Contents

Cover

Title Page

Introduction

Grammar

What is grammar?

Words

Phrases

Clauses

Sentences

Making words

Writing good English

Synonyms

Antonyms

Layout

Punctuation

What is punctuation?

Letters

Full stop

Question mark

Exclamation mark

Comma

Apostrophe

Inverted comma

Bracket

Dash

Semicolon

Colon

Hyphen

Bullet point

Ellipsis

Spelling

The alphabet

Syllables

Letters and sounds

Consonants and their phonemes and graphemes

Vowels and their phonemes and graphemes

Digraphs and trigraphs

Adding endings to words

Irregular verbs

Adding prefixes and suffixes

Common endings in words

Choosing between endings

Words ending in ough

Silent letters

Some very common words that you have to know

Homophones

How to improve your spelling

Dictionary

How to use the Spelling Dictionary

Aa

Bb

Cc

Dd

Ee

Ff

Gg

Hh

Ii

Jj

Kk

Ll

Mm

Nn

Oo

Pp

Qq

Rr

Ss

Tt

Uu

Vv

Ww

Yy

Zz

Index

Copyright

About the Publisher

Introduction

Collins Primary Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling has been designed to support all pupils who are studying grammar, punctuation and spelling from age 7 to 11, whether this is for exams or to revise the key building blocks of the English language.

It contains the rules and advice that will help students get to grips with these essential aspects of the English language. There are clear, easy-to-follow explanations of how grammar works, what punctuation does, and how to spell correctly. Each section – grammar, punctuation and spelling – is laid out in an open, attractive design that guides the user easily through the information provided. Dozens of examples show exactly how the rules of English work.

The final section is a dictionary list of words that pupils must know how to spell. These have been specially selected for this age group based on real-life experience from Spelling Bees conducted by Collins Dictionaries. The words are written out in full, with their word class clearly shown, along with any other forms such as plurals, comparatives and superlatives, and inflections – all of which are also written in full, making it easy for the pupil to understand. Many helpful tips on spelling are also included throughout the spelling dictionary section to make learning easier.

Collins Primary Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling is an indispensable guide to the structure and rules of English, offering clear and accessible guidance for pupils from age 7 to 11.

Explore further at www.collins.co.uk/homeworkhelp for games, activities and extra support for parents and children.

Grammar

What is grammar?

Grammar is the rules of a language that tell you how to organise words to make sentences. Think about language as a series of ‘blocks’ that you put together. There are rules about how these blocks can be joined. The blocks are:

• the word

• the phrase

• the clause

• the sentence

This book explains what these are, how they work and how you combine them to write clear and effective English.

Words

Word class

Every word in a language can be sorted into a group according to what it does within a sentence. These groups are known as word classes or parts of speech. Some words can belong to a number of different word classes. This section explains what the word classes are and what they do.

Nouns

A noun is a word that names something. In a sentence, the nouns are the words that tell you which people, places or things are involved.

There are different kinds of nouns.

Common nouns

These nouns are used to name every example of a certain type of thing. They start with a small letter.

girl

city

picture

There are three different types of common nouns.

Concrete nouns

A concrete noun is a physical object that you can actually touch:

donkey

bicycle

doughnut

Abstract nouns

An abstract noun is something that does not physically exist and so cannot be touched:

happiness

beauty

imagination

Collective nouns

A collective noun is a group or collection of things:

pack

bunch

flock

Proper nouns

These nouns are used for a particular person, place or thing. They start with a capital letter.

Andy Murray

Switzerland

River Seine

Singular and plural

The singular form of a noun is used to mean only one of a thing:

a picture

one elephant

the school

The plural form is used to mean more than one of a thing:

two pictures

ten elephants

four schools

The possessive

The possessive (which is sometimes called the possessive case) is used to show that a person or thing owns another person or thing. You add ’s to the end of the noun that is the owner:

my mother’s sister

Nick’s football boots

the cat’s paw

the stadium’s roof

If the noun is a plural that already ends in s, you put an apostrophe at the end of the word:

the soldiers’ uniforms

those boys’ bicycles

African elephants’ ears

tractors’ wheels

You don’t use ’s to make a plural noun. It is only used for showing the possessive.

