English Revision Pack

The most important thing students should do to prepare for the English exam is to read. The more
classic literature that is read, the better. This will enable the student to expand their vocabulary and
get used to the type of language the text from the exam might use. A list of suggested authors is
on our information page. Students should read selected extracts and underline words that they do
not know the meaning of. These words should then be looked up in a dictionary. Students should
then rewrite the word in a sentence of their own and look for synonyms for the word in a thesaurus.
Words with similar meanings form large parts of both the English and VR exam. Give your child
spelling tests on these words.

Another way to prepare would be to choose extracts from classic books and write your own comprehension
questions for them. True or false questions would be a good place to start as well as questions that
ask the student to retrieve evidence from the text. You could then move onto questions that ask the
child to write what the writer is suggesting by using certain words and phrases.

Get your child to read extracts or chapters and then write a short summary of what has
happened – this will ensure and consolidate their understanding. Copy short sections from a text,
missing out all the punctuation, capital letters and misspelling some words. Your child should then
rewrite the passage correcting the mistakes. Again, this forms an important part of the exam.

Top Tips

• Read as widely as possible.

• Write answers in full sentences always – otherwise your answer will not be marked.
• Take care with spelling and punctuation – it does matter.
• Use a highlighter to highlight key words in the question.
• Take note of line numbers.
• If you do not understand a word, try to think what the whole sentence is saying and work out the
meaning from there.
• Read the text carefully.
1. APOSTROPHES

POSSESSION (where the apostrophe shows who the thing belongs to by adding ‘s)
E.g.: The book belonged to Sarah = Sarah’s book.
a) The shoes belonged to Tom = They were ……….. shoes
Write 3 more sentences of your own
………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………….

OMISSION (where the apostrophe replaces a letter)

E.g.: My friend is great = My friend’s great.
a) I do not understand = I ………… understand.
b) I have not got any sweets = I …………….. got any sweets.
See if you can think of 3 more of your own
………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………….
So remember these rules and you won’t go wrong!
(or WILL NOT go wrong!)

HOMOPHONES

Where words sound the same but have different meanings and spellings:
E.g.: There, their and they’re.
Buy, by and bye.
See if you can think of the words that go with these words:

- reign
- would
- weigh
- son
- red
- blue
- stare
- steal
Now see if you can write a different set of homophones into sentences. E.g.: They went outside to
their car. It was over there by the garage. They’re off to the cinema.
3. SENTENCES

a) Question: Do you like school?

b) Statement: I like school a lot.
c) Imperative (instruction): You will like school.
d) Exclamation: I like school!

Now you try one of each. They can be on the same subject or different ones, but make sure
the sentence is what it is supposed to be.

a) Question: …………………………………………….
b) Statement: …………………………………………….
c) Imperative (instruction/command) …………………………………………….
d) Exclamation: …………………………………………….

4. PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES

PREFIXES (letters at the beginning of a word)

E.g.: Welcome = Unwelcome
Happy = Unhappy
Pleased = Displeased
Obedient = Disobedient

Now see if you can think of 3 more words of your own:

1……………………………
2……………………………
3……………………………

SUFFIXES (letters at the end of a word)

E.g.: Welcome = Welcoming
Happy = Happiness
Stab = Stabbed

Now see if you can think of 3 of your own:

1……………………………
2……………………………
3……………………………
5. VOWEL SUFFIXES:

No ‘magic E’? Then double up!

Shop: shopping shopped

Hug: ………. ..……..
Jog: ………. ……….

6. REMEMBERING SPELLING/ MNEMONICS:

GrammAr= ‘GrandmA!’
NeCeSSary= One Collar, two Sleeves!
DiSaPPoint= Such a Pretty Polly!
FriENDs to the END!

North, East, South, West:

Never Eat Shredded Wheat!

Big
Elephants
Can’t
Always
Use
Small
Exits!
Rhythm
Has
Your
Two
Hips
Moving!

7. ‘I’ BEFORE ‘E’, EXCEPT AFTER ‘C’:

Receive
Receipt
Hygiene
Friend
……………
……………
8. ‘U’ MUST FOLLOW ‘Q’:

Queen
Quiz
Queue
Squash
………….
…………..

