Revising Grammar

1. GRAMMAR Revising Grammar

2. What is grammar? Essentially, grammar is the set of rules used to ensure the correct use of language. Grammar is a vast subject so we are only going to brush up our skills on the following topics: • verbs and tense • commas • apostrophes • capital letters • linking words • the difference between there, their and they’re • the difference between where, wear and were • the difference between to, too and two.

3. Basics • Noun Naming word – the girl • Adjective Describing word – the sad girl • Verb Doing word – the sad girl cried • Adverb Describes verbs – the sad girl cried bitterly

4. Sentences • Learning intention To learn the rules about sentence writing.

5. Sentences There are two rules to remember about sentences. All sentences have asubject and averb. This means that all sentences have a doing word and something/one doing the action. We/I/They/The band/The groupies arrived at the gig at 5pm. The gig started/ended/blew upat 5pm.

6. Sentences All sentences begin with a capital letter and end with: a full stop. a question mark? or an exclamation mark!

7. Sentences Why aren’t these proper sentences? the gig started at 5pm Arrived at the gig at 5pm. The gig at 5pm.

8. Verbs and tense • Learning intention To be able to recognise and use verbs and their various tenses.

9. What are verbs? Verbs are words that indicate an action. They are often referred to as 'doing' words because they indicate something that people or things do: • I walked to the shop. • I jumped over the fence. • I sang my favourite song.

10. Verbs: your turn Underline the verbs in the following sentences. • Sharon laughed at the joke. • Craig read his book. • Columbus discovered America. • The mountaineer climbed Everest. • Jimmy changed the tyre.

11. Verbs: take it a bit further. Fill in the gaps in each of the following sentences with a suitable verb. The size of gap does not correspond to the size of the word. • The decorator __________ the walls. • The sergeant __________ at the soldier. • Iain __________ sausages for his breakfast. • Victoria ___________ an egg for her breakfast. • The darts player_________ the board. • Sheena ________ carefully to the points made.

12. Tense: what is it? If verbs are to do with action, we need something in the language to tell us when the action was done.

13. The principal tenses There are three principal or main tenses: past tenseI was… present tenseI am… future tenseI will… past: I was running to the shop. present: I amrunning to the shop. future: I will run to the shop. Writing should always have tense agreement, ie the tense should be consistent.

14. Tense: what’s wrong here? I used to livein Aberdeen and I worked in MacDonalds and really like that job. I was promoted to senior manager last year after I work there for three years.

15. Tense: your turn Read the following sentences and identify whether the tense is past, present or future. • I am leaving the match early because it is boring. • I barged through the door and told him off. • I will be talking to Craig later so I’ll phone you afterwards. • I was dreaming that I was a millionaire. • I laughed my head off at the comedian’s jokes. • I am going to Lanzarote for my holidays.

16. Tense: taking it further Fill in the blanks with a verb and state which tense you are using. • I ___________ my mistake and ___________ it. • ___________ high above us are beautiful birds. • I am ____________ a tune that’s been in my head all day. • I __________ the important piece of homework last night. • I will ______________ the important assessment next week.

17. ‘To be’ : the forgotten verb ‘To be’ is the most common verb form in English although many people don’t realise that it is a verb. Can you work out what each form of the verb is below (past, present or future)? I am She is I was I have been We are They were We will be

18. Commas • Learning intention To identify how a comma is used to affect meaning and to be able to use commas accurately in writing.

19. Commas Sentences contain commas in order to: break up lists I bought tea, coffee, milk and chocolate separate asides The chocolate, which I bought at Markies, was really expensive! mark the start/end of speech 'Commas are beginning to make sense,'said Anna. Anna said, 'Actually, grammar is beginning to make sense.' follow a linking word Firstly, the media are unfair in their treatment of young people. However, some representations are more positive than others.

20. Commas Which belongs to which image? He eats shoots and leaves. He eats, shoots and leaves.

21. Commas help to make sense He eats, shoots and leaves. The comma indicates that this is a list. A list of what? A list of verbs (doing words): he performs the action of eating, the action of shooting and the action of leaving. He eats shoots and leaves. The absence of a comma indicates that this is not a list. Instead the single verb (eats) acts on two nouns (describing words): the shoots and the leaves.

22. Commas: your turn Insert commas in the following lists where you think they are necessary. • Craig went to bed tired ashamed sorry and alone. • I was wearing a black suit white shirt blue tie and black shoes. • I leafed through the paper turned to the television page decided what to watch and turned the TV on.

23. Commas: your turn again Add commas to the following sentences to mark the asides. • To tell you the truth I think the butler did it. • Chloe has not as far as I know been to her friend’s house today. • The football match which was end to end stuff finished a drawn game. • The last thing I heard Jimmy had gone to town.

