Download Grammar Year 6 Revision Contents Page 1 Nouns –common/proper

Grammar
Year 6
Revision
Contents
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Nouns –common/proper/collective/abstract
Verbs
Adverbs
Adverbial phrases
Adjectives
Adjectival phrases, noun phrases and
expanded noun phrases
Comparative and superlative adjectives
Pronouns
Apostrophes – possession/omission
Sentences with a purpose
Direct and reported speech
Clauses
NOUNS
A noun is a person, place or ‘thing’.
Nouns can be classified as one of four types:
Common
Proper
Collective
Abstract
Common nouns are objects which are not names or people or places.
Eg table, chair, rain, flower.
Proper nouns are names of people or places and MUST be given a
capital letter.
Eg: Mrs Brown, London, Great Britain, Queen Victoria, Sketchley Hill
Primary School.
fleet
gaggle
courage
Collective nouns are words that describe a group of nouns.
Eg a flock of birds (‘flock’ is the collective noun)
a herd of cows
a parliament of owls
shoal
pack
Abstract nouns are often referred to as feelings or emotions. They
truth
cannot be seen or touched but they are ‘there’.
Eg The room was full of sadness.
happiness
The cat was full of mischief
Note the difference between the sentences below:
The children were full of hope.
[‘hope’ = abstract noun]
The hopeful children waited for their reward.
[‘hopeful’ = adjective]
The children hoped that they would get a reward.
[ ‘hoped’ = verb in past tense]
Make sure you can classify different nouns into the correct category.
Abstract
noun
Common
noun
Proper
noun
Collective
noun
VERBS
Verbs are words which explain an ‘action’. They are commonly
known as ‘doing’ words.
Verbs can exist in several forms depending upon WHEN the action
was / is being / is going to be done.
These different forms of the verb are called TENSES.
running
Look at the following sentences:
laughing
Fred is singing a song.
Fred is doing this NOW so this is called the present tense. The
present tense of the verb often ends in ‘ing’
Fred sang a song.
Fred has already DONE the singing. This is called the past tense.
When using the past tense, some verbs simply end in ‘ed’ however
others which are ‘irregular’ use a different form.
drove
Eg close – closed
Watch - watched
walked
running – ran
Writing - wrote
washed
Fred is going to sing a song.
Fred WILL be doing the singing. This is called the future tense.
You will need to recognise verbs in different tenses; be able to
change verbs from one tense to another. You will also need to
remember those tricky verbs that don’t simply add ‘ed’ to make
the past tense,
Present
tense
Future
tense
Past
tense
dancing
ADVERBS
An adverb ‘adds something to the verb’ and gives the reader more
information about the action by explaining how, where, when and how
often the action occurs / will occur / has occurred.
There are four types of adverbs…
Adverbs of manner
…tell us the manner in
which an action occurs,
will occur / has
occurred.
Eg loudly, slowly,
correctly, easily.
Types of
adverbs
Adverbs of place
…tell us about the place
of an action or where an
action occurs / will
occur / has occurred.
Eg here, outside, near
the wall, on the top,
ahead, adjacent to.
Adverbs of frequency
…tell us how many
times the action occurs
or occurred or will
occur.
Eg daily, sometimes,
often, usually, always.
Adverbs of time
...tell us about the
time of an action.
Eg now, then,
soon, tomorrow,
yesterday, again,
early.
Adverbs give the reader more information; they add detail to sentences
and are great sentence openers too.
Look at the following examples:
Fred sang a song.
Adverb of manner:
Loudly, Fred sang a song.
Adverb of place:
In his bedroom, Fred sang a song.
Adverb of frequency: Every day, Fred sang a song.
Adverb of time:
Early in the morning, Fred sang a song.
How about:
Every day, early in the morning, Fred sang a song loudly in his
bedroom.
ADVERBIAL PHASES
An adverb may also be a group of words describing how the action
was done.
Eg
Fred sang like a bird.
Sarah sprinted as fast as a cheetah across the field.
When an adverb is a group of words, it is called an adverbial phrase. In
these examples above however, it is also a simile as it is comparing
the ‘manner’ of the verb to something else.
