Ever felt puzzled by grammar and punctuation? Dont know your nouns from your adverbs?

Unsure what a subordinate clause is? Not sure how to use a comma? This booklet will help solve your problems. With explanations, examples and activities, it explains everything you need to know about grammar and punctuation.

This booklet contains all the knowledge you need to meet the assessment objectives for two writing assessment foci AF5 and AF6. These two assessment foci are the most important in your writing. If you master these skills, your writing will be of a much higher quality.

Although you can work through the booklet from start to finish, you may wish to select and complete the activities according to your personal needs.

This booklet is designed to help you acquire the skills and knowledge you need to become a competent writer. Each section explains a skill or defines an aspect of writing. For each skill/rule, there are examples to help you understand how they work. There are also activities to complete to reinforce what you have learned.

Level 3: reliance mainly on simply structured sentences, variation with support, e.g. some complex sentences, and, but, so are the most common connectives, subordination occasionally Level 4: some variety in length, structure or subject of sentences use of some subordinating connectives, e.g. if, when, because Level 5: a variety of sentence lengths, structures and subjects provides clarity and emphasis. Wider range of connectives used to clarify relationship between ideas, e.g. although, on the other hand, meanwhile. Some features of sentence structure used to build up detail or convey shades of meaning, e.g. variation in word order, expansions in verb phrases Level 6: controlled use of a variety of simple and complex sentences to achieve purpose and contribute to overall effect. Confident use of a range of sentence features to clarify or emphasise meaning.. Level 7: variety of sentence types deployed judiciously across the text to achieve purpose and overall effect, with rare loss of control. A range of features employed to shape/craft sentences that have individual merit and contribute to overall development of the text.

Level 3: straightforward sentences usually punctuated accurately with full stops, capital letters, question and exclamation marks. Comma splice is often used at level 3. Level 4: sentences punctuated accurately throughout the text. Speech marks used accurately. Question marks used accurately. Commas used in lists and sometimes to mark clauses, although not always accurately. Level 5: full range of punctuation used accurately. Full speech punctuation used. Commas used to mark clauses. There may be some errors where ambitious structures are attempted. Level 6: syntax and full range of punctuation are consistently accurate in a variety of sentence structures, with occasional errors in ambitious structures. Level 7: a range of features, including punctuation and sentence structure, employed to shape/craft sentences that have individual merit and contribute to the overall development of the text.

Section A: Great Grammar Page 6-7: what is a sentence? Pages 8-9: word classes Pages 10-11: nouns and adjectives Pages 12-14: verbs Page 15: adverbs Pages 16-17: subject, verb and object Pages 18-19: active and passive voice Page 20: simple sentences Pages 21-23: compound sentences and conjunctions Pages 24-29: complex sentences, main and subordinate clauses Pages 30-31: revision

Section B: Perfect Punctuation Pages 34-35: full stops Pages 36-37: capital letters Page 38: commas for lists Page 39-41: comma splice Page 42: basic speech marks Page 43-45: apostrophes Pages 46: question marks and exclamation marks Pages 48-49: commas for subordinate clauses Page 50: full speech punctuation Page 51: ellipsis Pages 52-53: the semi colon and colon Page 54-55: parenthesis

Before you can punctuate sentences correctly, you need to know about how different types of sentences work. A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. It needs to make sense on its own. Sentence: A contest was announced on the radio. Not a sentence: Heard about it on the radio. (This makes you thinkheard about what? Who heard about it? The sentence doesnt make sense on its own).

Next to each group of words write sentence or not a sentence. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Jenny listened carefully. _____________________________ Announcement on the radio. __________________________ Had to solve several riddles. __________________________ The riddles were in the newspaper. _____________________ A new riddle came out each day._______________________ Led to the next answer.______________________________ Sort of like a treasure hunt.___________________________ Jenny couldnt wait to start.___________________________ Ran out for the morning newspaper.____________________ She quickly turned to the contest page.__________________ Jennys eyes skimmed the letters._______________________ At first, nothing made any sense to her.__________________ Took a great big deep breath.__________________________ Jenny, all her friends, and a neighbor.____________________ Jenny read the words carefully._________________________ Everyone tried to solve the riddles.______________________ Had answers to all the riddles by Friday.___________________ Mailed in all her answers.______________________________ The sponsors of the contest phoned Jenny.________________ She won the grand prize._______________________________
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Sen 10 ce
Remember: sentence has a ten in it

17. 18. 19. 20.