Adjectives

An adjective is a word that tells you something about a noun. Adjectives can describe nouns in a number of ways:

how they feel or what they are like:

a happy child

a strange boy

a joyful occasion

what they look like:

a large tree

a spotty dress

a gorgeous beach

what they sound, smell, taste or feel like:

a noisy party

a stinky cheese

a delicious cake

a hard seat

what colour they are:

a yellow bag

dark hair

green leaves

where they come from:

our German relatives

my American friend

a northern accent

what something is made from:

chocolate cake

a wooden box

a velvet scarf

Comparative adjectives and superlative adjectives

When you want to make a comparison between people or things, you need to use comparative or superlative adjectives. In the examples below, taller is the comparative form of tall and tallest is the superlative.

Rory is tall.

Rory is taller than his brother.

Rory is the tallest boy in his class.

Comparative

The comparative shows that a person or thing has more of a certain quality than another person or thing. In this case it is the quality of being tall.

You make the comparative form of an adjective by adding the suffix ‑er at the end.

dull + ‑er = duller

green + ‑er = greener

clever + ‑er = cleverer

Not all comparatives are made like this, though. If the adjective is quite a long word, you use more instead.

beautiful → more beautiful

eccentric → more eccentric

interesting → more interesting

Superlative

The superlative shows that a person or thing has the most of a certain quality out of a group of people or things.

You make the superlative form of an adjective by adding the suffix ‑est at the end.

dull + ‑est = dullest

green + ‑est = greenest

clever + ‑est = cleverest

If the adjective is quite a long word, you use most to make the superlative.

beautiful → most beautiful

eccentric → most eccentric

interesting → most interesting

Good and bad

The adjectives good and bad don’t follow the normal rules for comparative and superlative forms.

good

better

best

bad

worse

worst

There are spelling rules about adding suffixes, and you can see these on pages 81–85.

Adverbs

An adverb is a word that tells you something about a verb. They describe the way in which something is done. Many adverbs end with the letters ‑ly.

Some adverbs tell you how:

Ella runs quickly.

The children sing loudly.

Some adverbs tell you where:

We live here.

The plane flew south.

Some adverbs tell you when:

She is going on holiday tomorrow.

Phone the police immediately.

Some adverbs tell you how much:

I really want to see that film.

He was completely exhausted.

Some adverbs tell you how often:

You never come out to play football.

My sister and I always argue about who sits in the front seat of the car.

Some adverbs go at the beginning of a sentence. These give a comment on the whole sentence:

Fortunately, it didn’t rain.

Sadly, Jackie can’t come on Friday.

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that is used before a noun or a pronoun to describe how things are related or connected to each other. For example, prepositions can tell you:

• where a person or thing is:

a cat in the garden

a book on the table

a sock under the bed

Other prepositions like this include:

above

beside

underneath

near

below

• the movement of something or someone:

The train came into the station.

We pushed through the crowd.

Other prepositions like this include:

around

down

up

onto

to

• they also show how things are related in time:

I haven’t seen my auntie since last week.

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that is used to join two words or two parts of a sentence together. There are two main types of conjunction.

Co-ordinating conjunctions

A co-ordinating conjunction joins two things that are as important as each other:

I love fish and chips.

It was dry so I walked home.

You can have a biscuit or a cake.

She has neither mother nor father.

It can also show a contrast between two things:

Joe is having a birthday party but he hasn’t invited me.

Subordinating conjunctions

A subordinating conjunction introduces a clause which is less important than the main part of the sentence:

The teacher was angry because the pupils would not pay attention.

Mark read his book while he waited for his mum to arrive.

I must tell you some exciting news before we get started.

Some dogs go a bit crazy when it’s windy.

Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun. You use a pronoun instead of repeating the name of a person, place or thing:

Rachel lives next door to me. Rachel is in my class.

> Rachel lives next door to me. She is in my class.

That is the book I am reading just now. The book is very funny.

> That is the book I am reading just now. It is very funny.

I like to sit in the garden. The garden is very sunny.

> I like to sit in the garden. It is very sunny.

Personal pronouns

You use a personal pronoun instead of the subject or object of a sentence:

She is good at maths.

Nobody likes him.

Possessive pronouns

You use a possessive pronoun to show that something belongs to a person or thing:

We had to move out when our house was flooded.

I think the blue jacket is mine.

The dog buried its bone in the garden.

Relative pronouns

You use a relative pronoun instead of a noun to join two different parts of a sentence. The relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which and that. They introduce information about a noun in an earlier part of the sentence. This noun is known as the antecedent. You use who, whom and whose when the antecedent is a person, and which and that when it is not a person.

who: You use who when the antecedent is the subject of the second clause.

I have an aunt who lives in Australia.

whom: You use whom when the antecedent is the object of the second clause.

It was the same man whom we had seen earlier.

whose: You use whose to show that something belongs to the antecedent.

