Our Lady of Dolours Catholic

Primary School

LITERACY POLICY

This document is a statement of the aims and principles; including the Intent, Implementation and Impact for the teaching and learning of

Literacy at Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Primary School.

Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Primary School exists to serve the local Catholic and wider community. We aim to create an environment where

each person, regardless of race, religion, ability or family circumstance,

feels valued and nurtured.

We aim to:

Promote the understanding and practice of Catholic, Christian beliefs

and values through prayer life, liturgy and worship

Provide high quality education where all children will become lifelong

learners and reach their full potential Provide a secure, joyful and supportive environment where children

feel valued and safe so that they can fully express themselves as

self-confident and resilient learners Develop in our children an understanding of their rights and

responsibilities whilst showing respect and tolerance for each other’s' differences

Involve and value parents and carers in all aspects of their child's progress, behaviour, well-being and achievements

In our school community we follow Jesus' commandment

"Love one another as I have loved you" John 13:34

Policy Statement

Our well-balanced curriculum promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and

physical development of pupils and prepares them for the opportunities,

responsibilities and experiences of later life. We will develop pupils' spoken

language, reading and writing across all subjects.

Literacy is an essential and integrated component of Teaching and Learning across the whole Primary Curriculum. It enables pupils to access and succeed in all

subjects’ areas. We aim to help children to develop a love for the English language;

through the spoken and written word. We recognise that literacy is a core subject

within the National Curriculum and a prerequisite for educational and social progress.

At Our Lady of Dolours, we recognise that pupils need effective communication skills to equip them for everyday life, to perform the most basic routines and survive

and function in a civilised society. Mastery over language empowers children to

communicate, creatively and imaginatively, as well as allowing them engagement

with the world at large and express themselves orally. Therefore, having a solid

understanding of literacy is a fundamental right of every child.

Intent

We aim to develop pupils' abilities through an integrated programme of Speaking

& Listening, Reading & Writing. During their time at Our Lady of Dolours, pupils will be given opportunities to interrelate the requirements of literacy through a broad

and balanced approach to the teaching of literacy across the curriculum, with

opportunities to consolidate, practise and apply taught literacy skills.

By the age of 11 we expect pupils to:-

Read and write with confidence, fluency and understanding, orchestrating

a range of independent strategies to self-assess and correct

Be motivated to read widely and often, for both pleasure and to acquire

information.

Have an interest in words, their meanings, developing a growing

vocabulary in spoken and written forms;

Understand a range of text types and genres - be able to write in a variety of styles and forms appropriate to the situation;

Write fluently, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and

style for a range of writing genres, purposes and audiences. Be developing their creativity, inventiveness and critical awareness;

Be able to clearly and confidently articulate their understanding and ideas aloud; using with suitable technical vocabulary to articulate their responses when required.

Implementation

Curriculum & Planning

Our Literacy curriculum is delivered through a creative, integrated and themed approach. We run a two yearly curriculum cycle (A & B). Each year provides the

opportunity for pupils to learn about exciting and stimulating topics, whilst

capturing and harnessing lifelong knowledge and skills.

Long term planning is undertaken by school leaders to ensure a broad & balanced

approach is taken towards the coverage of the primary curriculum. The two yearly

cycle ensures all pupils are exposed to a range of engaging topics which incorporate relevant age related skills and knowledge. The themes and progression of skills are

consistent across the school. (See the relevant Curriculum Overviews, Topic Maps

and Whole School Literacy Overviews)

The leadership of the school create yearly Literacy overviews which map out the high quality range of key texts that pupils should be exposed to, and the appropriate

genres to be taught throughout the year.

Teachers play a key role in ensuring they plan exciting and stimulating lessons that motivate and meet the needs of pupils in their class. Teachers are responsible for

ensuring pupils are exposed to relevant age related skills and knowledge and that

they make sustained and consistent progress in Reading, Writing and Speaking &

Listening. It is important to note that teachers are encouraged to use creativity and imagination to adapt and expand on long term planning as necessary to incorporate

other subject areas as much as possible; so that our creative and integrated

curriculum approach is retained and is engaging for pupils.

All class teachers are responsible for weekly planning, based on the agreed long term and medium term plans.

They will:

Identify the appropriate teaching and learning strategies required;

Provide a balance and variety within the classroom - of content and

organisational learning opportunities for children; Assess and plan for the specific needs of children within their own class

whilst adhering to the progression laid down in the scheme. Plan lessons in detail with specific Learning Objectives (LO’s).

Use Literacy Success Criteria (MUST, SHOULD and COULD) as steps/building blocks to meeting the Learning Objective.

Use Top Ticks Toolkit for summative examples of writing

Ensure that planning is compatible with the charter of the rights of the

child. Ensure their lessons are highly inclusive and provide equality of access

Ensure that planning specifically references how challenge will be

provided for the more able and that effective support will be provided

for SEN and less able pupils.

Time allocation

Each class has a minimum of five allocated literacy sessions per week (x1 hour). In

addition, pupils participate in guided group and individual reading sessions known

as ERIC (Everybody Reading in class) every day. Handwriting and phonics or

spelling is also taught discretely in each class, tailored to the needs and age of pupils. In addition, the development of literacy skills occurs in a wide range of

subjects and contexts across the curriculum and are a feature of most lessons.

Staff CPD & Monitoring

Teachers are supported by CPD and INSET training to deliver exciting lessons that embed knowledge and skills through a range of effective teaching strategies. Staff

are provided with frequent opportunities to share and improve practise and to be

informed of up to date trends in the pedagogy relating to literacy. Staff meetings

are regularly used to discuss the Literacy curriculum, develop teachers’ skill and

knowledge and to embed and ensure consistency of approach, standards and expectations.

As a school, we work towards ensuring consistency of approach is used across all

year groups and that clear progression is evident as pupils move through the school. As a core subject, high standards and expectations in Literacy are regularly

monitored by Senior Leaders and Middle Leaders through termly book scrutinises,

lesson observations, learning walks, Peer Lesson Studies and termly pupil progress

meetings.

Reading and Phonics

In order for children to succeed in school, it is fundamental that they are taught to

read and develop a love of reading throughout their time at school.

As a school we intend to develop pupils’ competence in Word Reading and

Comprehension and foster the appreciation for reading in order to develop a wider

knowledge and understanding of themselves and the world around them.

Daily guided reading sessions (ERIC) follow a weekly timetable which allows pupils to pre-read a text with adult support, discuss and dissect text with their class

teacher, further explore their understanding and comprehension through

independent follow up tasks and read for pleasure.

Teachers will engage many strategies to achieve this, including (but not limited to):

Guided reading focusing on rich fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts

(ERIC including ‘Book Talk’) Shared reading

Independent reading; encouraging pupils to reading widely and

frequently

Daily Story time (Teacher to share narrative with whole class from

Hot book box) Digital storybooks (Bug Club)

Borrowing library books from the local and school Libraries

High quality discussion about books

Focused Reading follow up task including comprehension and SPAG activities

Teaching effective reading strategies

Hearing children read individually

Setting reading as home learning/online learning (Home reader books and Ebooks on Bug Club)

Establishing a classroom ethos in where books are looked after and

respected and reading widely is encouraged

Use of HOT book boxes in every class; core reading texts selected to motivate and inspire pupils’ reading (See CLPE online resources)

Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Primary School Literacy Policy – Spring 2021 pg. 5

In addition, the school holds an annual book week and regularly arranges visits

from authors & poets to inspire our children to read and celebrate our love of books.

At the early stages of reading, children will need to be taught how to read through

phonics along with strategies for blending and decoding. At Our Lady of Dolours primary school we learn phonics through the letters and sounds scheme which is

taught daily. “Phonics Bug” decodable texts are used in guided reading sessions to

support learning of phonics as well as being sent home as home learning. PM

benchmarking texts are also used to support the reading progress of pupils up to and including Year 2.

