Twenty SPaGtacular Starters!

for Subordinate Clauses

6. Capital Letters

7. -s or -es

8. Colons

9. Semi-Colons

10. Practice or Practise

11. Who or Whom

12. Adjectives and Adverbs

13. Comparatives and Superlatives

14. i before e

15. Comma Splicing

16. Continuous Tense

17. Apostrophes for Contraction

18. Apostrophes for Possession

19. Speech Punctuation

20. Tricky Spellings

‘bright’
An adverb adds to the meaning of verbs, adverbs and adjectives.
e.g. ‘quickly’
An article shows whether a noun is specific or general.
e.g. ‘a’, ‘the’
A noun is a person, place or thing.
e.g. ‘table’
A pronoun is a word we use instead of a noun.
e.g. ‘he’
A verb describes an action or state.

Can you match each of the words from this sentence with their terms, then give an example of your own?
‘An apple is healthy,’ she replied angrily.

healthy

angrily

an

apple

she

is/replied

(a noun or pronoun) and a verb (an action or state). It makes sense on its own. It can also include extra information, such as adjectives or adverbs.
e.g.
‘The man laughed.’ = simple sentence.
‘The old man laughed loudly.’ = simple sentence.

Choose from the lists of nouns and verbs below to make five of your own simple sentences. You can add in extra detail, such as pronouns, adjectives or adverbs, if you like!

sentences joined together by a connective. A simple test is to divide the sentence into two parts: if one part doesn’t make sense on its own, then it is not a compound sentence.

Now write two compound sentences of your own!

clause (a phrase with a subject and verb which makes sense on its own) and a subordinate clause (a phrase which doesn’t make sense on its own). A good way to test to see if a sentence is complex is to divide it up – if half of it needs the other half to make sense, then it is complex.

Now write two compound sentences of your own!

an extra piece of information within a sentence.
Subordinate clauses found at the beginning and middle of sentences are usually separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Subordinate clauses found at the end of the sentence are only separated by a comma if it makes the meaning clearer.

My dog, who is six years old, can stand on her hind legs.

Although I tried to be on time, I was late for the meeting.

I didn’t eat the hot dogs because I am vegetarian.

Aysha didn’t go to the party, although Michaela did.

The top, which fitted perfectly last summer, was far too small for Shay now.

nearby Brighton.

Just because you can write in French does not mean you can speak the language if you visit France.

Capital Letters

What You Need to Know
We use a capital letter:
at the beginning of a sentence;
for proper nouns (names of people, brands or places).

What do you think I did with the carrots? You will never guess!

If you go to Mrs Thompson’s class, don’t forget to take your copy of Hamlet by Shakespeare.

The Mars bar slipped out of George’s hand and onto the floor.

a plural (more than one), we add -s, unless the word ends in the following letters:
-ch
-s
-sh
-x
-z
In these cases, we add
-es.

In pairs, take it in turns to read out these words. If you think the word ends in -s when it is made into a plural (more than one), clap your hands. If you think the word ends in -es when it is made into a plural, give a cheer.
Then, write the plurals for each word.

bus
light
shoe
witch
car
fish
buzz
mark
match
paper
fox
phone

buses
lights
shoes
witches
cars
fishes
buzzes
marks
matches
papers
foxes
phones

statements;
introduce direct speech;
introduce an explanation or example;
introduce a question;
introduce a list.
Colons are always followed by lower-case letters, unless the word is a proper noun or ‘I’.

The classroom had everything: books, desks, chairs, a whiteboard, a bookcase and many posters.
Shay wanted to go to bed: he was exhausted from the journey.
The teacher looked at the class and began her speech: “You need to understand the rules…”
Connor had only one question in his mind: could he get away with not doing his homework?
Love hurts: hate kills.

Look at the following sentences. Is the colon correct here? Give them a tick or a cross and write an explanation of your decision.

Introducing a list.

Introducing an explanation.

Introducing direct speech.

Introducing a question.

Linking two bold, connected statements.

but related clauses. The information on either side of the semi-colon should make sense on its own;
to divide items in a complex list – like this one!

Muhammed sealed the letter and wrote the address carefully; the green ink stood out against the cream envelope.

