1 What an adjective does

An adjective describes a noun (or pronoun). It usually sits just before the noun, or after a being verb.

Test: does the word tell you more about a noun (what it's like)? Then it's an adjective.

2 Adjectives come in different kinds

They can describe many things about a noun.

3 Comparative — comparing TWO

To compare two things, add -er (short words) or use more (longer words).

Trap: don't use both — ✗ "more taller". Pick one: taller OR more tall.

4 Superlative — comparing THREE OR MORE

For the "most" of all, add -est (short words) or use most (longer words), usually with the.

5 Spelling changes & irregulars

Watch the spelling rules: double the consonant (big→bigger), change y→i (happy→happier).

Watch out Adjective vs adverb

An adjective describes a noun; an adverb describes a verb (often -ly). Don't mix them up.

1 Action verbs & being verbs

An action verb is something you do (run, jump, write). A being verb shows a state, not an action (is, am, are, was, were, seem, become).

Test: "Yesterday I ___ " — if a word fits, it's a verb.

2 The three main tenses

Tense tells us when the action happens — past, present or future.

3 Keep the tense consistent

Don't switch tense in the middle of a sentence without a reason.

Test: if one verb is in the past, the others usually should be too.

4 Subject–verb agreement

The verb must match its subject. One thing (singular) usually takes an -s; more than one (plural) usually does not.

5 Progressive & perfect forms (helpers)

A helper (auxiliary) verb works with a main verb. am/is/are/was/were + -ing shows an action in progress; has/have/had + past form shows a completed action.

6 Modal verbs

Modal verbs change how likely or possible something is, or give permission/obligation: can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must.

Clue: a modal is always followed by another verb in its plain form (might rain, can swim).

1 Common vs proper

A common noun is a general thing. A proper noun is a specific name and always takes a capital letter.

Clue: if it has a capital in the middle of a sentence, it's a proper noun.

2 Abstract vs concrete

A concrete noun is something you can see, touch, hear, smell or taste. An abstract noun is an idea or feeling you cannot touch.

Clue: can you put it in a box? If not, it's probably abstract.

3 Collective nouns

A collective noun names a whole group as a single thing.

Clue: one word that means "lots of them together".

4 Countable vs uncountable

Countable nouns can be counted and made plural (one apple, two apples). Uncountable nouns can't be counted directly — you measure them instead.

Clue: you can't say "two waters" or "three sugars" — you'd say "two glasses of water".

Watch out A noun can be more than one type

Types overlap. 'London' is proper AND concrete. 'Happiness' is common AND abstract AND uncountable. Read the question to see which type it is asking about.

1 Nouns & pronouns

A noun names something. A pronoun stands in for a noun so you don't repeat it.

Tip: if you can put 'the' or 'a' in front of it, it's usually a noun.

2 Verbs

A verb is an action (run, jump) or a state of being (is, was, seems).

Tip: try "I can ___" or change the time (yesterday I ___). If it works, it's a verb.

3 Adjectives & adverbs

An adjective describes a noun. An adverb describes a verb — often how, and often ending in -ly.

Tip: adjective sits next to a noun; adverb tells you about the action.

4 Prepositions

A preposition shows where or when something is — position, direction or time.

Tip: "the cat went ___ the box" — in, on, under, over, behind all fit. Those are prepositions.

5 Conjunctions & determiners

A conjunction joins (and, but, or, because, although, when). A determiner comes before a noun to introduce it (the, a, this, my, some, three).

Watch out The same word, different jobs

A word's class depends on how it's used in the sentence — always look at its job, not just the word.

Check 1 The two ends of the sentence

Look at the first letter (capital?) and the last mark (. ? or !). These are the easiest marks to miss.

Check 2 Capitals for names

Every proper noun — person, place, day, month — needs a capital. Scan for names hiding in lower case.

Check 3 Commas — too few or too many

Check lists (commas between items), fronted adverbials (comma after), and clauses. Watch for the comma splice — two whole sentences joined by just a comma.

Check 4 Apostrophes — missing or misused

Contractions need one (dont → don't); possession needs one (the dogs bone → the dog's bone); plain plurals must NOT have one (apple's → apples). And its/it's.

Check 5 Speech marks & their punctuation

Speech marks wrap the spoken words; the end mark and comma go inside; a comma comes before the speech opens.

Rule 1 Colon to introduce a list

Use a colon before a list, but only when the words before it make a complete sentence.