OTHER COMMON LETTER PATTERNS

1. SILENT LETTERS ‘w’, ‘k’, ‘b’, ‘t’, ‘l’, ‘h’

In some words you must remember to include letters which have no sound in that word.
Explanation:
A long time ago, some of these letters did have a sound but, because their sounds were
difficult to say, they died out. Only their ghosts remain.

silent w wrong write writer wren wriggle wrap wrist

silent k knife knock knee knowledge know knobbly knot
silent b crumb thumb dumb debt doubt comb climb
silent t thistle Christmas fasten listen whistle castle

2. ‘ou’ and ‘ow’ words

Explanation: The letter pattern ‘ou’ spells several different sounds. It can make the sounds ‘ow’ as
in house, the short sound ‘u’ as in cousin and the long sound ‘oo’ as in youth.

round young youth

found cousin uncouth
sound
shout

3. ‘ough’ and ‘augh’ words

Explanation: The letter pattern ‘ough’ can make many different sounds.
‘u’ ‘o’ ‘oo’ ‘aw’
tough dough through thoughtful
rough although bought
enough
couplet
‘augh’ words include:
taught daughter slaughter naughty
laugh

4. ‘ph’ words
The sound ‘f’ is usually spelt with the letter ‘f’ but words which come from the Ancient
Greek language use the letters ‘ph’.

photograph telephone phobia physical

geography apostrophe pamphlet paragraph
atmosphere metaphor photosynthesis graphics

Definitions of Literary Terms

Adjective A word to describe a noun, or object.

Example: The large, furry dog.
Adverbs A word to describe a verb – how something is being done.
Example: He walked slowly along the path.Alliteration The repetition of the same letter at the beginning
of two or more words in a sentence.
Example: The fierce wind fought through the ferns.
Irony When the intended meaning is the opposite to the actual meaning.
Example: To say ‘Nice weather!’ when it is raining is to be ironic. Starting a war to prevent another
war would be ironic.
Metaphor Using a word or phrase to describe a similarity without using “like” or “as” in the image.
Example: The tree’s arms. The sun was a golden beachball thrown high in the sky,
Noun A person, place or thing. There are different types of nouns – a concrete noun which is a thing or
object that can be physically touched; a proper noun is the name of something and will always have
a capital letter; an abstract noun is an emotion, feeling or idea, something that cannot be physically
touched; and a collective noun is the name of a group of things.
Examples are listed in order below.
Example: table, London, happiness, bunch.
Onomatopoeia Words that sound like their meaning.
Example: bang, crash, rattled, sizzling, slithered
Oxymoron Placing two contradicting words next to each other.
Example: ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow’ The silence was deafening.
Pathetic Fallacy The act of associated the weather with emotions. A stormy day would suggest that something
dangerous or bad was going to occur and would build tension.
Example: The lightning crashed outside as Billy nervously waited.
Personification When you give something non-human, human characteristics.
Example: The moon looked down.
Prepositions Words typically used with a noun or pronoun to show the relationship of one thing to another.
Example: The ball rolled between the two trees.
Pronoun A word used instead of a noun or name.
Example: They walked into the park.
Proverb A short and often memorable saying for an everyday truth or advice.
Example: Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Pun Play on words, used in headlines of newspapers to attract the reader’s attention.
Example: ‘Gord help us now!’ this is about Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister and is playing on
the phrase ‘God help us’.
Quotation A passage or information from a text – the exact words used.
Example: To show his feelings for Juliet, Romeo compares her to a Dove (the symbol of purity): ‘A
snowy dove trooping among crows.’
Simile Comparing one thing to something totally different, usually using “like” or “as.”
Example: as fierce as a lion, as quiet as a mouse.
Soliloquy The thoughts of a character expressed on stage in a play.
Verb A ‘doing’ or an action word.
Example: We went to the cinema and watched a film.
Antonyms These are pairs of words which have opposite meanings to one another.
Examples: a) long…...short
b) dusk…..dawn
c) fat……..thin
d) fast……slow
Synonyms These are pairs, or groups, of words which are similar in meaning.
Examples: a) big, large, enormous
b) thin, skinny, slim
c) hot, warm, scorching
d) cold, icy, freezing
Homophones These are words which have the same sound but different spelling.
Examples: a) fair, fare
b) to, two, too
c) weather, whether
d) which, witch
Prefix Little pairs of letters which are added onto the beginning of words to give it a new meaning.
Examples: a) ‘un’ meaning not; unsure, unhappy
b) ‘auto’ meaning self; autobiography, automatic
c) ‘tele’ meaning distance; telephone, television
d) ‘pre’ meaning before; prearrange, prefix
Suffix More little groups of letters, but this time at the end of the word to change its meaning.
Examples: a) ‘--less’ meaning without; humourless, remorseless
b) ‘–ate’, meaning to become; evaporate, segregate
c) ‘–hood‘, indicating state or condition; falsehood, neighbourhood
d) –ive, meaning having the nature of; festive, aggressive
Abbreviation A word or a phrase which has been shortened, it can also be initial letters pronounced separately.
Examples: a) MP – Member of Parliament
b) UK – United Kingdom
c) cm -- centimetre
d) TV – television

