Key Words

Key words are words which are especially important to the meaning of the text.  They can help you understand the global meaning and the main points.  They often appear in the title, if there is one. If you have difficulty with words in a title, try to find them in the body of the text, where the context should help you to understand them.

Key words are often repeated in a text, but as you probably know if you are used to writing essays, they are frequently replaced by synonyms, other words with the same or a similar meaning.  If a word resists your attempts to understand it, maybe it makes sense as just a synonym of a key word.  You may remember this text from 235 Lesson 2. The two words in blue italic are synonyms.

Alors, le père sort son revolver et abat froidement son troisième fils.  Les deux autres s'exclament: "Papa, pourquoi l'as-tu tué?"