Year 5 vocabulary glossary

structural choice

A decision a writer makes about how a text is organised, such as where information is placed or revealed.

language choice

A decision a writer makes about which specific words or techniques to use, and the effect this creates.

authorial intent

What a writer is trying to achieve or make the reader think or feel through their writing.

argument

A structured case for or against a point of view, supported by reasons and evidence.

balanced argument

A piece of writing that presents both sides of an issue fairly before reaching a conclusion.

register

The level of formality in language, adjusted to suit the audience and purpose — formal or informal.

formal

A serious, careful style of language, avoiding slang and contractions, used for official or professional writing.

informal

A relaxed, conversational style of language, often used with friends or family.

relative clause

A subordinate clause that gives more information about a noun, usually starting with 'who', 'which' or 'that', such as 'the dog that barked'.

modal verb

A verb that shows how certain, possible or necessary something is, such as 'might', 'could', 'must' or 'should'.

parenthesis

Extra information added into a sentence, marked off by brackets, dashes or commas, which could be removed without changing the sentence's core meaning.

active voice

A sentence structure where the subject performs the action, such as 'The dog chased the ball.'

passive voice

A sentence structure where the subject receives the action, such as 'The ball was chased by the dog.'

ambiguity

When a sentence or phrase could be understood in more than one way, causing confusion about its meaning.

colon

The punctuation mark ( : ) used to introduce a list, explanation or example.

semi-colon

The punctuation mark ( ; ) used to join two closely related independent clauses, or to separate items in a complex list.

dash

The punctuation mark ( — ) used to add extra information or create a dramatic pause in a sentence.

brackets

Punctuation marks ( ) used to enclose extra, non-essential information within a sentence.

homonym

A word that is spelled and pronounced the same as another word but has a different meaning, such as 'bat' (the animal) and 'bat' (used in sport).

idiom

A phrase whose meaning cannot be worked out from the literal meaning of its individual words, such as 'it's raining cats and dogs'.

nuance

A subtle difference in meaning, feeling or tone between two similar words or phrases.

shades of meaning

The small but important differences in meaning between words that seem similar, such as 'glance', 'peek' and 'stare'.