KEY STAGE
LEVELS
2013
36
Glossary of terms
Key Stage 2 English grammar,
punctuation and spelling tests
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Glossary of terms
Active voice
5
Adjective 5
Adverb 5
Adverbial 6
Antonym
6
Appropriacy 6
Article 6
Auxiliary verb
6
Causal connective
7
Clause 7
Coherence
7
Cohesion
7
Cohesive device
8
Complex verb phrase
8
Connective 8
Contraction 9
Coordinating connective
9
Demarcation 9
Finite and non-finite
10
Fronted adverbial
10
I and me
10
Imperative 10
Impersonal construction
11
Inflection 11
Internal sentence punctuation
11
Lexical verb
11
Modal verb
11
Nominalisation
12
Non-standard English
12
Noun 12
Noun phrase
12
Object 13
Passive voice
13
Personal pronoun
13
Phrase 13
Possessive determiner
13
Possessive pronoun
14
Prefix 14
Preposition 14
Pronoun 15
Reference chain
15
Relative clause
16
Relative pronoun
16
Rhetorical device
16
Roots of words and derivations 16
Sentence 17
Singular and plural
17
Standard English
18
Subject 18
Subject-verb agreement
18
Subordinating connective
18
Suffix 18
Synonym 18
Syntax 18
Temporal connective
19
Tense 19
Tense agreement
19
Verb 19
Verb inflection
20
Word class
20
Word families
20
4 Glossary of terms
1. Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide support to teachers with the grammatical
terminology they may come across in relation to the English grammar, punctuation and
spelling tests, the accompanying mark schemes and test framework. Many of the terms
within this glossary fall outside the National Curriculum and will not appear in the tests
themselves. It is therefore not expected that children should know all the terminology set
out in this document. For further details about what is included in the tests, please refer
to the content domain within the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test framework
2013 2015.
Until the assessment of the new curriculum begins, the test is based on the terms used
in the current National Curriculum documents. At levels 35, all terms are aligned to the
current National Curriculum programme of study for English at Key Stage 2 (1999). The
level 6 test also samples content from the Key Stage 3 programme of study (2007).
While many grammatical terms are straightforward and definitions may be sought
from any trusted dictionary, definitions of some terms may vary according to different
grammatical classification systems. For clarity, these words are defined for teachers in
section 2, Glossary of terms.
2. Glossary of terms
Term
Definition
Active voice
Most verbs in any text are expressed in the active voice. It is easily
recognised since the subject and do-er or be-er of the action are the
same, e.g.
L35
L6
Adjective
L35
L6
Adverb
L35
L6
6 Glossary of terms
Term
Definition
Adverbial
L35
L6
Antonym
L35
L6
Appropriacy
L6
Article
L35
reader, e.g.
Auxiliary verb
L35
L6
See verb.
Term
Definition
Causal connective
See connective.
L35
L6
Clause
L35
L6
Coherence
L6
Cohesion
L6
8 Glossary of terms
Term
Definition
Cohesive device
L6
Complex verb
phrase
L35
L6
Connective
L35
L6
He was running.
He has been running.
He should have been running.
A connective is a general term for words that link ideas together, e.g.
Term
Definition
Contraction
L35
L6
Im so excited. (I am)
Theyve decided to go by train. (They have)
Hed love to come too. (He would)
Were off to the beach. (We are)
Its a fabulous day. (It is)
Whos got the picnic? (Who has)
I wouldve come but I have to cook dinner. (would have)
Shell catch you up later. (She will)
Samll catch the ball. (Sam will)
Coordinating
connective
L35
L6
Demarcation
L35
See connective.
L6
full stops
question marks
exclamation marks
ellipses
10 Glossary of terms
Term
Definition
Finite and
non-finite
L6
Fronted adverbial
L35
L6
I and me
L35
L6
Imperative
L35
See adverbial.