Unscramble these sentences and write the answers underneath:

1. not there was he. ___________________________ 2. you about who told it? ___________________________ 3. you did about who tell it? ___________________________ 4. him saw I party the at. ___________________________ 5. time for I looking him saw the he job a last was. _______________________________________________ 6. win they the game did? _____________________________________ 7. hard I could as I as tried. _____________________________________ 8. going where she was? _____________________________________
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Common nouns are names of every day objects: table, chair, cup, tree, sky. Verbs are doing or being words. Proper nouns are names of particular places and people: James, Africa, Japan, Mr Franklin, Buckingham Palace. They require a capital letter. Doing words: walk, sing, dance, eat, cry, fly, shine, play. Being words: am, is, are, was, be, can. Sometimes a group of words makes up the verb part of sentence: can be, will not.

Abstract nouns are names of things you cant touch, see, feel, taste or hear: love, anger, life, bravery, deceit, trust.

These describe how an action is performed. These words usually end in the suffix ly. Adjectives can go in front of nouns: comfy chair, happy student, red car. Adjectives can go after nouns: the chair was comfy, the student was happy, the car was red. They can go before or after the verb. I waited patiently. The car stopped gently. I slowly ate my cake. Suddenly I understood.
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NOUNS shoe

ADJECTIVES small

VERBS shout

ADVERBS loudly

Practise building up strings of adjectives in front of nouns. Example: The tiny frog. The tiny, slimy frog. The tiny, slimy, googly-eyed frog.

Practise writing adjectives after nouns: Example: The frog was tiny and cute. The frog was googly-eyed and massive. The frog was huge and disgusting.

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The villagers of Little Hangleton still called it "the Riddle House," even though it had been many years since the Riddle family had lived there. It stood on a hill overlooking the village, some of its windows boarded, tiles missing from its roof, and ivy spreading unchecked over its face. Once a fine-looking manor, and easily the largest and grandest building for miles around, the Riddle House was now damp, derelict, and unoccupied. The Little Hangletons all agreed that the old house was "creepy." Half a century ago, something strange and horrible had happened there, something that the older inhabitants of the village still liked to discuss when topics for gossip were scarce. The story had been picked over so many times, and had been embroidered in so many places, that nobody was quite sure what the truth was anymore. Every version of the tale, however, started in the same place: Fifty years before, at daybreak on a fine summer's morning, when the Riddle House had still been well kept and impressive, a maid had entered the drawing room to find all three Riddles dead. The maid had run screaming down the hill into the village and roused as many people as she could. "Lying there with their eyes wide open! Cold as ice! Still in their dinner things!" The police were summoned, and the whole of Little Hangleton had seethed with shocked curiosity and ill-disguised excitement. Nobody wasted their breath pretending to feel very sad about the Riddles, for they had been most unpopular. Elderly Mr. and Mrs. Riddle had been rich, snobbish, and rude, and their grown-up son, Tom, had been, if anything, worse. All the villagers cared about was the identity of their murderer for plainly, three apparently healthy people did not all drop dead of natural causes on the same night.

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UNDERLINE THE VERBS: Doing verbs: Greedily, he ate the cake.

Every sentence has at least one VERB in it. Verbs are DOING or BEING words.

The water glittered beautifully. Watch your brother. She knew the answer. Dogs run really fast. Being verbs:
I am cold. He was happy.

DOING words: here, the verb is the action word in a sentence. It is what is being done. Examples: walk, run shout.

BEING words: this is a little more tricky. A verb can express a state of being. They are all linked to the phrase to be. Examples: be, being, am, was, were, are, is,

The advert was fantastic. He was being clever. Minecraft is awesome. They are happy.