As seen in some examples given on the previous page, phrases can
also be used as adverbs of time, place and frequency.
Eg.
Fred sang a song early in the morning.
(time)
Fred sand a song on top of the mountain. (place)
Fred sang a song every day of the year. (frequency)
Remember…
Adverbs
of place
Adverbs
of manner
Adverbs
of time
Adverbs of
frequency
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives are words which describe a noun. They are really helpful
words to give the reader much more information and to help the
reader form a picture in their own mind as they read.
Take the noun ‘book’ for example.
The book lay open on the desk.
We know nothing about this book, but adjectives can give us much
more information.
The old book lay open on the desk.
The leather-bound book lay open on the desk.
The paperback book lay open on the desk.
Some adjectives are very ‘plain’ and it is important not to over use
these.
For example ‘nice’ adds detail to a noun, but there are much more
exciting words that can be used in its place.
Words that are alternatives, but that do not change the meaning of the
sentence are called SYNONYMS.
A thesaurus is very useful to help find synonyms for those boring
words that we need to avoid in our writing!
charming
agreeable
acceptable
delightful
Synonyms for ‘nice’
enjoyable
likeable
pleasant
pleasurable
ADJECTIVAL PHRASES
and
EXPANDED NOUN PHRASES
To add even more detail to your descriptions, rather than using just
one single adjective, use a group of adjectives, or an expanded noun
phrase.
When using a group of adjectives to describe a noun, this is called an
ADJECTIVAL PHRASE and as it is a ‘list’, commas are needed to
separate each adjective.
Eg
The sporty, red car sped along the road.
The old, rotten, oak tree could be seen in the field.
When a single adjective or an adjectival phrase is used to describe a
noun, this is called a NOUN PHRASE because it includes a noun and
some description.
To add even more detail, expand the noun BOTH ways by adding
more detail AFTER the noun as well as before the noun.
Eg
The sporty, red car, which had a sunroof, sped along the road.
adjectival phrase
Information added after the noun needs
commas around it.
This information here is written as an
embedded clause (see ‘clauses’ section)
noun
Expanded noun phrase
COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE
ADJECTIVES
A comparative adjective is used to compare two things.
Eg
Comparative adjective
The dog is bigger than the cat
A superlative adjective is used to compare three or more things.
Eg
Superlative adjective
The third apple is the biggest.
Further examples are below. Note however that not all comparative
and superlative follow the simple ‘er’ and ‘est’ pattern. For example, if
an adjective ends in a ‘y’ this becomes an ‘i’ when adding the ‘er’ or
‘est’. Others (eg good) are irregular:
Adjective
close
big
thin
dry
fast
heavy
narrow
good
little (amount)
Comparative form
closer
bigger
thinner
drier
faster
heavier
narrower
better
less
Superlative form
closest
biggest
thinnest
driest
fastest
heaviest
narrowest
best
least
PRONOUNS
When you refer to a person or thing without using its actual name but
by using a another word which stands for it, the word used is called a
PRONOUN.
Eg
Sally was running fast.
She was running fast.
Pronouns help to avoid repeating nouns and make the sentence easier
and clearer.
Jack had been training hard; Jack had bought some new running
shoes and Jack was looking forward to Jack’s first race tomorrow.
Could become…
Jack had been training hard; he had bought some new running shoes
and he was looking forward to his first race tomorrow.
It is important however not to overuse pronouns as this can make the
sentence confusing.
Singular
Pronouns
I
you
he
she
it
Plural
pronouns
we
you
they
me
you
him
her
it
us
you
them
mine
yours
his
hers
its
ours
yours
theirs
Use of
pronoun
Pronouns
used when the
noun is the
subject of the
sentence
Pronouns
used when the
noun is the
object of the
sentence
Comments and examples
‘I’ is the only pronoun that is always spelt as
a capital letter.
Jane and I went swimming. We went
swimming.
Bill and Tom played football. They played
football.
Ted wanted chips for tea. He wanted chips
for tea.
The book was given to Tom. The book was
given to him.
The cat wanted some milk. It wanted some
milk.
The bus was too full for Joe and Ben to
travel. The bus was too full for them to
travel.
