Year 1 Year 2

Year 3 Year 4

Year 5 Year 6

 D. Bryant 2016
Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Year 1
terminology for pupils

Year 1 capital letter exclamation mark full-stop

letter plural punctuation
question mark sentence, 2 singular
word
Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Year 2
terminology for pupils

Year 1 terminology plus:

Year 2 adverb adjective apostrophe
comma command compound
exclamation noun noun phrase
question statement suffix
tense verb
[past, present]
Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Year 3
terminology for pupils
Year 1 & 2 terminology plus:
Year 3 a/an clause conjunction, 2
consonant consonant direct speech
letter
inverted commas prefix, 2 preposition, 2
speech marks subordinate vowel
clause
vowel letter word family
Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Year 4
terminology for pupils

Year 1, 2 & 3 terminology plus:

Year 4 adverbial determiner
possessive pronoun pronoun
Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Year 5
terminology for pupils

Year 1, 2, 3 & 4 terminology plus:

Year 5 ambiguity brackets
cohesion dash
modal verb parenthesis
relative clause relative pronoun
Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Year 6
terminology for pupils

Year 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 terminology plus:

Year 6 active antonym
bullet points colon (:)
ellipsis (...) hyphen (-)
object passive
semi-colon (;) subject
synonym
 a/an
If a word begins with a consonant, we write
a bird
a school
a tall mountain.
If a word begins with a vowel, we write
an apple
an amazing time
an owl.
 active/passive
• Many verbs can be active or passive.
The dog bit Andy. [active]
The dog carried out the action.
Andy was bitten by the dog. [passive]
What was ‘done’ to Andy.
By the dog tells us who ‘did’ it.
• In a passive sentence, it does not say who or what
carried out an action.
The car was parked carefully.
 adjective
• Adjectives are describing words.
tall, angry, green, old, smooth
• These adjectives are used to describe an noun.
• Adjectives are placed before the noun.
a tall alien,
a green alien
an angry alien.
We can use them together, with commas.
a tall, green and angry alien.
 adverb
• An adverb is a word in a sentence that says how or
in what way something is happening.
• Many adverbs end in –ly but not all.
• Adverbs of manner:
She listened carefully.
– [oddly, safely, quietly, loudly, slowly, smoothly]
• Adverbs of time
We had the work completed earlier.
– [weekly, daily, yearly, hourly, later, finally]
 adverbial
• An adverbial is an adverb, phrase or clause used
to add information to a verb.
• An adverbial tells you where, when, how often,
how long or how much something happens.
I’ll meet you by the swings.
We caught the bus yesterday.
I drive past the school carefully every day.
It will me take all morning to clean the car.
• An adverbial can be a ‘fronted adverbial:
Later that day, I felt better.
 ambiguity
• Ambiguity is used to describe a phrase or
statement that has more then one
interpretation.
Chasing dogs can be dangerous.
• Is it dangerous to be near dogs chasing each
other?
• Or is it dangerous to chase dogs?
He saw the boy with binoculars.
• Ambiguity can be used for humour.
 antonym
• An antonym is a word that has the opposite
meaning of a word.
word antonym
hot cold
dark light
smooth rough
early late
wet dry
 apostrophe (’)
• Apostrophes look similar to commas BUT are
written above letters, not on the line.
• Apostrophes are used to show possession
[before an ‘s’].
Amy’s pencil
cat’s milk bowl
• Apostrophes are used to replace letters
[contractions].
can’t, don’t, shan’t,
mustn’t, I’m, we’ve
 brackets ( )
• Brackets are used to separate a word or phrase
that has been added to a sentence as an
explanation or afterthought.
• The word or phrase inside the brackets is called
a parenthesis.

I looked up (not at the sun of course)

and saw my brother’s plane heading for
Australia.
 • bullet points
• Bullet points are used to organise a list in order to
make it clear.
• The list is usually introduced with a colon.
My plans for the holiday:
• paint the small bedroom
• replant the vegetable garden
• go to see Star Wars
• visit my friend in Southampton.
 capital letter
• A capital letter always begins a sentence.
Today is my birthday and I am 8 years old.
• Capital letters are used for days of the week and
months of the year.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, …
January, February, March, …
• Capital letters are used for all names.
London, Clara, Waterloo, Tesco, Wales
• ‘I’ is always a capital letter.
 clause
• A clause is a group of words in a sentence.
• It can be used as a whole sentence.
• All clauses have a verb.
• A sentence is made up of one or more clauses.
The green bird pecked an apple.
Ella has five pets because she likes
animals.
 cohesion
• Writing has cohesion [consistency] if it is clear
how the different parts fit together.
• Cohesion devices are words used to show how the
different parts of a text fit together – they
create cohesion. Cohesion devices include:
determiners and pronouns can refer us back
to earlier words,
conjunctions and adverbs can make
relationships between words,
We group sentences together in paragraphs.
 colon (:)
• A colon is a punctuation mark of two dots.
• A colon can be used to introduce a list.
Here are my favourite colours red,
yellow, orange and green.
• A colon can be used before an explanation.
I was extremely hungry: I hadn’t
eaten for 24 hours.
 comma (,)
• A comma looks like a full stop with a tail.
• Commas are used to separate things in a list.
In my basket, I had cheese, milk and bread.
• A comma is also used after ‘setting the scene’ in
a sentence, or after a fronted adverbial.
As soon as I have finished, we can go into
town.