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1. The owners of the bicycle shop ____________ very amiable and helpful with advice. 2. I am not _______________ to stay out after midnight. 3. Music written in a minor key usually ________________ sad or moody. 4. Dad _______________ to go to his office early this morning. 5. It is time to __________________ out meeting for the day. 6. Tom _____________ a drum from a big metal can. 7. We _______ the strawberries. 8. We __________ the game as a result of our excellent teamwork. 9. We________ a picnic underneath the trees. 10.My mother ______ very clever and always _________ our Christmas presents in different places.
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Confusingly, in modern times many people use nouns (naming words) as verbs. For example, If you go on facebook, then facebook is a nounyou are saying you will go on the website which is called facebook. If you say Ill facebook you you are using facebook as a verbyou are saying you are going to perform the action of facebooking someone.

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Which adverbs would you use to describe the verbs in these sentences? Write your own adverbs on the lines. Remember, all your adverbs should end in ly.

I waited ____________________________________

The snowman melted ______________________

The dog ran _________________________________

______________________, I walked home.

He ate _____________________________________

They ____________________ laughed.

_______________________, they sneezed.

____________________ the car stopped.

She listened _________________________________

The birds chirped __________________________

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Some sentences dont have an object. However, every sentence has a verb and a subject. These sentences are just made up of a subject and a verb: I sat. I walked. The cat ran. I am. I wept. I'm alive. He chuckled. She smiled. He played. She danced. Amy hopped. Ted winked. Lily sang. I ate. You sing. Jenny studied. She grinned. Olivia smirked. Charlie nodded. Oliver ran.

RULE: Every sentence has a verb and a subject. Some sentences also have an object. VERB: A doing or being word. SUBJECT: This is the person/thing that does the action. OBJECT: The object is the person/thing that is affected by or receives the action . The wind whispered through the trees. - VERB: whispered - SUBJECT: wind - OBJECT: the trees The dog chased the cat. -VERB: chased - SUBJECT: dog - OBJECT: cat

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Label the subjects with an S, the verbs with a V and the objects with an O

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

The sun shone on the lake. I woke. The mouse ran away from the elephant. The school bell rang. He waited. I hate chocolate. The sun smiled on us. I love you.

9.

I waited for you.

10. Gnomes ate my hamster. 11. I sit. 12. I watered my venus fly trap. 13. The dog chased the cat. 14. The stars sparkled merrily in the sky. 15. A beautiful sunrise bathed the black hills in glorious light. 16. Twenty thousand soldiers were ready to attack the town.

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ACTIVE VOICE - SVO; The subject comes first, then the verb, then the object. Most of the time, you should use the active voice in your writingit makes everything clearer and more dynamic sounding.

PASSIVE VOICE - OVS: The object comes first, followed by the verb

The ball hit Janet.

VERB: hit SUBJECT (which does the hitting): the ball OBJECT (which has the hitting done to it): Janet

and then the subject goes at the end. Although it is grammatically accurate, using this voice a lot can make your sentences confusing. However, it is often used in science reports when you want to avoid saying I or We, as in the following example:

I put liquid in the test tube. Liquid was put into the test tube .

ACTIVE (SVO)
I ate the apple.

PASSIVE (OVS)

In the active voice, whats the order of the sentence parts? _____________________________ In the passive voice, whats the order of the sentence parts? _______________________________

I have written a book. The window was broken by John. Charles sold the company. The flights were booked by my dad. I won the competition. The road was crossed by the chicken.
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Janet was hit by the ball.

Write five short sentences, using the ACTIVE voice (SVO):

__________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Re-write your sentences in the PASSIVE voice (OVS): __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
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Simple sentences are usually very shortsometimes only with two or three words. They have: One subject One verb Sometimes, one object They havent got: Any extra information Examples: I ate the cake. John caught the ball. I sat down.
Use simple sentences to create tension at dramatic moments, or to draw attention to important ideas.

Write two paragraphs of a story, but ONLY use simple sentences! Dont worryit will feel a bit odd!

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Compound sentences are made up of two or more simple sentences joined together. In the examples below, the simple sentences are underlined. These sentences are joined together with CONJUNCTIONS. Your teacher may call these joining words. Examples: The dog chased the cat and the cat chased the mouse. I waited for the bus but it didnt arrive. I was happy because it was my birthday.

The most common conjunctions are: and, but, for, or, nor, yet, so. Underline the conjunctions in the examples below:

1. 2. 3. 4.