Scott has a brother whose name is Jamie.

which: You use which when the antecedent is not a person.

We took the road which leads to the sea.

that: You use that when the antecedent is not a person.

George brought the sandwiches that he had made the night before.

Determiners

A determiner is a word that you put in front of a noun to show more clearly what you are talking about. There are different kinds of determiners:

Articles

The word the is called the definite article.

the robot

the traffic

the footballers

The word a is called the indefinite article.

a caravan

a giraffe

a scooter

If the word after a begins with a vowel, you use an instead:

an animal

an umbrella

an orange pencil

Other determiners

Other types of determiners give different information about the noun:

• the distance between the speaker and the thing they are talking about:

this shoe

these books

that man

those houses

• who owns the thing:

my bag

your phone

his kite

her mug

its door

our car

their garden

• how much or how many:

some sugar

much money

both girls

few people

many adults

several birds

• the exact number:

one melon

the two brothers

fifty roses

ten thousand years

• how something is shared out:

Every child got a prize.

Each runner is given a number.

Either team could win on the day.

Neither side is playing well at the moment.

Verbs

A verb is a word that tells you about an action.

Emily plays the guitar.

The children ran across the field.

We always listen to the radio in the car.

Andrew is a Scout.

Tense

The tense of a verb tells us when the action takes place.

Present tense

If the action is happening now, you use the present tense. There are two types of present tense you can use:

Simple present tense: For this you use the verb as it is, or add an ‑s at the end:

I like broccoli.

You love peas.

Max hates carrots.

We enjoy swimming.

Martin and Kate play the piano.

Progressive present tense: This is also known as the continuous present tense. For this you add the ending ‑ing to the verb and put a form of the verb be in front of it:

I am doing my homework.

You are annoying me.

Lara is painting a picture.

Past tense

If the action has already happened, you use the past tense. There are four types of past tense you can use:

Simple past tense: For most verbs, you add ‑ed to the end to make the simple past tense. You add ‑d if the verb already ends in e:

The children screamed when the lights went out.

The dog barked at the postman.

I scrambled over the wall.

Progressive past tense: This is also known as the continuous past tense. You add ‑ing to the verb and put it after was or were. You use this to talk about something that was still happening at a certain point in the past or when something else happened:

That was the summer when Jack and I were learning to ride.

Richard was cooking dinner when the fire alarm went off.

Present perfect tense: For this you use has or have with the simple past tense of the verb. You use the present perfect tense to show that an action has been completed:

Abby has finished her project on Japan.

I have baked a cake for the birthday party.

Past perfect tense: For this you use had with the simple past tense of the verb. You use this to show that something had been completed when something else happened:

Matthew had finished his lunch before the others had even started.

I had packed my suitcase when the taxi arrived.

Future tense

If the action has still to happen, you use the future tense. You do this by using will or shall and then the verb:

I will be there on time.

He says he will phone later today.

We shall see if that’s true.

Auxiliary verbs

There are three auxiliary verbs: be, have and do. These are used with other verbs to make different tenses.

I was washing my hair.

The chicken had crossed the road.

I did tidy my room eventually.

Be, have and do are irregular verbs, which means that they do not follow the usual rules for making verb forms.

Be

I am happy.

You are sad.

She is tired.

We are excited.

They are late.

I was worried.

You were angry.

He was scared.

We were jealous.

They were sleepy.

He is being silly.

We have been ready for an hour.

Have

I have a cat.

You have a dog.

She has a rabbit.

We have a parrot.

They have no pets.

I had an apple.

You had an orange.

He had a pear.

We had some grapes.

They had strawberries.

Mary is having a baby.

We have had no sleep for two days.

Do

I do not like her.

You do not like him.

She does not like me.

We do not like them.

They do not like us.

I did like him.

You did like her.

She did like you.

We did like them.

They did like him.

The boys are doing their homework in their rooms.

I have done what you told me.

Modal verbs

The modal verbs are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would and ought. They are used with other verbs to add certain meanings like possibility, doubt or having to do something. Unlike all other verbs, they do not change their spellings:

I can ride a bike.

Olivia can speak Italian.

My friends can all come to my party.

I could be late so don’t wait for me.

You may be right.

I might go to the library after school.

You must listen to the teacher.

Shall we take the dog for a walk?

You should clean your teeth at least twice a day.

Will you hang your jacket up?

I would love a cup of tea.

We ought to leave now.

Phrases

A phrase is a group of words which go together.

a busy street

the family pet

very good at tennis

Although a phrase makes sense, it is not a full sentence and needs more words to make it complete.

