AIRDRIE ACADEMYENGLISH DEPARTMENTKNOWLEDGE ABOUT LANGUAGE

CONTENTS:

Capital letters Connectives & comma splice Commas – parenthesis Their, there or they’re Apostrophes 1 – contractions Apostrophes 2 – possession Apostrophes 3 – it’s or its Spelling Rules 1 – plurals ending in y Spelling Rules 2 – more y endings Spelling Rules 3 – i before e except after

c Singular & plural verbs Has & have Direct Speech

CAPITAL LETTERS

There are many mistakes we make when writing. Forgetting to put in the capital letters is a very common mistake.

There are several uses for capital letters: To start sentences At the start of proper nouns (e.g. names of towns,

people, countries, etc) For initals, such as for organisations like the BBC

(British Broadcasting Corporation) Capital letters are always used at the beginning of a

bit of direct speech. Capital “I” is always used when it is a word on its

own.

Your Task

Write out the following sentences, putting in all of the capital letters:

1. i would like to visit egypt next year.2. james, peter and Amanda arrived late for school.3. “take care with that!” shouted mr wilson.4. “where is brian evans today?” asked mrs walters.5. charles dickens wrote ‘david copperfield.’6. “last year we went to blackpool for a fortnight’,

said john.7. my cousin is in the r.a.f.

CONNECTIVES (or joining words)

Sentences say something which is complete in itself and which makes sense on its own.

A useful way of joining two sentences is to use a connective like and or but (this can also be called a conjunction or a joining word).

e.g. He is happy. He is friendly.He is happy and friendly.

She worked hard. She failed her exams.She worked hard but she failed her exams.

Your Task

Join these sentences with and or but as appropriate:

1. He found her purse. He was given a reward.2. They queued for hours, they didn’t get into the

concert.3. Joy ran as fast as she could. She came in last.4. One man smashed the window. The other kept

watch.

More connectives

Your Task

or if because as although

while since when for

Re-write the following sentences using a connective to join the two short sentences into a longer one (replace the middle full stop with a connective):

1. John had lots of homework. He had been off school.2. I have blonde hair. I used to be a brunette.3. I have three dogs. I would like another one.4. I have three guinea pigs. I would rather have three

hamsters.5. Samantha won the race. She passed the finishing

line first.6. My favourite TV programme is The Simpsons. My

mum hates it!7. I am not allowed to go to the disco. My mum doesn’t

think I’m old enough.8. I like to eat chocolate. I like to drink tea.9. On cold days I always wear gloves. My hands get

very cold.

Comma Splice

A common mistake made when writing is to use a comma when you should actually use a connective or a full stop.

e.g. I am excited, I can’t wait. x

I am excited and I can’t wait.

Your Task

Re-write the sentences below using a connective to fix any comma splice errors (replace the comma with a connective):

1. I watched TV all evening, I went to bed late.2. The car had been serviced, it wouldn’t start the next day.

This is called a comma splice and does not make sense.

3. I quite like English, I find grammar quite tricky.4. Heather searched everywhere, she did not find her purse.5. The car wouldn’t start, she had to get a taxi.6. S1 are very enthusiastic, they love to show off.7. I love ‘Come Dine With Me’, I tape it every day.8. ‘The Simpsons’ has been on TV for years, it’s still very popular.

THEIR, THERE OR THEY’RE?

Mixing up their, there and they’re is a common mistake.

Their is a possessive pronoun (it shows ownership).

E.g. Their car is new.I am going to stay at their house over Christmas.

There refers to location.

E.g. I am going there on holiday.You’ll find the books over there, on top of the

cupboard.

They’re is a contraction of “they are” (the apostrophe is in place of the missing “a”).

E.g. They’re going to France this year.They’re my favourite things.

Your Task

Rewrite the following sentences, filling in the gaps with their, there or they’re:

1. _____ is a cat in the garden.2. Scott and Blair have two older brothers. _____ eldest

brother is a mechanic.3. Where are your parents? _____ out.4. The boys play football with _____ ball.5. Where are the DVDs? _____ in the box.6. Have you seen my book? Yes, it’s over _____.

7. Mandy and Tom waited for _____ mother.8. We went to London and stayed _____ for two weeks.9. _____ is a huge number of extra-curricular activities

at Williamwood.10. Some S1 and 2 pupils still forget to bring _____

personal reading book with them every day.

