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GRAMMAR
Essentially, grammar is the set of rules used to
ensure the correct use of language.
Grammar is a vast subject so we are only going to
brush up our skills on the following topics:
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verbs and tense
commas
apostrophes
capital letters
linking words
the difference between there, their and they’re
the difference between where, wear and were
the difference between to, too and two.
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Noun
Naming word – the girl
Adjective
Describing word – the sad girl
Verb
Doing word – the sad girl cried
Adverb
Describes verbs – the sad girl cried bitterly
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Learning intention
To learn the rules about sentence writing.
There are two rules to remember about sentences.
All sentences have a subject and a verb.
This means that all sentences have a doing
word and something/one doing the action.
We/I/They/The band/The groupies arrived
at the gig at 5pm.
The gig started/ended/blew up at 5pm.
All sentences begin with a capital letter and
end with:
a full stop.
a question mark? or
an exclamation mark!
Why aren’t these proper sentences?
the gig started at 5pm
Arrived at the gig at 5pm.
The gig at 5pm.
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Learning intention
To be able to recognise and use verbs and
their various tenses.
Verbs are words that indicate an action.
They are often referred to as 'doing' words
because they indicate something that
people or things do:
◦ I walked to the shop.
◦ I jumped over the fence.
◦ I sang my favourite song.
Underline the verbs in the following
sentences.
 Sharon laughed at the joke.
 Craig read his book.
 Columbus discovered America.
 The mountaineer climbed Everest.
 Jimmy changed the tyre.
Fill in the gaps in each of the following
sentences with a suitable verb. The size of gap
does not correspond to the size of the word.
 The decorator __________ the walls.
 The sergeant __________ at the soldier.
 Iain __________ sausages for his breakfast.
 Victoria ___________ an egg for her breakfast.
 The darts player_________ the board.
 Sheena ________ carefully to the points made.
If verbs are to do with action, we need
something in the language to tell us when the
action was done.
There are three principal or main tenses:
past tense
I was…
present tense I am…
future tense
I will…
past:
present:
future:
I was running to the shop.
I am running to the shop.
I will run to the shop.
Writing should always have tense agreement,
ie the tense should be consistent.
I used to live in Aberdeen and I worked in
MacDonalds and really like that job. I was
promoted to senior manager last year after I
work there for three years.
Read the following sentences and identify
whether the tense is past, present or future.
 I am leaving the match early because it is
boring.
 I barged through the door and told him off.
 I will be talking to Craig later so I’ll phone
you afterwards.
 I was dreaming that I was a millionaire.
 I laughed my head off at the comedian’s
jokes.
 I am going to Lanzarote for my holidays.
Fill in the blanks with a verb and state which
tense you are using.
 I ___________ my mistake and ___________ it.
 ___________ high above us are beautiful birds.
 I am ____________ a tune that’s been in my
head all day.
 I __________ the important piece of homework
last night.
 I will ______________ the important
assessment next week.
‘To be’ is the most common verb form in
English although many people don’t realise
that it is a verb.
Can you work out what each form of the verb is
below (past, present or future)?
I am
She is
We are
They were
I was
I have been
We will be
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Learning intention
To identify how a comma is used to affect
meaning and to be able to use commas
accurately in writing.
Sentences contain commas in order to:
break up lists
I bought tea, coffee, milk and chocolate
separate asides
The chocolate, which I bought at Markies, was really
expensive!
mark the start/end of speech
'Commas are beginning to make sense,' said Anna.
Anna said, 'Actually, grammar is beginning to make sense.'
follow a linking word
Firstly, the media are unfair in their treatment of young
people.
However, some representations are more positive than
others.
Which belongs to which image?
He eats shoots and leaves.
He eats, shoots and leaves.
He eats, shoots and leaves.
The comma indicates that this is a list.
A list of what?
A list of verbs (doing words): he performs the
action of eating, the action of shooting and
the action of leaving.
He eats shoots and leaves.
The absence of a comma indicates that this is
not a list.
Instead the single verb (eats) acts on two
nouns (describing words): the shoots and the
leaves.
Insert commas in the following lists where you
think they are necessary.
 Craig went to bed tired ashamed sorry and
alone.
 I was wearing a black suit white shirt blue tie
and black shoes.
 I leafed through the paper turned to the
television page decided what to watch and
turned the TV on.
Add commas to the following sentences to
mark the asides.
 To tell you the truth I think the butler did it.
 Chloe has not as far as I know been to her
friend’s house today.
 The football match which was end to end
stuff finished a drawn game.