I invited Shelagh and Sam from Luton; Lauren and Paul from next door; Ling and David from school; Lisa and Davina and their son Mark whom we met on holiday; the Jacksons; and Paul from work.

I like ice-cream; my favourite flavour is strawberry.

The film was rubbish; the lead actor was completely unbelievable.

It’s hard being a tortoise; everyone thinks you are slow, but in fact you just have short legs.

verb – it describes the action of practising.
The word practice is a noun – it describes a thing.

Insert practise or practice into the following sentences:

I think you need to more before you make the team.

Now write two sentences of your own, each using a different version of practice/practise.

It’s good to visit other venues before making a decision.

Are you coming to footie ?

The doctors’ was full so he had to go elsewhere.

She didn’t want to her piano scales.

practise

practice

practice

practice

practise

to the subject of a sentence and whom when we are referring to the object.
A quick shortcut is to change the sentence around so that you use either he/she/they or him/her/them.
If you would use he/she/they, then use who.
If you would use him/her/them, then use whom.

Can you insert either who or whom into the following sentences?

The man won the race was exhausted.

Now, write your own two sentences, one using who, and one using whom.

Tomas wanted to go into town but the friend he asked for a lift was busy.

The cat belongs to the woman with the red hair, has lived there for years.

did you ask to the party?

Anja, I think is the best singer, is going to be late.

who

who

whom

whom

who

(a person, place or thing).
An adverb adds to the meaning of verbs, adverbs and adjectives.
Examples of how we use adverbs include:
to show how something is done (e.g. ‘quickly’);
to show when something happened (e.g. ‘yesterday’);
to show where something happened (e.g. ‘here’);
to show how much something is done (e.g. ‘enough’);
to emphasise how something is done (e.g. ‘completely’).

In pairs, take it in turns to read the sentences below. When your partner reads out an adjective, pat your head. When your partner reads out an adverb, stick out your tongue!

The room was very bright, with green walls and a purple ceiling.

The room was very (adverb) bright (adjective), with green (adjective) walls and a purple (adjective) ceiling.

I gently (adverb) pushed the heavy (adjective) door closed and tiptoed quietly (adverb) away.

Tomorrow (adverb), I am going to the market.

Miranda was literally (adverb) jumping up and down because she was so (adverb) excited.

Saber almost (adverb) forgot to pick up the ugly (adjective) old (adjective) umbrella by the door.

I gently pushed the heavy door closed and tiptoed quietly away.

Tomorrow, I am going to the market.

Miranda was literally jumping up and down because she was so excited.

Saber almost forgot to pick up the ugly old umbrella by the door.

Now write down some examples of adjectives and adverbs. They must be different to the ones above!

use adjectives. However, when we want to compare it to something else, we use the comparative form of the adjective (usually just by adding -er to the end). When we want to say it is the best, we use the superlative form (usually just by adding -est to the end).
e.g.
tall taller tallest
(adjective) (comparative) (superlative)
As always, some words are exceptions to this rule.
e.g.
bad worse worst
(adjective) (comparative) (superlative)

In pairs, take it in turns to talk about your favourite band/singer/game/film.

Explain one good thing about it.
Now use comparatives to explain why it is better than another band/singer/game/film.
Now use superlatives to explain why it is the best band/singer/game/film.

Now write down examples of the adjectives, comparatives and superlatives you used.

e when spelling these words, but there are some exceptions:
if they come before ‘c’, then use ‘ei’;
if the sound is ‘ay’, then use ‘ei’;
some words just don’t conform to this rule, such as ‘weird’, ‘foreign’, ‘science’, ‘height’ and ‘sufficient’.

Neighbour

Receive

Ceiling

Piece

Foreign

Deceived

Beige

Weird

is used instead of a linking word. If the parts of the sentence on either side of the comma could make a sentence on their own, then the comma should not be there.
e.g.
I like all cake, chocolate is my favourite flavour.
Here, both sides of the comma make sense on their own, so the sentence is incorrect. You can either replace the comma with a full stop or add in a linking word instead.

In pairs, take it in turns to read out the following sentences. When you notice a comma splice, call out ‘splice!’ and suggest a way to improve the sentence.