I tried to speak Spanish and my friend tried to speak English. Alex played football so Maria went shopping. I am disappointed yet I am hopeful. I am in Death Valley, in a room at the Enterprise Motel and it is July and it is hot. In fact it is 119 degrees. I cannot seem to make the air conditioner work but there is a small refrigerator and I can wrap ice cubes in a towel and hold them against the small of my back. (Joan Didion, On Mortality)

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Join together these simple sentences using conjunctions. Remember, the most common conjunctions are: and, but, for, or, nor, yet, so.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

It rained for three days ________ the streets in my neighbourhood flooded. I got to football practise late _____________ I forgot to set my alarm. Kyle compelted his homework___________ he put it in his folder. Luke mowed the lawn __________he earned ten dollars. I sayed up late last night___________ I am tired today. Neil doesnt like seafood__________ he doesnt like cabbage. My pencil was broken___________ I borrowed one from Jake. I like apples_____________ I like pears more. Eight people got into the elevator _________ it was crowded _________three people got off.

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Paired conjunctions can help you make more complicated compound sentences. Paired conjunctions are where you have to express an action that two or more subjects take. Examples are both and, either or and neither...nor Both Alice and Janice attended C.V.H.S. Either Peter or the girls needed to attend the class. Neither Frank nor Lily lives in Japan.

BE CAREFUL! Either goes with or. Neither goes with nor. I want to buy either a new desktop computer or a laptop, but I have neither the cash nor the credit I need.

Write your own sentences using paired conjunctions below:

Both ... and ________________________________________________________________________________________ Either or _________________________________________________________________________________________ Neither nor ______________________________________________________________________________________

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Complex sentences are slightly more complicated than simple and compound sentences. They have extra information added to the main part of the sentence. Complex sentences have: At least one main clause AND one or more subordinate clauses.

What is a clause?
A CLAUSE is part of a sentence. If you were to break a sentence up into bits, we would call these bits clauses. You can use punctuation or conjunctions to link clauses together. The different clauses are shown below in the example:

On Saturday, I went to the shop because I wanted to buy a booka book that I had wanted for ages.

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Circle the clauses in the following sentences: We were lulled by the blue skies perhaps, or by sheer boredom. Fritz seemed to have gone to sleep on us and, as far as we were concerned, that suited us fine. We thought we could go to sleep too. The awakening came suddenlyGas! Gas! The cry goes up and it is echoed all along the trench. For a moment, we are frozen with panic. We have trained for this time and again, but nonetheless we fumble clumsily, feverishly without gas masks. Fix bayonets! Hanleys yelling while were still trying frantically to pull on our gas masks. We grab our rifles and we fix the bayonets. Were on the fire step looking out into no mans land and we see it rolling towards us, this dreaded killer cloud we have heard so much about but have never seen for ourselves until now.

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Remember, complex sentences have main and subordinate clauses.

What are main clauses?

Main clauses make sense on their own. They have a subject, verb and sometimes an object. If you were just to have a main clause, that would be a simple sentence.
What are subordinate clauses?

Subordinate clauses add extra information about what, where, when, why or how something happens. They dont make sense on their own. In these examples, the main clause is underlined and the subordinate clauses are not underlined: Suddenly, the door slammed. The basketball club is on Tuesday, after school, in the hall. Although I am usually a calm person, I sometimes lose my temper.
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Underline the MAIN CLAUSES in the following sentences:

(Subordinate clauses often start with words called subordinators: because, since, after, although or when) 1. After they had finished their tea, Juan and Maria went to the movies. 2. Juan and Maria went to the movies, after they had finished studying. 3. Angrily, he threw his pen across the room. 4. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page. 5. Although he was usually a happy guy, he often felt angry. 6. Since I knew the answers, I got full marks in my test.

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All of these sentences are complex sentences. Underline the main clauses. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. At the back of Chelmer Valley High Schools field, a tiny green leprechaun dances on March 17th. Wary of the school pupils, the tiny green leprechaun hides in the trees. While taking his homework out of his car, Mr. Morton heard a strange laugh coming from the park. Mr. Morton put his stuff in the car and walked towards the park, feeling a little frightened by the fog. A green fog, as thick as soup, gathered over the field. From out of nowhere, the leprechaun appeared to Mr. Morton, giggling and doing an Irish dance. Having never seen a leprechaun before, Mr. Morton was puzzled. Mr. Morton and the leprechaun stared at each other and walked slowly in a circle. Having always wanted gold teeth, Mr. Morton tried to catch the leprechaun.

