Tricky WordsHis or He’s?He's is the short form of 'he is' or 'he has'.

For example: "Don't be scared - he's very friendly."

His is a possessive pronoun, it is used to show something belonging to or connected with a man, boy or male animal that has just been mentioned.

For example: “Where is his mother going?” asked Fred.

Apply It:

________ got four onions and one potato.

Who is ________ date for the ball?

________ attitude to learning is excellent!

Leon said _________ loving __________ new car at the moment.

__________ father just told me ___________ grounded for three weeks!

Its or it’s?Its is the possessive form of the neuter pronoun ‘it’. That means, the ‘it’ owns something.

"Every dog has its day." Its = dog = owns the day."The jury has reached its decision." Its = jury = owns the decision. "Stop its momentum!" Its = ? = owns the momentum."Guess its color." Its = ? = owns the colour.

It’s is a contraction for ‘it is’, or ‘it has’.

"It's my bedtime." It’s = It is my bedtime."It's time to go." It’s = It is time to go.

"It's been a long time." It’s = It has been a long time."It's got to happen soon." It’s = It has got to happen soon.

Apply it:

__________ to be at least 3.15! ___________ only 2.45!

The cat licked _____________ paws. The group loves ________ members.

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There, their or they’re?______________ Contraction of ‘they are’.

______________ Showing position, contains the word ‘here’.

- Also indicates existence of something when used with the verb ‘be’ (is / are / was / were)

______________ Shows ownership

They’re really energetic! = They are really energetic

Their lollies are really sweet. = They own the lollies (ownership)

The boys are over there. = The boys are in a position.

Apply it!

1. Those seagulls just lost ______________ lunch.

2. ________ are seven days in the week.

3. ________ going to the beach.

4. The beach is over __________

5. I can’t believe ____________ going to the pool.

6. _______ grades improved this year.

7. I don’t know where _______________ going.

8. I think ____________ flowers are lovely.

9. ___________ cooking up a storm!

10. ___________ appears to be a disturbance in the corridor.

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Your or You’re?Your = ______________________________________________________________

You’re = ______________________________________________________________

This is one of the most commonly mis-used words in the English language. The best remedy is to edit your work and whenever you come across the word your/you’re, ask yourself the question, ‘would the words, you are, replace the word your?’ If the answer is yes, then the your/you’re you’re looking for is you’re!

Apply it

Put the correct form of your / you’re in the gaps below

The teacher said to the class, ‘_________________ all going to the library’. We got out of our seats,

then the teacher asked, ‘why did you get out of ___________ seat?’ The teacher continued,

‘__________________ going there once you get our _______________ research books’. So we all

did. All except Tommy, I asked Tommy, ‘where is _______________ book?’ Tommy shrugged,

‘________________ all too organised for me’. Everyone laughed except the teacher.

Fun Game

Go back over the paragraph, and each time say ‘you are’ in the gaps and see if it works, if ‘you are’ works, then you should have used you’re, not your!

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Parts of SpeechIn the space below, write the definition of each part of speech and give some examples.

Adjectives:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The tree is _____________. The ___________ man frowned.

The girl’s laugh was __________. Today was __________.

Noun:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The _______________ was mean to me. _________________ like peanuts.

I opened the ________________. Look, there is the ________________.

Proper Noun:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My name is _____________________. _______________________ is an actor.

We live in ______________________. ________________ is my favourite brand.

Verb:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We _________________ the cross country. I love to go _________________ on weekends.

Mum ___________________ at me. Joanna _______________ off the diving board.

Adverb:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We ran _________________ to the window. I received the present ___________________.

The girl looked _______________ at me. I walked ___________________ home after school.

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Apply it!Read the following paragraphs.

Put a circle around five nouns.

Put a square around three adjectives.

Underline three verbs.

Put *asterisks* around one adverb.

Put a strike through one pronoun.

Round One:

My family went on a holiday to the Gold Coast. It was an amazing experience! Mum shopped til she

dropped and dad went fishing. I mostly just played with my phone so everyone back home could

read my status updates. My newest friend, Patricia, annoyingly liked every post.