Trap: don't use a colon straight after a verb or preposition — ✗ I packed: a hat, a map…

Rule 2 Colon to explain or expand

A colon can introduce an explanation — the second part tells you more about the first.

Think of the colon as meaning "namely" or "that is".

Rule 3 Semicolon to join two whole sentences

A semicolon links two complete, related sentences without a joining word like 'and' or 'but'.

Test: both sides must be able to stand alone as full sentences. (This is where a comma would be WRONG — a comma splice.)

Rule 4 Semicolon in a long, complex list

When list items already contain commas, use semicolons to separate the items clearly.

Colon vs semicolon the quick difference

Colon (:) = "here comes more" — points forward to a list or explanation. Semicolon (;) = "and here's an equal, related idea" — balances two full sentences.

Rule 1 Parenthesis always comes in a PAIR

The extra information needs a mark on both sides — two brackets, two dashes, or two commas. You can't open with one type and close with another.

Rule 2 The "lift-out" test

If you remove the words between the marks, the sentence should still make complete sense.

That test tells you that the part in the middle really is parenthesis.

Rule 3 Brackets ( ) — the quietest

Brackets tuck information away most discreetly, often a fact, a date or an aside.

The full stop stays outside the bracket when the bracket is inside a sentence.

Rule 4 Dashes – the most noticeable

A pair of dashes adds emphasis or a dramatic aside — it stands out more than commas or brackets.

Use a dash on each side, just like the other pairs.

Rule 5 Commas , — the gentlest

A pair of commas is the smoothest way to add extra information into a sentence.

Trap: you still need both commas — a single comma leaves the parenthesis "open".

Match them Same on both sides

Whatever opens the parenthesis must close it. These pairings are correct:

Rule 1 Speech marks hug only the spoken words

Open speech marks just before the first spoken word; close them just after the last spoken word (and its punctuation).

Not the speaker part: "she said" stays OUTSIDE the marks.

Rule 2 Capital letter for the first spoken word

The first word inside the speech marks starts with a capital, just like a new sentence.

Rule 3 A comma before the speech opens

When the speaker comes first, put a comma after the speaking word, then open the speech marks.

Rule 4 The end punctuation goes INSIDE

The full stop, question mark or exclamation mark for the spoken words sits inside the closing speech marks.

Trap: never put the mark outside — ✗ "Be quiet".

Rule 5 When the speaker comes AFTER the speech

End the spoken words with a comma (or ? / !) inside the marks, then say who spoke with a lower-case verb.

Use a question/exclamation mark if the speech needs one: "Stop!" yelled the guard.

Job 1 Contractions — the apostrophe replaces missing letters

When two words are squashed into one, the apostrophe goes exactly where the letters are removed.

Test: stretch the word back out. If "do not" fits, the apostrophe replaces the missing 'o': do not → don't.

Job 2 Singular possession — add 's

To show that one person or thing owns something, add 's.

This works even if the singular word already ends in s: James's book (or 'James'' — but 's is safest at KS2).

Job 3 Plural possession — add just an apostrophe

When a plural already ends in s, the apostrophe goes after the s (no extra s).

Irregular plurals that DON'T end in s add 's like singulars: the children's toys, the men's coats, the people's choice.

Singular vs plural dog's vs dogs'

The apostrophe's position tells you how many owners there are.

Method: first work out the owner (dog or dogs?), then add the apostrophe. Owner ends in s already → apostrophe after it.

Big trap its / it's  and  plurals are NOT possessive

it's = it is / it has (contraction). its = belonging to it (no apostrophe). And an apostrophe is never used just to make a plural.

Job 1 Commas in a list

Use a comma between items in a list of three or more. Put and (no comma) before the last item.

Trap: don't put a comma before the final 'and' (in UK schools), and don't use a comma when there are only two items: bread and butter no comma.

Job 1b Lists of actions or descriptions

The list rule also works for verbs and adjectives.

Job 2 After a fronted adverbial

An adverbial tells us when, where or how. When it's moved to the front of the sentence, put a comma after it.

Clue starters: After…, Before…, Later…, Suddenly…, Slowly…, In the…, At the…, Without warning…, As soon as…

Job 3 To separate clauses

When a sentence starts with a subordinate clause (often beginning with because, although, when, if, as, while), put a comma before the main clause.

Flip test: if the same idea reads naturally the other way round with no comma — "We stayed inside because it was raining." — that's your check that the front part is the clause that needs the comma.

Job 3b Commas for extra information (parenthesis)

A pair of commas can wrap around extra information dropped into the middle of a sentence.