L6
Term
Definition
Impersonal
construction
L6
Inflection
L35
L6
Internal sentence
punctuation
L35
L6
Lexical verb
L35
See verb.
L6
Modal verb
L35
L6
See verb.
12 Glossary of terms
Term
Definition
Nominalisation
L6
Non-standard
English
L35
L6
L6
Noun
L35
Noun phrase
L35
L6
The shed
The blue shed
The blue garden shed
The blue garden shed behind the rose bushes
Term
Definition
Object
The object is a noun that refers to a person or thing, other than the
subject, which is involved in or affected by the action of a verb. The
verbs object normally follows it, e.g.
L35
L6
Passive voice
L6
Personal pronoun
See pronoun.
L6
Phrase
L35
L6
Possessive
determiner
L6
See pronoun.
14 Glossary of terms
Term
Definition
Possessive
pronoun
See pronoun.
L6
Prefix
L35
L6
Preposition
L35
L6
appear / disappear
take / retake / undertake
Term
Definition
Pronoun
L35
L6
For the level 6 test, children need to be aware that there are different
types of pronoun, e.g.
Personal pronouns indicate person, number and gender, e.g. I, me,
you, she, her, he, him, it, we, us, they, them.
Relative pronouns introduce a relative clause, e.g. who, whom,
whose, which, that.
Reference chain
L6
16 Glossary of terms
Term
Definition
Relative clause
L6
There are two types of relative clause: non-defining (or nonrestrictive) clauses and defining (or restrictive) clauses.
Relative pronoun
See pronoun.
L6
Rhetorical device
L6
Why do I bother?
Will you ever remember to hang up your coat?
Who needs to know about that?
Roots of words
and derivations
L35
L6
A root word is the part of the word that contains its original meaning.
Derivation is the process by which new words are formed from a
root word to give related words different meanings and/or to show
that they belong to different word classes. It is achieved by changing
the shape of the root word or base, e.g. song from sing, or by adding
a prefix or suffix, e.g. discovery, uncover, recover from cover. Many
words are derived from Greek or Latin roots, e.g. bio for life in
biography, biology, autobiography.
Term
Definition
Sentence
L35
L6
L6
Most nouns have a singular and a plural form, signalling the difference
between one or more than one person, thing etc. Many nouns can be
changed to their plural form by adding an -s ending, e.g.
bird / birds
lily / lilies
foot / feet
louse / lice
leaf / leaves
18 Glossary of terms
Term
Definition
Standard English
L6
This is the variety of the English language that is generally used for
formal purposes in speech and writing. It is not the English of any
particular region and it can be spoken with any accent.
L6
The subject is the noun, pronoun or noun phrase that stands before
a verb, and which is involved in subject-verb agreement. It normally
expresses the do-er or be-er of the verb, e.g.
L35
Subject
L35
Subject-verb
agreement
L35
L6
If the verb is in the present tense, it agrees (in standard English) with
the subject, e.g.
Subordinating
connective
L35
L6
Suffix
L35
See connective.
L6
Synonym
L35
L6
Syntax
L35
L6
Two words are synonyms if they have the same meaning or similar
meanings, e.g. pointed may be synonymous with sharp, tapered,
jagged or with cutting, biting, caustic, depending on context.
The grammatical rules that determine the arrangement of words in
phrases, clauses and sentences are known as syntax.
Term
Definition
Temporal
connective
See connective.
L6
Tense
L35
L6
Tense agreement
L35
L6
Verb
L35
L6
Tense indicates the relationship between the form of a verb and the
time reference of the action, event or process it expresses, e.g.
20 Glossary of terms
Term
Definition
Verb inflection
L6
Word class
L35
L6
The term word class refers to a group of words that can perform a
similar function, e.g. nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs,
prepositions. Some words can belong to more than one class,
depending on the context in which they are used, e.g.
Word families
L35
L6
Related information
Visit the Department for Educations website at www.education.gov.uk/ks2 for all
related information.