Pronouns
The car was Sally’s. The car was hers.
used to show
The dog was wagging the dog’s tail. The
that something dog was wagging its tail.
belongs to
The ball was Fred and Sarah’s. The ball
someone or
was theirs.
something.
APOSTROPHES
Apostrophes are used for two purposes:


To show that letters have been omitted from a word
To show that something belongs to someone.
When an apostrophe is used to show an omission (of a letter / letters) the word is
called a ‘contraction’ as shown in the following examples:
Full or extended form
I will
They would
Did not
You are
He is
I am
They will
Have not
Did not
Contracted form
I’ll
They’d
Didn’t
You’re
He’s
I’m
They’ll
Haven’t
Didn’t
When an apostrophe is used to show that something belongs to someone or
something, the position of the apostrophe depends upon how many ‘owners’ there
are:
Mrs Brown’s shoes. (one woman)
The children’s books (lots of children)
The lizard’s legs. (one lizard)
The soldier’s uniform. (one soldier)
The soldiers’ uniforms (lots of soldiers)
NOTE:
It’s is a contraction which is short for ‘it is…’
Its is NOT a contraction and shows that something belongs to ‘it’. It is the
exception where an apostrophe is NOT used to show possession.
Eg
The lizard scratched its head with its claws.
It’s going to be sunny today, or so the weatherman said.
Possession:
Omission:
The boy’s books.
I can’t do it!
SENTENCES WITH A PURPOSE
A sentence is a group of words which makes complete sense on its
own.
There are several key elements to a sentence:
The SUBJECT is the person or thing that the sentence is about.
The VERB is the action that the person or thing is doing.
The OBJECT is the person or thing that is having the action done to it!
Eg
SUBJECT
OBJECT
VERB
The Queen was carrying a bunch of flowers.
Many sentences are straightforward statements, but sentences can
have different purpsoses:
STATEMENTS – sentences which state facts.
Eg
The weather today was terrible.
QUESTIONS
- sentences which ask for an answer.
Eg
What was the weather like today.
COMMANDS – sentences which give orders or requests.
Eg
Don’t go outside in the rain.
Shut the door and close the windows!
EXCLAMATIONS – sentences which express a strong feeling or
emotion.
Eg
Goodness me, it is raining heavily today!
Remember, a sentence needs the appropriate punctuation at the end.
For example, a question needs a question mark; a command needs a
full stop or an exclamation mark.
DIRECT AND REPORTED SPEECH
When a person speaks, it can be written as ‘direct speech’ (the actual
words they say) or as ‘reported speech’ (where you report what
someone says in your own words).
When using direct speech, speech marks (or inverted commas) are
needed.
“It is raining today,” moaned little girl.
direct speech
narrative
Speech marks around the
spoken words
Note that before the closing speech marks, an additional form of
punctuation is required (in this case a comma is used).
When the spoken words are in the middle of a sentence, punctuation
(usually a comma) is needed before the first set of speech marks.
Eg
The little girl moaned, “it’s raining again today.”
Speech marks however are NOT required if REPORTED speech is
used.
Eg
The little girl moaned that it was raining again today.
CLAUSES
A clause is a group of words which contains a verb. It is either a
sentence on its own (MAIN CLAUSE) or part of a sentence
(SUBORDINATE CLAUSE).
A main clause makes sense on its own. In a sentence with more than
one clause, it will be the most important clause in the sentence.
Eg The man bought a raincoat because the forecast was bad.
Main clause
‘The man bought a raincoat’ is the most important clause in this
sentence; it makes sense on its own and could be a sentence all but
itself.
The man bought a raincoat because the forecast was bad.
Subordinate clause
In the above sentence, the subordinate clause gives the reader more
information. (The clause explains why the man bought the raincoat).
This clause however is called a subordinate clause because it does not
make sense on its own, it only makes sense if it has the main clause to
support it.
When a subordinate clause appears in the middle of a sentence, it is
called an EMBEDDED clause and needs punctuating with commas,
brackets or dashes.
Eg
embedded (subordinate) clause
The man, who was wearing a stripy suit, bought a raincoat because
the forecast was bad
Main clause
Subordinate
clause
Embedded
clause