Grammar & Punctuation A Exercises: Answers
Exercise 1.1 A
Put a tick in each row to show whether each underlined word is a noun or an adjective.
1. Your crazyuncle went to the bank dressed as an armadillo.
Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjectivecrazy /
uncle /
bank /
2. Today a giantarmadillo robbed a bank in the centre of Wigan.
Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjectivegiant /
armadillo /
Wigan /
3. They placed the furry wig on the old skeleton’s head for a joke.
Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjectivefurry /
old /
joke /
4. I am a skeleton but no one can tell because of mylovelyhair.
Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjectiveskeleton /
lovely /
hair /
5. The prettypink pig ate six wigs.
Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjectivepretty /
pink /
wigs /
6. Today, some nasty wigs ganged up on a helpless little pig.
Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjectivenasty /
helpless /
pig /
7. OK my uncle is dressed as a large armadillo but at least he doesn’t wear a sillypurplewig like your skeleton does.
Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjectivelarge /
silly /
purple /
8. The bank is very wealthy, that is why those dangerousarmadillos always try to rob it.
Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjectivewealthy /
dangerous /
armadillos /
9. That big armadillo is nice and friendly but where did he get all that shinygold?
Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjectivenice /
shiny /
gold /
10. If I were ajangly old skeleton, I would certainly buyexpensiveclothes.
Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjectivejangly /
expensive /
clothes /
Read the sentence which starts a story. The words in following table come from the rest of the story.
Put a tick in each row to show whether the word is a noun or a verb.
11. I knew that police woman was a robot because I could hear her clanking!
Noun / Verbto beep /
metal /
flee /
12. All children MUST stay this side of the fence.
Noun / Verbball /
instruction /
to break /
13. Space is bigger than you think.
Noun / Verbimagine /
year /
to increase /
14. Tonight’s dinner is space chips and pretend custard.
Noun / Verbfood /
to vomit /
floated /
15. At the edge of space, the fun begins.
Noun / Verbemptiness /
to wish /
spacecraft /
16. The attack of the killer plasma badgers began.
Noun / Verbdefend /
laser-blaster /
stripes /
Exercise 1.2 A
Read the sentence and replace the underlined word with another word that has a similar meaning. Use the box to write your replacement in.
1. The brave monster screamed.
daring, bold, courageous etc.2. I might be a big monster, but I still want to wear these pretty pink shoes.
attractive, beautiful, sweet etc.3. These are the beststompingshoes I have.
stamping, trampling, dancing etc.4. It turns out that monsters are good at ballet.
excellent, brilliant, talented etc.5. I am the best ballet dancer in the universe.
top, finest, most talented etc.6. One day agigantic dancer ate everyone in the audience at the ballet.
huge, massive, colossal etc.7. There was one elderly lady who refused to be eaten.
old, mature, aged etc.8. Did you see that aggressivelady attack that monster with a stick?
violent, angry, forceful etc.Circle all the adjectives in the sentences below.
9. What did the orange egg say to the bent spoon?
10. What did the first chicken say to the runny ketchup?
11. I can’t decide which is the best: fast rock music or beautiful reggae music.
12. One day, a hard -working chicken laid a golden egg.
13. If I could just steal that shiny egg I would be one happy ketchup!
14. The spicy ketchup is running away from the angry chicken.
Exercise 1.3 A
Circle all the nouns in the sentences below.
1. Hi my name is Ruby and I am a really rude lady.
2. Hey, Bin-Man, you smell like rubbish!
3. That is because my job is picking up rubbish.
4. If I didn’t clean the streets the whole town would stink like your socks.
5. When Thomas gets home from work he takes a shower and then watches a film.
6. Hello Thomas, to say sorry for being rude I have bought you this DVD as a present.
7. Thomas the Tank Engine is my favourite DVD!
8. Don’t worry about the other day Ruby, would you like to go out on a date?
Circle all the adjectives in the paragraphs below.
9. Terrence the secret detective badger was working on a case. An old lady had been
attacking innocent dancers with a wooden stick. “Strange town, strange cases,”
murmured Terrence to himself as he got onto his smooth motorbike.
10. Our hero the furry detective was sitting in his favourite bar eating a massive bowl
of tasty worms and forming a clever plan. “The only way to find this mysterious lady
is to go undercover by pretending to be a dancer myself!” he said to himself.
Terrence slurped down the last juicy worm and got onto his cool motorbike.
11. Terrence the secret detective badger turned out to be such an awesome dancer
that he quit his boring job with the police so he could dance all the time. He
completely forgot about the case of the elderly lady and the stick, that is until one
terrible day when he heard a violent banging at the door…
Exercise 1.4 A
Which sentence uses the correct plural(s)?
1.
Tick oneMost childs are scared of vampiren.
Most vampires are scared of children. /
Eleven vampirs went to the fairground.
Some nasty childes scared them away.
2.
