Full Stops and Sentences

Writing pack 15

Punctuation

Full Stops And Sentences

Exercise 1

Read the passage below:

Have you got a mobile phone? I think it’s time I bought one. When they first came out, I thought they were a luxury. I’ve changed my mind now the kids are older. They can reach me in an emergency wherever I am. I can stop worrying about them so much when they’re out. Perhaps I need to get them both one each, as well!

Put a circle round the full stops. The full stops are used to show where the sentences end. How many sentences are there? There are _____ sentences in the passage.

Check your answers. (See page 7.)

Exercise 2

Tick True or False / True / False
1Sentences can be short and simple.
2Sentences always begin with a capital letter.
3Sentences are always the same length.
4Sentences sometimes end with a question mark.
5Sentences sometimes end with an exclamation mark.
6Sentences sometimes end with a comma.

Check your answers with a tutor.

Exercise 3

Are these sentences? Tick to say Yes or No. / Yes / No
1the remote control is broken
2up the wall
3I believe in ghosts
4in the yellow pages
5too much sun
6can you believe it
7do it now
8he’s stupid
9on 21st August
10running down the road as fast as she possibly could

Now check your answers. (See page 7.)

Exercise 4

Add to these simple sentences to give more information.

Example:She fired the gun.

She fired the gun that she kept beside the bed.

1I ran.

......

2It was raining.

......

3Can you do it?

......

4Liverpool FC won the Cup.

......

5It was so exciting!

......

Read the sentences again. Make sure they start with a capital letter and end with a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark.

Ask a tutor to check them.

Exercise 5 Now look at these. They are not sentences. Add to them to make them sentences.

Example:out of the house

She ran as fast as she could out of the house.

1worst of the lot

......

2at the end of the day

......

3pushing his bike

......

4too much sun

......

5in the yellow pages

......

Read your sentences again. Are you happy with them? Ask a tutor to check them.

Exercise 6

Each of the following 1 – 10 have been written as one sentence but in fact they are two sentences. Put in the full stops and capital letters to show where the first sentence stops and the second one starts.

Example: We went into the street it was very dark.

We went into the street. It was very dark.

1The bus was early we had to run to catch it.

......

2I’m returning this jumper to you it shrank in the wash.

......

3She gets on my nerves perhaps it’s because we’re too much alike.

......

4We’re always hearing about prisoners does anyone ever think about their victims?

......

5Try the next street I think it’s next to the Post Office.

......

6Here you are at last it’s about time too!

......

7Returning to learn was the best thing I ever did I should have done it years ago.

......

8She fainted the heat was just too much.

......

9I’m off to the caravan on Saturday let’s hope it’s a nice day!

......

10I’m really pleased you got the job you deserve it!

......

Now check your answers. (See page 7.)

Exercise 7

Write out the following, putting in the full stops and capital letters.

There’s been a lot in the news recently about the dangers of mobile phones they say using them too much can melt your brains it can be pretty annoying having to listen to someone going on and on about nothing in particular to a mate when you’re on the bus they go off all the time in the pictures and places like that on the other hand it would be handy to have one in the car though what do you think

......

Now check your answers. (See page 7.)

Exercise 8

Now, have a go at the following topics. Write two or three sentences on each, putting full stops and capital letters in the right places.

What you think about mobile phones.

......

What you think about computers.

......

What you think about football.

......

Read your work again. Ask a tutor to check it.

Discuss your work with a tutor and decide what you want to work on next

Answers

Exercise 1

There are seven sentences in the story.

Exercise 2

1, 2, 4 and 5 are True. 3 and 6 are False. Sentences never end with a comma.

Exercise 3 / Yes / No
1the remote control is broken / yes
2up the wall / no
3I believe on ghosts / yes
4in the yellow pages / no
5too much sun / no
6can you believe it / yes
7do it now / yes
8he’s stupid / yes
9on 21st August / no
10running down the road as fast as she possibly could / no

Exercise 6

1The bus was early. We had to run to catch it.

2I’m returning this jumper to you. It shrank in the wash.

3She gets on my nerves. Perhaps it’s because we’re too much alike.

4We’re always hearing about prisoners. Does anyone ever think about their victims?

5Try the next street. I think it’s next to the Post Office.

6Here you are at last. It’s about time too!

7Returning to learn was the best thing I ever did. I should have done it years ago.

8She fainted. The heat was just too much.

9I’m off to the caravan on Saturday. Let’s hope it’s a nice day!

10I’m really pleased you got the job. You deserve it!