We live on a busy street.

The family pet is a tortoise called Bob.

My sister is very good at tennis.

Noun phrases

A noun phrase contains at least one noun.

a tall girl

an extremely tall girl

an extremely tall girl with piercing blue eyes

Adjective phrases

An adjective phrase contains at least one adjective.

a brown bear

a big brown bear

a big scary brown bear

Verb phrases

A verb phrase contains an auxiliary verb and sometimes an adverb.

I am enjoying the summer holiday.

He had been learning to play the piano.

She is always complaining about her teachers.

Adverb phrases

An adverb phrase tells you something about the verb. It can contain an adverb but it does not have to.

Katie tiptoed very quietly across the room.

The man shouted ‘Fire!’ as loudly as possible.

In the morning, the sky was clear.

Preposition phrases

A preposition phrase contains a preposition and the noun that follows it.

She shut the dogs in the kitchen.

A plastic bag full of money was lying by the side of the road.

At the back of the class, some of the boys were laughing and telling jokes.

Clauses

A clause is a group of words which contain a verb. There are two types of clauses.

Main clauses

A main clause is the heart of a sentence. It would make sense if it stood on its own. Every sentence has a main clause:

Matthew ate a cake which was covered in chocolate.

After looking carefully in both directions, Ali crossed the road.

Subordinate clauses

A subordinate clause is less important than the main clause. It would not make sense if it stood on its own because it is not a full sentence. It gives more information about the main clause:

When he had looked carefully in both directions, Ali crossed the road.

Matthew enjoyed the cake because it was covered in chocolate.

Subordinate clauses often start with when, if, because or that.

Relative clauses

A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause. It begins with a relative pronoun: who, whom, whose, which or that.

Robbie has a cat who likes fish.

David has one brother, whose name is Peter.

Our teacher is off sick today, which is unusual for her.

You can read more about relative pronouns on page 14.

You can also write a relative clause without the relative pronoun that or which:

She has lost the book that I lent her.

She has lost the book I lent her.

That is the car which he has just bought.

That is the car he has just bought.

Sentences

A sentence is a group of words that expresses an idea or describes a situation. A sentence must have:

• a capital letter at the beginning of the first word

• a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark at the end

• a verb

Sentence types

A sentence can be one of four things.

Statement

This sentence tells you something. A statement usually starts with the subject of the sentence. It ends with a full stop:

Berlin is the capital of Germany.

I am going home now.

It’s raining.

Question

This sentence asks for information. It begins with a questioning word like what, who, which, where, when, how or why. It can also begin with a verb. It ends with a question mark:

What is your name?

Have you seen my keys?

Where is Mount Everest?

Command

This sentence gives orders or instructions. You call the verb used for commands ‘the imperative’. You usually put it at the start of the sentence. It can end with a full stop or, if you want to show that something is very important, an exclamation mark:

Give me the paper.

Come over here.

Stop right there!

If you give a polite command, the verb might not be at the start of the sentence:

Please stop talking.

Exclamation

This sentence expresses a strong feeling. It ends with an exclamation mark:

What a laugh!

You’re here at last!

I never want to see you again!

Sentence structure

There are different types of sentences which can be grouped by how the sentence is written.

Simple sentence

A simple sentence contains just one main clause:

Zoya threw the ball.

Today is my birthday.

Compound sentence

A compound sentence contains two or more main clauses joined by a conjunction:

Zoya threw the ball and Marion caught it.

Today is my birthday but my party is tomorrow.

Complex sentence

A complex sentence has a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses:

Zoya threw the ball to Marion, who was standing on the other side of the pitch.

Today is my birthday, although my party isn’t until tomorrow, which is a pity.

Parts of the sentence

Sentences contain a number of parts.

Subject

The subject is the person or thing that does the action in a sentence. It is a noun, a noun phrase or a pronoun. It comes before the verb.

Louise fell asleep.

Dogs don’t like fireworks.

The red car is parked on the other side of the road.

She threw a cushion across the room.

Verb

A sentence must have a verb or a verb phrase.

The man walks slowly up the hill.

Jessica fainted.

Adam is having a haircut.

People have lived in this place for hundreds of years.

Object

The object is the person or thing that has the action of the verb done to it. It is a noun, a noun phrase or a pronoun. It comes after the verb. Not all sentences have an object.

Kim loves chocolate.

I have lost my new green rucksack.

Are you going to ask him to the prom?