Home and Guided Reading colour bands

Colour New Curriculum Year Expectation 2019

‘Letters & Sounds’ Phonic Phases

Lilac

Reception

Pink Phase 1 - 2

Red Phase 1 -3

Yellow Reception Phase 1- 4

Year 1

Blue Year 1 Phase 2-5

Green Year 1

Phase 3 -5

Orange Phase 3 -5

Turquoise Year 1/Year 2 Phase 3- 6

Purple Year 2 Phase 4-6 Spelling patterns

Gold Year 2 Phase 5- 6 Spelling patterns

White Year 2 Phase 6

Spelling patterns

Lime Year 2/Year 3 Phase 6

Spelling Patterns

Brown A Year 3 Spelling Patterns

Brown B Year 3/ Year 4 Spelling Patterns

Grey A Year 4 Spelling Patterns

Grey B Spelling Patterns

Blue A Year 4/ Year 5 Spelling Patterns

Blue B Year 5 Spelling Patterns

Red A Year 5/Year 6 Spelling Patterns

Red B Year 6 Spelling Patterns

Red plus Year 6 Spelling Patterns

Writing

Being able to write English effectively is critical to child development, as a weakness

in this area can slow progress and hinder access to other areas of a child’s learning and enjoyment of school. At Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Primary School we aim

to develop pupils’ competence in Transcription (Spelling and Handwriting) and

Composition (articulating ideas and structuring them orally and in writing)

At Our Lady of Dolours, children are given opportunities for writing engagement

every day; from mark marking and gross and fine motor skills tasks in EYFS, to

extended writing at least once a week in KS1 & KS2. Children will learn to master many different styles and genres of writing during their time at the school through

engaging and sequential learning. Writing lessons follow our school ‘Process for

Teaching of Writing’ which begins with an engaging ‘hook’ to peak pupils’ interest.

Teachers then use focused word and sentence level tasks to stimulate and generate ideas, moving to modelled and supported writing, culminating in independent

writing.

Composition In Literacy lessons pupils are taught to:

Plan, draft, revise, evaluate and edit their writing.

Write and record their ideas fluently by spelling quickly and accurately.

Articulate and communicate ideas using a range of methods e.g.

spider diagrams, Mind maps, tables, note taking. Organise ideas coherently for a reader.

Demonstrate and be aware of audience, purpose and context and use

their increasing knowledge of vocabulary and grammar.

Integrate all areas of the curriculum through a rich use of composition.

Transcription Spelling and Handwriting will be developed by teaching pupils how

to:

Spell quickly and accurately by: *Knowing the relationship between sounds and letters (phonics).

*Understanding word structure.

*Understanding the spelling structure of words and testing these weekly.

Developing a fluent, legible and eventually consistent cursive

handwriting style.

Teachers must consistently use high quality ‘scaffolding of the writing process’

through the use of ‘shared’ and ‘modelled’ writing. A range of strategies to inspire writing are available through the Talk4Writing approach. See Pie Corbett Appendix

XX for further details on the types of modelled/shared and supported writing

expectations at OLoD.

The writing process is monitored by teachers and opportunities for development are

planned for within a sequence of writing lessons. Excellent writing is shown as a

model to pupils in the school, is celebrated and displayed around the school. At Our Lady of Dolours we teach that writing has an audience and a purpose and pupils

are taught to adapt their writing accordingly. Pupil’s work through a process in

writing which includes planning, drafting editing and redrafting, concluding in a

published piece of work at the end of a writing unit.

In order to maintain a consistent standard for attainment in writing, the school

moderates writing internally and with other schools externally termly to inform end

of term assessment.

For more information about how writing progress is recorded, please see the

assessment and recording section of this policy.

Handwriting

Handwriting and presentation have a high profile at Our Lady of Dolours. In order

to ensure high standards of writing and presentation, children are taught

handwriting from the time that they enter the school. Children will be able to

accurately form all letters of the alphabet by the time they reach Year 1, moving to pre-cursive letter formation and progressing to using cursive letter formation

consistently by the end of Year 2.

Handwriting sessions are discrete from other lessons in all year groups, with

particular focus on correct letter formation, size and orientation and legibility. In Key Stage 2 children work towards earning a “pen license” by demonstrating neat

and well-presented cursive handwriting consistently. Once a “Pen License”

has been awarded pupils will be allowed to write using a blue ink pen.

Spelling

To maintain high standards of spelling, children learn spelling from Year 1, when

they are developing a solid phonic knowledge. At this stage the priority will

be for children to learn the high frequency words, which all children in Year 1 should know by the time they finish this year. From Year 2 onwards, the children

learn spelling using spelling lists and patterns from the National Curriculum.

Children receive new spellings each week, often tied to class themes or lessons,

and are tested at the end of the week. A record of spelling test results and

progress is kept by the teacher and timely planned interventions are delivered for pupils wherever necessary. Teachers ensure pupils are provided with

relevant topic words across subject vocabulary; to support a wider vocabulary and

spelling knowledge. (See year group spelling lists in Appendix)

Speaking and listening

Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Primary School has a high proportion of EAL students in the school. Because of this, speaking and listening plays an even more important

role than usual in a child’s understanding of the English language. By creating

speaking and listening opportunities for children, class teachers allow students to

explore new vocabulary and grammatical structures. Some of the strategies which

might be employed by class teachers include:

Drama & Role Play activities

Talk partners

Creating and sharing presentations

Filming or speaking into a microphone

Expressing their pupil voice through the school council or the learning council

Speaking in front of the class

Group discussion and debating

Performance poetry Reading out loud in class

Presenting in Assemblies and other pupil voice groups

Poetry

Poetry is a form of writing and performance which can inspire students of all ages.

Through a study of poetry, children develop all manner of writing skills, thinking

skills, confidence and speaking and listening skills. In order to develop poetry in our

school, each year group, will engage in writing and performing poetry or nursery

rhymes at least twice a year. The study of poetry at Our Lady of Dolours will include: exploring about the structures of a poem, being exposed to high quality

poetry, discussing the meanings and contexts of poems and bringing poetry to life

through performance. In addition, each class will be introduced to a ‘poem of the

week’ from ‘The Works’ poetry anthology, which they will read, recite and commit to memory.

Debating

Debating provides an excellent opportunity to practice speaking and listening skills

and develop confidence, while helping to educate children on topical issues. The skills used in debate are developed in the classroom through PSHE sessions. Class

teachers also use debate as a teaching tool across the curriculum in appropriate

situations.

Presentations

Children often use presentations as a way of sharing work, and teachers should

create many opportunities for children to stand in front of an audience and give

presentations throughout the year.

Learning Environments

Each classroom has its own distinct “Reading Corner”, in which a range of books

are presented attractively to children. Reading corners should be related to a high quality text and appropriate year group author – they should be inviting and

enjoyable to pupils.

Each classroom has a Literacy Working Wall which will be kept up to date and show progression of learning throughout a literacy unit/topic. The Working Wall

should clearly show a consistent approach and progression of learning of the ‘Work

in Progress’. The Wall should display all aspects of lessons from SPaG to the

‘Writing Process’ including the planning and drafting process, key features of

genre which is being studied, useful vocabulary and sentence level prompts

modelled teaching to the final outcome of writing.

High quality literacy displays should be clearly on show outside the classroom area

and these should be updated at least termly. Displays should provide an overview

of the ‘process of writing’ and the wider literacy context showcasing the programme of learning the pupils in each class have undertaken. Outcomes should be clearly

displayed which celebrate all writing; from every pupil at all stages of learning

within the classroom. As a Rights Respecting School, we value the work of all our

children.

I.C.T. is used within each class to enhance Literacy on a regular basis, including

research for non-fiction writing and publishing and presenting work.

