Download SPAG terms Meaning / examples Noun A noun is an object, place

SPAG terms
Noun
Adjective
Verb
Adverb
Conjunction
Preposition
Clause
Subordinate clause
Prefix
Suffix
Meaning / examples
A noun is an object, place, person or “thing”.
A proper noun is the name of something. A proper noun has a
capital letter (ie London, Sophie, Tuesday)
An abstract noun is something that can’t be touched – it isn’t an
actual object. For example, a dream, an idea, a hope, a wish etc
An adjective describes a noun (red, big, colourful, careful etc)
A “doing” word. (play, write, think, drive)
An adverb describes a verb. (Slowly, carefully, thoughtlessly)
Coordinating conjunctions – (FANBOYS) for, and, nor, but,or, yet,
so
Subordinating conjunctions – WUBA conjunctions, (which, while,
when, unless, until, before, because, as, although, after) since,
despite,if etc. Subordinating conjunctions will mark the beginning
of a subordinate clause.
Prepositions indicate where or when something happens.
In, under, by, near, before, above, on
After (dinner), Before (lunch),
A clause contains a verb and a subject. A simple sentence has one
main clause ie
Sophie went to the shop.
The dog was there.
A subordinate clause is a group of words that has both a subject
and a verb but (unlike an main clause) cannot stand alone as a
sentence. It will often begin with a subordinating conjunction.
Sophie went to the shop because she needed some bread.
Although she was late, I didn’t mind her visiting me.
A letter string or word at the start of a word ie “anti” (meaning
against)
- Antifreeze, antibiotic, antiseptic
Direct speech
A letter string at the end of a word ie “cious”
- Suspicious, delicious,
“Where is it?” she asked.
Reported speech
She asked where it was.
Inverted commas
““
Modal verb
Should, could, might, may, will
A modal verb suggests degrees of possibility.
A relative clause adds information to a noun ie
I liked the jumper that you wore yesterday. (It refers back to the
jumper)
The football club where I usually play is on Cotton Road.
The dog which had a blue collar on crossed the road.
Who, that, which, where
Relative clause
Relative pronoun
A relative pronoun will often begin a relative clause.
I liked the jumper, that you wore yesterday.
Parentheses,
bracket, dash
Parentheses add extra information into a sentence. It can be
punctuated by commas, brackets or dashes. If removed, the
sentence would still make sense.
The music, which was too loud, gave me a headache.
The music (which was too loud) gave me a headache.
The music - which was too loud - gave me a headache.
Active verbs
If the parentheses is removed from this sentence, it still makes
sense:
The music gave me a headache.
The subject is who (or what) a sentence is about. The subject in a
sentence acts on a verb. In the sentence Joe broke the window
“Joe” is the subject. His verb is “broke”
The object has something done to it. In this case, the object
is”window”.
The dog bit the man.
Passive verbs
In this sentence the dog is the subject. The sentence is about him.
It is written in the active voice.
The verb is bit.
The man is the person who has the action done to him. This is called
the object of the sentence.
The man was bitten by the dog.
subject,
object
This sentence is in the passive voice.
The person who has the action done to him becomes the subject.
He does not do the action. The action is done to him.
synonym,
antonym
Punctuation
Ellipsis
Hyphen
Semi-colon
Colon
Bullet points
Tip: Sentences written in the passive voice will often have the word
“by” in. ie Something is done by someone.
A word that means the same as another word – ie big is a synonym
for large
A word that means the opposite to another word – ie big is a
antonym for small
… (Used to show the passing of time or a “cliffhanger”!)
A hyphen joins two words to make a new word. Eg bus-stop, tightlipped,
; A semi-colon is used to join two complete sentences when those
sentences are about the same thing e.g.
Mr Bruff loves cheese; it is his favourite food.
: Used to mark where a list begins


Bullet points are used in a list
They need to be punctuated consistently
Fronted adverbial
An adverb – or adverbial phrase – at the start of a sentence. It
tells you how, where or when something is done. For example:
When
Until
Before
After
Suddenly
-
Or any ISPACE opener
Ing – Running quickly, I looked back.
Simile – As quick as a flash, I dashed to school.
Preposition with a verb – After I had dinner, I went shopping.
Adverb - Carefully, I opened the package.
Conjunction - WUBAS
Ed – Shocked by the news, I fainted.
Apostrophe for possession
You should always put a comma after a fronted adverbial.
Apostrophes are used to show possession (ie something belonging to
someone or something). Examples could be:
-
Apostrophe for omission
Joe’s bike
Last week’s lesson
The car’s wheels
Where there is plural possession (something belongs to more than
one person or thing), the apostrophe is put after the s. So if lots
of boys are playing together, you might write about
- The boys’ game
(The boy’s game – would mean only one boy was playing a
game)
Apostrophes for omission show where a letter – or letters – have
been removed.
Do not becomes don’t.
Cannot becomes can’t.
These words are known as contractions.