Download Y6 Grammar Jargon Buster

Jargon Buster - Year 6 Grammar
Subject
The subject in a simple English sentence such as:
 John runs, or John is a teacher.
The person or thing about whom the statement is made, in this case ‘John’.
Object
The object is the person, noun, phrase, pronoun or thing which usually comes directly after the
verb. It shows what the verb is acting on.
 Wednesday is my favourite day.
 Cheryl’s mum is picking me up today.
 Are you coming to the sleepover?
Active Voice
When a sentence is in the active voice, the pattern is subject-verb-object. The subject of the
verb is more important so it comes first.
 The PTFA painted the playground.
 The boy has broken the window.
Passive Voice
When a sentence is in the passive voice, the pattern is usually object-verb-subject. The object
of the verb is more important so it comes first.
 The playground was painted by the PTFA.
 The window has been broken.
Synonym
A synonym is a word or phrase with the same or similar meaning to another. You can find synonyms
in the thesaurus.
 Talk-Speak-Mention
 Sleep-Doze-Kip-Snooze
Antonym
Antonyms are words with opposite meanings.
 Young-Old
 Straight-Bent
 Full-Empty
Ellipsis
Ellipsis can express hesitation, the passage of time, changes of mood, suspense or thoughts
trailing off.
 I don’t know...
 Time passed...
Colon (:)
A colon is a punctuation mark used to introduce a list or a following example (as in this
glossary). It may also be used before a second clause that expands or illustrates the first:
 He was very cold: the temperature was below zero.
Semi-colon (;)
A semi-colon can be used to separate two main clauses in a sentence:
 I liked the book; it was a pleasure to read.
This could also be written as two separate sentences:
 I liked the book. It was a pleasure to read.