Library

In addition to our class books corners, our well-stocked school library is available to all pupils. The school library is situated on the top floor of the school and contains

a wide selection of books which are relevant to all year groups. Children should be

given the opportunity to visit the school library and change books on a regular basis

and can borrow books through the electronic Junior Librarian Programme.

Furthermore, each class benefits from termly visit to the local library, where they can read and take out books.

Impact

Assessment and Recording

All class teachers keep written records with regard to reading progress. They include

objectives and aims of the sessions alongside any necessary comments for future

action. This is a consistent format used throughout the school.

In years 1, 3, 4 and 5 we use the Target Tracker grids for assessing writing and

reading as a guide to creating targets and assessing against age related

expectations. In Year 2 and 6 we are using the interim assessment frameworks

which are published by the DfE. Assessment in writing and reading is carried out three times a year. Data is inputted onto our whole school Target Tracker

assessment system. Our Assessment Coordinator supports class teachers in setting

data deadlines and alongside the Literacy Coordinator provides relevant support and

guidance for the moderation of writing.

In addition, the following English records are kept:-

Writing progress folders with individual attainment recorded;

Individual and guided reading records.

Records of interventions in the class intervention file.

Reading record folders and books.

Class literacy books/folders

The school Assessment Policy and Assessment Map defines specific assessment

tasks to be carried out in each year group/Key Stage (please refer to this).

All assessment data is recorded using the school’s Target Tracker system.

Baseline Assessment is undertaken during a child’s first term in Reception and new pupils to the school are assessed as they enter the school.

Formal, summative assessments are carried out at the end of Key Stage 1 and Key

Stage 2 in accordance with DfE government requirements.

Phonics Checker screening takes place at the end of Year 1 and Year 2.

Reporting procedures are in line with DfE regulations. Parents receive an annual written report and are invited to two parental interviews throughout the academic

year during the autumn and spring terms.

School Website:

The school website curriculum pages will provide a section for Literacy. On the website, the Curriculum Overviews and Curriculum Maps will be found, including

the Whole School Literacy Overview for each year group.

Policy Reviewed: Spring 2021

Date of Next Review: Spring 2023

Member of Staff Responsible: Roisin O’Reilly Williams

APPENDIX 1

Pie Corbett – Talk4Writing

The following has been directly taken from a teach wire article on Pie Corbett: https://www.teachwire.net/news/pie-corbett-

encourage-good-literacy-habits-with-these-shared-writing-techni

Shared writing lies at the heart of teaching writing. This is the generic term

for writing with and in front of the children as a precursor to the class

writing more independently. It is the key moment at which writing is taught. Teachers who do not do shared writing are not teaching writing.

The teacher uses the assessment of children’s writing to decide on the key ‘progress

points’ that need to be focused upon during shared writing.

These may be aspects of composition (eg using a short sentence for impact or

handling speech marks) or a more general aspect of writing behaviour (eg using a plan to develop plot).

There are two key, interrelated processes – ‘demonstration’ and ‘joint composition’.

Shared writing is pitched about one level above the children’s own writing

so that they are constantly engaged in progress.

1. Demonstration

This is where the teacher shows the children how to do something in writing that

is new, or difficult, and will help the children make progress. The teacher writes in front of the children on a flip chart, giving a running commentary, revealing the

decisions that are being made.

The children are witnessing a writer at work. This has to be well focused and fairly

brisk so that it holds attention.

It should be centred on the key aspects that need teaching, avoiding too many

‘useful comments’ that cloud the objectives.

Use coloured pens to make progress points stand out. As the teacher writes, the

children offer comments and suggestions so that they are fully engaged and not

passive observers

2. Joint Composition

This is similar, except the children begin to take control, with the teacher scribing

their ideas. If ‘demonstration writing’ is ‘I’ll show you and explain’, then ‘joint

composition’ is ‘Now let’s have a go together and you explain’.

There is a shift from the teacher as model towards the children doing more of the

thinking, composing, explaining and working as writers.

The teacher is writing down what is said on a flip chart, taking over the transcription,

but also reminding, prompting and challenging so that the writing remains focused

on the progress points.

The teacher is constantly balancing the focus between pushing children to ‘generate’ ideas and then ‘judge’ what works best – pausing to reread and listening to the flow

of composition so the next sentence can be composed.

We read back to help us write on. What ends up on the board has to be the best

work the teacher can elicit from the children. In the same way, when the children

write their own version independently, what they end up with on their page has to be the best they can find within themselves.

The pace will need to be brisk, but have pauses for ‘thinking time’. On some

occasions you may refer back to the model text to remind children of what effected

writing sounds like, or to check a certain technique

Children use their magpie books to jot down ideas. The teaching assistant creates

a word bank, listing everyone’s suggestions.

From dependence to independence

Formative assessment is taking place virtually all the time as the class is being

taught, with the teacher picking up on what is happening and constantly trying to

move the writing forwards, deepening understanding and engaging the learner.

Gradually the teacher steps back so that the children take on more and more

responsibility, moving from dependence to independence.

Too much analysis and explanation by the teacher can spoil the flow of joint

composition. Ideally, it has a breathless sense of excitement as the text emerges.

The key is to encourage the children to suggest ideas, test them out and then press

on.

The teacher is the gatekeeper of quality. Nothing shoddy is accepted. Remind the children of the key features they need to use in order to ensure progress. Try

pausing to hear several ideas and then ask the children to choose which they think

will work best – and explain ‘why’.

Through constant teaching, these complex writing processes eventually become

increasingly well-orchestrated, internalised and automatic, especially where such processes are articulated. It is saying difficult things aloud that helps us all, in the

end, to be able to say them silently in our heads.

Eventually, the children hear the questions they need to ask and aspects of writing

become an automatic part of their repertoire.

They find they can hold an internal dialogue with themselves about the choices

available and consider how effective a particular word or phrase will be, or how well their writing rereads. Writing processes have to become automatic habits.

Guided writing

This is a form of group teaching, focused on children who have similar needs,

based upon assessment of their writing and observation of how they write.

‘Guide’ the group through the part of the writing process that everyone else is

focused upon. For example, if the class are working on the ‘opening’ to a story,

then the guided session will also focus on guiding the group through writing their

openings.

The teacher helps children remind themselves of targets, progress points and writing processes. The model and toolkit is revisited. Try writing on mini-

whiteboards as children are more likely to experiment, before copying up into

their journals.

The main point about guided work is that the children should be doing most of the thinking and writing. It is a scaffolded bridge from dependence towards

independence.

Take time to reflect. Writers nearly always read their work aloud, and this is an

important habit to develop with children. You read your work aloud primarily to ‘listen’ to it – to hear how it sounds, whether it flows and the effect it creates.

Make it a habit to always re-read a paragraph through and ask the children the

following questions:

Which are the best bits and why?

Are there any places we could improve? Are there any mistakes?

This begins to develop the habit of editing and proof-reading.

Finally, at the end of the session, it is worth asking:

1. What have we learned about writing?

2. To write this really effectively, what did we have to do?

The children’s ideas can be listed as part of the writing toolkit. This final

reflection can capture matters of technique (we had to use ‘show and not

tell’) as well as writing habits (we had to concentrate).

It is worth typing up the shared writing so that it can be stuck into

children’s writing journals for children’s pleasure as well as reference when they are writing.

Assessment Opportunity

Focus on specific progress points from ‘marking’

Revisit progress points, pushing children to use and discuss effects

Expect children to use progress points more independently with immediate sharing and discussion of impact

Writing with close support but becoming more independent Putting progress points into action independently

Teaching Writing Strategy

Demonstration

I’ll show you how to do something

Joint composition

Now we’ll have a go together

Mini-writing

Children write, on a specific focus, using mini whiteboards for immediate feedback

Guided writing

I’ll support you in a small, focused group

Independent writing

You have a go on your own

Transforming Writing is a teacher research project into formative assessment and

writing. The project is managed by the National Literacy Trust, researched by

John Rooke from the University of Winchester and led by Pie Corbett and Julia

Strong. It is funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

You can download the interim ‘Transforming Writing’ evaluation

report from here.

