Grammer Flashcards
(30 cards)
A verb is a word used to describe an action, state or occurrence
Give an example
For example, like the word ‘jumping’ in this sentence:
The rabbit was jumping in the field.
Verbs can also be used to describe a state of being, that’s feeling something. Give an example
For example, the word ‘likes’ here:
The monster likes rollercoasters.
A verb can be used to describe an occurrence, that’s something happening Give an example
For example, the word ‘became’ in this sentence:
The caterpillar became a butterfly.
Verbs can be used to describe an action, that’s doing something. Give an example
For example, like the word ‘jumping’ in this sentence:
The rabbit was jumping in the field.
What is a verb?
A verb is a word used to describe an action, state or occurrence.
Verbs can also be used to describe a state of being, that’s feeling something.
For example,
For example, the word ‘likes’ here:
The monster likes rollercoasters.
a verb can be used to describe an occurrence, that’s something happening.
For example, the word ‘became’ in this sentence:
The caterpillar became a butterfly.
What is an adjective?
An adjective is a word that describes a noun (the name of a thing or a place).
‘It was a terrible book.’
The word ‘terrible’ is an adjective. It tells us what the book (the noun) was like.
The book she read on holiday was terrible.’
or
‘She read a terrible book on holiday.’
Adjectives can come before or after a noun.
Try putting adjectives in different places in your sentences to make your writing more interesting.
‘She had a mouldy, smelly, overpriced sandwich.’
If you want to describe a noun in detail, you can use more than one adjective.
When you have a list of adjectives like this, separate them with commas.
What is a pronoun?
A pronoun takes the place of a
noun
in a sentence.
Pronouns are short words like ‘it’, ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘you’, ‘we’, ‘they’, ‘us’ and ‘them’.
They are used to describe either individuals or groups of people, rather than using their name or names.
What is a personal pronoun?
Personal pronouns are short words used to replace yourself or a person’s name. They include:
I
she
he
you
we
us
them
For example, read the sentence below:
Anita charged towards the dragon.
The name ‘Anita’ could be replaced by the personal pronoun ‘she’.
She charged towards the dragon.
What is a possessive pronoun?
Possessive pronouns are pronouns used to show the ownership (or possession) of something. These include:
mine
ours
yours
his-hers
theirs
For example, read the sentence below:
That hat is Ben’s.
The word ‘Ben’s’ could be replaced by the possessive pronoun ‘his’.
That hat is his.
What is an adverb?
An adverb is simply a word that describes a
verb
.
He ate his breakfast quickly.
The word ‘quickly’ is an adverb as it tells us how he ‘ate’ (the verb) his breakfast.
How do you use adverbs?
Adverbs can come before or after a verb.
For example:
He quickly ate his breakfast.
In the sentence above, the adverb ‘quickly’ appears before the verb ‘ate’.
However, this sentence could be rewritten with the adverb after the verb.
He ate his breakfast quickly.
What is a passive verb?
When the subject of a sentence isn’t doing something, the verb is passive.
On the other hand, a sentence is active when the subject performs the verb (action).
For example, in this sentence the verb is active.
Mr Brewer kicked the ball
Whereas, in this sentence the verb is passive.
The ball was kicked by Mr Brewer
What are modal verbs?
Modal verbs are verbs that indicate likelihood, ability, permission or obligation.
Words like:
can/could
may/might
will/would
shall/should
must
For example:
The sea monster should go away
What is a preposition?
A preposition is a word that tells you where or when something is in relation to something else.
Examples of prepositions include words like ‘after’, ‘before’, ‘on’, ‘under’, ‘inside’ and ‘outside’.
The house was on the hill beside a tree.
In this sentence ‘on’ and ‘beside’ are prepositions which show you exactly where the house was.
What is a subordinating conjunction?
A conjunction is a word, or words, used to connect two clauses together. Words such as ‘although’, ‘because’ or ‘when’ .
A subordinating clause is a part of a sentence that adds additional information to the main clause.
A subordinating conjunction is simply the word/words that is used to join a subordinating clause to another clause or sentence. For example:
He was annoyed, the train had stopped.
By adding ‘because’ we can link the subordinating clause “the train had stopped” with the main clause “He was annoyed”.
He was annoyed because the train had stopped.
Where are subordinate clauses used?
Subordinate conjunctions (and clauses) can be used in different places within a sentence. They can go at the start, middle or end of a sentence.
In the example below a subordinate clause has been used at the end of a sentence:
The island was calm and peaceful until the clouds became dark and angry.
You can reorder the sentence so the subordinate clause is used at the start:
Until the clouds became dark and angry, the island was calm and peaceful.
Here, the subordinate conjunction ‘until’ has been used at the start and in the middle of a sentence.
Did you notice that when we use a subordinate conjunction at the start of a sentence, we must also use a comma to separate the clauses within that sentence?
What are coordinating conjunctions?
Conjunctions are joining words that link together parts of a sentence.
The three main coordinating conjunctions are:
and
but
or
They can be used to join together two clauses in a sentence. However, the clauses need to make sense on their own.
For example:
I had a terrible cold. I still went to work.
You can add the coordinating conjunction ‘but’ in between these causes so the sentence reads:
I had a terrible cold but I still went to school.
Remember though, you can often leave out the subject word in the second coordinating clause.
For example:
I had a terrible cold but still went to school.
In this example you can remove the word ‘I’ from the second coordinating clause.
What is a relative clause?
A relative clause can be used to give additional information about a noun.
They are introduced by a relative pronoun like ‘that’, ‘which’, ‘who’, ‘whose’, ‘where’ and ‘when’. For example:
I won’t stand by the man who smells of slime.
In this example, the relative clause is ‘who smells of slime’. It provides more information about the man. The relative pronoun, ‘who’, is used to connect these clauses in the sentence.
What is a subordinate clause?
Relative clauses can be used to create complex sentences as they are a type of subordinate clause.
A subordinate clause is a part of a sentence that adds additional information to the main clause.
Relative clauses come directly after the noun they are referring to.
This might be at the end of a sentence or embedded into the middle of a sentence.
If it is embedded into the middle of a sentence, the relative clause is usually surrounded by commas.
Relative pronouns?
Relative clauses are introduced by a relative pronoun. The relative pronoun used depends on the person or type of thing you are writing about.
Relative pronouns include:
‘Who’ (a person or people)
‘Which’ (an object, a place or animals)
‘That’ (an object, a place or a person)
‘When’ (a time)
‘Where’ (a place)
Example
Two simple sentences:
Milly played her ukulele to her sister Martha. She was in her bedroom.
Below, the relative pronoun, ‘who’, is used to create a relative clause so these two simple sentences can be connected.
‘She was in her bedroom’ is extra information, so this forms the relative clause.
Relative clause sentence:
Milly, who was in her bedroom, played her ukulele to her sister Martha.
What are conjunctions?
Conjunctions are joining words that link two parts of a sentence together.
Some examples include:
because
and
or
but