Round Two:

I am excitedly waiting for the bus to arrive. We are going to Lithgow for the show. Miss said it will be

the greatest show in the world. She is mildly lame, but that’s OK because she is a wonderful

violinist. When the bus rolled slowly to a stop, we all hurried into our seats.

Round Three:

Michael told me a secret. He spoke quietly about the diamond, and an adventure which would be

dangerous. My head swelled quickly with ideas of retirement. Mum always warned me about get

rich quick schemes, but I answered Michael with a look which acknowledged my participation in the

great hunt. Later in the day I went to Coles and found ten bucks!

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Articles: An or A???Place the usage instructions in the space below:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. ____________ Umbrella

2. ____________ Dingo

3. ____________ Giraffe

4. ____________ Onion

5. ____________ Hour

6. ____________ Doctor

Multiple Choice:

Pick the word that fits in the following sentence:

1. The monkey ate an ________________________ as part of the show.a) Banana b) Apple c) Watermelon d) Sausage sandwich

2. Quick! It’s essential that you get me a ______________!!a) Butler b) Osteopath c) Actor d) Electrician

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What are Prepositions?Put wordily; prepositions are locators in space and time. They connect nouns to other words in the sentence (usually other nouns).

The cat sat under my chair.

Under shows the relationship between the nouns.

The bird sat on my shoulder.

On shows the relationship between the nouns.

The new girl sat between us.

Between shows the relationship between the nouns.

Read the statement below, discussing the professor’s desk. As you go through it, highlight the prepositions! See if you can find them all!

You can sit before the desk (or in front of the desk). The professor can sit on the desk (when he's

being informal) or behind the desk, and then his feet are under the desk or beneath the desk. He can

stand beside the desk (meaning next to the desk), before the desk, between the desk and you, or

even on the desk (if he's really strange). If he's clumsy, he can bump into the desk or try to walk

through the desk (and stuff would fall off the desk). Passing his hands over the desk or resting his

elbows upon the desk, he often looks across the desk and speaks of the desk or concerning the desk

as if there were nothing else like the desk. Because he thinks of nothing except the desk, sometimes

you wonder about the desk, what's in the desk, what he paid for the desk, and if he could live

without the desk. You can walk toward the desk, to the desk, around the desk, by the desk, and even

past the desk while he sits at the desk or leans against the desk.

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Suffix or Prefix?_______________ Added to the front of a word, to modify it.

Examples:

Tri- Cycle Tricycle

Micro- Organism Microorganism

Pre- View Preview

Your turn! Think of as many words that you can that start with the prefix re-

______________ _______________ ________________

______________ _______________ ________________

______________ _______________ ________________

_______________ Added to the end of a word, to modify it.

Examples:

-er Paint (Verb) Painter (Noun)

-less Home Homeless

-ing Jump Jumping

Try think of some words that end with the suffix, -ist (ist means ‘one who’).

________________ __________________ ______________________

________________ __________________ ______________________

What do you think the suffix cycle means?

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TensePresent Tense ________________________________________________________

Past Tense ________________________________________________________

Future Tense ________________________________________________________

When you have a sentence or a paragraph about the same thing, it is important that the entire sentence or paragraph contains the same tense, otherwise it won’t make sense!

Eg. Tomorrow (future tense) I am going to the football game. It was an awesome day! (Past tense)

In the above example, how could you make it correct in the future tense?

Activities:

1. Write a few sentences about going to the movies, include any events or ideas that you like. Write it in the future tense:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Re-write the sentences in the past tense:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Re-write the sentence in the present tense:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Have or Of?This is one of those errors typically made by a person more familiar with the spoken than the written form of English. A sentence like “I would have gone if anyone had given me free tickets” is normally spoken in a slurred way so that the two words “would have” are not distinctly separated, but blended together into what is properly rendered “would’ve.” Seeing that “V” tips you off right away that “would’ve” is a contraction of “would have.” But many people hear “would of” and that’s how they write it. Wrong.

Rule: Of cannot follow would / could / should / must / may / can (Modal auxiliary verbs) (Modal verbs express something that will happen, or the potential for something to happen).