English: Glossary of Terms

Term Guidance Example

Noun (Common)

Used to describe a person, people,

place, thing or object. IF they need

a capital letter then it’s a PROPER

NOUN.

ADJECTIVE describes the NOUN: The table (noun) is wooden (adjective)

Nouns are sometimes called ‘naming words’ because they name people, places and ‘things’; this is often true, but it doesn’t help to distinguish nouns from other word classes. For example, prepositions can name places and verbs can name ‘things’ such as actions.

Nouns may be classified as common, proper and countable (e.g. thing, boy) or non-countable (e.g. stuff, money).

Child, parents, home, toy, hand, table,

computer, country, book, dog, tree

Our dog bit the burglar on his behind!

My big brother did an amazing jump on his skateboard.

Actions speak louder than words.

Not nouns:

He’s behind you! [this names a place, but is a preposition, not a noun]

She can jump so high! [this names an action, but is a verb, not a noun]

common, countable: a book, books, two chocolates, one day, fewer ideas

common, non-countable: money, some chocolate, less imagination

proper, countable: Martino,

Manchester, Wednesday

Singular nouns

Refer to one person, place or thing

Wife, city, volcano, fox, church

Plural nouns

Refer to more than one person, place or thing. A plural noun normally has a suffix –s or –es and means ‘more than one’.

There are a few nouns with

different morphology in the plural

(e.g. mice, formulae).

Wives, cities, volcanoes, foxes, churches,

dogs [more than one dog]; boxes [more than one box]

mice [more than one mouse]

Proper nouns

Are the names of particular people,

places or things. They are written

with a capital letter

Ivan, Egypt, Tuesday, Manchester,

February, Mr. Breeze, Africa, London,

Easter, Buddhism, Mum, France, Paris

Abstract nouns

Are the names of something that

holds no physical form and cannot

be experienced by the 5 senses

(smell, see, hear, taste, touch), it

can only be recognized by the mind

Excitement, fear, pain, health, care,

pride, hate, happiness, bravery, fun,

love, peace, surprise, stupidity,

childhood, idea, notion, remark

Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Primary School Literacy Policy – Spring 2021 pg.

19

Collective noun

A count noun that denotes a group of individuals

Team, class, couple, family, government, staff, pack, herd, army, fleet, shoal, orchestra, crew, assembly

Pronoun

Pronouns are used like nouns, except that they are grammatically more specialised and it is harder to modify them

In the examples, each sentence is written twice: once with nouns, and once with pronouns (underlined). Where the same thing is being talked about, the words are shown in bold.

Amanda waved to Michael.

She waved to him.

John’s mother is over there. His mother is over there.

The visit will be an overnight visit. This will be an overnight visit.

Simon is the person: Simon broke it. He is the one who broke it.

Possessive noun A possessive can be:

a noun followed by an apostrophe, with or without s

a possessive pronoun.

A possessive may act as a determiner.

Tariq’s book [Tariq has the book]

The boys’ arrival [the boys arrive]

His obituary [the obituary is about him]

That essay is mine. [I wrote the essay]

Main clause (noun)

Subordinate Clause (noun)

Relative clause

A clause which is subordinate to some other part of the same sentence is a subordinate clause; for example, in The apple that I ate was sour, the clause that I ate is subordinate to apple (which it modifies). Subordinate clauses contrast with co-ordinate clauses as in It was sour but looked very tasty. (Contrast: main clause)

However, clauses that are directly quoted as direct speech are not subordinate clauses.

A clause, typically introduced by a conjunction, that forms part of and is dependent on a main 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.

It was raining but the sun was shining. [two main clauses]

The man who wrote it told me that it was true. [one main clause containing two subordinate clauses.]

She said, “It rained all day.” [one main clause containing another.]

‘when it rang’ in ‘she answered the phone when it rang’.

That’s the street where Ben lives. [relative clause; modifies street]

He watched her as she disappeared. [adverbial; modifies watched]

What you said was very nice. [acts as subject of was]

She noticed an hour had passed. [acts as object of noticed]

Not subordinate: He shouted, “Look out!”

That’s the boy who lives near school. [who refers back to boy]

The prize that I won was a book. [that refers back to prize]

The prize I won was a book. [the pronoun that is omitted]

Tom broke the game, which annoyed Ali. [which refers back to the whole clause] In the examples, the relative clauses are

underlined, and both the pronouns and the words they refer back to are in bold.

Adjective

Are used to give information about

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a noun (describing words): before a noun, to make the noun’s meaning more specific (i.e. to modify the noun), or after the verb be, as its complement.

Adjectives cannot be modified by other adjectives. This distinguishes them from nouns, which can be.

Adjectives are sometimes called ‘describing words’ because they pick out single characteristics such as size or colour. This is often true, but it doesn’t help to distinguish adjectives from other word classes, because verbs, nouns and adverbs can do the same thing.

Circular, fragile, perilous, delicious, savage,

The pupils did some really good work. [adjective used before a noun, to modify it]

Their work was good. [adjective used after the verb be, as its complement]

Not adjectives: The lamp glowed. [verb] It was such a bright red! [noun] He spoke loudly. [adverb] It was a French grammar book. [noun]

Preposition

A preposition links a following noun, pronoun or noun phrase to some other word in the sentence. Prepositions often describe locations or directions, but can describe other things, such as relations of time.

Words like before or since can act either as prepositions or as conjunctions.

Tom waved goodbye to Christy. She’ll be back from Australia in two weeks.

I haven’t seen my dog since this morning.

Contrast: I’m going, since no-one wants me here! [conjunction: links two clauses]

Preposition phrase

A preposition phrase has a preposition as its head followed by a noun, pronoun or noun phrase.

He was in bed.

I met them after the party.

Object (noun, pronoun or noun phrase)

An object is normally a noun, pronoun or noun phrase that comes straight after the verb, and shows what the verb is acting upon.

Objects can be turned into the subject of a passive verb, and cannot be adjectives (contrast with complements).

Year 2 designed puppets. [noun acting as object]

I like that. [pronoun acting as object]

Some people suggested a pretty display. [noun phrase acting as object]

Contrast:

A display was suggested. [object of active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb]

Year 2 designed pretty. [incorrect, because adjectives cannot be objects]

Article

The articles the (definite) and a or an (indefinite) are the most common type of determiner.

The dog found a bone in an old box.

A determiner specifies a noun as the home team [article, specifies the

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Determiner known or unknown, and it goes before any modifiers (e.g. adjectives or other nouns).

Some examples of determiners are:

articles (the, a or an)

demonstratives (e.g. this, those)

possessives (e.g. my, your)

quantifiers (e.g. some, every).

team as known]

a good team [article, specifies the team as unknown]

that pupil [demonstrative, known]

Julia’s parents [possessive, known]

some big boys [quantifier, unknown]

Contrast: home the team, big some boys [both incorrect, because the determiner should come before other modifiers]

Cohesion

A text has cohesion if it is clear how the meanings of its parts fit together. Cohesive devices can help to do this.

In the example, there are repeated references to the same thing (shown by the different style pairings), and the logical relations, such as time and cause, between different parts are clear.

A visit has been arranged for Year 6, to the Mountain Peaks Field Study Centre, leaving school at 9.30am. This is an overnight visit. The centre has beautiful grounds and a nature trail. During the afternoon, the children will follow the trail.

Cohesive device

Cohesive devices are words used to show how the different parts of a text fit together. In other words, they create cohesion.

Some examples of cohesive devices are:

determiners and pronouns, which can refer back to earlier words

conjunctions and adverbs, which can make relations between words clear

ellipsis of expected words.