• A comma is used after these words and phrases:

However, Consequently, Therefore,
Of course, As a result,
 command
• Commands are bossy, simple sentences.
• Commands usually tell someone what to do.
• Commands begin with a capital letter.
• Commands usually end in an exclamation mark!
• Commands are also sentences as they have a
verb in them.
• Commands often begin with a verb.
Don’t do that in here! Tidy up your room!
Take your shoes off! Ready, steady, go!
Keep off the grass!
 compound
• A compound word has at least 2 root words.
• The two root words are written ‘joined together’
as a compound word.
• A compound word usually has a different meaning
than the two separate words.
blackbird, bookshop, snowman, buttercup,
• Sometimes a hyphen [-] is used in between the
two words.
ice-cream, baby-sit, one-eyed, blow-dry
 conjunction
• Conjunctions are ‘connecting words’, used to join
words or groups of words together. [A junction is
where two things join].
and but or then so if after
when before after while because
• You can also start a sentence with a conjunction.
Ella has five pets because she likes animals.
When it stops raining, I’m going out.
 conjunction
• There are two main types of conjunctions.
o Co-ordinating conjunctions that link phrases or clauses
as an equal pair.
o Subordinating conjunctions that link an independent
clause [one that stands on its own] and a dependent
clause [one that doesn’t stand on its own].
• Other conjunctions can be used for
addition also, furthermore, moreover
opposition however, nevertheless, on the other hand
reinforcing besides, anyway, after that
explaining for example, in other words, that is to say
listing first, firstly, first of all, finally
result therefore, consequently, as a result
time just then, meanwhile, later, after that
 consonant
• A consonant is a letter sound made through the
use of the lips, tongue or teeth.
• Most of the letters of the alphabet are
consonants.
• p - flow of air stopped by the lips, then released.
• t - flow of air stopped by the tongue touching the roof
of the mouth, then released.
• f - flow of air obstructed by the bottom lip
touching the top teeth. Consonant
• s - flow of air obstructed by the tip of the letters
tongue touching the gum line.
consonant letter
• Most of the letters of the alphabet are
consonants. The other 5 letters are vowels.

bcdfghjklm
npqrstvwxyz
 dash (-)
• A dash can show a break in a sentence that is
longer, or more important than a break made by a
comma.
The fire spread so quickly – I was scared.
• Dashes are used to separate a word or phrase that
has been added to a sentence as an explanation or
afterthought. The word or phrase inside the
dashes is called a parenthesis.
I looked up - not at the sun of course -
and saw my brother’s plane heading for
Australia.
 determiner
• A determiner specifies a noun as known or unknown.
• A determiner is either general, specific or a quantifier.
• General determiners: a, an, any, another. other, what
• Specific determiners: the, my, your, his, her, its, our,
their, whose, this, that, these, those, which.
• Quantifying determiners: all, any, enough, less, a lot
of, lots of, more, most, none of, some, both, each,
every, a few, fewer, neither, either, several.
• A determiner can be an article: a, an, the
• A determiner can be possessive: my, your, his, her,
our, their
 direct speech
• Direct speech is the words which actually come
out of someone’s mouth - like the speech bubble
in a cartoon.
• Inverted commas are used when writing direct
speech.

Hello! What do
we have here?
 ellipsis (…)
• An ellipsis (…) is used to show that a word has
been missed out or a sentence has not been
finished.
If only she had ... it doesn’t matter now.
I looked round the corner ...
• An ellipsis (…) can be used to create tension,
excitement or used to create a cliff hanger in
stories.
Just then, she saw it...
 exclamation
• Exclamations are simple sentences.
• Exclamations begin with a capital letter.
• Exclamations usually end in an exclamation mark.
• Exclamations are full of emotion!
• Exclamations can be joyful, wonderful, angry or
surprizing.
That was amazing! I’m so happy!
I’ll catch you! Oh dear!
Haven’t you grown! Ouch!
Look out! Mind the step! Wow!
What a beautiful day! Stop!
 exclamation mark !
• An exclamation mark is a straight line on top of a
dot [sometimes called a wheeeee-bop] !!!
• An exclamation mark also comes at the end of a
special sentence called an exclamation.
• An exclamation mark is used if the sentence is
surprizing, wonderful or urgent.
Wow, just look at that!
You have new glasses!
Hurry up !
 full stop (.)
• A full stop shows where a sentence ENDS.
• A full stop is like stopping to take a breath when
you are talking.
• A full stop is a small dot and it is drawn after the
last word and sits on the line.
The little bird pecked the seeds.
My friend Maya came to tea.
 hyphen (-)
• A hyphen is used to join two words:
yellow-haired, money-back, t-shirt.

