    a string of words satisfying grammatical rules of a language
  51. sound
    an individual acoustic unit of speech
  52. story
    a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events
  53. structure
    the building of something and the arrangement of its parts
  54. style
    a mode of expression typical of a person, group, or period
  55. suffix
    a linguistic element that is added at the end of the word
  56. syllable
    a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme
  57. synonym
    a word that expresses the same or similar meaning
  58. table of contents
    a list of what is included and where it can be found
  59. text
    the main body of a written work
  60. title page
    a page of a book displaying the title and author and publisher
  61. topic
    the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
  62. understand
    know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
  63. uppercase
    relating to capital letters which were kept in the top half of a compositor's type case
  64. verb
    a word denoting an action, occurrence, or state of existence
  65. version
    a written work that has been recast in a new form
  66. vocabulary
    a language user's knowledge of words
  67. vowel
    a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken vowel
  68. word
    a unit of language that native speakers can identify
  69. work
    a product produced through the effort of a person or thing
  70. writer
    a person who authors works professionally
  71. writing
    the act of creating works in letters or symbols
Created on Fri Jan 13 16:50:47 EST 2017 (updated Wed Mar 29 15:28:20 EDT 2017)

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