Exercise 5

There’s been a lot in the news recently about the dangers of mobile phones. They say using them too much can melt your brains. It can be pretty annoying having to listen to someone going on and on about nothing in particular to a mate when you’re on the bus. They go off all the time in the pictures and places like that. On the other hand it would be handy to have one in the car though. What do you think.

______

Writing pack 15

Punctuation

Basic Sentence Structure

Before you start, look at the ‘Full Stops and Sentences’ sheet.

What’s a sentence? When we are talking, we often speak in odd words or bits and pieces. When we write, though, we write in sentences.

Sentences

start with a capital letter and end with a full stop.
can be short or long.

Example:The sun shone.

The sun shone brightly over the craggy bay.

The dog ran.

The dog ran swiftly to catch the stick.

Every sentence needs a subject and an action.

Example:Look at the sentence Birds fly.

Birdsis the subject.

flyis the action or what the birds do.

Look at the sentence The chef shouted at his staff.

The chefis the subject.

shoutedis the action or what he did.

Exercise 9 Underline the subject in following sentences:

1The dog barked.

2The cat ran away.

3I hope our team win.

4Kerry and Liam have been to London.

5Chris fell off his bike and hurt his head.

6Amy is nine months old.

Check your answers. (See page 12.)

Now that you have found the subjects of these sentences, you need to be able to recognise the action (or what the subject is doing).

Exercise 10

Match the subject with the action in the following:

Birdslaughed.

The doglove ice cream.

Itasted good.

Shefly.

The boybarked.

The potatois happy.

Check your answers. (See page 12.)

These are basic sentences.

Often sentences are more complicated and this is when you need to know what a verb is. A verb is a doing word which describes the action. The verbs in the sentences above are: fly, barked, love, laughed, is, tasted.

In these examples, the verbs are just one word in each sentence. Sometimes a verb can consist of more than one word:

Example:I am having a good time.

am having is the verb, consisting of two words.

Exercise 11

Find the subject and the verb in the following sentences:

1Joe cleaned the garage.

Subject______

Verb______

2We were going to town.

Subject______

Verb______

3Gale was looking for the cat.

Subject______

Verb______

4They were packing their cases for their holiday.

Subject______

Verb______

5She had smoked her last cigarette.

Subject______

Verb______

6Chris and John are going to the nightclub.

Subject______

Verb______

Check your answers. (See page 12.)

Exercise 12

Put in a missing word to make the following into sentences. Write them out in full.

1Tamika to stay in this country.

......

2Wesley to the door.

......

3The bedroom untidy.

......

4David to the bus stop.

......

5Town busy.

......

6The shop bargains.

......

The words you have put in are likely to be verbs.

Check your answers with a tutor. (See page 13.)

NB. This worksheet is only a brief introduction to sentence structure, subjects and verbs, which is quite a big topic. If you need to know more about grammar and parts of speech, discuss it with your tutor who may recommend further work.

Exercise 13

What word is missing in the incomplete sentences below? Write out the sentence in full and say if the word is the subject or the verb:

1went to college today.

...... subject/verb

2Veejay the children to bed.

...... subject/verb

3It today and we got wet.

...... subject/verb

4The house very cold.

...... subject/verb

5jammed on his brakes and swerved to avoid the dog.

...... subject/verb

Remember: A sentence needs a subject (who or what is doing the action) and an action, which is usually a verb that tells you what is happening.

Check your answers. (See page 13.)

Discuss your work with a tutor and decide what you want to work on next

Answers

Exercise 9

1The dog barked.

2The cat ran away.

3I hope our team win.

4Kerry and Liam have been to London.

5Chris fell off his bike and hurt his head.

6Amy is nine months old.

Exercise 10

Birdsfly.

The dogbarked.

Ilove ice cream.

Sheis happy.

The boylaughed.

The potatotasted good.

Exercise 11

1Joe cleaned the garage.

SubjectJoe

Verbcleaned

2We were going to town.

SubjectWe

Verbwere going

3Gale was looking for the cat.

SubjectGale

Verbwas looking

4They were packing their cases for their holiday.

SubjectThey

Verbwere packing

5She had smoked her last cigarette.

SubjectShe

Verbhad smoked

6Chris and John are going to the nightclub.

SubjectChris and John

Verbare going

Exercise 12

1Tamika wants to stay in this country.

2 Wesley ran/ went/ rushed to the door.

3The bedroom was/ looked/ seemed untidy.

4David ran/ walked/ strolled to the bus stop.

5Town is/ was/ looked busy.

6 The shop sold/ sells bargains.

Exercise 13

1I went to college today. subject

2Veejay put the children to bed. verb

3It rained today and we got wet. verb

4The house was very cold. verb

5He jammed on his brakes and swerved to avoid the dog. subject

______

Writing pack 15

Punctuation

Capital Letters

Read the following piece of writing and underline or highlight the capital letters.