Julia’s dad bought her a football. The football was expensive! [determiner; refers us back to a particular football]

Joe was given a bike for Christmas. He liked it very much. [the pronouns refer back to Joe and the bike]

We’ll be going shopping before we go to the park. [conjunction; makes a relationship of time clear]

I’m afraid we’re going to have to wait for the next train. Meanwhile, we could have a cup of tea. [adverb; refers back to the time of waiting]

Where are you going? [ ] To school! [ellipsis of the expected words I’m going; links the answer back to the question]

co-ordinate, co-ordination

Words or phrases are co-ordinated if they are linked as an equal pair by a co-ordinating conjunction (i.e. and, but, or).

The difference between co-ordination and subordination is that, in subordination, the two linked elements are not equal.

In these examples, the co-ordinated elements are shown in bold, and the conjunction is underlined.

Susan and Amra met in a café. [links the words Susan and Amra as an equal pair]

They talked and drank tea for an hour. [links two clauses as an equal pair]

Susan got a bus but Amra walked. [links two clauses as an equal pair]

Not co-ordination: They ate before they met. [before introduces a subordinate clause]

Figurative language

Personification – (noun) (literal and figurative language)

Literal language means directly what it states. ‘I laughed a lot’ is

1. Giving human characteristics (such as feelings) to a non-human object:

Or it could be an abstract idea, like

The streets yawned

The trains wiggled their hips

‘the broken toaster spat crumbs at

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literal. Figurative language does not mean directly what it states. ‘I laughed my head off’ is figurative.

Note: metaphors, similes and personification are all examples of figurative language.

love or truth, given a human form.

2. A figure intended to represent an abstract quality. A representation, living image, incarnation, manifestation of something

me’.

‘He was the very personification of British pluck and diplomacy’. Santa Claus is a personification of Christmas

Simile

Likens one thing to another, a comparison between two things, using ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Fireworks rise like sudden fiery flowers. Or ‘Her skin was soft as sable, Her eyes were wide as day, Her hair was blacker than the bog That licked her life away.’ - Charles Causley, ‘The Ballad of

Charlotte Dymond’

Metaphor

Symbol: A symbol is like a heavy duty metaphor

An image which implies a comparison by stating that something is the thing it resembles.

Something use to stand for or represent something

‘The sea was woman; the woman was the sea.’ – Ray Bradbury, in his short story, ‘The Shoreline at Sunset’, about some boys who find a mermaid.

The rose is often a symbol of love, the cross is a symbol of Christianity

Antonym (noun)

A word opposite in meaning to another. Two words are antonyms if their meanings are opposites.

(e.g. bad and good ).

hot – cold, light – dark, light – heavy

Synonym (contrast antonym) Two words are synonyms if they have the same meaning, or similar meanings.

talk – speak

old – elderly

Homonym

Are two or three words that are pronounced the same but have different spellings and meanings

Has he left yet? Yes – he went through the door on the left.

The noise a dog makes is called a bark. Trees have bark.

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: Seen/scene, Roll/role, Weight/wait, Hare/hair, Blew/blue, Road/rowed, Site/sight, Seem/seam, New/knew, Some/sum, Due/dew, There/they’re?, Ways/weighs, Band/banned, One/won, Ray’s/raise, Isle/I’ll/aisle, Your/you’re?

The wind blew my blue shirt into the sea. Cheryl rode along as we rowed our boat from the island to the lakeside road.

I’ve never seen such a beautiful scene. We want a site from our home that will be out of sight. The seam in the tent doesn’t seem to hold back the

rain. Due to the dry weather, we did not see any dew on the grass.

I knew they had a new Gnu at the zoo. Some people know that you add to find the sum. They’re hanging their coats over there. I ate the eight cakes that were on my plate. How many ways can I tell him kindly that he weighs too much. They banned the crude band from performing. She only won one ticket to the show.

We must raze the old building before the sun’s rays can raise the temperature. We’ll find a beautiful tropic isle where I’ll walk down the aisle with my bride. You’re crazy if you pierce your ankle.

Homophone Two different words are homophones if they sound exactly the same when pronounced.

hear, here

some, sum

Alliteration

Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words

e.g.‘funny face’ or ‘cowardly custard’. Note that sound, not spelling, is what matters: ‘philosophical fish’ is still an example of alliteration.

The similar sounds do not have to be right next to each other:

‘Then on a sudden, lo! the level lake, And the long glories of the winter moon.’ – Tennyson, ‘Le Morte D’Arthur’

Sibilance

A literary device where strongly stressed consonants are created deliberately:

e.g. Alliteration of the ‘s’ sound in ‘Serious snakes stay sober’

Assonance

Repetition of the similar vowel sounds.

These could be the same vowel sounds with different consonants, e.g. ‘blue moon’, ‘funny tummy’, or the same consonants with different vowel sounds, e.g. ‘black block’, ‘sad Sid’. E.g: ‘Your eyes smile peace. The pasture gleams and glooms’

- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, ‘Silent Noon’

Onomatopoeia

When words sound like what they mean. The formation of the word associated with what the word means. In poetry, the words often behave like what they describe. In poems, the words often behave like their subject:

Buzz, crash, wiz, drizzle, squirt, bloop, splash, spray, sprinkle, cuckoo, sizzle, drip. Movement may also be imitated, e.g. ‘splishy- splashy fish’.

Bouncy and springy when describing a spaniel puppy in springtime, heavy and plodding when describing an old man in winter.

Phonics

Schwa

The name of a vowel sound that is found only in unstressed positions in English. It is the most common vowel sound in English.

It is written as /ə/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet. In the English writing system, it can be written in many different ways.

/əlɒŋ/ [along]

/bʌtə/ [butter]

/dɒktə/ [doctor]

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Phoneme

The links between letters, or combinations of letters (graphemes) and the speech sounds (phonemes) that they represent.

The grapheme s corresponds to the phoneme /s/ in the word see, but…

…it corresponds to the phoneme /z/ in the word easy.

Grapheme

A letter, or combination of letters, that corresponds to a single phoneme within a word.

In the English writing system, graphemes may correspond to different phonemes in different words.

The grapheme t in the words ten, bet and ate corresponds to the phoneme /t/.

The grapheme ph in the word dolphin corresponds to the phoneme /f/.

Diagraph

A type of grapheme where two letters represent one phoneme.

Sometimes, these two letters are not next to one another; this is called a split digraph.

The digraph ea in each is pronounced /i:/.

The digraph sh in shed is pronounced /ʃ/.

The split digraph i–e in line is pronounced /aɪ/.

Trigraph

A type of grapheme where three letters represent one phoneme.

High, pure, patch, hedge

Split-Diagraph

A digraph is two letters (two vowels or two consonants or a vowel and a consonant) which together make one sound.

When a digraph is split by a consonant it becomes a split digraph. For example: wrote – the 'oe' here make one sound.

As in the words: tail, boat, found, read.

o_e a_e i_e

Vowel

A vowel is a speech sound which is produced without any closure or obstruction of the vocal tract.

Vowels can form syllables by themselves, or they may combine with consonants.

In the English writing system, the letters a, e, i, o, u can represent vowels.

Consonant A sound which is produced when the speaker closes off or obstructs the flow of air through the vocal tract, usually using lips, tongue or teeth.

Most of the letters of the alphabet represent consonants. Only the letters a, e, i, o, u and y can represent vowel sounds.

/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]

/s/ [flow of air obstructed by the tip of the tongue touching the gum line]

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Syllable

A syllable sounds like a beat in a word. Syllables consist of at least one vowel, and possibly one or more consonants

Cat has one syllable.

Fairy has two syllables.

Hippopotamus has five syllables.

Monosyllable A word with one syllable.

Mnemonic A way of remembering the spelling of tricky letters.

English (Word origins and History)

Etymology

A word’s etymology is its history: its origins in earlier forms of English or other languages, and how its form and meaning have changed. Many words in English have come from Greek, Latin or French.

