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Contemporary's GED Language Arts, Writing
Ellen Carley Frechette
Tim Collins


Glossary

Below is a list of key terms that appear in Contemporary's GED Language Arts, Writing. Click on the links within the definitions to view interactive flashcards for the key terms by chapter.
action verb  a verb that describes the action in a sentence (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 26 in your textbook.)
active verb  a verb that shows the subject doing the action (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 103 in your textbook.)
adjective  a word that describes a noun or pronoun (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 145 in your textbook.)
adverb  a word that describes a verb; can also be used to modify an adjective or another adverb (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 145 in your textbook.)
agreement in number  a correct sentence structure in which a pronoun and an antecedent are both singular or plural (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 159 in your textbook.)
antecedent  the word or words that a pronoun refers to in a sentence (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS, CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See pages 38 and 157 in your textbook.)
appositive  a type of modifying phrase that supplies additional information about a noun or pronoun in a sentence; must be set off from the rest of the sentence with commas (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See pages 153 and 183 in your textbook.)
body paragraphs  the second, third, and fourth paragraphs in a five-paragraph essay; express ideas that support the main idea of the essay (CHAPTER 8 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 214 in your textbook.)
brainstorming  a technique used to gather ideas in which the writer lists ideas as they come to him or her
(See page 224 in your textbook.)
cause and effect  a pattern of organization that lists the reasons why something occurred or predicts the possible results if an event or action takes place (CHAPTER 10 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 236 in your textbook.)
circling  a technique used to organize an idea list in which the writer draws circles to show how the ideas go together in groups (CHAPTER 10 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 241 in your textbook.)
circular reasoning  a style of writing in which the writer mistakenly restates an opinion in other words instead of providing a specific reason to support the opinion (CHAPTER 12 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 279 in your textbook.)
clause  a group of words containing a subject and a verb; two are used to create a compound or complex sentence (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 83 in your textbook.)
clustering  a technique used to gather ideas in which the writer arranges ideas on an idea map to show how they relate to the main idea of an essay
(See page 226in your textbook.)
comma splice  a sentence consisting of two clauses joined by a comma without a conjunction; considered an error in sentence structure (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 96 in your textbook.)
command  a sentence that tells someone to do something; the subject is always understood to be you (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 27 in your textbook.)
comparison and contrast  a pattern of organization that shows how things are alike and different (CHAPTER 10 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 238 in your textbook.)
complex sentence  a sentence that contains a dependent clause connected to an independent clause (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 89 in your textbook.)
compound sentence  a sentence that contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 83 in your textbook.)
compound subject  a subject that consists of two or more simple subjects (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 30 in your textbook.)
compound verb  a predicate that consists of two or more verbs (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 30 in your textbook.)
concluding paragraph  the fifth and final paragraph in a five-paragraph essay; summarizes the essay and gives a final idea about the topic (CHAPTER 8 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 214 in your textbook.)
coordinating conjunction  a word used to connect independent clauses in a compound sentence (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 83 in your textbook.)
dangling modifier  a word or phrase that has no word to describe in a sentence (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 151 in your textbook.)
dependent clause  a clause that depends on another clause in order to make sense; makes up part of a complex sentence (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 89 in your textbook.)
diction  the word choice in a sentence, paragraph, or essay (CHAPTER 4 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 132 in your textbook.)
direct address  a noun set off by commas that refers to the subject in a sentence; never the subject of the sentence (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 27 in your textbook.)
essay  a group of related paragraphs about one topic (CHAPTER 8 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 208 in your textbook.)
first person  a category of writing that refers to the speaker or writer (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 163 in your textbook.)
future continuing tense  a verb tense used to show an ongoing action in the future (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 54 in your textbook.)
future perfect tense  a verb tense used to show an action that will be completed by a specified time in the future (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 56 in your textbook.)
future tense  a simple verb tense used to show an action that has not yet taken place but will take place in the future (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 52 in your textbook.)
gathering ideas  the first step in the writing process in which the writer figures out the main idea of the essay and makes a list of supporting details (CHAPTER 8 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 210 in your textbook.)
here or there statement  a sentence that starts with the word here or there; the subject comes after the verb (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 27 in your textbook.)
homonyms  two or more words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See pages 43 and 179 in your textbook.)
indefinite pronoun  a pronoun that does not name a specific person or thing (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 71 in your textbook.)
independent clause  a clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence; two are used to create a compound sentence (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 83 in your textbook.)
introductory paragraph  the first paragraph of a five-paragraph essay; indicates the issue the essay is going to address and states the main idea (CHAPTER 8 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 214 in your textbook.)
irregular verb  a verb that does not follow a familiar pattern in order to form a different tense (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 57 in your textbook.)
linking verb  a verb that links the subject of a sentence to words that describe or rename it (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 26 in your textbook.)
main idea  the point of view that an essay discusses or develops
(See page 223 in your textbook.)
modifying phrase  a group of words that describes another word in a sentence (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 147 in your textbook.)
noun  a word that labels a person, place, thing, or idea (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 32 in your textbook.)
order of importance  a pattern of organization that lists ideas from least to most important (CHAPTER 10 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 233 in your textbook.)
