Quick Practice – Grammar Subjects and verbs

Learning objectives:

Year 1: Pupils should be taught to:

• Developtheirunderstandingoftheconceptsby:

oleavingspacesbetweenwords.

ojoiningwordsandjoiningclausesusingand.

obeginningtopunctuatesentencesusingacapitalletterandafullstop, questionmarkorexclamationmark.

ousingacapitalletterfornamesofpeople,places,thedaysoftheweek, andthepersonalpronoun‘I’.

olearningthegrammarforYear1.

• UsethegrammaticalterminologyinEnglishAppendix2indiscussingtheirwriting.

Year 2: Pupils should be taught to:

• Developtheirunderstandingoftheconceptsby:

olearninghowtousebothfamiliarandnewpunctuationcorrectly includingfullstops,capitalletters,exclamationmarks,questionmarks, commasforlistsandapostrophesforcontractedformsandthe possessive(singular).

• Learnhowtouse:

osentenceswithdifferentforms:statement,question,exclamation, command.

oexpandednounphrasestodescribeandspecify[forexample,theblue butterfly].

othepresentandpasttensescorrectlyandconsistentlyincludingthe progressiveform.

osubordination(usingwhen,if,that,orbecause)andcoordination (usingor,and,orbut).

othegrammarforYear2.

osomefeaturesofwrittenStandardEnglish.

• UseandunderstandthegrammaticalterminologyinEnglishAppendix2indiscussingtheirwriting.

Year 3 and 4: Pupils should be taught to:

• Developtheirunderstandingoftheconceptsby:

oextendingtherangeofsentenceswithmorethanoneclausebyusinga widerrangeofconjunctions,includingwhen,if,because,although.

ousingthepresentperfectformofverbsincontrasttothepasttense.

ochoosingnounsorpronounsappropriatelyforclarityandcohesionandto avoidrepetition.

ousingconjunctions,adverbsandprepositionstoexpresstimeandcause.

ousingfrontedadverbials.

olearningthegrammarforYears3and4.

• Indicategrammaticalandotherfeaturesby:

ousingcommasafterfrontedadverbials.

oindicatingpossessionbyusingthepossessiveapostrophewithplural nouns.

ousingandpunctuatingdirectspeech.

• UseandunderstandthegrammaticalterminologyinEnglishAppendix2accuratelyandappropriatelywhendiscussingtheirwritingandreading.

Year 5 and 6: Pupils should be taught to:

• DeveloptheirunderstandingoftheconceptssetoutinEnglishAppendix2by:

orecognisingvocabularyandstructuresthatareappropriateforformal speechandwriting,includingsubjunctiveforms.

ousingpassiveverbstoaffectthepresentationofinformationina sentence.

ousingtheperfectformofverbstomarkrelationshipsoftimeandcause.

ousingexpandednounphrasestoconveycomplicatedinformation concisely.

ousingmodalverbsoradverbstoindicatedegreesofpossibility.

• DeveloptheirunderstandingoftheconceptssetoutinEnglishAppendix2by:

ousingrelativeclausesbeginningwithwho,which,where,when,whose, thatorwithanimplied(i.e.omitted)relativepronoun.

olearningthegrammarforYears5and6inEnglishAppendix2.

Year 5 and 6: Pupils should be taught to (cont...):

• Indicategrammaticalandotherfeaturesby:

ousingcommastoclarifymeaningoravoidambiguityinwriting.

ousinghyphenstoavoidambiguity.

ousingbrackets,dashesorcommastoindicateparenthesis.

ousingsemi-colons,colonsordashestomarkboundariesbetween independentclauses.

ousingacolontointroducealist.

opunctuatingbulletpointsconsistently.

• UseandunderstandthegrammaticalterminologyinEnglishAppendix2accuratelyandappropriatelyindiscussingtheirwritingandreading.

For each of the sentences below, underline the subject and the verb?

For example: Thedoghasthebone.

1.Theboyhasgonedowntheroad.

2.Werunacrosstheplayground.

3.Thegirllaydownonthecarpet.

4.Youclapyourhandsinassembly.

5.Ijumpoverthewall.

6.Wecanfindthepencilyoulosttogether.

Choose verbs to complete each sentence and write them in the spaces below, so that the sentences make sense.

seesjumpsmakethrewbarked

1. Itheballtomyfriend.

2. Canyoumeanicecolddrink?

3. Thegirlthepersonrunningacrosstheroad.

4. Theboyoverthewall.

5. Shep,thedog,loudly.

Ineachofthesentencesbelowthereisasubjectandaverb.

Asubjectisanamingword(boy,dog,pen).Thesearenouns.Averbisadoingword(go,walk,run,hit).

Year 1 – Activity 1Can you identify subjects and verbs?

Circle the correct verb and add a phrase to finish the sentence. The first one has been done for you.