Complement

A complement is a word or phrase that tells you something about the subject of the sentence. It is a noun, a noun phrase, an adjective or an adjective phrase. Not all sentences have a complement. The verbs be, become, feel and seem need a complement.

Laura is an architect.

They became very good friends when they worked together.

The boys felt silly when they had to dress up.

She seems perfectly happy.

Adverbial

An adverbial can be an adverb, an adverb phrase, a preposition clause or a subordinate clause. It tells you something about how the action in the sentence is happening, for example when it is happening, where it is happening, how it is happening, how often it is happening or why it is happening. Not all sentences have adverbials.

Suddenly, it started to rain heavily.

Breathing quietly, Lee crept out of the room.

You probably won’t notice it after a while.

I’ll make a cup of tea when I’ve finished reading this.

An adverbial can go anywhere in a sentence:

I greatly admire your courage.

The door closed with a loud bang.

Honestly, I didn’t mean to be rude to you.

When the adverbial is at the start of the sentence it is called a fronted adverbial. These are followed by a comma:

Seriously, are you wearing that?

At the end of the match, the players shook hands.

Bitterly disappointed, the home supporters left the stadium quickly.

When the cake is golden brown, take it out of the oven.

Active voice and passive voice

There are two different ways of presenting the same information in a sentence. These are the active voice and the passive voice. In the active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action:

In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence has the action done to it:

The passive voice uses be with the past participle of the verb:

is being fed

was chased

It usually sounds more natural to use the active voice when you are writing, but sometimes it is good to use the passive voice if you do not know who did something or you do not want to blame someone.

The bus shelter has been vandalised.

The front door has been left open again.

Making words

English is very good at making new words from existing words. This can be done by putting words together or by adding prefixes and suffixes.

Prefixes

A prefix is a letter or group of letters that is added to the beginning of a word to make a new word. Adding a prefix to a word changes the word’s meaning. When you write a prefix on its own, you put a hyphen after it, for example un-. When you add the prefix to a word to make a new word, you do not keep the hyphen (except in a very few cases which you can see on pages 56–57):

un‑ + usual = unusual

un‑ + cover = uncover

un‑ + happiness = unhappiness

The prefix un- means ‘not’ so when you add it to a word you give it the opposite meaning:

un‑ + friendly = unfriendly (not friendly)

Other prefixes that do this are dis-, non- and in-:

dis‑ + agree = disagree

non‑ + fiction = nonfiction

in‑ + expensive = inexpensive

When you put in- before words that begin with certain letters, the n changes:

• before l, in- changes to il-: il‑ + legal = illegal

• before m, in- changes to im-: im‑ + modest = immodest

• before p, in- changes to im-: im‑ + patient = impatient

• before r, in- changes to ir-: ir‑ + rational = irrational

Other prefixes that are useful to know are:

prefix | meaning | example | language it comes from
anti- | against | anticlockwise | Greek
pro- | in favour of | prowar | Latin
de- | undo or remove | defrost | Latin
bi- | two or twice | bimonthly | Latin
auto- | self | autobiography | Greek
ante- | before | antenatal | Latin
co- | together | cooperate | Latin
pre- | before | predate | Latin
re- | again | reheat | Latin
circum- | round or about | circumference | Latin
ex- | out or outside of | external | Latin
inter- | between | international | Latin
mis- | wrong or false | misbehave | Old English
sub- | under | subway | Latin
super- | larger, over or beyond | superpower | Latin
mini- | small | miniskirt | English
over- | too much | overeat | English
trans- | across | transmit | Latin
tele- | distant | television | Greek
ultra- | extremely | ultramodern | Latin
micro- | small | microcomputer | Greek
tri- | three | tricycle | Latin

Suffixes

A suffix is a letter or group of letters that is added to the end of a word to make a new word. Adding a suffix to a word changes a word’s meaning. When you write a suffix on its own, you put a hyphen in front of it, for example ‑ness. When you add the suffix to a word to make a new word, you do not keep the hyphen:

sad + ‑ness = sadness

There are spelling rules about adding suffixes to words. You can find these on pages 81–85.