The word school was borrowed from a Greek word ó÷ïëÞ (skholé) meaning ‘leisure’.

The word verb comes from Latin verbum, meaning ‘word’.

The word mutton comes from French mouton, meaning ‘sheep’.

Morphology

A word’s morphology is its internal make-up in terms of root words and suffixes or prefixes, as well as other kinds of change such as the change of mouse to mice.

Morphology may be used to produce different inflections of the same word (e.g. boy – boys), or entirely new words (e.g. boy – boyish) belonging to the same word family.

dogs has the morphological make-up: dog + s.

unhelpfulness has the morphological make-

up:

unhelpful + ness

where unhelpful = un + helpful

and helpful = help + ful

Root Word

Morphology breaks words down into root words, which can stand alone, and suffixes or prefixes which can’t. For example, help is the root word for other words in its word family such as helpful and helpless, and also for its inflections such as helping. Compound words (e.g. help-desk) contain two or more root words. When looking in a dictionary, we sometimes have to look for the root word (or words) of the word we are interested in.

played [the root word is play]

unfair [the root word is fair]

football [the root words are foot and ball]

Compound, compounding

A word that contains two or more root words is a compound word.

A compound word contains at least two root words in its morphology; e.g. whiteboard, superman. Compounding is very important in English.

news+paper, blackbird, blow-dry, bookshop, ice-cream, English teacher, inkjet, one-eyed, bone-dry, baby-sit, daydream, outgrow

Word A word is a unit of grammar: it can be selected and moved around relatively independently, but cannot easily be split. In punctuation, words are normally separated by word spaces.

Sometimes, a sequence that appears grammatically to be two words is collapsed into a single written word, indicated with a hyphen or apostrophe (e.g. well- built, he’s).

headteacher or head teacher [can be written with or without a space]

I’m going out.

9.30 am

Word class

Every word belongs to a word class which summarises the ways in which it can be used in grammar. The major word classes for English are: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, determiner, pronoun, conjunction. Word classes are sometimes called ‘parts of speech’.

Word family

The words in a word family are normally related to each other by a combination of morphology, grammar and meaning.

teach – teacher

extend – extent – extensive

grammar – grammatical – grammarian

Stress

Unstressed

A syllable is stressed if it is pronounced more forcefully than the syllables next to it. Vowels that are not stressed or pronounced, difficult to hear.

about

visit

Punctuation

Punctuation includes any conventional features of writing other than spelling and general layout: the standard punctuation

“I’m going out, Usha, and I won’t be long,” Mum said.

marks . , ; : ? ! - – ( ) “ ” ‘ ’ , and also word-spaces, capital letters, apostrophes, paragraph breaks and bullet points. One important role of punctuation is to indicate sentence boundaries.

Apostrophe (a Contraction when used as a missing letter)

Apostrophes have two completely different uses:

showing the place of missing letters (e.g. I’m for I am)

marking possessives (e.g. Hannah’s mother).

I’m going out and I won’t be long. [showing missing letters]

Hannah’s mother went to town in Justin’s car. [marking possessives]

Ellipses

is the omission of a word or phrase which is expected and predictable. Used to show a pause in the readers speech/ thought and to build tension

or show that a sentence is not finished

Frankie waved to Ivana and she watched her drive away.

She did it because she wanted to do it.

Prefix

A prefix is added at the beginning of a word in order to turn it into another word.

Unhappy, overtake, disappear, disagree, mistake, prehistoric, , Tricky* semi, tri, international

Suffix A suffix is an ‘ending’, used at the end of one word to turn it into another word. Unlike root words, suffixes cannot stand on their own as a complete word.

Playscripts often use the suffix ‘ly’ as stage direction to indicate delivery

call – called

teach – teacher [turns a verb into a noun]

terror – terrorise [turns a noun into a verb]

green – greenish [leaves word class unchanged] ly – less – ment – ness * now becomes an Adverb

Dialect

A dialect is a form of language spoken in a particular area or by a particular social group.

‘dialect words’ are examples of words or eanings that distinguish a dialect from standard English or from other dialects. This cold be a word that only occurs in that dialect, e.g. ‘mardy’ in Yorkshire, WestMidlands etc. meaning ‘grumpy, surly’. It could also be a word that occurs in standard English but with a different meaning in a dialect, e.g. ‘starved’ meaning cold in some Northern dialects of English. Non-standard grammar also indicates dialect, e.g: ‘Old pirates, yes, they rob I; Sold I to the merchant ships’ – Bob Marley, ‘Redemption Song’

Context

Something outside the text that affects its meaning

e.g. its historical context and/or its social context. Advances in science or transport, expectations of women, life expectancy, religious belief, whether or not there was a war on when it was written – these are examples of context.

Literal and Figurative language

Note: metaphors, similes and personification are all examples of figurative language

Literal language means directly what it states. Figurative language does not mean directly what it states.

‘I laughed a lot’ is literal.

I laughed my head off’ is figurative.

Imagery (within poems like metaphors and similes)

language that describes something using at least one of the five senses.

Often this will be a mental image, but imagery can also describe a sound, a smell, a taste &c.

what is not imagery? An abstract thing like a question, a thought, anything you know is there because it strikes your mind and not your senses: that is not imagery.

There is no imagery in this statement: ‘I thought about the question for a bit.’

There is imagery in this one: ‘A question formed in my mind, like smoke.’

Verbs

Verb (action/physical)

Verbs are words that express action, doing or state of being or feeling. The verb signals an action, an occurrence, or a state of being. Whether mental, physical, or mechanical, verbs always express activity. The surest way to identify verbs is by the ways they can be used: they can usually have a tense, either present or past (see also future).

There are three types of verbs: action (physical) verbs, linking verbs, and helping verbs. Action verbs are words that express action (give, eat, walk, etc.) or possession (have, own, etc.). Action verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. Verbs can be classified in various ways: for example, as auxiliary, or modal; as transitive or intransitive; and as states or events.

He lives in Birmingham. [present tense]

The teacher wrote a song for the class. [past tense]

He likes chocolate. [present tense; not an action]

He knew my father. [past tense; not an action]

Not verbs:

The walk to Halina’s house will take an hour. [noun]

All that surfing makes Morwenna so sleepy! [noun]

Physical Verb Examples The physical verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification. • Let’s run to the corner and back.

• I hear the train coming. Call me when you’re finished with class.

Action or doing words: Jumping, waiting, deciding, decorating, investigating, crying, reading, hopping, running, swimming, jumping, sipping, sleeping, sawing, tripping, dropping, trimming, playing, drifting, sitting, sprinting, beginning, wrapping.

Subject The subject of a verb is normally the noun, noun phrase or pronoun that names the ‘do- er’ or ‘be-er’. The subject’s normal position is:

just before the verb in a statement

just after the auxiliary verb, in a question.

Unlike the verb’s object and complement, the subject can determine the form of the verb

Rula’s mother went out. That is uncertain.

The children will study the animals.

Will the children study the animals?

(e.g. I am, you are).

Finite

A finite verb is a verb which has a subject and shows tense. In short, it is a verb being a verb (i.e., a doing word) as opposed to a verbal (which is another part of speech formed from a verb).

Verbs that are not finite, such as participles or infinitives, cannot stand on their own: they are linked to another verb in the sentence.

Not finite verbs:

I have done them. [combined with the finite verb have]

I will do them. [combined with the finite verb will]

I want to do them! [combined with the finite verb want]

Every sentence needs a finite verb. e.g. (with the finite verbs underlined): • He painted the fence.

(In this example, painted is a finite verb.) • He varnished the painted fence. (In this example, painted is a verbal. It's actually a participle from the verb to paint, which is being used as an adjective. A verbal is another name for a non-finite verb.)

1 You promised me the last ticket. 2 I am excited about going to the

amusement park. 3 I went for a walk around the park. 4 Everyone wanted to go to the amusement park, but we only had four tickets. 5 On that dark day, the spirits rose from their graves to feast upon the living. 6 In that moment, it all became clear that the amusement park was a trap.