Tick oneNot all werewolfs are evil you know.
When I get hungry I just eat a hundred mouses.
Werewolves think that mice are delicious. /
All my tooths are very sharp.
3.
Tick oneThose annoying zombies have eaten my brain. /
What is wrong with you childs, has someone eaten your brain?
One hundred zombie marched into the centre of town.
All the dead leaf have fallen from the tree.
4.
Tick oneJust then three witch flew above the trees.
There are wicked witchs hiding behind every leaf.
I just saw some womans run into that house!
Calm down, not all women are witches you know! /
5.
Tick oneI saw a gaggle of gooses.
I saw a flock of goose.
Well I only saw a few sheeps.
I saw two vampire geese. /
6.
Tick oneStarving in the forest, the lost mans ate some leafs.
Just make sure both foots stay dry.
Imagine if we could catch some deers to eat!
Three men died today from eating leaves in the forest. /
Write the correct singular or plural form in each space below.
One has been done for you.
One ___egg___, a dozen eggs.
7. One ___person___, an army of people.
8. One ___bus___, eleven buses.
9. One goose, a gaggle of ___geese___.
10. One sword, two ___swords___.
11. One man, a billion ___men__.
12. One __bang__, three bangs.
Exercise 1.5 A
Put one letter in each box to show the word class.
- My oldest friend is easily my best friend.
C A B D
2. She has to be the kindest person anywhere.
B C A D
3. My lovely friend Hisham cooks eggs carefully.
C A B D
4. Two best friends accidentally got their hands stuck together.
C D A B
5. Superglue is really difficult to wash off.
A D C B
6. You rarely meet a man as cool as Hisham.
D B A C
7. By the last year of school Loren had saved my life nine times already.
C A B D
8. I find that my greatest friends are all rather strange people.
B C D A
9. I bumped into a really special person yesterday.
B D C A
10. If you are friendly you can make fantastic friends absolutely anywhere!
C B A D
Exercise 1.6 A
Expand the noun into a noun phrase by adding words before and after.
The first one has been done for you.
Noun / Noun phrasesome nuts / some hot spicy nuts from outer space
the chipmunks
the fool
a fire
the toilet
the potion
the couple
some jackals
Exercise 1.7 A
There are these types of noun:
Now put a tick in the right box to show what kind of noun each word is.
1. Karima was a pilot.
abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common nounKarima /
pilot /
2. A whole bunch of planes were taking off at once.
abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common nounbunch /
planes /
3. Flying to school is a superb idea!
abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common nounschool /
idea /
4. Then the ants found a lollipop and the whole colony had a great time.
abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common nouncolony /
time /
5. Honesty is the best policy.
abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common nounhonesty /
policy /
6. Is London bigger than the moon?
abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common nounLondon /
moon /
Exercise 2.1 A
a) In each sentence, circle the three words that should start with a capital
letter.
b) For one of the words you identified in each sentence, explain why it
needs a capital letter – start of sentence, proper name, first person pronoun
1. she did not want to go to prince trumpet’s party.
2. anna was the princess of spain, but she was not happy.
3. but mum, prince jeremy has a smile like the devil’s!
4. princess anna thought she would be pretty good with the hoover but none of the maids ever let her have a go with it.
5. every week, the princess would hide from the queen and watch the gardeners working in the sunshine with their shovels and wheelbarrows.
6. there is a city in the south of spain called granada and this was her favourite place.
7. in granada the gypsy people live in caves and on sundays they eat rabbit.
8. in the month of may, the princess ran away disguised as a poor gypsy girl.
9. jose told her that his favourite food was mcdonald’s and that he loved to play the guitar in a little bar called ‘moonlight’.
10. did you know that jose has a lovely new wife called anna and that she has a really posh voice?
Exercise 2.2 A
1. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.
Hey Ania, listen to this: what kind of a bird crosses the road
2. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.
I don’t get it, is this meant to be a joke
3. Tick one box to show where the missing exclamation mark should go.
Suddenly, the little bird launched herself from the nest
4. Tick one box to show where the missing exclamation mark should go.
One night Farooq jumped out on his friend Wilf and roared, “I’m going to eat you up, man”
5. Put one question mark and one exclamation mark in the correct boxes.
“Why do you want to eat me” asked Wilf. “I was only joking” answered Farooq.
6. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.
“Hello little bird,” said Chaz, “have you fallen out of your nest”
7. Tick one box to show where the missing exclamation mark should go.
Annie was unhappy with Fred. “The only thing you care about is your hair” she shouted.
8. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.
“This is where you live, isn’t it” asked Chaz after climbing to the top of the tree.
9. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.
What’s the difference between this nest and your nest then All nests are the same.
10. Put one question mark and one exclamation mark in the correct boxes.
“Let go of my baby or I will peck your brains out” said the bird mum. “Who are you anyway.”