Two useful suffixes are ‑ful and ‑less. These are added to words to make adjectives. The suffix ‑ful means ‘full of’, while ‑less means ‘without’:

hope + ‑ful = hopeful (full of hope)

hope + ‑less = hopeless (without hope)

pain + ‑ful = painful (full of pain)

pain + ‑less = painless (without pain)

Here are some other suffixes that make adjectives:

suffix | meaning | example
‑able | able to | readable
‑al | related to | traditional
‑ary | related to | revolutionary
‑ible | able to | reversible
‑ic | related to | rhythmic
‑ish | fairly or rather | smallish
‑ist | prejudiced | racist
‑ive | tending to | divisive
‑like | resembling | dreamlike
‑ous | full of | perilous
‑y | like or full of | grassy

There are some suffixes that mean ‘the state of’, ‘the condition of’ or ‘the quality of’. These make nouns:

suffix | example
‑ness | blind + ‑ness = blindness
‑ity | stupid + ‑ity = stupidity
‑ance | accept + ‑ance = acceptance
‑ation | legalize + ‑ation = legalization
‑dom | bore + ‑dom = boredom
‑ence | depend + ‑ence = dependence
‑hood | child + ‑hood = childhood
‑ion | elect + ‑ion = election
‑ship | dictator + ‑ship = dictatorship

Other suffixes that make nouns include:

suffix | meaning | example
‑er | person who does something | painter
‑er | thing that does something | fastener
‑er | person from a place | islander
‑ant | person who does something | defendant
‑ism | action or condition | criticism
‑ism | prejudice | sexism
‑ment | state of having | employment
‑ology | study of | biology

Suffixes that make verbs include:

suffix | meaning | example
‑ate | become or take on | hyphenate
‑ise or ‑ize | change or affect | motorise
‑ify | make or become | purify
‑en | make or become | dampen

To make an adverb from an adjective you add the suffix ‑ly, which means ‘in this way’:

kind + ‑ly = kindly

proper + ‑ly = properly

real + ‑ly = really

week + ‑ly = weekly

Root words

A root word is a word which can stand alone and still make sense, for example read. You can add prefixes and suffixes to a root word in order to make new words:

read reads reading reader readable misread reread

Compound words

A compound word is one that is made from two or more root words. Lots of English words are made in this way.

girl + friend = girlfriend

soft + ware = software

after + shave = aftershave

Compound words can be written in different ways:

• as one word: bookcase wallpaper outrun skateboard

• as two words: post office fire engine eye shadow Roman Catholic

• with a hyphen: bone-dry one-way face-lift middle-of-the-road

Word families

A word family is a group of words that are related to each other because they come from the same root word.

sign signature signage signify significant signpost signal undersign design designate

solve solver solvent soluble solution dissolve resolve

Writing good English

Once you know how sentences are made, you can start to put them together to make longer pieces of writing. A group of sentences together is called a paragraph.

Paragraphs

You start a paragraph on a new line. A paragraph contains one idea or one part of an argument. When you want to introduce another idea or another part of an argument, you start a new paragraph:

More British households have dogs than any other pets. A survey has found that 25% of homes in the UK have a dog. The labrador retriever remains the most popular dog, followed by the cocker spaniel and springer spaniel.

Cats are the next most popular pet in the country, being found in 19% of British homes. The favourite breed by far is the shorthair domesticated cat, although the Siamese, Burmese and Persian are all increasing in popularity.

If you are quoting direct speech, you start a new paragraph for each new speaker.

“Are you playing in the match after school today?” asked Nathan.

“No,” replied Simon. “I have to go to the dentist.”

If you are writing a story, each new event in the story should have its own paragraph. You do, however, need to link paragraphs to bring your writing together. This is called cohesion. If a piece of writing has cohesion then it all joins together smoothly.

Cohesion

There are a number of ways to add cohesion to your writing.

Use of tense

You need to keep your tenses consistent in a piece of work. This means that if you start off in the present tense, you keep to the present tense all the way through. If you start in the past tense, keep to the past tense.

Zack is nervous. He has to sing a solo at the school concert next week. He is worried that he will forget the words or sing out of tune. The teacher tells him that he will be fine.

Cohesive devices

These are words that connect different parts of the text. These include:

Determiners

We went to the pond to feed the ducks. They swam towards us eagerly.

(They links with the ducks in the first sentence)

I really enjoyed my school days. Those were the best days of my life.

(Those links with school days)

Pronouns

The runners are ready to go. They are waiting for the starting pistol.

(They links with the runners)

I don’t like my maths teacher. He shouts a lot.

(He links with my maths teacher)

Conjunctions

I will need to save up some money before I can buy a new phone.

(before shows time relationship)

Please let me know when you want to go home.

(when shows time relationship)

Adverbs

I clean my teeth. Then I get dressed. (Then shows time relationship)

I get dressed. Next I make my lunch. (Next shows time relationship)

Connectives

Conjunctions and adverbs are also known as connectives. They connect ideas between clauses and sentences.

I am scared of horses. Nevertheless, I am going riding tomorrow.

