Factual means based on facts rather than opinions, feelings, or imagination. When something is factual, you can verify it, prove it, or check it against reality.

A factual statement might be “Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit” or “Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president.” These aren't opinions anyone can argue about: they're true whether you like them or not. Compare that to “Winter is the best season” or “Lincoln was the greatest president,” which are opinions that reasonable people might disagree about.

In school, when teachers ask for factual information in a report, they want dates, names, measurements, and events that actually happened, not your guesses or feelings about the topic. A factual error means you got something wrong that has a definite right answer, like saying the Revolutionary War started in 1876 instead of 1775.

The opposite of factual is fictional (made up, like stories) or opinion-based (based on personal views). Writers and thinkers learn to distinguish between factual statements and opinions, understanding that both have their place but serve different purposes.