Lizzie does the dishes every day. [present tense]

Even Hana did the dishes yesterday. [past tense]

Do the dishes, Naser! [imperative]

Fronting / Fronted

A word or phrase that normally comes after the verb may be moved before the verb: when this happens, we say it has been ‘fronted’. For example, a fronted adverbial is an adverbial which has been moved before the verb.

When writing fronted phrases, we often follow them with a comma.

In English grammar, fronting refers to any construction in which a word group that customarily follows the verb is placed at the beginning of a sentence. Also called front-focus or preposing. Fronting is a type of focus strategy often used to enhance cohesion and provide emphasis.

Before we begin, make sure you’ve got a pencil.

[Without fronting: Make sure you’ve got a pencil before we begin.]

The day after tomorrow, I’m visiting my granddad.

[Without fronting: I’m visiting my granddad the day after tomorrow.]

Very good lesson we had yesterday. Strange people they are! This question we have already discussed at some length. Fool that I was! What I'm going to do next I just don't know. How she got the gun through customs we never found out."

Tense

Present

In English, tense is the choice between present and past verbs, which is special because it is signaled by inflections and normally indicates differences of time. The simple tenses (present and past) may be combined with the perfect and the progressive.

Verbs in the present tense are commonly used to:

talk about the present

talk about the future.

Jamal goes to the pool every day. [describes a habit that exists now].

He can swim. [describes a state that is true now]. The bus arrives at three. [scheduled now].

My friends are coming to play. [describes a plan in progress now]

The party will be fun. Will, will not, won’t, can’t, may, might, might not

I wish I had a puppy. [names an imagined situation, not a situation in the past]

He studies. [present tense – present time]

Past

In grammar, a past tense is a verb form that generally marks the event described by the verb as having happened previously.

Past: jumped, cried, read, ran, hopped, travelled, took, saw, walked, felt, went. He studied yesterday. [past tense – past time]

If he studied tomorrow, he’d see the difference! [past tense – imagined future]

Verbs in the past tense are commonly used to:

Tom and Chris showed me their new TV. [names an event in the past]

talk about the past

talk about imagined situations

Antonio went on holiday to Brazil. [names an event in the past; irregular past of go]

make a request sound more polite.

She has downloaded some songs. [present perfect; now she has some songs]

Most verbs take a suffix –ed, to form their past tense, but many commonly-used verbs are irregular.

I had eaten lunch when you came. [past perfect; I wasn’t hungry when you came]

Perfect

The perfect form of a verb generally calls attention to the consequences of a prior event; for example, he has gone to lunch implies that he is still away, in contrast with he went to lunch. ‘Had gone to lunch’ takes a past time point (i.e. when we arrived) as its reference point and is another way of

Future

establishing time relations in a text. The perfect tense is formed by:

turning the verb into its past participle inflection

adding a form of the verb have before it.

It can also be combined with the progressive (e.g. he has been going).

In grammar, a future tense is a verb form that generally marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future.

Future: He studies tomorrow, or else! [present tense – future time]

He may study tomorrow. [present tense + infinitive – future time]

He plans to study tomorrow. [present tense + infinitive – future time]

"We will bake cookies tomorrow," is using the future tense to make it clear that nobody's baking cookies today — you'll have to wait until tomorrow.

I was hoping you’d help tomorrow. [makes an implied request sound more polite]

Transitive

Intransitive (verbs)

Most action verbs are defined as transitive or intransitive. This means that some are used with a direct object (the person or thing that receives the action of the subject) and others don’t need a direct object. Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive depending on their meaning.

A transitive verb takes at least one object in a sentence to complete its meaning, in contrast to an intransitive verb, which does not.

• Transitive Verb – Joe will send the price quote as soon as he can.

He loves Juliet.

She understands English grammar.

* Intransitive Verb – Many of the students are not well. They coughed throughout the lesson. We all laughed.

We would like to stay longer, but we must leave.

Auxillary Verb

The auxiliary verbs are: be, have, do and the modal verbs. They can be used to make questions and negative statements and also known as helping verbs, and are used together with a main verb to show the verb’s tense or to form a question or negative. The most common auxiliary verbs are have, be, and do.

In addition:

be is used in the progressive and passive

have is used in the perfect

do is used to form questions and negative statements if no other auxiliary verb is present

• Does Sam write all his own reports? • The secretaries haven’t written all

the letters yet.

Terry is writing an e-mail to a client at the moment.

have, be, and do

They are winning the match. [be used in the progressive]

Have you finished your picture? [have used to make a question, and the perfect]

No, I don’t know him. [do used to make a negative; no other auxiliary is present]

Will you come with me or not? [modal verb will used to make a question about the other person’s willingness]

Modal Verb

Modal verbs are used to change the meaning of other verbs. They

The modals and semi-modals in English are:

can express meanings such as ability, certainty, permission, or obligation. The main modal verbs are will, would, can, could, may, might, shall, should, must and ought.

A modal verb only has finite forms and has no suffixes (e.g. I sing – he sings, but not I must – he musts).

• Can/could/be able to • May/might • Shall/should • Must/have to • Will/would

I can do this maths work by myself.

This ride may be too scary for you!

You should help your little brother.

Is it going to rain? Yes, it might.

Canning swim is important. [not possible because can must be finite; contrast: Being able to swim is important, where being is not a modal verb]

Stative verbs

Can be recognized because they express a state rather than an action. They typically relate to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses, states of being, and measurements.

These verbs are not usually used with ing in progressive (continuous) tenses even though they may take on time expressions such as now and at the moment. We use the simple tenses for them.

• Paul feels rotten today. He has a bad

cold. • Do you recognize him? He is a

famous rock star. * Our client appreciated all the work we did for him.

Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is a combination of words (a verb + a preposition or verb +adverb) that when used together, usually take on a different meaning to that of the original verb.

When we use phrasal verbs, we use them like normal verbs in a sentence, regardless if it’s a regular or irregular verb.

:break down, check in, tear up

1.Ella tore up the letter after she read it. 2.Their car broke down two miles out of town. 3. Did the manager deal with that customer’s complaint. 4. Be sure to put on a life jacket before getting into the boat. 5. We left out the trash for pickup. 6.It’s time to get on the plane. 7. What will she think up next? 8. I’m having some trouble working out the solution to this equation. 9.We’re going to have to put off our vacation until next year. 10. Stand up when speaking in class, please. 11. We’ll have to wake up early if we want breakfast. 12. Take off your shoes before you walk on the carpet. 13. My dog likes to break out of his kennel to chase squirrels.

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs are also known as strong verbs.

Irregular verbs are verbs that don’t take on the regular –d, -ed, or -ied spelling patterns of the past simple (V2) or past participle (V3). Many of the irregular V2 and V3 forms are the same, such as: cut – cut, had – had, let – let, hurt – hurt, fed- fed, sold-sold

Here are nine that are used more often than the rest. These nine irregular verb examples also happen to be among the most commonly used words in the English language. They are:

o Go o Get o Say o See o Think o Make o Take o Come o Know

Progressive (verb) The progressive (also known as the ‘continuous’) form of a verb generally describes events in progress. It is formed by combining the verb’s present participle (e.g. singing) with a form of the verb be (e.g. he was singing). The progressive can also be combined with the perfect (e.g. he has been singing).

Michael is singing in the store room.

[present progressive]

Amanda was making a patchwork quilt.

[past progressive] Usha had been practising for an hour when I called. [past perfect progressive]

Subordinate, subordination (verb)

A subordinate word or phrase tells us more about the meaning of the word it is subordinate to. Subordination can be thought of as an unequal relationship between a subordinate word and a main word. For example:

an adjective is subordinate to the noun it modifies

subjects and objects are subordinate to their verbs.

