Word classes
- Noun: a person, place, thing or idea (a proper noun names a particular one and has a capital letter: Guernsey). Verb: an action or state (run, is). Adjective: describes a noun (tall). Adverb: describes a verb, adjective or another adverb, often ending in -ly (quickly).
- Pronoun: replaces a noun (he, she, it, they). Preposition: shows position or time (under, before). Conjunction: joins words or clauses (and, but, because, although). Determiner: comes before a noun (the, a, some, this).
Sentences and clauses
- A main clause makes sense on its own. A subordinate clause doesn't: "because it was late".
- A simple sentence has one main clause. A compound sentence joins two main clauses with and, but, or or so. A complex sentence has a main clause and a subordinate clause: "Although it was raining, we played outside."
Tense, agreement and voice
- Keep the tense consistent. The subject and verb must agree: "The dogs are barking", not "The dogs is barking".
- Active voice: "The cat chased the mouse." Passive voice: "The mouse was chased by the cat." The passive puts the focus on what happened, not who did it.
- Standard English: "we were", not "we was"; "I did it", not "I done it".
Key terms
- Noun
- A word for a person, place, thing or idea.
- Verb
- A word for an action or state.
- Adjective
- A word that describes a noun.
- Adverb
- A word that describes a verb, adjective or another adverb.
- Pronoun
- A word that replaces a noun, such as "she".
- Preposition
- A word that shows position or time, such as "under".
- Conjunction
- A word that joins words or clauses, such as "because".
- Main clause
- A clause that makes sense on its own.
- Subordinate clause
- A clause that doesn't make sense on its own.
- Complex sentence
- A sentence with a main clause and a subordinate clause.
- Passive voice
- A sentence where the subject has the action done to it.
- Standard English
- The formal, correct form of English.