We are moving house. Therefore, I will be changing schools.

Some other connectives are:

later

afterwards

previously

similarly

furthermore

moreover

on the other hand

in contrast

however

meanwhile

Ellipsis

Ellipsis is missing out a word or phrase that you would normally include. By doing this, you can link clauses and sentences.

Do you like jazz? I don’t like it.

> Do you like jazz? I don’t.

Julie looked behind and she started to run.

> Julie looked behind and started to run.

Ellipsis is also the name of a punctuation mark. You can see more about this on page 58.

Ambiguity

Ambiguity is when something is not clear and could confuse the reader. For example:

The dog bit the man and he barked.

Who barked? The man or the dog?

The dog bit the man and then barked.

By removing the pronoun he and adding the adverb then, you get rid of the ambiguity.

Avoiding repetition

You use pronouns to avoid repeating nouns in a piece of writing.

My aunt lives in Rome. My aunt has lived there for twenty years. My aunt works as a translator.

> My aunt lives in Rome. She has lived there for twenty years. She works as a translator.

Expressing possibility

You can express the idea of possibility or uncertainty in two ways.

Modal verbs

You can use verbs like may, might, could and should to show that something is not certain.

We may be getting a puppy.

I might not be here when you get home.

The team could be moving to a new stadium.

Robert should be able to meet you at the station.

Adverbs

You can also use certain adverbs to show that something is not definite.

Maybe we can go next week.

Perhaps you can help me with this?

She is possibly too late to join the class now.

Types of English

The way you talk to your friends is not the same way that you talk to your head teacher. We write and speak in different ways, depending on the situation.

Informal language

This is how you write to friends or close family, for example in emails or texts:

Hey how R U? Soz i missed ur call. @ lazergame with jack n anna. It was beast! cant wait 2 go again. I’ll phone u l8r. ☺

Some features of informal language:

• slang words (beast)

• contracted forms (I’ll)

• abbreviations (R U, soz, ur, n)

• smileys or emoticons (☺)

• lack of punctuation (jack, anna, cant, i)

• informal greeting (Hey)

• short simple sentences

• simple vocabulary

• numbers or symbols (2 for to, @ for at or l8r for later)

Question tags

A question tag is a short question at the end of a statement. They are used to check that the listener agrees with the speaker. They are common in speech and informal writing but you should not use them in formal writing:

You’ve cleaned your room, haven’t you?

We’re not going to that, are we?

Formal language

This is the language you should use when you are writing things for school.

Dear Mrs Jenkins

I am sorry I missed your telephone call yesterday. I was out with two of my friends, Jack and Anna. We were at an attraction called Lazergame, where you chase and shoot each other with lasers. It was really good fun and I am hoping to go again soon.

I will see you at five o’clock on Friday, assuming your train is on time.

Yours sincerely, Eve

Some of the features of formal language:

• full forms (I am, you are, I will)

• use of capital letters (I, Lazergame, Jack, Anna)

• no slang (sorry not soz)

• longer, more complex sentences

• formal opening and closing (Dear, Yours sincerely)

• more difficult words (attraction, assuming)

• not using symbols instead of words

Formal and informal vocabulary

You should avoid informal and slang words in your written work, unless you are writing conversation. For example, use:

child (not kid)

man (not guy)

friend (not pal)

satisfactory (not OK)

angry (not ballistic)

wealthy (not minted)

relax (not chill)

impressive (not awesome)

very good (not well good)

Subjunctive

Another feature of formal language is the subjunctive. This is a form of verb that is sometimes used to show the possibility of something happening or the wish for it to happen. You use were instead of was:

If your father were here he would help you.

If I were rich I would buy a house like that.

Susan has always wished she were taller.

I wouldn’t do that if I were you.

Standard English and Non-standard English

Standard English is the form that you learn to read and write in school. It is the language that you read in newspapers and books, and hear on the television and radio news. It obeys the rules of English grammar and can be spoken in any accent. You should use this for anything you write in school and in official letters and emails. Non-standard English is the language that people often speak, where they don’t always follow the rules of grammar. You should avoid using this in writing.

Tense agreement

You must make sure that you do not jump between tenses when you are writing. If you start off in the past tense, keep to the past tense.

I was walking down the street when I saw my friend coming towards me.

(NOT I was walking down the street when I see my friend coming towards me.)

Subject and verb agreement

You must use the correct form of the verb for the subject of the sentence.

He was asleep when the fire broke out.

(NOT He were asleep when the fire broke out.)

We were happy to hear the news. (NOT We was happy to hear the news.)