Subordination is much more common than the equal relationship of co-ordination.

See also subordinate clause.

big dogs [big is subordinate to dogs]

Big dogs need long walks. [big dogs and long walks are subordinate to need]

We can watch TV when we’ve finished. [when we’ve finished is subordinate to watch]

Complement

A verb’s subject complement adds more information about its subject, and its object complement does the same for its object.

Unlike the verb’s object, its complement may be an adjective. The verb be normally has a complement.

She is our teacher. [adds more information about the subject, she]

They seem very competent. [adds more information about the subject, they]

Learning makes me happy. [adds more information about the object, me]

Adverb

Adverbial

The surest way to identify adverbs is by the ways they can be used, to

Modify, descibe or add meaning to a verb, an adjective, another adverb or even a whole clause.

Adverbs are sometimes said to describe manner or time. This is often true, but it doesn’t help to distinguish adverbs from other word classes that can be used as adverbials, such as preposition phrases, noun phrases and subordinate clauses

An adverbial is a word or phrase that is used, like an adverb, to modify a verb or clause. Of course, adverbs can be used as adverbials, but many other types of words and phrases can be used this way, including preposition phrases and

Politely, swiftly, angrily, carefully, heavily, wildly, bravely, rapidly, clumsily, furiously, frantically, sluggishly, smashed, searched

The boy was running [verb - doing] slowly [adverb - describing]

He ran yesterday, She ran quickly, He walked wearily, She ran the fastest

Usha soon started snoring loudly. [adverbs modifying

the verbs started and snoring]

That match was really exciting! [adverb modifying the adjective exciting]

We don’t get to play games very often. [adverb modifying the other adverb, often]

Fortunately, it didn’t rain. [adverb modifying the whole clause ‘it didn’t rain’ by commenting on it]

Not adverbs:

Usha went up the stairs. [preposition phrase used as adverbial]

She finished her work this evening. [noun phrase used as adverbial]

She finished when the teacher got cross. [subordinate clause used as adverbial]

The bus leaves in five minutes. [preposition phrase as adverbial: modifies leaves]

subordinate clauses. She promised to see him last night. [noun phrase modifying either promised or see, according to the intended meaning]

She worked until she had finished. [subordinate clause as adverbial]

Participle (Verb)

Verbs in English have two participles, called ‘present participle’ (e.g. walking, taking) and ‘past participle’ (e.g. walked, taken).

Unfortunately, these terms can be confusing to learners, because:

they don’t necessarily have anything to do with present or past time

although past participles are used as perfects (e.g. has eaten) they are also used as passives (e.g. was eaten).

He is walking to school. [present participle in a progressive]

He has taken the bus to school. [past participle in a perfect]

The photo was taken in the rain. [past participle in a passive]

Subjunctive

In some languages, the inflections of a verb include a large range of special forms which are used typically in subordinate clauses, and are called ‘subjunctives’. English has very few such forms and those it has tend to be used in rather formal styles.

The school requires that all pupils be honest.

The school rules demand that pupils not enter the gym at lunchtime.

If Zoë were the class president, things would be much better.

Infinite (verb)

A verb’s infinitive is the basic form used as the head-word in a dictionary (e.g. walk, be).

Infinitives are often used:

after to

after modal verbs.

I want to walk.

I will be quiet.

Inflection

When we add -ed to walk, or change mouse to mice, this change of morphology produces an inflection (‘bending’) of the basic word which has special grammar (e.g. past tense or plural). In contrast, adding -er to walk produces a completely different word, walker, which is part of the same word family. Inflection is sometimes thought of as merely a change of ending, but, in fact, some words change completely when inflected.

dogs is an inflection of dog.

went is an inflection of go.

better is an inflection of good.

Modify

(modifier more specific)

One word or phrase modifies another by making its meaning.

more specific.

Because the two words make a phrase, the ‘modifier’ is normally close to the modified word.

In the phrase primary-school teacher:

teacher is modified by primary- school (to mean a specific kind of teacher)

school is modified by primary (to

mean a specific kind of school).

Phrase A phrase is a group of words that are grammatically connected so that they stay together, and that expand a single word, called the ‘head’. The phrase is a noun phrase if its head is a noun, a preposition phrase if its head is a preposition, and so on; but if the head is a verb, the phrase is called a clause. Phrases can be made up of other phrases.

She waved to her mother. [a noun phrase, with the noun mother as its head]

She waved to her mother. [a preposition phrase, with the preposition to as its head]

She waved to her mother. [a clause, with the verb waved as its head]

Conjuction (formerly known as connectives) – ‘sticky words’.

Connectives are….

A conjunction links/joins two words or phrases together. They can appear at the beginning of a sentence or to join words in the middle of a sentence.

There are two main types of conjunctions:

co-ordinating conjunctions (e.g. and) link two words or phrases together as an equal pair

subordinating conjunctions (e.g. when) introduce a subordinate clause.

Words to use instead of said…

James bought a bat and ball. [links the words bat and ball as an equal pair]

Kylie is young but she can kick the ball hard. [links two clauses as an equal pair]

Everyone watches when Kyle does back- flips. [introduces a subordinate clause]

Joe can’t practise kicking because he’s injured. [introduces a subordinate clause]

Also: although, unless, until, not, this, only, with, nevertheless, therefore, inspite of this, and, because, just then, finally, but, plus, so, when, then, also, unfortunately, however, furthermore, just then, finally, because,

…..Exclaimed, laughed, mumbled, muttered, answered, declared, announced, explained, shouted, whispered, cried, replied, shrieked, moaned, sighed

Sentence

A sentence is a group of words which are grammatically connected to each other but not to any words outside the sentence.The form of a sentence’s main clause shows

whether it is being used as a statement, a question, a command or an exclamation.

A sentence may consist of a single

clause or it may contain several clauses held together by subordination or co-ordination.

Classifying sentences as ‘simple’, ‘complex’ or ‘compound’ can be confusing, because a ‘simple’ sentence may be complicated, and a ‘complex’ one may be

straightforward. The terms ‘single- clause sentence’ and ‘multi-clause

sentence’ may be more helpful.

John went to his friend’s house. He stayed

there till tea-time.

John went to his friend’s house, he stayed there till tea-time. [This is a ‘comma splice’, a common error in which a comma is used where either a full stop or a semi-colon is needed to indicate the lack of any grammatical connection between the two clauses.]

You are my friend. [statement]

Are you my friend? [question]

Be my friend! [command]

What a good friend you are! [exclamation]

Ali went home on his bike to his goldfish and his current library book about pets. [single- clause sentence]

She went shopping but took back everything she had bought because she didn’t like any of it. [multi-clause sentence]

Passive sentence

Are sentences where he action is being done by someone else. The sentence It was eaten by our dog is the passive of Our dog ate it. A passive is recognisable from:

the past participle form eaten

the normal object (it) turned into the subject

the normal subject (our dog) turned into an optional preposition phrase with by as its head

the verb be(was), or some other verb such as get.

A verb is not ‘passive’ just because it has a passive meaning: it must be the passive version of an active verb.

The elephant was frightened by the mouse.

A visit was arranged by the school.

Katie’s apple is being eaten by Mathew.

Active versions:

The school arranged a visit.

A bus ran over our cat.

Not passive:

He received a warning. [past tense, active received]

We had an accident. [past tense, active had]

Active sentence

Are sentences where the subject is doing the action, which is expressed as a verb

The mouse frightened the elephant. Matthew is eating Katie’s apple.

Simple sentence

Is made up of one clause, it contains a verb and makes sense on it’s own.

The children went out to play.

Compound sentence

Is made up of two or more main clauses joined up by a connective.

The bell sounded and the children went out to play.

Complex sentence Contains a main clause and a subordinate clause. The subordinate does not make sense on it’s own, but will give the main clause a little more information.

Henry VIII, who was a Tudor King, had eight wives.