Grammar A Beginners Guide

Year Grammar Picture clue Definition Example

A group of words that are put The sky is blue.

together to mean something
R sentence must include a verb. Today is Monday.

Her dress looked beautiful.

Name of a person, place or thing. The cat sat on the table.

4 types John lives in England.

1 noun Common table, cat (1) Lions live together in a pride.

Proper John, England (1)
Collective pride, gaggle, flock Can you feel the love?
(3)
Abstract love, bravery (4)
A word that describes a noun. The dog was enormous and
very fierce.

1 adjective

An action or doing word. She waited patiently.

1 verb Some verbs are irregular She has been waiting

see saw / seen
catch - caught She waits ..
Singular forms refer to one thing Cat
- noun. Church
1 singular Child
Tooth

Plural forms refer to more than

one noun.

Plural usually marked by cats

addition of - s, es churches
1 plural
Some plurals are irregular. teeth / feet

Some nouns are mass nouns and fish, sheep

do not change in the plural.
Used to join two ideas together
within one sentence.
1 conjunction
He needed his coat because it
was cold.
The curtains danced in the
wind while the windows
crashed.
Year Grammar Picture clue Definition
A word that shows the position
of a noun.
1 preposition
A word in place of a noun.
Avoids repetition.
2 pronoun
Adverbs give extra meaning to a
verb, an adjective or a whole
sentence.
2 adverb
Used to join a new sentence to
the previous.
2 connectives
To express the action of the
subject
2 imperative
Writing which expresses events
happening now
2 present tense
Writing which expresses events
that have already occurred.
2 past tense
A group of letters added to the
end of a word to change its
2 suffix SLOW grammatical use.
Example
The box was under the table.
I was inside the house.
The clouds above
They were on the bus.
He sat down quietly.
I really enjoyed the party.
(adverb + verb)
Shes really nice.
(adverb + adjective)
He works really slowly.
(adverb + adverb)
Really, he should know better.
(adverb + sentence)
We went to the park and
played on the swings. Then we
had an ice cream.
He sat quietly on the chair.
Next, slowly turn the tap on.
Joyce is skipping and singing a
song.
Rex is looking out of the car
window.
Rosie looks confused!
Joyce skipped and sang a
song.
Rex looked out of the car
window.
assessment
quickly
beautiful
Year Grammar Picture clue Definition Example

A group of letters added to the dismiss

beginning of a word to change its untidy
2 prefix DONE grammatical use. inedible

Words used with nouns this This book is yours.

book, my friend, a book, the
book. Ive got some sweets.

They limit the reference to the I will have an apple.

noun.
3 determiner
Which colour do you prefer?
They include articles (a / an, the),
possessive pronouns,
demonstratives (this / that, those
/ these) and quantifiers (some,
many, no etc) and numbers.
Contains a subject and a verb. Independent

There are two types of clauses She can leave the office now

1) Independent- this can stand Dependent clause

3 clause
alone.
2) dependent-works only as a because she finished work
whole sentence. It could begin early.
with after, although, because, if,
when, while.
A small group of closely related If you can
words with no verb.
At the museum

propositional phrases:
3 phrase
In the house

Under water

Out of here
A section of a piece of writing.

A new paragraph marks a

3
paragraph P change of focus, change of time,
change of place or change of
speaker.

Should be marked by a new line

and a clear indent.
Year Grammar Picture clue Definition Example

Name of a person, place or thing. The cat sat on the table.

4 types John lives in England.

Collective
3 Common table, cat (1) Lions live together in a pride.
noun
Proper John, England (1)
Collective pride, gaggle, flock Can you feel the love?
(3)
Abstract love, bravery (4)
Introduce a relative clause who, The train was late, which

W
whom, which, that, annoyed me greatly.
relative
3
pronoun
This is Sam, who can play the
piano.
The noun or pronoun that is The dog broke the window.
carrying out the action in the
3 subject sentence. The children ripped the paper.

The object in the sentence that is The dog broke the window.
having the action done to it.
3 object
The children ripped the paper.

A clause with a subject and a Although I was scared, I crept

verb but cannot stand alone, so is inside.
subordinate in addition to the main clause.
4
clause I crept inside is the main
clause as it can stand alone
and still make sense.
relative A clause (with verb) using who, Pollys hair, which was long
clause whom, which, whose to relate it and brown, hung loosely
4
,W, back to the subject but that
cannot stand alone.
around her head.

The boy was funny, which

made me smile.
Tell who owns something They can be in front of a noun
possessive or after:
4
pronoun
my pen / That pen is mine.
Adverbials of manner Shouted loudly
how He drove as fast as possible.

4 adverbial Adverbial of place where I saw him over there.

Adverbials of time
When / how often They start work at six thirty.
In a minute, I will start.
Year Grammar Picture clue Definition Example

Adverbials of probability
How certain we are Perhaps we should go.
He will certainly say yes.
Name of a person, place or thing. The cat sat on the table.

4 types John lives in England.

Abstract
4 Common table, cat (1) Lions live together in a pride.
noun
Proper John, England (1)
Collective pride, gaggle, flock Can you feel the love?
(3)
Abstract love, bravery (4)
The use of an adverb to begin a On the table stood a vase of
sentence to make the sentence flowers.
fronted
more interesting.
adverbial FRONTED Next to the window was a
4 bookcase.

At the end of the lane, Bob

paused.

A, an or the!! an elephant
A sub-category of determiners. a bear
4 article
the teddy

To show if we believe something Perhaps I should stay behind.

is certain, probable or possible
or not!
5 modal verb can/could, may/might,
shall/should, will/would,
must/ought
The structure rules that allow
ideas to be compiled together. If
you start writing in the past tense
5 cohesion
you would stay writing in the
past tense to keep the writing in
cohesion.
The presence of two or more
possible meanings within a
single word.
5 ambiguity
Can I get you a drink?
Sam will be here soon.
I must go now.
I went to the market this
morning and bought a soda;
then, I went to the store a few
hours later and purchased
another root beer.
The Rabbi married my sister.
The fisherman went to the
bank.
"You know, somebody
actually complimented me on
my driving today. They left a
little note on the windscreen; it
said, 'Parking Fine." So that
was nice."
Year Grammar Picture clue Definition Example

Verbs can be active or passive. Active -

In an active sentence the subject
performs the action.
6 active voice In a passive sentence the subject
is on the receiving end of the
action.
The dog bit Ben.
The subject is performing the
action.
Passive -
Ben was bitten by the dog.
The subject is on the receiving
end of the action.

6 passive voice See above See above See above