Verb inflections

You must use the correct verb form for the past tense of irregular verbs. Some verbs (irregular verbs) have two different forms for the past tense, for example see. These are called the past tense and the past participle. The past tense is the one that makes the simple past of the verb. The past participle is the one you use with have.

I saw = the past tense

I have seen = the past participle

I saw him yesterday. (NOT I seen him yesterday.)

You should have gone to bed earlier. (NOT You should have went to bed earlier.)

He did his homework in school. (NOT He done his homework in school.)

Also, you should write I was sitting not I was sat:

I was sitting on the wall when Zain appeared.

(NOT I was sat on the wall when Zain appeared.)

Verb contractions

Some shortened forms of verbs are used in non-standard English. You should not use them in your writing:

• ain’t = am not, are not, is not |  | He is not here yet. (NOT He ain’t here yet.)
• amn’t = am not |  | I am not going. (NOT I amn’t going.)
• shouldnt’ve = should not have |  | You should not have done that. (NOT You shouldnt’ve done that.)
• innit = is it not? |  |

I and me

You must not confuse I and me. You use I for the subject of the sentence, and me for the object.

Helen and I are going swimming. (NOT Helen and me are going swimming.)

Kevin threw the water balloon at Linda and me.

(NOT Kevin threw the water balloon at Linda and I.)

If you are not sure whether to use I or me in a sentence like this, take the other person out of the sentence and see if it still makes sense:

Helen and I are going swimming.

> I am going swimming. (NOT Me is going swimming.)

Kevin threw the water balloon at Linda and me.

> Kevin threw the water balloon at me. (NOT Kevin threw the water balloon at I.)

Double negatives

A negative is a word like not, nor, never or nothing, which means no. Sometimes people use two of these in a sentence and this is known as a double negative. You should not do this in standard English:

I didn’t have any money.

(NOT I didn’t have no money.)

We have never been there.

(NOT We haven’t never been there.)

He didn’t do anything wrong.

(NOT He didn’t do nothing wrong.)

Reporting speech

There are two ways of dealing with speech when you are writing.

Direct speech

This is when you quote exactly what a person says. For this you use inverted commas and verbs like say, reply, answer, mutter and shout. If you are showing a conversation you start a new paragraph every time a different person speaks.

“Hello Sarah,” said Mike. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m meeting my friends here,” she replied. “We are having lunch and then we are going to the cinema to see the new Hunger Games film.”

“Who’s all going?” asked Mike.

Sarah said, “Lucy, Aila, Rachel and Fiona.”

Indirect speech

This is when you report what a person has said but do not quote it exactly. You do not use inverted commas for this, and you do not use question marks or exclamation marks.

Mike asked Sarah what she was doing in the cafe. She told him she was meeting her friends for lunch and then going to the cinema. Mike asked who was going and Sarah told him it was Lucy, Aila, Rachel and Fiona.

Synonyms

You should try to use a wide range of words in your writing. It is good to avoid repeating the same words again and again. You can do this by using synonyms of overused words. A synonym is a word that means the same as another word. If you are writing a story about a conversation, instead of using said each time, you could use mentioned, responded, muttered, whispered or snapped. By doing this, you make your writing more interesting and entertaining.

Here are some words to avoid and some synonyms you could try instead:

• nice:

attractive

charming

agreeable

delightful

pleasant

likeable

pleasurable

• great:

excellent

outstanding

superb

skilful

first-rate

tremendous

• look:

glance

peek

gaze

stare

watch

survey

examine

study

gape

• big:

gigantic

immense

massive

vast

enormous

colossal

Be careful, though. A word that is a synonym for one meaning of a word might not work for another. You can replace good with well-behaved in the phrase ‘a good child’, but well-behaved does not work instead of good in ‘a good book’.

Antonyms

An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word. For example forget is the antonym of remember.

You can use antonyms to show a contrast:

William had hoped by now to be rich; he was shocked to realise he was actually rather poor.

After so many years her love had turned to hate.

You can use an antonym with a negative to emphasise something that might seem surprising:

Maria was not unhappy that the party had been cancelled.

(Maria was actually happy about it)

This government policy is not unpopular with the public.

(The policy is actually popular)

Only use a word if you are certain that you know what it means. If you are not sure, check the meaning in a good dictionary. For synonyms and antonyms, you should check a thesaurus.

Layout

When you are writing something for school, think about the way it appears on the page. Is it clear and easy to read? The layout is important. You must break your writing into paragraphs, but there are other things you can do to make your work readable.

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