24. Commas: still your turn Can you add commas and inverted commas to mark speech in the following sentences? • Chloe said I think I will go to town later. • I am off to the football match shouted Paul. • I expect your homework on Thursday demanded the teacher. • John roared That was never a goal!

25. The apostrophe: what is it? • Learning intention To be able to use correctly both forms of the apostrophe in order to help make meaning clear. The apostrophe is a punctuation mark that has two main functions: • It shortens words and shows where the missing letters were (known ascontraction). • It indicates the ownership of a noun.

26. Apostrophes and Contractions Contractions • Will not – won’t • Cannot – can’t • Have not – haven’t

27. Apostrophes: your turn Indicate where you think apostrophes should go in the following letter. Hi Jane, I wont be able to go the cinema this weekend. Its my mum. Shes very ill and I wouldnt want to leave her. Ill definitely go another time with you as Id really like to see 'Fun in Second Term'. That’s if you don’t decide to go and see it with someone else. Lots of love, Megan

28. Apostrophes and ownership Ownership of something by a single person, place or thing is shown by adding s to the singular and putting an apostrophe before this s. The boy’s football The lady’s purse The table’s legs The house’s windows Glasgow’s city chambers

29. Apostrophes and ownership 2 The previous examples were all concerned with the singular. Can you see what the difference is when the person, place or thing is plural? For example, when there is more than one boy who owns the football: The boys’ football A few more: The animals’ paws The teachers’ staff room The houses’ letterboxes The shops’ targets

30. Apostrophes and ownership: the exception to the rule Now that you have seen that plural forms seem to take the sfollowed by the apostrophe, you need to know of the exception to this rule. When the plural does not end in an s then the apostrophe must come before the added s: The men’s toiletries are on floor one. The women’s hats are on floor five. How many other plurals can you think of that do not end in s?

31. Apostrophes and ownership: your turn Indicate where you think the apostrophes should go in the following passage. Mr Fishers decision to issue a fortnights homework at one go was met with a stunned silence from the girls students council representative. She said that this was outrageous and that the councils members would vote not to do this. The boys representative was not available to pass comment as he was, apparently, in the mens room.

32. Common spelling errors Some words are hard to spell because they sound like other words. Words that sound similar are known as homonyms. Common homonyms are: • There, their and they’re • Where, were and wear • To, too and two • Learning intention To be able to recognise common homonyms and to choose the correct form when writing sentences.

33. There, their and they’re There location – over there Their belonging (their friends) They’re contraction (they are) They’re taking their money over there.

34. There, their or they’re: your turn Complete the following sentences putting in the correct version of there, their or they’re. • Standover _______ where I can keep my eye on you. • ________ folders are over _______. • ________ collecting in all the pencils. • I’m not sure what I’ve done with _______ coats. • If they don’t hurry up ________ going to miss the start of the film.

35. Where, were or wear? Where is a question: Wheredid you put my car keys? Wereis the past tense of ‘are’: Are you driving my car today? Wereyou driving my car yesterday? Wearis concerned with clothes on the body: I think I will wear my black trousers today. or to do with damage: Your sore shoulder is due to wear and tear of the joint.

36. Where, were or wear: your turn Complete the following sentences putting in the correct version of where, were or wear. • Standthere ________ I can see you. • Our bags _______ here a short time ago. • It’s cold outside so ________ a jumper. • And ________ do you think you are going? • I will ________ blue eye shadow to match my dress. • John and Jim ________ often arguing over football.

37. Too, two and to Too emphasis – 'too hot', 'too cold' also – 'us too' Two 2 To location – going to the pub The two of us are going to the pub. It’s not too expensive. You can come too!

38. Too, two or to: your turn Complete the following sentences using the correct form of too, two or to. • I am going ___ see the new horror movie at the weekend. • It sounds great. Can I come ___? • Yes, if you want ___. I’ll buy ___ tickets online. • Remember it lasts for over ___ hours though. • Oh! That might be ___ long for me. • That’s ___ much of a pity. I’ll just buy one ticket just now instead of ___ until you have made up your mind whether ___ go or not.

39. Capitals A proper noun is the term given to name a particular person, place, day of the week, month or time of the year. Proper nouns should always be given a capital letter: • John • Christmas • Mexico • February. • Learning intention To be able to recognise proper nouns and capitalise them in your writing.

40. Capital letters: your turn Write out the following, putting in all the capital letters and all the full stops. Robert burns was born on 25th of january 1759 robert was born in alloway, ayrshire and is widely regarded as scotland’s greatest poet the house he was born in was built by his father and is now a part of the robert burns heritage museum robert lived in this house until easter 1766 when the family moved to a nearby farm called mount oliphant