10. The leprechaun, used to being chased, disappeared and then reappeared in a tree. 11. Shaking the tree violently, Morton imagined having shiny gold teeth. 12. Gold coins rained down to the earth like tears from the heavens. 13. Mr. Morton, the most dangerous leprechaun hunter in Essex, celebrated by grabbing coins. 14. Filling up his pockets with gold coins, Mr Morton laughed and laughed. 15. The leprechaun, having magically summoned a rainbow bridge, went back to his home in Ireland. 16. Mr. Morton brought all of the gold coins to his neighbour, a renowned pawnbroker. 17. Squinting through his magnifying glass, the pawnbroker examined the gold coins closely. 18. He picked one gold coin out of the pile and handed it to Mr Morton, moving very slowly. 19. Peeling back layers of gold foil, the pawnbroker showed him the delicious piece of chocolate inside. 20. Though disappointed about not getting gold teeth, Mr Morton was happy to have so much candy.
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Subordinate Clauses can go in three different places: at the start of a sentence, at the end or in the middle. Imagine we have a main clause I go shopping. You want to add some extra information about when you do this, using the subordinate clause on Tuesday. We can put on Tuesday in three different places in the sentence. For example: On Tuesday, I go shopping. I go shopping on Tuesday. I, on Tuesday, go shopping.

Re-write these sentences, putting the subordinate clauses at the middle and at the end of the sentence.

SC at the start: Suddenly, the door slammed. SC at the end: ______________________________________ SC in the middle: ____________________________________

Because he was excited, the dog accidentally ran into the wall. ___________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________

After school, I will go to the park. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

What are adjectives? Name three different types of nouns. What are verbs? Write down two adverbs. Which ONE of the following types of words must every sentence have? Noun, verb, adjective or adverb. What three parts does a simple sentence have? Write an example of a simple sentence. What is a compound sentence? Write down three conjunctions that are used in compound sentences.

10. Give an example of a compound sentence. 11. Explain in your own words what a main clause is. 12. What is a subordinate clause? 13. Which two parts must a complex sentence have?

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Use each of the three different sentence types. That is, make sure you use at least two simple, two compound and two complex sentences. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________
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This section will teach you how to use all of the different types of punctuation we use in writing, with definitions, examples and activities. The punctuation marks are explained in order of difficulty.

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Punctuation in Braille
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Everyone knows full stops go at the ends of sentences. However, sometimes it can be tricky figuring out where sentences end. Here are some hints to help:
1. 2. 3. 4. Sentences have one main idea in them. Sentences make sense on their own when you read them back to yourself. Full stops almost never go next to joining words (words like and so but). Each full stop has a capital letter after it but not every capital letter has a full stop before it! Be careful.

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Abbreviations are shortened forms of words. You always use full stops after you have abbreviated a word.

My grandmother writes without commas or full stops She writes my dear Carmen greetings in Jesus precious name Its so nice hearing from you The time doesn't matter as long as we are in each others thoughts Im here still holding on praying for a better way of living Thanks very much for your letters and money You are in my thoughts all along the way My knees are very weak now Old age is on me now I have somebody to take me to church and back Thank God for that Give regards to your hubby for me until I know him to do so myself Keep sweet as always Cheerio for now and God bless from Grandma Scottie

For example, the abbreviation of Doctor is Dr. Write the abbreviations for the words below, remembering to use a full stop at the end of each one: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. etcetera page 6 mister ________________________ ________________________ ________________________

submarine ________________________ ounces ________________________

Write these abbreviations out in full: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. tsp. sch. ref. doz. est. ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________

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Which of these words are PROPER NOUNS and need CAPITALS? Circle the PROPER NOUNS that should have CAPITAL LETTERS at the start.
1. japan chelmer valley high school shoe jack pen road tuesday mrs mulhern prison

Capital Letters go in the following places:

1. 2. At the start of sentences. For proper nouns. These are names of particular places or peoplefor example, Egypt John. In titles: usually words in titles have capitals. Smaller words, like it, and, in, are not capitalized. For example, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. For the word I

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

3.