PUNCTUATION MARKS

Commas Use to separate items in a list or clauses in a sentence.

Example: I went to the shop and bought milk, eggs, bacon and bread.
The dog, which was a puppy, ran across the road.
Capital Letters and Full Stops When a sentence reaches a natural end, there needs to be a full stop and
every sentence after that must begin with a capital letter.
Example: My name is Simon. I am 11 years old.
Apostrophes A little mark to indicate abbreviation or possession.
Example: Mark’s trainers had a nasty smell. He wouldn’t wash his socks.
Brackets These are used for enclosing extra information in a text.
Example: My teacher (Miss Harrison) is very strict.
Colon Used to introduce information, a quotation or, most commonly, a list.
Example: I went to the funfair and had: candyfloss, a hot dog, some chips
and loads of sweets.
Dash Often used in words which have been joined together or to separate
clauses in a sentence when you want to make more dramatic impact.
Example: I went to see the new Harry Potter film – fantastic!

VOCABULARY BUILDER

Always try to use the most effective word that you can. You should use a thesaurus whenever you are doing creative
writing. Here are some common words and synonyms you could use to replace them.

Good: excellent, superior, outstanding, superb, splendid.

Nice: pleasant, kind, lovely, enjoyable, agreeable.
Sad: melancholy, gloomy, cheerless, morose, distressing.
Fun: musing, entertaining, exciting, pleasurable.
Bad: awful, terrible, dreadful, appalling, ghastly.
Wrong: mistaken, incorrect, erroneous, inaccurate.
Very: extremely, incredibly, greatly, exceptionally.
Said/to say: uttered, declared, proclaimed, announced.
Thought/to think: believed, reflect, concentrate, deliberate.
Before: earlier, prior, previous, ahead of.

CONNECTIVES/CONJUNCTIONS

Connectives are used to link paragraphs, they help to create a fluent and cohesive text.

First After a while Fainally On another occasion Then Straight away

When Meanwhile Next Afterwards Here Previously

Now In the end Lastly At once Hitherto Ultimately

At this point before that At this moment Next time until then Soon

Causal – Conditional Conjunctions

So Yet Moreover Still Though Therefore

Consequently Despite this Hence However Even though Because

An effect of All the same Caused by Nevertheless As a result of Stemmed from

Otherwise Accordingly In that case An outcome An As a consequence

Of Upshot if Of

Conditional Conjunctions

However In other respects Rather In that respect

In spite of this Nevertheless Elsewhere Alternatively

Whereas Differs from Instead In contrast

On the other hand On the contrary Also An alternative view is…

Additional Conjunctions

Also Besides Not Only In addition

Furthermore In addition While Whereas

Moreover As well as Additionally An added example

But And` Without Nor

Additional Conjunctions

For example Consequently Accordingly As exemplified by

Including For instance Therefore As a result

Such as These include For one thing Through