• A hyphen is used to avoid confusion over meaning.

We live next to a mouse eating cat.
We live next to a mouse-eating cat.
 inverted commas “
”
• Inverted commas [speech marks] go around the
speaker’s words [direct speech].
• We use them in stories to show when a character
is talking.
• Start a new line whenever speech is written.
• Use a capital letter whenever someone starts to
speak.
“ Hello,” cackled the witch, “ what do
we have here?”
 letter
• Letters make up words.
• There are 26 letters in the English alphabet.
• Each letter makes a sound: s = sssss, m = mmmm.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m
n o p q r s t u v w x y z
 modal verb
• Modal verbs are used to change the meaning of
other verbs.
• They can express meanings such as certainty,
ability, or obligation.
• The main modal verbs are:
will, would, can, could, may, might,
shall, should, must and ought.
 noun
• Nouns are naming words.
• Everything we see and talk about is represented by
a word which names it – that word is called a noun.
• There are nouns for animals, places, objects,
people, qualities and measures.
tiger, garden, kettle,
uncle, kindness, month
• A proper noun is the actual name of a person,
place or thing: Lily, Africa, London Bridge.
 noun phrase
• A noun phrase is a phrase with a noun at its head.
• Examples of noun phrases are in blue as each one
tells us more about the cat.
My cat is asleep.
My black cat is asleep.
My lazy, black cat is asleep.
On the sofa, my lazy, black cat is asleep.
 object
• The object is normally a noun, noun phrase, or the
pronoun that comes straight after the verb.
• The object shows what the verb is acting upon

Year 6 designed some puppets. (noun)

Years 3 and 4 put on a lovely show.
(noun phrase)
Yummy; I liked that! (pronoun)
 parenthesis
• A parenthesis is a word or phrase that is inserted
into a sentence to add more information.
• A parenthesis can be placed in brackets or
between dashes or commas.
Arthur (the dog next door) often barks
early in the morning.
My son – second from the right - is
running in the final at school.
Frank, I think, sings brilliantly.
• Parenthesis can refer to brackets themselves.
 prefix
• A prefix is added at the beginning of a ‘root’
word in order to turn it into another word.
un + happy = unhappy
dis + appear = disappear
mis + behave = misbehave
re + do = redo
im + possible = impossible
anti + clockwise = anti clockwise
 prefix
• un, dis, mis have negative meanings – untied, disagree, misbehave
in, il, im ir
• in can mean not’ - incorrect
• if the root word begins with ‘l’, use il – illegal.
• if the root word begins with ‘m’ or ‘p’, use im - impossible.
• if the root word begins with ‘r’, use ir – irregular.

• re can mean again or back – reappear, return

• sub can mean under – submarine, subdivide
• inter can mean between or among – interact, international
• super can mean above - supermarket, superman
• anti can mean against – anticlockwise, antisocial
• auto can mean self or own – autograph, autobiography `
 preposition
• Preposition means positioned before [a noun].
• Therefore prepositions link the following noun,
pronoun or noun phrase to some other word in the
sentence.
• Prepositions describe where [e.g. under, over,
between] or when [after, before, during] something
happened.
We got home at midnight.
Are you coming with me?
They jumped over a fence.
 preposition
Prepositions can indicate:
time (at midnight/during the film/on Friday),
position (at the station/in a field),
direction (to the station/over a fence).
possession (of this street),
means (by car),
accompaniment (with me).
 pronoun
• A pronoun is word that replaces a noun.
• A pronoun can be personal: I, me, you, he, him,
she, her, we, us, they, them, it.
• A pronoun can be possessive: his, hers, mine,
ours, yours, theirs, its
• A pronoun can be indefinite: someone, nobody,
anything, everything.
Emily watched the film and she loved it.
 punctuation
• Punctuation marks are used in sentences to make
the meaning clearer.
full-stop . semi-colon ;
capital letters ABC dash -
question marks ? brackets ()
exclamation marks ! ellipsis …
comma , hyphen -
apostrophe ’ bullet points •
speech marks “” finger space
colon :
 question
• A question asks you, or someone something.
Can we go to grandma’s?
• A question usually needs an answer.
Yes, when we have finished tidying the
kitchen.
• A question ends with a question mark: ?
• Questions often begin with
What… Where… When… Which…
Why… Is… Are…
 question mark ?
• A question mark comes at the end of a question.
Is Maya coming to tea?
• A question mark helps you to read it as if you are
asking the question.
• When you read it, you add expression.
Are we there yet?
 relative clause
• A relative clause is a special type of subordinate
clause that modifies a noun.
• It often does this by using a relative pronoun
such as who or that to refer back to that noun,
though the relative pronoun that is often
omitted.
• A relative clause may also be attached to a
clause. In that case, the pronoun refers back to
the whole clause, rather than referring back to a
noun.
That’s the boy who lives near school.
 relative pronoun
• A relative pronoun is a pronoun such as
that, which, who, whom, and whose
• A relative pronoun is often used to begin a
relative clause to connect it to the main clause.