10. wormwood scrubs prison 11. cup 12. student 13. sarah 14. camera

4.

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i am in Trouble, again It is big Trouble the kind that requires urgent phone calls and whispered conversations in The School office while I sit on a plastic chair outside mrs mulhern room, painting my fingernails black sometimes i think that greenhall academy is more of a prison camp than a school mrs mulhern is wasted as a headmistresswith her Charm, compassion and world vision she could be ruNning wormwood scrubs.
- Scarlett, by Cathy Cassidy

i write back saying grandma what do you mean by god bless and whats this about weak knees you know youre fit as a fiddle dont let anybody fool you that 73 is old my husband is fine and he sends you his love enclosed is $75 take care of yourself and i hope to be home one of these days love Carmen

she writes back saying dear carmen I got your letter yesterday why are you writing to me without punctuation dont you know better is that what I worked hard and sent you to school for dont let me down like this thanks for the money i pray for you every night that you stay healthy god bless and write to your mother

Colour in the letters that should be capitals. Using a different colour, colour in where the capitals are wrongly used

grandma scottie

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Commas are used to separate items in a list. You put commas between the items, except for the last two, where you have and to do the job instead. E.g. On my desk I have a pen, a camera, a shoe and a map. Write two sentences that use commas for lists: 1._________________________________________ ___________________________________________ 2._________________________________________ ___________________________________________

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This following text uses commas in completely the wrong way. It is absolutely filled with comma splices.

In primary school, you may have been told that commas should go where you need to take a breath, or where you feel like you need to pause. However, this advice leads to lots of mistakes. If you put in a comma where you feel you need to pause, how do you know whether to put a full stop or a comma? Comma Splice is a very common mistake that many people make. This is where you use a comma to join (splice) two sentences together. You should never use commas to join separate sentences. You should have a full stop or a conjunction or a semi colon instead.

He waited patiently by the pavement, he felt very sad, it was raining, the raindrops pattered on the road like bullets, the sky was grey, he was still waiting, the bus hadnt arrived yet, and she wasnt there either, he didnt know why she was avoiding him, shed promised to meet him at 4, she hadnt turned up, maybe it was something he had said the day before...

Here is the correct version: He waited patiently by the pavement. He felt very sad. It was raining. The raindrops pattered on the road like bullets. The sky was grey. He was still waiting. The bus hadnt arrived yet and she wasnt there either. He didnt know why she was avoiding him. Shed promised to meet him at 4 but she hadnt turned up. Maybe it was something he had said the day before...
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How can I tell if I have used comma splice? Ask yourself: can I replace this comma with a full stop and everything still makes sense? If the answer is YESyou are using comma splice.

What should I do if I find a comma splice?

1) 2) 3) Replace the coma with a full stop. Replace the comma with a semi colon. Replace the comma with a conjunction (and, for nor, but, or, yet, because).

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Which of these sentences shows comma splice? Some of the sentences are correctly punctuated. Some of them are wrongthey use commas to join separate sentences. Circle the commas that are incorrectly used.
1. My brother never cleans his room, it smells bad. 2. San Francisco is a great place to visit; I've been there twice. 3. When Dan goes running, he runs for a long time, and it takes a while before he gets tired. 4. If I won a million dollars, I would give half of it to charity. I would use the other half for college tuition and spending money. 5. After my ballet recitals, my mom takes me out for ice-cream, she has always done this. 6. Mary broke her arm, she had to get a cast, I signed it twice. 7. Carl and Ashley collect stamps, I collect stickers because I think it's more exciting. 8. Different people enjoy different music; I enjoy jazz. 9. I am hungry, so I hope that supper is ready soon. 10. Pizza is Maggie's favourite food, she won't eat anything else. 11. Exercise is good for the heart. Nutrition is also important. 12. When the fire alarm went off in class, we were all scared, it turned out to be just a practice drill.

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Take a good look around you, said Mr. Sir. What do you see?

When a person speaks directly in your writing, you must surround what they say with speech marks. ..

Stanley looked out across the vast wasteland. The air seemed thick with heat and dirt. Not much, he said. Mr. Sir laughed and said You see any guard towers? No

You should also take a new line when someone new starts to speak.

How about an electric fence? No, Mr. Sir. Theres no fence at all is there?