If you lift out the part between the commas, the sentence should still make sense: "My brother loves football."

Trap The comma splice

You cannot join two complete sentences with just a comma.

If both sides could stand alone as sentences, a lone comma is wrong.

Rule 1 Statements end in a full stop

A sentence that tells you something (a statement) ends in a full stop.

Commands (telling someone to do something calmly) also usually end in a full stop: Close the door.

Rule 2 Questions end in a question mark

A sentence that asks something ends in a question mark.

Clue words often start questions: who, what, where, when, why, how, is, are, do, can, will.

Rule 3 Exclamations end in an exclamation mark

A sentence showing strong feeling — surprise, excitement, fear, anger — ends in an exclamation mark.

True exclamation sentences often start with What or How (without asking a question).

Rule 4 "What" and "How" can be tricky

Look at the whole sentence, not just the first word — What and How can begin a question OR an exclamation.

Test: if the sentence expects an answer, it's a question; if it just shows feeling, it's an exclamation.

Rule 5 Common mistakes to avoid

Never use more than one end mark (no "!!!" or "?!"). A statement that simply mentions a question is still a statement.

Rule 1 Start of a sentence

The first word of every sentence takes a capital — including after a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

Rule 2 The pronoun "I"

The word I is always a capital, wherever it appears — and so are its contractions.

Rule 3 People's names & titles

Names of people, and titles used with a name, take capitals.

Trap: "my aunt" (no capital) but "Aunt Mary" (capital, because it's part of her name).

Rule 4 Places

Countries, cities, rivers, streets, mountains, planets and other named places.

Trap: "I live in a city" (no capital) but "I live in London" (capital).

Rule 5 Days, months & festivals — but not seasons

Capitalise days, months and special days. Seasons stay lower-case.

Rule 6 Languages, nationalities & some adjectives

Words made from country names keep their capital.

Rule 7 Titles of books, films & the first word in speech

Capitalise the important words in a title, and the first word someone says.

Rule 8 Brand names & organisations

Companies, brands, schools and clubs take capitals.

Big trap: ordinary nouns do NOT take a capital — "a dog", "my school", "the river" (lower-case) unless part of a name.

Rule 1 The default: just add -s

Most nouns simply add -s with no other change.

Rule 2 Hissing endings: add -es

If the word ends in s, ss, x, z, ch, sh, add -es (you can hear the extra syllable).

Listen test: if saying "-s" alone would be hard (boxs?), you need -es.

Rule 3 Ending in y

Consonant + y: change y → ies. Vowel + y: just add -s.

Rule 4 Ending in f or fe

Often change f/fe → ves.

But some just add -s: roof → roofs, chief → chiefs, cliff → cliffs. These must be learned.

Rule 5 Ending in o

Some add -es, some add -s — there's no perfect rule, so learn the common ones.

Rule 6 Irregular plurals — memorise these

These don't follow any rule. Learn them by heart.

No change at all: sheep → sheep, deer → deer, fish → fish, aircraft → aircraft.

Set 1 their / there / they're

their = belonging to them (it has the word heir in it — ownership). there = a place (it has here in it). they're = they are (the apostrophe replaces the missing letter).

Test: Can you say "they are"? Use they're. Is it a place? Use there. Does someone own it? Use their.

Set 2 your / you're  ·  its / it's

you're = you are; your = belonging to you. it's = it is / it has; its = belonging to it.

Test: If "it is" or "you are" fits, use the apostrophe one. Possessives (its, your) never take an apostrophe.

Set 3 accept / except

accept = to receive or say yes (begins like a in "agree"). except = apart from / leaving out (the ex- means "out").

Test: "ex" = "exit/out", so except leaves something out.

Set 4 practice / practise  ·  licence / license

In British English the noun ends in -ice (a thing) and the verb ends in -ise (an action).

Test: Swap in "advice / advise" — you can hear the difference. The -c- word is the noun.

Set 5 Common tricky pairs

to / too / two: too = also/very; two = 2; to = everything else. where / wear / were: where = place; wear = clothes; were = past of "are". here / hear: you hear with your ear.

Set 6 More near-homophones

affect (verb, to change) / effect (noun, the result). quiet (silent) / quite (fairly). passed (went by) / past (time gone / beyond). weather (rain/sun) / whether (if).

Rule 1 Prefixes never change the root

Prefixes (dis-, mis-, un-, re-, pre-, over-, in-) just bolt onto the front. Don't add or drop letters — even if it makes a double letter.