 The last thing I heard Jimmy had gone to
town.
Can you add commas and inverted commas
to mark speech in the following sentences?
 Chloe said I think I will go to town later.
 I am off to the football match shouted Paul.
 I expect your homework on Thursday
demanded the teacher.
 John roared That was never a goal!
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Learning intention
To be able to use correctly both forms of the
apostrophe in order to help make meaning
clear.
The apostrophe is a punctuation mark that has
two main functions:
 It shortens words and shows where the
missing letters were (known as contraction).
 It indicates the ownership of a noun.
Contractions
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Will not – won’t
Cannot – can’t
Have not – haven’t
Indicate where you think apostrophes should
go in the following letter.
Hi Jane,
I wont be able to go the cinema this weekend. Its
my mum. Shes very ill and I wouldnt want to leave
her. Ill definitely go another time with you as Id
really like to see 'Fun in Second Term'. That’s if you
don’t decide to go and see it with someone else.
Lots of love,
Megan
Ownership of something by a single person,
place or thing is shown by adding s to the
singular and putting an apostrophe before
this s.
The boy’s football The lady’s purse
The table’s legs
The house’s windows
Glasgow’s city chambers
The previous examples were all concerned
with the singular. Can you see what the
difference is when the person, place or thing
is plural?
For example, when there is more than one
boy who owns the football:
The boys’ football
A few more:
The animals’ paws The teachers’ staff room
The houses’ letterboxes The shops’ targets
Now that you have seen that plural forms seem to
take the s followed by the apostrophe, you need to
know of the exception to this rule.
When the plural does not end in an s then the
apostrophe must come before the added s:
The men’s toiletries are on floor one.
The women’s hats are on floor five.
How many other plurals can you think of that do not
end in s?
Indicate where you think the apostrophes
should go in the following passage.
Mr Fishers decision to issue a fortnights
homework at one go was met with a
stunned silence from the girls students
council representative. She said that this
was outrageous and that the councils
members would vote not to do this. The
boys representative was not available to
pass comment as he was, apparently, in the
mens room.
Some words are hard to spell because they sound
like other words.
Words that sound similar are known as homonyms.
Common homonyms are:
 There, their and they’re
 Where, were and wear
 To, too and two
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Learning intention
To be able to recognise common homonyms and to
choose the correct form when writing sentences.
There
location – over there
Their
belonging (their friends)
They’re
contraction (they are)
They’re taking their money over there.
Complete the following sentences putting in
the correct version of there, their or they’re.
 Stand over _______ where I can keep my eye
on you.
 ________ folders are over _______.
 ________ collecting in all the pencils.
 I’m not sure what I’ve done with _______
coats.
 If they don’t hurry up ________ going to
miss the start of the film.
Where is a question:
Where did you put my car keys?
Were is the past tense of ‘are’:
Are you driving my car today?
Were you driving my car yesterday?
Wear is concerned with clothes on the body:
I think I will wear my black trousers today.
or to do with damage:
Your sore shoulder is due to wear and tear of the joint.
Complete the following sentences putting in
the correct version of where, were or wear.
 Stand there ________ I can see you.
 Our bags _______ here a short time ago.
 It’s cold outside so ________ a jumper.
 And ________ do you think you are going?
 I will ________ blue eye shadow to match my
dress.
 John and Jim ________ often arguing over
football.
Too
emphasis – 'too hot', 'too cold'
also – 'us too'
Two
2
To
location – going to the pub
The two of us are going to the pub. It’s
not too expensive. You can come too!
Complete the following sentences using the correct
form of too, two or to.
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I am going ___ see the new horror movie at the
weekend.
It sounds great. Can I come ___?
Yes, if you want ___. I’ll buy ___ tickets online.
Remember it lasts for over ___ hours though.
Oh! That might be ___ long for me.
That’s ___ much of a pity. I’ll just buy one ticket
just now instead of ___ until you have made up
your mind whether ___ go or not.
A proper noun is the term given to name a
particular person, place, day of the week,
month or time of the year. Proper nouns should
always be given a capital letter:
 John
 Christmas
 Mexico
 February.
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Learning intention
To be able to recognise proper nouns and capitalise
them in your writing.
Write out the following, putting in all the
capital letters and all the full stops.
Robert burns was born on 25th of january
1759 robert was born in alloway, ayrshire and
is widely regarded as scotland’s greatest poet
the house he was born in was built by his
father and is now a part of the robert burns
heritage museum robert lived in this house
until easter 1766 when the family moved to a
nearby farm called mount oliphant