In the example opposite, a character called Stanley is having a conversation with a guard at his prison camp. The guard is called Mr. Sir Surround the direct speech with speech marks.

No, Mr. Sir. You want to run away? Mr. Sir asked him. If you want to run away, go ahead, start running. Im not going to stop you. Im not going to run away said Stanley.. Good thinking, said Mr Sir. Nobody runs away from here. We dont need a fence. Know why? Because weve got the only water for a hundred miles. You want to run away? Youll be buzzard food in three days.
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Apostrophes are NEVER used for plurals. Plurals are where you have more than one of something. Write out the examples below with the correct punctuation. C.D.s for sale _____________________________________ Cameras are great. _____________________________________ The students were all lovely. _____________________________________ The islands were basked in light. _____________________________________ Apples and Pears: 15p _____________________________________
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Apostrophes are used when you make contractions of two words. A contraction is where you pull two words together into onefor example, do not becomes dont. You should always put the apostrophe where you miss out the letter. Some people make a mistake and put it between the two words you have pulled together (eg dont instead of dont). Be careful not to make this mistake.

Apostrophes are also used to show possession - when something belongs to someone. For example, Sandras shoes, the cars wheels. If it only belongs to one person, then the apostrophe goes before the s. The cats tail, the bees sting. If it belongs to more than one person, then the apostrophe goes after the s. The students books. The boys coats.

Two words Can not I have Should not I will He is She will Shall not

Contractions

So if you write the boys shoes - you mean the shoes belonging to one particular boy. If you write the boys shoes - you mean the shoes belonging to a group of boys.

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1. The two boys bags were lying at the rivers edge. The two boys bags were lying at the rivers edge. The two boys bags were lying at the rivers edge.

Which is correct? For each question, tick the sentence you think is correct.

2. My parents flat is in one of the citys finest areas. My parents flat is in one of the citys finest areas. My parents flat is in one of the citys finest areas.

3. The two buildings doors and windows were damaged in the blast. The two buildings doors and windows were damaged in the blast. The two buildings doors and windows were damaged in the blast.

4. The Romans bridges and roads were vital for moving the troops supplies. The Romans bridges and roads were vital for moving the troops supplies. The Romans bridges and roads were vital for moving the troops supplies.

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its or its? Fill in the gap.

1.
Its and its are a special case where apostrophes are concerned. Read the rules below.

The cat had eaten all __________ food. _________ been a great day. Give me a shout when _______ ready. The old house had lost all of ______ windows and doors. The army has reprimanded many of ________ soldiers. ______ always been possible to book a train ticket online. The village has lost half ______ population since the new road was built.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Doddle with punctuation to make a face in the circle. : ; ? ! . ,

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Question marks are used at the end of a sentence to show a question is being asked. The sentence with a question mark will often start with one of these words: Who? Why? What? Where? When? Exclamation marks are used to show that a character is shouting.

Below, write the start of a story that shows the use of question marks and exclamation marks. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________
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Add in the commas to separate the subordinate clauses from the main clause: Because it was raining my hair got wet. At the end of the day we will go home. Whenever I feel happy I smile. Because he wasnt looking where he was going he drove right into the tree.
HINT: think about which part of the sentence you could remove, and the sentence would still make sense. The part you could remove is the subordinate clause - the extra information. Put commas around that part.

The cat chased the dog right to the end of the town. There is no shortage of cakes in the canteen on Tuesdays. The dog who wasnt known for his intelligence got lost. The man who was sitting on a bench on his own felt quite lonely.
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Remember, main clauses contain the main information. Subordinate clauses add extra information and dont make sense on their own. When you use main and subordinate clauses to make up a complex sentence, you need to separate the two types of clauses with punctuation. You can surround the subordinate clause with commas. In the examples below, the subordinate clauses are in bold. You can see that they are separated from the main clause with commas.

When I feel cold, I turn on the heating. I turn on the heating, when I feel cold. I, when I feel cold, turn on the heating. On Tuesday, we won the game, We won the game, on Tuesday. We, on Tuesday, won the game.
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The piece of writing below uses full speech punctuation correctly. Can you figure out what the rules are? From the rules you have figured out, punctuate the passage below correctly. Remember, its not JUST speech marks!

