Writing

Brackets

A pair of marks used for parenthesis.

e.g. The River Nile (the longest river in the world) is in north Africa.

Bullet Points

Used for lists.

e.g. Ingredients:

• Onions
• Tomatoes
• Peppers

Capital Letter

Used at the start of a sentence or for a proper noun.

e.g. My brother lives in Athens.

Clause

A part of a sentence that contains a subject and a verb.

e.g. I went to the cinema.

Cohesion

Using words and phrases that link paragraphs or sentences to help guide the reader.

e.g. It was beginning to rain. However, the children could still go outside as they had umbrellas and wellies.

Colon

Used to detail the previous clause by answering or explain the idea in it.

e.g. The verdict had been reached: guilty!

Colons can be used at the start of a list if there is an independent clause before the punctuation.

e.g. I packed the essentials for my holiday: sun-cream, snorkel and swimsuit.

Comma

Use to separate items in a list and for a parenthesis.

e.g. I packed my toothbrush, towel and pyjamas.

e.g. The River Nile, which is the longest river in the world, is in north Africa.

Command

A sentence beginning with an imperative verb which tells someone to do something.  It can end with an exclamation or full stop.

e.g. Put your pencil down. Stop!

Co-ordinating Conjunction

A word used to join two main clauses in a sentence.

e.g. for, and, nor, but, yet, or, so

Dashes

These can be used like brackets or to introduce a new clause.

e.g. I put your letter in the post – it will arrive in two days.

Determiner

A word that introduces a noun and can add more detail.

e.g. a, an, the, some, my, your, two.

Direct Speech

The actual words of a speaker using inverted commas.

e.g. “Please write your name on the back,” asked the teacher.

Ellipsis

Used to show that one or more words have been missed out or that a sentence is not finished.

e.g. She didn’t dare ask what was in the package . . . 

Exclamation

A group of words or sentence which shows surprise, emotion or pain.

e.g. You did it!

Exclamation Mark

A mark at the end of an exclamation or an exclamation sentence.

e.g. !

 Exclamation Sentence

A sentence that shows surprise, emotion or pain.  It must start with ‘how’ or ‘what’ and include a verb.

e.g. What a peculiar day!

 Expanded Noun Phrase

A group of words that serves the same function as a noun in a clause.

e.g. an evil witch.

e.g. a witch on a broom

e.g. a witch with an evil cackle

Hyphen

Used to connect two or more words.

e.g. prison-like

e.g. twenty-one

Inverted Commas

Used at the start and end of direct speech.

e.g. “Let’s go!” said dad.

Modal Verbs

Used to express possibility, intention, obligation and necessity

e.g. can, could, should, might, shall, ought to

Noun

A person, place or thing.

e.g. London, house, Buckingham Palace

Games:

Noun Explorer 

Naming Nouns

Parenthesis

A word or phrase inserted as an explanation/after thought punctuated by either commas, brackets or dashes.

e.g. Messi – my favourite footballer – scored a tremendous goal.

Passive Voice

When the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb.

e.g. The door was opened by Noah.

Past/Present/Future Tense

Past: Something happened/has happened

Present: Something happens/is happening

Future: Something will happen/is going to happen

e.g. I was/I am/I will be? I am going to be

Plural

More than one thing

e.g. two men, three cats, many children

Possessive Pronoun

A pronoun showing possession.

e.g. mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs

Prefix

Letters added to the start of a word.

e.g. replay, undo

Preposition

A word which shows a noun’s relationship to another word in the sentence.  It often shows where or when something is.

e.g. under, next to, before, between

Pronoun

A word to replace a noun

e.g. I, she, he, they, his, them

Punctuation

Marks used in writing

e.g. . ! ? ,

Question

Something you ask that ends with a question mark.

e.g. What is your favourite colour?

Question Mark

A mark to show the end of a question

e.g. What is your favourite colour?

 

Relative Clause

Used to explain or describe something that has just been mentioned.

e.g. The dog, which was a Labrador, chased after the cat.

Relative Pronoun

A pronoun that introduces a relative clause.

e.g. when, who, which, that, where

 

Semi-colon

A punctuation mark used to separate longer, detailed items in a list or to link related clauses.

e.g. I You will need to bring the following: sleeping bag, pillow, and pyjamas for the overnight stay; water bottle, waterproof jacket, sweatshirt, and walking boots for the afternoon trek; and a swimming kit for the river activities.

e.g. It was starting to rain; the children ran inside.

Sentence

A group of work with a verb that makes complete sense.

e.g. The boy read his book.

Singular

One thing.

e.g. one book, one egg, one child

Statement

A sentence which states something.  It ends with a full stop.

e.g. I like scuba diving.

Subjunctive form

Used to express doubt, wishes or a recommendation.

e.g. The headteacher has recommended that the children should attend football training.

Subordinate Clause

A clause that doesn’t make sense on its own.  It begins with a subordinating conjunction.

e.g. I couldn’t play tennis because I had hurt my ankle.

Subordinating Conjunction

A word at the start of a subordinate clause.

e.g. whilst, when, if, because, unless, however

Suffix

Letters at the end of a root word.

e.g. -ful, -ness

Suffix Factory

Synoym

A word that means exactly or nearly the same as another word.

e.g. smile/grin

Word Frog

Verb

An action.

e.g. run, walk, jump

Verbs in Space

Magic Verbs