1. Theysit/sits by the river.

2.Hewalk/walks

3.Werun/runs

4.Theyhit/hits

5.Ijump/jumps

6.Shelay/lays

7.Youclap/claps

Write some different sentences using the same subjects and verbs.

Year 1 – Activity 2Can you choose verbs that agree

with the subject?

Chooseasubjectandaverbthatagreeandusethemtowriteafullsentenceonaseparatepieceofpaper.Youshouldhavetwosentencesforeachsubjectandverbcombination–onesingle,oneplural.

Example:

The boy runs to the finish line. The boys run to the finish line.

Subjects Verbs

Thesubjectandverbinasentencemustagreewitheachother.Thiscanbetricky–especiallywhenwehaveaplural(morethanone).Forexample:Theboy/theboys.

Theruleisverysimple–ifitisasinglesubjectthenyouaddan‘s’totheverb.Ifitispluralthenyoudon’t!

Year 2 – Activity 1Can you choose subjects and verbs that agree and

use them in sentences?

Agirl/Thegirls

Theseed/Theseeds

Thefan/Thefans

Thetelephone/Thetelephones

Thecup/Thecups

Thering/Therings

sparkles/sparkle

blows/blow

shines/shine

sees/see

rings/ring

grows/grow

Year 2 – Activity 2Can you make the subject and verb agree and say a

sentence for each pair?How to play:1. Cutoutthesubjectandverblistsbelow.2. Makeapileofsubjectsandapileofverbswiththecardsturnedfacedown.3. Pickonecardfromeachpileandmakeupasentencetotellyourpartner.4. Thenyourpartnerdoesthesame.5.Whenyouhaveusedallthecards,mixthemupandtryagain.

Subject Verb

We run/runs

They jump/jumps

You leap/leaps

I slip/slips

He shout/shouts

Thedog/Thedogs hear/hears

Thebird/Thebirds look/looks

Using a separate piece of paper, write down the sentences below changing the present tense verbs to the past tense. The verbs to change are in bold.

1.Theboyisatthelocalfootballmatch.

2.Shesitsonthebenchwaitingquietlyforherfriend.

3.Thedogsbarkatthepostmaneveryday.

4.Whenthecatjumpsoffthewallitlooksscary.

5.IfindMathsreallyhard.

Now change these present tense verbs into the past tense and make up a sentence of your own for each one.

run

do

Oftenwhenwewritestoriesweusethepasttense.Soforexamplewemayuse‘was’insteadof‘am’.

Iam verytired.Iwas verytired.

Year 3 – Activity 1Can you change these verbs into the past tense so

that the sentences make sense?

Year 3 – Activity 2Can you identify the verbs and rewrite the story in

the past tense?

Read the text below and underline all the verbs.

What tense is the text written in? Would a different tense work better? Why/Why not?

On a separate piece of paper, try rewriting the paragraph using the same verbs but in a different tense. Then, with a partner, read the paragraph that you have written and check that it makes sense.

Itisacoldandstormyevening.Therainfallonthedustytrack

makesitmuddy.

Davidseeshisfriendinthedistancewalkingtowardshim.Helooks

likehehasbeenwalkingallday.Justnowthereisaboltoflightning.

Ithitsatreeandweallhearaloudsound.ThenDavidstaresaheadto

seehisfriendtrappedunderthetreetrunk.

Davidrunsuptohisfriendandwithonetugpullsthetreefromhim.

‘Thankyou,’David’sfriendsays.

You will need:

8-sideddice

Averycreativeimagination!

How to play:

1. Rollthediceonce.Lookatthetablebelowandmatchthenumberyourolledto

thecorrectsubject.

2. Rollthediceagain.Lookattheverbcolumnandpicktheverbthatgoeswiththe

numberyourolled.

3. Rollthediceathirdtime.Thisisyouradverbtomakethesentencemoreexciting.

Dice roll Subject Verb Adverb1 boy ran slowly2 girl flew quickly3 cat jumped worriedly4 elephant whispered silently5 mouse went excitedly6 shed did roughly7 door saw menacingly8 dog found hilariously

Onceyouhavedonethisyouneedtomakeupasentenceusingallthreewords.It

canbeverysillyaslongasitis‘grammatically’correct.Forexample,rolling4,2and4

wouldgiveyou:

elephant/few/silently–Theelephantflewsilentlyacrossthesky.Itmightbesillybutitstillmakessense!Writeyoursentencebelow.

Year 4 – Activity 1Can you create silly sentences that still make sense?

On a separate piece of paper, rewrite sentences 1–3 so that they are about the past and the future. The first one has been done for you.

1. Iwalkthroughtheforest.(presenttense)

I walked through the forest.(pasttense)

I will walk through the forest. (futuretense)

2. Herunsasfastasaspeedingcar.

3. Herworkonthecomputerisincorrect.

4. Wheredoyougetyourideasfrom?

Now make up your own present-tense sentences using the words below. (You might need to alter the verb slightly to get it to agree with the subject.)