I went to town today and bought a pair of shoes, they were red.

I know that Kasia is the best footballer, she is a ferocious tackler, it causes problems on the pitch sometimes.

I want a hotdog with my chips, the stand is over there.

Aziz downloaded the new app, he had wanted it for ages, because his brother had got it.

Have you seen the new cinema, it has twelve screens?

I went into town today and bought a pair of shoes. They were red.

I know that Kasia is the best footballer, but she is a ferocious tackler. It causes problems on the pitch sometimes.

I want a hotdog with my chips; the stand is over there.

Aziz downloaded the new app, he had wanted it for ages, because his brother had got it.

Have you seen the new cinema? It has twelve screens.

still happening, either in the past, present or future, we use the continuous tense. This involves the past, present or future form of ‘to be’, followed by an -ing word.
e.g.
I sat down. = simple past tense.
I was sitting down. = past continuous tense.
You cannot mix the two tenses. So:
I was sat down. = incorrect.

In each of these sentences, the writer is trying to describe something that was continuing – it was not a completed action. But they have mixed up their continuous and past tenses. Can you spot the mistakes and correct them?

I am sang a song to the judges when they interrupt me.

I was stood waiting for the bus when the car went past.

I am singing a song to the judges when they interrupt me.

They are lay on the ground when it happens.

Where were you sat when the man came in?

We’ll be stood in the corridor waiting for the teacher.

I was standing waiting for the bus when the car went past.

They are lying on the ground when it happens.

Where were you sitting when the man came in?

We’ll be standing in the corridor waiting for the teacher.

replace the missing letters with an apostrophe. The exceptions to this are:
will not becomes won’t;
shall not becomes shan’t.

Can you shorten these words to their contracted form? The first one is done for you.
cannot = can’t
shall not
will not
we will
I will
do not
who is
they would
that has
they are
Now write two sentences of your own, each using at least two contractions.

shan’t

won’t

we’ll

I’ll

don’t

who’s

they’d

that’s

they’re

something which belongs to a person or a thing, we add an ’s to the end of the person or thing. The exceptions to this are:
if the person or thing already ends in an s and is a plural (more than one), we put the apostrophe after the s, and don’t add another one;
the word it’s only has an apostrophe to show contraction from it is. If something belongs to it, we write its.

Do these sentences use the apostrophe correctly? If they’re wrong, write the correct version.

Peter’s jumper is caught in the washing machines drum. It’s ruined.

Peter’s jumper is caught in the washing machine’s drum. It’s ruined.

Mrs Thoma’s painting was ruined; the colour’s were all faded.

There were seven cats with kittens. The cats kittens all played together.

Stephanies’ storie’s weren’t sensational.

The teacher’s tie wasn’t perfectly coordinated with his socks. 

Mrs Thomas’ painting was ruined; the colours were all faded.

There were seven cats with kittens. The cats’ kittens all played together.

Stephanie’s stories weren’t sensational.

 Correct!

use speech marks.
At the end of the speech, we put a comma, then close the speech marks, followed by a speech tag such as he said.
If the speech ends with a question mark or exclamation mark, we don’t put a comma after it.
If we don’t include a speech tag, we can finish the speech with a full stop inside the speech marks.
e.g.
‘Don’t go,’ he said.
‘Don’t go!’ he said.
‘Don’t go.’

Have a conversation with your partner. Each of you must say one short sentence, then both write it down in a speech bubble.
Next, add speech punctuation and a speech tag, such as ‘he said’, ‘she cried’, ‘he shouted’, etc.

spell as they don’t follow usual rules. Useful ways to remember how to spell certain words include:
creating a mnemonic for the word (e.g. big elephants can always understand small elephants = because);
copying the word over and over until it becomes muscle memory;
creating a song or rap of the letters in the word;
looking at the word carefully for 30 seconds, then covering it and trying to write it from memory;
pronouncing the word in your head as it is spelt – not how it should be said.

Look at the following five tricky words. Can you come up with a way to remember the spelling of each one?
accommodate
irrelevant
conscious
necessary
fascinating 
Now, get your partner to test you on your spelling!