11. Tick one box to show where the missing exclamation mark should go.
Run over here quick because Ian has just spat out chocolate
12. Tick one box to show where the missing exclamation mark should go.
The ferry lurched suddenly to one side, sending Martha flying over board
Exercise 2.3 A
Draw lines to match the words with their most likely final punctuation.
Use each punctuation mark once.
1.
.
!
Run
Am I on fire
I wonder what is down this tunnel
?
.
!
2.
Did you reallyI actually stole the golden egg
Let’s go to the bank
3.
?.
!
Do you know what day it is
It’s my birthday
Ooops, I forgot
?
.
!
4.
Get out of the dungeonWhy did we come here
It is OK we are safe now
5.
Come for dinner right nowHi dad
What kind of food
?
.
!
6.
I give you this swordAttack
My love, are you alright
?
.
!
7.
?.
!
You are so beautiful
Why are you so angry
It’s really not your fault
8.
Yes, OKDo it this minute
But why
?
.
!
9.
Hello DerrickCan you do a flip for us please
Your flips are so amazing
?
.
!
10.
This is my last battleIs everyone ready
Watch out for that arrow
?
.
!
Exercise 2.4 A
Which of the sentences below use commas correctly?
1. Tick one.
Before you set off, make sure that you have food water
blankets and a gun.
Before you set off, make sure that you have food, water,
blankets and a gun.
Before you, set off make, sure, that you have food, water,
blankets and a gun.
Before you set off make sure that you have food, water
blankets and a gun.
2.Tick one.
On your way, you may see: turtles bears, flies, and, even some logs!
On your way you may see: turtles, bears, flies, and, even, some logs!
On, your way you may see: turtles, bears, flies, and even some logs!
On your way, you may see: turtles, bears, flies and even some logs!
3.Tick one.
So far, Lisa has taken over the bank, the school the post office,
and the ice-cream parlour.
So far Lisa, has taken over the bank, the school, the post office,
and the ice-cream parlour.
So far, Lisa has taken over the bank, the school, the post office
and the ice-cream parlour
So, far, Lisa has taken over the bank, the school, the post office,
and the ice-cream parlour
4.Tick one.
Her face is big, round, friendly, and, exciting.
Her face is big, round, friendly and exciting.
Her face is big round, friendly and exciting.
Her face, is big, round friendly, and exciting.
5.Tick one.
Would you prefer: spicy eggs, jellied legs, sweet pegs or
stringy dregs?
Would you prefer, spicy eggs jellied legs sweet pegs or
stringy dregs?
Would you prefer: spicy, eggs jellied, legs sweet, pegs or
stringy, dregs?
Would, you, prefer: spicy eggs, jellied legs, sweet pegs, or
stringy dregs?
6.Tick one.
The lighthouse the dunes the waves and the arcade – these are
my favourite places.
The lighthouse, the dunes, the waves, and, the arcade – these are
my favourite places.
The lighthouse, the dunes, the waves and the arcade – these are
my favourite places.
The lighthouse the, dunes the waves, and the arcade – these, are
my favourite places.
7.Tick one.
Guess what, is big, red, round and, mysterious?
Guess, what is big, red round, and mysterious?
Guess what is big red round, and, mysterious?
Guess what is big, red, round and mysterious?
8.Tick one.
In first place came the rat followed by: the ox the dog the horse,
the pig and finally the person.
In first, place, came the rat, followed by: the ox, the dog, the horse,
the pig, and finally the person.
In first place came the rat, followed by: the ox, the dog, the horse,
the pig and finally the person.
In first place came the rat followed, by: the, ox the dog, the horse
the, pig, and finally the person.
9.Tick one.
I, was swimming and I, discovered: an underwater palace two
talking sharks a thousand floating jellyfish, and a sad crab.
I was swimming, and, I discovered: an underwater, palace two
talking sharks, a thousand floating jellyfish, and a sad crab.
I was swimming and I discovered: an underwater palace, two
talking sharks, a thousand floating jellyfish and a sad crab.
I was swimming and I discovered: an underwater palace two
talking, sharks a thousand, floating, jellyfish and a sad, crab.
10.Tick one.
You wouldn’t mess with, the power of 10, elephants the speed of
1000 cheetahs, the strength of 100, baboons or the claws, of a
tiger – so don’t mess with Cheese Girl!
You wouldn’t mess with the power of 10 elephants, the speed of
1000 cheetahs, the strength of 100 baboons or the claws of a
tiger – so don’t mess with Cheese Girl!
You wouldn’t, mess with the power, of 10 elephants, the speed of
1000 cheetahs, the strength of 100 baboons, or the claws of a
tiger – so don’t mess with Cheese Girl!
You wouldn’t mess with the power of 10 elephants, the speed of
1000 cheetahs, the strength of 100 baboons, or the claws of a
tiger, – so don’t mess with Cheese Girl!