We sat on either side of the fire, my Uncle and I, with a tray on a small table between us. When he leaned back, his face disappeared into shadow entirely. Your journey here was uneventful, I trust? he asked. Yes, Uncle, I said. You saw...nothing...in the woods? Uncle Montague often asked this question and my reply was always the same.. No, Uncle, I said, not seeing the need to mention the creepy village children, I did not see anything in the words. There is nothing quite like a wood at night, eh, Edgar? he said. No, I replied, but it was quite frightening. RULES FOR FULL SPEECH PUNCTUATION:

It was Julius who started it. We were sitting on the wall one morning, when he said suddenly did you know Tulip was a witch Dont be silly She is he said stubbornly She always knows exactly what Im thinking No one knows what youre thinking Tulip does Can we get on with these spellings, please

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Show you can use ellipsis. Write part of a dramatic scene from a short story, where someone pauses and uses ellipsis, someone trails off into silence and to suggest a tense and awkward moment of silence. Ellipsis is where a writer puts This is used for different reasons:

the writer wants to quote someones writing, but they want to miss out a word, a sentence or a whole section from a text. You can put instead. in creative writing, it can show an unfinished thought. at the end of a sentence, it can show a trailing off into silence. It can suggest a pause It can suggest a tense or awkward moment of silence in a story.

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Practise writing sentences using semi colons on the page below.

Semi-colons are used for two reasons.

To join together two related sentences To separate items in a list, when the items are longer than one word.

Examples: The darkness surrounded me; I was frightened. A long time ago I learned a skill; I have forgotten that skill now. On my desk I have a beautiful pencil case; a delightful map; a pink flowering plant and a map. I am surrounded by a beautiful sky; a gentle breeze; the singing of birds and the warmth of the sun.

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Write your own examples in the space below:

Colons are used for these reasons:

to introduce a list

You should have the following books and supplies with you on the first day of class: Roget's Thesaurus, two pencils, a dictionary, and two notebooks.

_____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________

There are three choices in this life: be good, get good, or give up. (Dr. House, House, M.D.)

After it, you can describe, define or explain the word before it.

Chocolate: a delicious experience. Students: a delightful bunch of people.

To introduce a quote

A student wrote the words: colons are very easy to use.

The City is termite territory: thousands of heads-down workers serving an unacknowledged queen, a fear motor buried deep in the heart of the place. (Iain Sinclair, Lights Out for the Territory.)

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it. (Voltaire)

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When you have a group of words that adds more information or explains a bit more, but isnt really part of the sentence, you can put it in parenthesis. This means you put brackets, dashes or commas around it.

For example: My umbrella (which is somewhat broken) can still shield the two of us from the rain. My brotherthe fastest gunslinger in the Westis the person I am most afraid of. The shoes, which were beautiful initially, were covered in slime. Write your own three examples: ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________

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Rewrite these sentences, underneath each one, adding some appropriate words inside the parenthesis.
DASHES are used when you want to draw lots of attention to whatever is in parenthesis. I'd better have passed my testit's ninety percent of my class gradeor I'll have to go to summer school.

The chocolate (________________) was all gone.

Adams best friend ___________ - was arrested.

COMMAS are used when you dont want a lot of attention drawn to the words in parenthesis, but it just explains a bit more. Id better have passed my test, the test I was worried about, or Ill have to go to summer school. BRACKETS are used to give definitions, to explain more clearly or to give a specific example. Id better have passed my test (the geography test) or Ill have to go to summer school.

The tree, ______________________, fell onto the road.

I knew, _________________, that I would succeed.

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Use this page to practise your writing. Make sure you try to use every type of punctuation at least once. What you write is up to you, but here are some ideas:

describe a favourite place. Write a speech persuading people to give money to charity. Write the beginning of a short story entitled lost and found.

____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________
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1. Draw as many punctuation marks as you know. 2. Give two reasons why you might use a full stop. 3. For what reasons should you use capital letters? 4. Why would you use a comma? Give two answers. 5. What is comma splice? 6. Why is this wrong? Buy my lovely apples! 7. What does it mean to say you should use apostrophes for possession? 8. Write a sentence with a semi colon in it. 9. What is ellipsis and why might you use it? 10.Name the three types of punctuation you can use for parenthesis.

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