Last Christmas I went on holiday to Australia. . I went with my partner Ian and my two children Kerry and Liam. I have always dreamed of going there but have never been able to afford it. It was the holiday of a life time.

I had seen an article on Australia in ‘The Mirror’ newspaper, had picked up lots of brochures from the travel agent in Allerton Road and had seen it on ‘Wish You Were Here’, the holiday programme. I had also read a book called ‘The Songlines’ by Bruce Chatwin and seen the film ‘Crocodile Dundee’, which was set in Australia. I just couldn’t wait to go.

We flew out on Monday 24th December from Heathrow Airport, which is near London, and came back three weeks later on Sunday 14th January to Manchester Airport. We went to Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns. We had a great time and visited many places such as The Great Barrier Reef and The Sydney Harbour Bridge. We are now saving up to go back again.

Capital Letters are used for:

beginning sentences
the first letter of a person’s name
when I is used as a word
the first letter of names of places (countries, towns, streets and landmarks)
the first letter of days and months
the first letter of special events and holidays
the first letter of titles of books, films, newspapers and TV programmes

Exercise 14

Have a go at finding an example of each of the following from the piece of writing at the start of this sheet and write them in the box below. Don’t forget to use capital letters.

A person’s name
A word that starts a sentence
The name of a country
The name of a street/road
The name of a town
The name of a landmark
A month
A day
A special event/holiday
The title of a newspaper
The title of a TV programme
The title of a book
The title of a film

Now have a go at thinking of an example of your own for each of the following and write them in the box below. Don’t forget to use capital letters.

A person’s name
A word that can start a sentence
The name of a country
The name of a street/road
The name of a town
The name of a landmark
A month
A day
A special event/holiday
The title of a newspaper
The title of a TV programme
The title of a book
The title of a film

Exercise 15 Try writing the following sentences out again, putting the capital letters where they are needed.

1the weather forecast for wales was cloudy with some rain.

......

2mohamed is going out with his friends carl, ab and eamon.

......

3do you know where i can catch the number 27 bus to town?

......

4york minster is having a special service for easter sunday.

......

5ian is starting at liverpool community college on monday.

......

6kerry went on holiday to tenerife, which is a spanish island.

......

7liam reads ‘the liverpool echo’ and ‘the daily post’ every day.

......

8there will be roadworks in dale street in august and september.

......

9have you read ‘man and boy’ by nick parsons?

......

10ramadan is a special time for muslims all over the world.

......

Exercise 16

Have a go at underlining the words in the list below that need a capital letter.

catiredmondaybus

sarahspringcarchristmasrainy

eastenderseverestmanharrodseid

Discuss your work with a tutor and decide what you want to work on next.

Punctuation

Joining Sentences Together: 1

Conjunctions

Before you start, make sure you know what a sentence is. See the ‘Full Stops And Sentences’ sheet.

Exercise 17 Read the passage below.

The kids were really upset. Sox, our cat, caught a mouse. He killed it. He left it in the back yard. I put it in a plastic bag. I threw it in the bin.

Underline where the full stops and capital letters are. How many sentences are there?

There are _____ sentences.

This passage could be written like this:

The kids were really upset because Sox, our cat, caught a mouse. He killed it and left it in the back yard so I put it in a plastic bag and threw it in the bin.

Underline where the full stops and capital letters are.

How many sentences are there now?

There are ______sentences.

Now underline all the new words and write them down:

1......

2......

3......

You can join sentences together, using any of these words:

because so and but after when as since

although while until before where yet unless if

Sometimes these words do other jobs as well but here they are joining sentences together. When they do this job, they are called conjunctions.

Exercise 18

Join these sentences together, using a conjunction: one of the words in the box above. The first one is done for you.

1Ann stayed at home. Her husband was not well.

Ann stayed at home because her husband was not well.

2Hannah and Phil went to the pub. They had been to see Phil’s mum in hospital.

......

3Neeru rang the RAC. Her car would not start.

......

4Chris lived in Germany. He worked for a computer firm.

......

5John went to work early. He had a lot to do.

......

6The alarm clock kept ringing. They didn’t get up.

......

7We had a lot of Christmas shopping to do. We went to town.

......

8Joe and Ruth had a cup of tea in the café at the airport. They were waiting for their son.

......

9Arun was on the phone. The gas man came.

......

10The party was a big success. At first, Liz thought that it would be a disaster.

......

Now, check your answers. (See page 24.)