Rule 2 Choosing the right negative prefix

un- = not / opposite (undo, unhappy). dis- = not / reverse (dislike, disagree). mis- = wrongly / badly (misbehave, misunderstand). in-/im-/il-/ir- = not.

Rule 3 The -tion / -sion / -cian ending ("shun")

The "shun" sound is usually -tion (action, station). Use -sion after l or after a vowel (tension, division); -ssion after a short root (mission, discussion); -cian for people/jobs (musician, magician).

Rule 4 -cious / -tious and -cial / -tial

The "shus" sound is -cious or -tious; the "shul" sound is -cial or -tial. Use -cial after a vowel, -tial after a consonant.

Rule 5 -able vs -ible

Use -able when a complete root word remains (and often after a hard c/g); use -ible when the root is incomplete.

Rule 6 Suffixes follow the spelling rules

A vowel suffix (-ed, -ing, -able, -ous) triggers doubling / dropping-e / y→i. A consonant suffix (-ful, -ly, -ment, -ness) leaves the root alone.

Rule 1 Doubling the final consonant

Double the final consonant before a vowel suffix (-ed, -ing, -er, -est) when the word is one syllable, ending in one vowel + one consonant.

For two-syllable words, double only if the stress is on the last syllable.

Rule 2 Dropping the silent 'e'

Drop the final silent e before a suffix that starts with a vowel; keep it before a suffix starting with a consonant.

Keep the e after a soft c or g before -ous/-able: courageous, noticeable.

Rule 3 Changing 'y' to 'i'

If a word ends in a consonant + y, change y → i before a suffix (but keep y before -ing).

If it ends in a vowel + y, just add the suffix: play → played, key → keys.

Rule 4 "i before e except after c"

Use ie normally, but ei after the letter c — when the sound is "ee".

Watch the exceptions: their, weird, seize, protein, science.

Rule 5 Plurals & -es

Add -es after s, x, z, ch, sh. For consonant + y, change to -ies.

Trap 1 Double letters in the wrong place

Many errors come from doubling a letter that's single, or singling one that's double.

Memory hook: necessary — "one collar, two sleeves" (1 c, 2 s).

Trap 2 The schwa — a hidden weak vowel

An unstressed vowel sounds like a lazy "uh", so you can't hear which letter it is.

Memory hook: there's "a rat" in separate.

Trap 3 Silent letters

Letters you don't say are easy to drop. Learn where they hide.

Trap 4 -ery / -ary / -ory endings & "shun"

These endings all sound similar. Learn which word takes which.

Trap 5 ie / ei and tricky vowel teams

Watch the order of vowels and easy-to-swap letters.

Key words Learn these by heart

These come straight from the KS2 statutory list — the exact words the exam draws from.

1 What an adverb does

An adverb most often describes a verb — it adds detail to the action.

Test: does the word tell you more about HOW/WHEN/WHERE the action happens? Then it's an adverb.

2 The kinds of adverb

Adverbs answer different questions about the verb.

3 Many adverbs end in -ly

You can often make an adverb by adding -ly to an adjective.

But not all: 'fast', 'soon', 'here', 'well' are adverbs with no -ly.

4 Adverbs can describe adjectives too

An adverb can also make an adjective or another adverb stronger or weaker.

Words like very, quite, really, too, so are adverbs here.

Watch out Adverb vs adjective

An adjective describes a noun; an adverb describes a verb. The same idea often has both forms.

Trap: after 'is', 'looks', 'seems', use an adjective — "the cake looks lovely" (not lovelily).

1 What a pronoun does

A pronoun takes the place of a noun that has already been named, so the sentence isn't repetitive.

Test: does the word stand in for a person or thing already mentioned? Then it's a pronoun.

2 Subject & object pronouns

Subject pronouns do the action; object pronouns receive it.

3 Possessive pronouns

These show who something belongs to: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs. (Note: no apostrophe.)

Careful: 'its' (belonging to it) has no apostrophe; "it's" means "it is".

4 Relative pronouns

These join extra information to a noun: who, whom, whose, which, that.

Clue: use who for people, which for things, that for either.

5 Other useful kinds

Reflexive: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves (the action reflects back).

Demonstrative: this, that, these, those (when they stand alone as the noun).

Watch out I/me, she/her — get the form right

Use the subject form for the doer, the object form for the receiver.

Trick: remove the other person. "Mum took me" sounds right; "Mum took I" does not.