APOSTROPHES 1 - Contractions (missing letters)

One of the uses of apostrophes is to indicate missing letters when two words have been shortened into one word.

E.g. can not = can’t have not = haven’t

Your Task

Rewrite with apostrophes in the correct place:

1. Its a beautiful day.2. Ill be back again someday.3. Theyd never believe you!4. Justins rarely late.5. I cant stand the rain.6. Wed love to take them home.7. Theyve left already.

Now see if you can change this letter so it shows all the missing apostrophes:

Dear Mark,I wont be able to come out to Germany this

weekend but ill definitely be flying over soon, if youll have me to stay of course! I cant give a definite date yet, as ive got to mark these essays first. Id be free in the middle of December if youre free then too? Well have to decide whos going to book the tickets. If you wouldn’t mind doing it that would be great.

Itd be great to meet your new girlfriend and all your friends. Id love to go and see a film but in English, not in German again, like weve done before.

Im looking for a new flatmate as Georges left to go to New York. I wondered if youd know of anyone whod like to move in? That would be good because theyd know you if you came to visit too!

Thats all for now, Steven

APOSTROPHES 2 - showing ownership (possession)

To show someone owns something we can add an s to the owner. If the thing/person which is the owner is singular (there is only one of them), the apostrophe comes before the s. For example,

The bee’s knees the cat’s claws the car’s engineThe pupil’s work the lion’s den the man’s hair

If the owner is plural (there are two or more of them), the apostrophe comes after the s.

The bees’ knees the cats’ claws the cars’ enginesThe pupils’ work the lions’ den the men’s hair

Look how the last example changes – this is because man has an irregular (unusual) plural – men.

IMPORTANT: the apostrophe is always attached to the owner, not the thing that is owned

Your Task

Rewrite the following sentences, adding apostrophes for possession:

1. The boys room was tidy. (one boy)2. The girls changing room was a mess. (a class of

girls)3. Jane pulled the dogs lead to stop him from

running onto the road.4. The cars bonnets gleamed in the showroom.

5. Harrys collection of stamps was his pride and joy.

6. All English teachers classes should go to the theatre for assembly.

7. Lady Gagas outfits are controversial at times.8. Bobs tooth was causing him pain.9. Childrens clothes are usually cheaper than

adults clothes.

APOSTROPHES 3

It’s or Its?

‘Its’ is an exception to the general apostrophe rule.‘It’s’ only uses an apostrophe when it is short for ‘it is’ or ‘it has’, in other words, when it is a contraction.

e.g. It is a nice day = It’s a nice day.It has been too long = It’s been too long

‘Its’ does NOT need an apostrophe when it possesses something.

e.g. The dog lost its ball.(Think of this kind of ‘its’ being a neutral

version of his or her, which don’t require apostrophes either.)

Your Task

Add apostrophes where necessary to the sentences below (not every sentence will require an apostrophe!):

1. Its a shame you can’t make it to the party.2. The cat had lost its collar.3. Its my dad’s fault I was late this morning.4. Its not nice to gossip about people.5. The dog scratched its paws furiously.

SPELLING RULES 1

Plurals of words ending in 'y'- The Rule

These follow a fairly simple pattern which is easy to follow as long as you remember:

the difference between a vowel and a consonant.(Vowels are 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o' and 'u'. All the other letters are consonants)

If the word has a consonant before the final 'y' then the plural ends with 'ies':Singularbullyponycanaryspy

becomesbecomesbecomesbecomes

Pluralbulliesponiescanariesspies

If the word has a vowel before the final y then you just add an 's':Singulardaydelaysurveytoy

becomesbecomesbecomesbecomes

Pluraldaysdelayssurveystoys

Your Task

Write out the correct form of the plural for each word;

donkey dictionary colony fairy

essay Sunday storysimilarity

berry artery fly penny

SPELLING RULES 2

More y endings

Words ending in y can be tricky when they change into longer words.Remember the rule:For words ending in ‘ y ’, change ‘ y ’ to ‘ i ’ when the ‘ y ’ follows a consonant.

e.g. fly + ‘es’ becomes - flies try + ‘es’ becomes - tries stay + ‘s’ becomes - stays (because we have a

vowel before the ‘y’ in stay!)

tidy + ‘er’ becomes - tidier carry + ‘er’ becomes - carrier

Your Task

Following the y rule, add endings to the following words:

1. Add ‘s’ to these words: try, family, berry, guye.g try + ‘s’ = tries

2. Add ‘er’ to these words: steady, pretty, easy, heavye.g. steady + ‘er’ = steadier

3. Add ‘ly’ to these words: angry, easy, happy, busy

e.g. angry + ‘ly’ = angrily

4. Add ‘ed’ to these words: marry, copy, deny, obeye.g. marry + ‘ed’ = married

SPELLING RULES 3

i before e except after c - The Rule

When you want to say –ee-it’s i before e except after c

For example:

Piece (sounds a bit like p-ee-ce) Niece (also sounds like n-ee-ce)

Your Task

Copy the table below into your jotter.Then separate the following words into two groups and write them in the correct section of the table.

brief ceiling perceive thief field deceive achieve receipt piece relief conceited chief diesel receive

i before e e before i

SINGULAR AND PLURAL VERBS – is/as and was/were

Is and was are singular verbs and should be used when we are speaking about one person or thing.

E.g. John is a very clever boy.The lion was shot by the hunter.

Are and were are plural and should be used when we are speaking of more than one person or thing.

E.g. John and Robert are clever boys.(2 boys = plural)

The lions were in a large cage.(more than 1 = plural)

Your Task

Complete the following sentences putting using is or are:

1. My book ____lost.2. My shoes____dirty.3. John and Mary____cousins.4. ____your face clean?5. ____your hands dirty?6. ____your friends on holiday?7. My eyes____sore.8. ____your brother going with you?9. My cousins____going to America.10. The fishing boats____in the harbour.11. ____the girls going to play netball this

afternoon?12. ____the dog very fierce?

HAS and HAVE

HAS is used with a singular (one) subject.HAVE is used with a plural (more than one) subject.

E.g. The dog has lots of fleasThe dogs have lots of fleas

Your Task

Fill in the gaps in the following sentences with has or have:

1. The shops_____many toys in their windows.2. The boy______lost his way.3. The garden_____many lovely flowers.4. The girls_____all worked very hard.5. One of the firemen_____been injured.6. All the men_____been saved.7. _____all the lions been recaptured?8. _____the postman brought the letters?9. Although the cold weather_____now arrived, the

trees_____not yet lost all their leaves.10. They_____eaten all the apples.

DIRECT SPEECH

When you include dialogue in a piece of writing, you need to use speech marks to separate what the speaker is saying from the rest of the writing.

The Rules:

1. Put the actual words spoken inside inverted commas (speech marks) “ ”

2. You must always begin the direct speech with a capital letter.

3. You must end the actual words spoken with a piece of punctuation - a comma, question mark, exclamation mark or full stop - still inside the speech marks.

4. The information about the speaker (he said, she shouted, etc) must end with a comma if it comes before the speech marks or end in a full stop if it comes after the speech marks.

5. You must take a new paragraph for each new speaker.

E.g. speech marks

capital letter “I love English,” said Mrs McDonald.

punctuation of words spoken punctuation of the speaker

speech marks capital letter

Mrs Simpson agreed enthusiastically, “Me too!”

punctuation of the speaker punctuation of words spoken

Your task

Rewrite the following, with appropriate punctuation to indicate direct speech:

1. I am very tired said Susan2. This is very easy said Robert3. I am not too keen on punctuation said Paul4. Punctuating speech is easy said Simon5. This is not the way to behave said Mr. Robinson6. The new shopping centre opens next week said Ian7. We haven’t enough time to finish this said Sandra8. This one is slightly different grumbled Eric9. They are difficult murmured Sarah10.No they’re not thundered Mr. Watts11.Where did you go? Andy asked. Was it sunny?12. I went skiing with the school, Nicky grinned. It was fantastic but really cold.

MORE THAN ONE SPEAKER?

You must ALWAYS start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes.

Your Task

In the following box there is a conversation between two people, Sue and Chris, but it is written all in one paragraph.

Re-write it putting in new paragraphs as appropriate.

“Have you been to see ‘Harry Potter’?” asked Sue. ”No,” said Chris, ”I want to go tomorrow. Is it any good?” ”It’s ok, for little kids really. I preferred ‘Lord of the Rings’ - my mum took me over Christmas.” ”Isn’t it really long?” ”It’s as long as ‘Harry Potter,’” said Sue. Chris said, ”I really want to get ‘Scary Movie’ out on video again.” “That was rubbish!” “It was good! I laughed a lot.” “It’s boring,” said Sue, “I fell asleep.”