I enjoyed the film that we saw last week.

We didn’t bring the receipt, which was a

big mistake.
 semi-colon (;)
• A semi-colon is a punctuation mark, made up of a
dot above a comma.
• A semi-colon can be used to show a break in
sentence.
• If used as a break, a semi-colon gives a ‘longer’
break than a comma.
The girl had never been so terrified; she
backed away but there was nowhere to hide.
The film was great; I had a great time.
 sentence
• A sentence is a group of words with a verb.
• All sentences must make sense.
• All sentences begin with capital letter.
• A sentence can be a statement, a question, a
command or an exclamation.
• A sentence ends with a full-stop, a question mark
or an exclamation mark.
It is very sunny today.
When are you coming to tea?
Shut that door!
 sentence
• Sentences can be simple [one clause].
There is a dog next door.
• Sentences can be compound [2 clauses linked
together with a conjunction].
The ginger cat was sitting on the wall
and it jumped onto a rat.
• Sentences can be complex [a main clause, a
conjunction, and a subordinate clause].
The postman, who was coming down the
path, delivered my birthday present.
 singular/plural
• Singular means only one.
• Plural means more then one.
singular plural
a cat two cats
one year 6 years
the bus those buses
a box ten boxes
my baby my babies
our family their families
 statement
• Statements are simple sentences.
• Statements begin with a capital letter.
• Statements end with a full stop.

The cat was sitting on the wall.

My tummy is rumbling.
It is nearly bedtime.
Goldilocks knocked on the yellow door.
 subject
• The subject of a verb is normally the noun, noun
phrase, or the pronoun that names the do-er or be-
er.
• The subject’s normal position is just before the
verb in a statement.
The dog escaped from the garden.
• The subject can be in the first person [I, we],
second person [you] or third person [he, she, it,
they].
 subordinate
clause
• A subordinate clause (or dependent clause) does
not make sense on its own.
• A subordinate clause begins with a subordinating
conjunction, e.g. when, if, although, because until.
I fished until the sun went down.
Although it had stopped raining, Anne still
wore her raincoat to walk home.
 suffix
• A suffix is added at the end of a ‘root’ or ‘base’
word in order to turn it into another word.
book + s = books
walk + ed = walked
wash + ing = washing
soft + er = softer
length + en = lengthen
enjoy + ment = enjoyment
good + ness = goodness
joy + ful = joyful
quiet + ly = quietly
 synonym
• An synonym is a word that has the same or nearly
the same meaning of a word.
word synonym
hot boiling
dark gloomy
smooth flat
early first
wet rainy
 tense
• A tense is a type of verb that tells when something
happened.
• If something is happening now, it is called present
tense.
• If something has already happened, it is called past
tense.
present past
I jump a wall. I jumped a wall.
I am running. I was running.
I eat my dinner. I ate my dinner.
 verb
• Verbs are ‘doing’ words.
• A verb tells of an action.
talk, talking, talked, run, ran, running
think, thinking, thought, sit, sat, sitting,
cook, jump, see, look, watch.
• The most common verb is to be.
I am, you are, he is, she has, we are…
I was, you were, she was, we were…
I will be, you will be, he/she/we/it will be.
 vowel
• A vowel is a speech sound which is made without
closing or obstructing the airflow from the mouth.
• You don’t use your teeth, lips or tongue.
• Vowels can form syllables by themselves, or they
may combine with consonants.
• Vowels can be ‘short’: a-a-a as in hat, i-i-i as in chin.
• Vowels can be ‘long’: eeee as in sheep.

Vowel letters
 vowel letters
• In the English alphabet, the letters

a, e, i, o, u and y
can represent vowels.
• ‘Y’ can be a part-time vowel.
mummy [ee]
gym [i]
by [ie]
 word
• Letters make up words.
• Words make sentences.
• Words can be many types – nouns,
verbs, adjectives and names.
cat, go, sleep, sad, Emily
 word family
• The words in a word family are based on a common
word, and are normally related to each other by a
combination of grammar and meaning.
teach – teacher – taught
see – seeing – sight - saw
noise – noisy – noiseless
write – writer – wrote - rewrite
add – addition - additional