Re-write this rule five times! (Repetition is a good thing to get it in your head)

1. ___________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________________

4. ___________________________________________________________________________

5. ___________________________________________________________________________

Circle the errors in the following sentences and re-write the correct use of the modal verb:

1. I must of left my bag in the library.

Correction: _________________________

2. The boy should of gone to his detention before the canteen!

Correction: _________________________

3. I cannot believe he said he would of gone to the park if his mum said he couldn’t.

Correction: _________________________

4. I could have been a famous movie star, but I may of never made it big.

Correction: _________________________

Correction: _________________________

5. You might of rang me, but you didn’t! How rude!

Correction: _________________________

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Direct & Indirect SpeechDirect Speech: ______________________________________________________________

(Direct speech indicated by the use of “quotation marks”).

Eg. Mum said, “I like to eat cheese”.

Indirect Speech: ______________________________________________________________

Eg, Mum says she likes to eat cheese.

Identify whether the following examples are either indirect or direction speech:

_____________ “I’m always here for you”, Steve assured me.

_____________ Mike always says he enjoys playing the flute.

____________ Nicole loves talking about the time she met Luke.

____________ “It was love at first sight”, recalled Nicole.

Place quotation marks around the direct speech in the following:

I am looking forward to my holiday to Ireland, said Suzanne.

Rodney sighed, why do we always lose?

To be, or not to be, that is the question, is one of Shakespeare’s famous lines.

Change the following direct speech into indirect speech:

“I can’t wait to see you”, Jane said, as she put down the phone.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Bobby squealed, “Look over there, it’s One Direction”.

__________________________________________________________________________________

The Principal told me, “learning about direct speech is necessary”.

__________________________________________________________________________________

The student asked, “how long until the period is over?”

__________________________________________________________________________________

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Ownership ApostrophesRule: Apostrophes can be used to show ownership.

Lachlan’s shoe = Lachlan owns the shoe.

Rachel’s guitar = Rachel owns the guitar.

Variation: If the word ends in an ‘s’, you don’t need another s, just use the apostrophe

Jess’ bag = Jess own the bag = not Jess’s bag

The boys’ room = The room the boys own = not boys’s room.

Place the ownership apostrophes in the following:

1. Bills bag was big.2. The ladies room was very neat.3. The giant wanted his wifes dinner.4. I jumped over Daniels table.

5. Josephs dream was super cool. He dreamed about the girls flowers at sunset. The sunsets magic was amazing and it stole Lucys breath away as it shone onto the roses petals.

6. The locksmiths job was to fix the door. The doors frame had fallen off in the wind. The winds mighty thump causes lots of damage but Chris door never fell off.

Contraction ApostrophesApostrophes can also be used to show that one or more letters have been omitted.

Can’t = Can not = ‘ replaces OT

Wouldn’t = __________________ = ‘ replaces ____________

Didn’t = __________________ = ‘ replaces ____________

Fill the box below with as many contractions as you can, aim for at least 10!

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SPECIAL TIP:APOSTROPHES ARE NEVER USED WHEN PLURALLING!!

THEY ARE USED TO SHOW OWNERSHIP &

THEY ARE USE TO INDICATE A CONTRACTION.

Fun with Commas!Generally speaking, whenever you are speaking and there is a pause in your sentence, that would indicate you need some form of punctuation. The comma is used to break up thoughts (clauses) in a sentence or to separate items in a list.

Read the following sentence out loud, wherever you take a breath (pause), that’s your cue to insert a comma.

1. John after his date with Laura told his mum that Laura was delightful!2. The Prime Minister Lucy McGue came to our school last Wednesday.3. I would like a train set gumboots chocolate and a coffee cup for my birthday.

Try this: Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

To do this activity, read each sentence by focusing on the commas. Every time you see a comma, pause. Consider how the commas help create meaning in the sentence.

1. Joe, who usually amazed everyone with his punctuality, was unaccountably late for his important appointment.

2. Joe who usually amazed everyone, with his punctuality, was unaccountably late for his important appointment.

3. Joe, who usually amazed everyone with his punctuality was unaccountably late, for his important appointment.

4. Joe, who usually amazed everyone with his punctuality was unaccountably late for his important appointment.

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Commas with direct speechUse a comma after the introductory clause.

