Standard English
Using the right words
One of the most important distinctions in English word usage is the one between denotation and connotation. Denotation refers to the exact, or literal, meaning of a word (such as would be found in a dictionary), while connotation refers to the positive or negative associations of a word.
Think of the adjective hot. Merriam-Webster's first few definitions of "hot" are "having a relatively high temperature"; "capable of giving a sensation of heat or of burning, searing, or scalding"; and "having heat in a degree exceeding normal body heat." These are the denotative definitions of hot. The following sets of definitions for hot move into the connotative; among these definitions are "marked by violence or fierceness...a hot temper[,] a hot battle," "close to something sought...hot on the trail," and "of intense and immediate interest...some hot gossip."
As with connotation, figurative language does not have a literal meaning. Figurative language relies on 'figures of speech' to convey more complex or powerful meanings than literal language could achieve. Types of figurative language include simile, metaphor, allusion, and many others. Learn more at the following link.
https://literarydevices.net/figurative-language/
Academic and domain-specific language might be considered the opposite of figurative language. Words in this category are used in educational or specialist settings. Imagine a scale from 1 to 3, where 1 represents everyday language used in conversation, 2 represents academic language more often seen in written text, and 3 represents domain-specific language attached to fields of particular study. These are the three tiers of vocabulary. For a brief outline of this, see the link below.
http://www.gpb.org/files/handout-10-three-tiers-of-vocabulary.pdf
Additional resources for practice
Click on this link and go to the section marked "Peripherals and PowerPoints."
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm
Now select the PowerPoint presentation you wish to view. You may view all of them or just those that touch on areas you may need to practice. If you prefer to view the rules of grammar, capitalization, and capitalization and then engage in interactive quizzes to check your understanding, click on the following link.
"Grammar Help: Rules and Quizzes":