organizing  the second step in the writing process in which the writer makes sure there are enough supporting details, ensures that the details are all about the main idea, and puts ideas in an order that makes sense (CHAPTER 8 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 210 in your textbook.)
outlining  a technique used to organize ideas in which the writer lists group names and supporting details in the order in which they’ll appear in the essay (CHAPTER 10 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 243 in your textbook.)
paragraph  a group of sentences that develops a central point or main idea (CHAPTER 4 FLASHCARDS, CHAPTER 11 FLASHCARDS)
(See pages 115 and 254 in your textbook.)
parallel structure  a correct form of sentence structure in which all elements of a compound sentence have the same form (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 154 in your textbook.)
passive verb  a verb that shows the subject being acted upon (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 103 in your textbook.)
past continuing tense  a verb tense used to show a past action that continued for some time (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 54 in your textbook.)
past participle  the form of a verb used in all the perfect tenses; formed by adding ed or d to the base form of a regular verb; usually an entirely new word for an irregular verb (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 57 in your textbook.)
past perfect tense  a verb tense used to show an action that took place before a specified time in the past (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 55 in your textbook.)
plural noun  a noun that names more than one person, place, thing, or idea (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 32 in your textbook.)
possessive noun  a noun that shows possession of something; usually ends in 's (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 36 in your textbook.)
predicate  the part of a sentence that tells the reader what the subject is or does (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 19 in your textbook.)
prepositional phrase  a word group that starts with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun; describes another word in the sentence (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS, CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See pages 68 and 147 in your textbook.)
present continuing tense  a verb tense used to show an ongoing action that is happening now (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 54 in your textbook.)
present perfect tense  a verb tense used to show an action that started in the past and continues into the present or has just been completed (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 55 in your textbook.)
pronoun  a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 38 in your textbook.)
proper noun  a noun that names a specific person, place, or thing; generally capitalized (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 32 in your textbook.)
question  a sentence that asks something; at least part of the verb comes before the subject (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 27 in your textbook.)
regular verb  a verb that follows a familiar pattern, such as adding ed to the base to form a past tense (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 57 in your textbook.)
revising  the fourth and final step in the writing process, in which a writer reviews and corrects an essay (CHAPTER 8 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 210 in your textbook.)
run-on sentence  a sentence consisting of too many clauses; considered an error in sentence structure (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 86 in your textbook.)
second person  a category of writing that refers to the audience or reader (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 163 in your textbook.)
sentence  a group of words that contains a subject and predicate and expresses a complete thought; the basic building block of clear, effective writing (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 19 in your textbook.)
sentence fragment  a group of words that does not fulfill the three requirements of a complete sentence (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 20 in your textbook.)
sequence of tenses  the logical relationship between verbs in a sentence (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 101 in your textbook.)
simple past tense  a verb tense used to show an action that occurred at a specified time in the past (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 52 in your textbook.)
simple present tense  a verb tense used to show an action or state of being that is happening now or happens regularly (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 51 in your textbook.)
simple subject  the key word in the subject of a sentence that tells the reader whom or what the sentence is about (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 25 in your textbook.)
subject  the part of a sentence that tells the reader whom or what the sentence is about (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 19 in your textbook.)
subject-verb agreement  the process of choosing a present-tense verb to match a singular or plural subject (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 62 in your textbook.)
subordinating conjunction  a word that joins a dependent clause to an independent clause (CHAPTER 3 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 90 in your textbook.)
supporting sentence  a sentence in a paragraph that gives more information about the main idea presented in the topic sentence (CHAPTER 4 FLASHCARDS, CHAPTER 11 FLASHCARDS)
(See pages 115 and 259 in your textbook.)
synonym  a word or phrase that has nearly the same meaning as another word (CHAPTER 12 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 290 in your textbook.)
tense  the time showed by a verb (CHAPTER 2 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 51 in your textbook.)
thesis statement  a sentence that previews the content and organization of an essay by stating the topic and main idea of each of the three body paragraphs; usually the last sentence in the introductory paragraph (CHAPTER 11 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 255 in your textbook.)
third person  a category of writing that refers to the person, thing, or group spoken about (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 163 in your textbook.)
tightening  a technique used to reduce the number of words in an essay without losing important ideas; makes writing clearer and more forceful (CHAPTER 12 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 291 in your textbook.)
time order  a pattern of organization that lists ideas in the order in which they occurred (CHAPTER 10 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 233 in your textbook.)
tone  the style in which a sentence or paragraph is written (CHAPTER 4 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 132 in your textbook.)
topic sentence  a sentence in a paragraph that tells what the rest of the paragraph is about; the topic sentence is often the first sentence in a paragraph (CHAPTER 4 FLASHCARDS, CHAPTER 11 FLASHCARDS)
(See pages 115 and 259 in your textbook.)
transition  a word or group of words that help a reader follow the writer’s thoughts from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph (CHAPTER 12 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 286 in your textbook.)
verb  the key word in the predicate of a sentence that tells what the subject is or does (CHAPTER 1 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 25 in your textbook.)
verbal phrase  a modifying phrase that uses a verbal form to describe a noun (CHAPTER 5 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 147 in your textbook.)
writing  the third step in the writing process in which the writer uses an organized idea list to write an essay (CHAPTER 8 FLASHCARDS)
(See page 210 in your textbook.)