Example: She said, “I was in London last year.”

If the direct speech is at the beginning of the sentence, put the comma before the final quotation mark. (Don’t use a full stop here.)

Example: “I was in London last year,” she said.

Don’t use a comma after direct speech if the direct speech ends with a question mark or exclamation mark.

Example: “Were you in London last year?” he asked. (but: He asked, “Were you in London last year?”) “Great!” she replied. (but: She replied, “Great!”)

Activity: Place commas in the appropriate spot to break up the direct speech below

1. Mike said ‘let’s get lunch’.

2. ‘I can’t wait’ replied Donald ‘for a huge hamburger’.

3. ‘This is delicious’ I shouted after I ate it.

4. ‘How is your mother?’ he asked.

5. ‘Mum’s good’ commented Jean with some disinterest.

6. ‘When we go to the shops later’ wondered mum ‘we might pop into Kmart’.

Which sentence is punctuated correctly? Justify your response in the lines below.

1. “I will meet you at the park later,” said Tom “and then we can finish our game”.

2. “I will meet you at the park later,” said Tom, “and then we can finish our game”.

3. “I will meet you at the park later said Tom and then we can finish our game.

4. “I will meet you at the park later” said Tom, “and then we can finish our game”.

A: I think _____ is correct because ________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

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An Independent ClauseAn independent clause is really another way of saying a sentence which can operate by itself. Technically speaking, it must contain a subject (what the sentence is about) and a predicate (which is what is happening to the subject). To put it more simply, an independent clause is a sentence about something happening to the sentence’s subject.

Jennifer (subject) went to Disneyland (predicate).

The jerk (subject) called me a jerk! (predicate)

What do you call (predicate) those green things? (subject)

The Mysterious Semicolon ;One of the trickiest forms of grammar is the semicolon. It is used to connect two closely related ideas – each idea being expressed in an independent clause.

Richard likes cake; Susan prefers biscuits.

Bill was going bald; his hair was falling out.

I didn’t see the step; I’ve now got a bandage on my head.

Try coming up with a few examples of your own.

____________________________________________ ; ____________________________________

____________________________________________ ; ____________________________________

____________________________________________ ; ____________________________________

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Using italicsRule 1: Use italics for foreign words discussed in a sentence. Italics can also be used when

foreign words are talked about in a sentence.

The Latin word caudex roughly translates as 'blockhead'.

Rule 2: Titles of newspapers, books and magazines are to be italicised.

I just got the latest edition of the Woman’s Weekly!

Italics can also be used to emphasize particular words which carry a lot of meaning.

The boy ate twenty cookies!

Are you sure?

Apply it: Underline the words in the following paragraph which could be underlined.

Wow! I just had a funny feeling like dejavu. I imagine it was because I’d read

about this situation in a book, maybe in The Little Mermaid. Anyways, I believe

that it’s always good to talk about feelings. This is probably why I used to write

to a pen friend who lived in France. We discussed things, including mon reves!

What are ‘reves’? Look it up in your Macquarie English Dictionary.

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Using Brackets - RoundThis pair of round brackets is used when a writer wants to add information to a sentence that will give greater detail to the information presented. However, the information is extra and not really necessary, which means that it can be removed with ease and without damaging the original information. Note: often information in the brackets could also exist within a comma splice.

George Washington (the first president of the United States) gave his farewell address in 1796

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) launched its first Mars probe (Viking I) back in 1976.

Apply it: Place round brackets in the following sentences.

1. Mr Ed a fictional horse is my favourite television character.2. The first day of the week Monday is my least favourite.3. The teacher Mr Gumby likes to dance to John Farnham. 4. In the year that I was born 1987 nothing else remarkable happened.

Using Brackets – SquareSquare brackets are used to clarify ideas in a sentence, ideas in the brackets are added in to help the sentences make sense.

Eg It was a fantastic event. [The picnic] was a fantastic event.

What is it???????

Gerald is a rubbish gamer. [My brother] is a rubbish gamer.

Who is Gerald????

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