Grammar and punctuation relevant to students at KS4
Reflexive verbs are those where the action reflects back on the subject, using reflexive pronouns such as myself or yourself. Ergative verbs are those that exhibit a unique flexibility in allowing the subject of an intransitive sentence to be the…
Words, the building blocks of language, are organised into various categories known as parts of speech or word classes. These classifications serve to facilitate the understanding of sentence structure and linguistic principles. Parts of speech Parts of speech are categories…
There are three main types of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions and correlative conjunctions. Conjunctions are a part of speech or word class often described as ‘joining words’, because many conjunctions, such as ‘but’ and ‘and’, join words or clauses…
The word ‘that’ can cause much confusion to English language learners. In language, words are divided into word classes, or what are called ‘Parts of Speech’, and these word classes define the use of a word in a sentence. However,…
This post examines the key aspects of verb usage. Verbs are a class of word that expresses an action. There are various aspects of verb usage that students of English need to learn, and these include sentence structure, subject-verb agreement,…
The National Curriculum serves as a comprehensive guide for educators in England and, at secondary level, Wales. This means students from Key Stage 3 (KS3), years 7 to 9; KS4, years 10 and 11 (GCSE); and KS5, years 12 and…
A question is a spoken or written sentence or phrase that seeks information, clarification, a response or an explanation. Forming interrogative sentences simply means structuring questions. Interrogative sentences An interrogative sentence is a type of sentence that asks a question.…
A relative clause is a type of ‘dependent clause’ that usually modifies the subject or object of a main clause. This can be a noun or pronoun, but also an adjective or a noun phrase that is functioning as the…
This post looks at conjunctions. Conjunctions are a part of speech or word class often described as ‘joining words’, because many conjunctions such as ‘but’ and ‘and’ join words or clauses together to form one sentence. However, not all conjunctions have…
Like possessives, double possessives are used to provide specific information about the relationship between a possessor and a possessed object. Double possessives, also known as ‘double genitives’ or double possessive constructions, occur when two possessive elements are used together to…