Then get your partner to turn it into the past or future tense.

has doctor Rohan push see

boy do tap you smile

reach girl it go Mandip

we pull they break I

she he find hear clap

search hope take tell stop

Year 4 – Activity 2Can you change sentences from the present tense

to the past and future tenses?

Bynowyouwillknowthatasubjectandverbmustagree.However,workingonpresentandpasttenseisgreat–butthefuturetensecanbeabitmoretricky.Whymightthisbe?

Complete these sentences using the subjunctive. The first one has been done for you.

1.IfI were headteacher,I would get rid of school uniforms.

2.IfSunitalessbusy,she

3.IfLucaprimeminister

4.Ifthebusjourneyfaster,we

5.IfIolder,I

Complete these sentences using the subjunctive. The first one has been done for you.

1. Iwishthebank were open late on a Friday.

2. Irecommendthatthetrip

3. MymotherinsiststhatI

4.Doctorssuggestthatpeople

5. Thecustomerdemandsthatwe

Thesubjunctive moodcanbeusedtotalkaboutsituationswhicharenotcertainorreal.Itisoftenusedinformalsituations.Forexample:IfIwereeducationsecretary,Iwouldbanexamsfromallschools.

Noticethatwereisusedinsteadofwas.Inthesubjunctive,theverbdoesn’tchangeaccordingtothesubject.

Thesubjunctivecanbeusedwhenwearesayingwhatwesuggest,demandorhopewillhappen.Forexample:Isuggestthatyouarriveearlytomorrow.Iinsistthathefixthisproblem!Iwishyouwerehere.

Year 5 – Activity 1Can you complete sentences in the subjunctive

mood?

How to play:

1.Rollthe6-sideddiceonce.

2.Lookatthetabletofindoutwhichtopicyouneedtodiscuss.

3.Usingthesentence-starterpromptsbelow,haveadiscussionwithapartner,only

usingsubjunctivestatements.Rememberthesubjunctivecanbeusedforahope,a

suggestionorademand–itdoesnotevenhavetobepossible!Startwith‘Ifonly…’

Dice roll Discussion topic

1 Space

2 Icecream

3 Schooluniform

4 Transportinthefuture

5 Bestsports

6 Yourambitionsinlife

Use the sentence starters to help you phrase your ‘subjunctive mood’...

Year 5 – Activity 2Can you have conversations using the

subjunctive mood?

You will need: 6-sideddice

Apartner

Thebestwaytopracticethesubjunctivemoodistotalktooneanotherusingphrasestohelpyouremember.

Ifonly… Isuggest…

Iwouldrather… Myrecommendationis…

IfIwereyouI’d… Iwish…

NoIinsist/demand/expect… Ihope…

Year 6 – Activity 1Can you use active and passive verbs?

Change these sentences into passive ones. Write your answers on a separate piece of paper.

1. Thegirlheldthepentightly.

2. Theballrestedunderthedogspaw.

3. Themanslammedthedoor.

4.Thefootballerstrucktheballhard.

5. Theteacherpraisedtheclassforbeingsowellbehaved.

Change these sentences into active ones. Write your answers on a separate piece of paper.

1.Thehotdogwasdevouredbytheman.

2.Theemailwassentbythemanager.

3.IwastakentotheconcertbymyMum.

4.Theballwaskickedoffofthegroundbytheplayer.

5.Whentherabbitwasfoundbythegirl,everyonecheered.

Whenthepassiveisused,theobjectmovestothefrontofthesentenceandbecomesthesubject.Theoriginalsubjectmovestotheendofthesentence.Thepassiveformisusefulinformalwriting.Forexample:Thebookwasreadbytheboy.

Verbscanbeactiveorpassive.

Averbisactivewhenthesubjectofthesentenceisdoingsomething.Forexample:Theboyreadhisbook.

You will need:An8-sideddice

How to play:Inthisgameyouhavetostartwithasubjectandaverb,thendecidewhetheryouwill

useanactiveverborapassiveverb.Whicheveryoudecidetouse,yourpartnerhasto

usetheother–iftheydon’t,youwinthepoint!

Dice roll Subject Verb1 he found2 she saw3 I hit4 we received5 they sat6 theman looked7 thewoman understood8 it heard

Rollthedicetwicetogetyoursubjectandverb,andthendecideonactiveorpassive.

Forexample,ifyourolla2anda4,anddecidetouseanactive verb,youcouldsay:

‘She received the gift.’ (Active)

Togetthepointyourpartnerwouldneedtoreplywith:

‘The gift was received by the girl.’(Passive)

Firstto5pointswins!

Year 6 – Activity 2Can you create active and passive sentences?