Grammar & Punctuation Cexercises: Answers

Grammar & Punctuation CExercises: Answers

Exercise 1.1 C

Put a tick in each row to show whether each underlined word is a noun or an adjective.

1. There is a hugebadger in my garden.

Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjective
huge / 
badger / 
garden / 

2. The tiny squirrels all think the badger is lazy.

Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjective
tiny / 
squirrels / 
lazy / 

3. The badger says that the squirrels are the most boringanimals in the whole town.

Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjective
boring / 
animals / 
town / 

4. The badger and the squirrels always have a bigargument in the autumn.

Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjective
big / 
argument / 
autumn / 

5. The frogs in the slimypond are staying out of the argument.

Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjective
frogs / 
slimy / 
pond / 

6. Frogs are clever; they never have silly arguments with their friends.

Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjective
clever / 
silly / 
friends / 

7. The badger is furious, and the frightenedpig is staying out of her way.

Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjective
furious / 
frightened / 
pig / 

8. The naughty pig is driving her silvercar very fast.

Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjective
silver / 
car / 
naughty / 

9. All the dogs are jumping onto the roof because the car is so noisy.

Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjective
dogs / 
roof / 
noisy / 

10. After all the arguing, the big badger is tired and she needs a holiday.

Word from the sentence / Noun / Adjective
big / 
tired / 
holiday / 

Exercise 1.1 C

Each of the paragraphs below is the start of a story. Each table contains some words that come from the rest of story. Put a tick in each row to show whether the word is a noun or a verb.

11. The dog ran into the kitchen, picked up the steak, and escaped out the window. All the pirates were furious that their worst enemy had stolen their dinner.

Word from the story / Noun / Verb
run / 
sword / 
to hide / 
parrot / 

12. I knew I shouldn’t go into the spooky house, but it was the only way to get Winston’s wig back. Otherwise, everybody would see that Winston was a rhino.

Word from the story / Noun / Verb
ghost / 
haunt / 
to climb / 
spiders / 

13. If I had known the garden was ruled by snakes, I probably would have stayed in the house.

Word from the story / Noun / Verb
to escape / 
slime / 
to slither / 
pond / 

14. I decided to sneak aboard the spaceship and see what happened. I had no idea that I’d be gone for 1000 years.

Word from the story / Noun / Verb
find / 
alien / 
stars / 
to return / 

15. All the knights were afraid. None of them thought I could defeat the vampire. But I knew something they didn’t.

Word from the story / Noun / Verb
garlic / 
cloak / 
frighten / 
defend / 

16. If you’ve never heard of a donkey as big as a planet, then you’ve never heard the story that I’m about to tell you.

Word from the story / Noun / Verb
magic / 
hoof / 
lightening / 
shrink / 

Exercise 1.2 C

1. Replace the underlined word in each of the sentences below. Choose another word with a similar meeting and write it in the box.

1. The ginger cat was playing frisbee with a CD.

golden, marmalade…

2. “Bring me an enormous bowl of milk!” she commanded her owner.

huge, gigantic…

3. Have you ever seen a cat with red eyes?

ruby, scarlet…

4. When the cat was angry, everyone was afraid.

frightened, terrified…

5. If anyone tells you cats with red eyes are impossible, don’t pay any attention.

difficult, awkward…

6. The cat was sharpening her long claws and laughing out loud.

well-grown, lengthy…

7. She was lying on a glittery cushion that she stole from the bank.

shiny, sparkling…

8. How do you think I got these painful scratches all over my face?

sore, agonising…

Exercise 1.2 C

Circle all the adjectives in each of the sentences below.

9. The red tomato was scared that he’d end up in a green salad.

10. His clever disguise was an old hat and a fake moustache.

11. Being put in a green salad is the worst thing that can happen to a tomato.

12. The scared tomato made friends with the first lettuce he could find.

13. “Why are you so quiet?” the tomato asked the silent lettuce.

14. “Shush, I’m pretending to be a white fridge,” the lettuce told the annoying tomato, while holding several little magnets.

Exercise 1.3 C

Circle all the adjectives in each paragraph below.

1. A big, red rocket flew all the way to Jupiter. The planet was completely deserted. Jupiter is made of swirling gas, so the poor rocket couldn’t land. It had to fly home instead, which was very embarrassing.

2. When the spaceship ran out of fuel, the brave astronauts were scared. “Why don’t we land on that green planet over there?” said one of the braver astronauts. Unfortunately, the green planet was ruled by huge, slimy and hungry eels.

3. A comet is a big, icy rock in space. Ever since I landed on this amazing comet my hands have been cold. I can’t leave because my rocket is frozen.

Circle all the nouns in each sentence below.

4. A spaceship appeared in the sky in Manchester.

5. Nobody knew if the aliens wanted to be friends.

6. The aliens wanted to eat noodles and buy some new trainers.

7. The fastest rockets always have stripes on the side.

8. Have you heard about the shortage of trainers on Mars?

9. The aliens taught us to fly rockets and make slime.

10. One alien had fifteen legs.

11. I want to be an alien when I am older.

Exercise 1.4 C

Which of the sentences use the correct plural?

1.Tick one.

The dinosaur had a purple sandal on each of her foots.

She always had tomatos for dinner.

Dinosaurs never eat potatoes.

Mouses eat potatos all the time.

2.Tick one.

You need sharp knives for chopping tomatoes.

Unfortunately, all the dinosaur’s knifes were blunt.

Fortunately, her tooths were very sharp.

All the tomatoe got chopped up after all.

3.Tick one.

Jumping in volcanos is dangerous.

All the mans who jump in volcanos get too hot.

So do all the womans.

Dinosaurs can jump in volcanoes whenever they like.

4.Tick one.

Childs are never scared of dinosaurs.

Grown-up mans and womans are terrified of them.

Do you think children are braver than grown-up men and women?

A few child are even braver than dinosaurs.

5.Tick one.

Did you know that sheeps and dinosaurs are best friends?

For some reason, sheep and dinosaurs are always catching buses together.

Can you imagine seeing some busses full of sheeps and dinosaurs?

All the bus driveres are getting scared.

6.Tick one.

The other day I saw some spys on the bus.

I knew they were spys because they were spying.

The best way to catch spies is with a mousetrap.

That only works if the spys are mouses.

Write the correct singular or plural form in each space below.

7. One dish, fourdishes_.

8. One _wife_, several wives

9. One domino, a box of _dominoes.

10. One wolf, a pack of _wolves_.

11. One _cherry_, five cherries.

12. One fly, ten _flies.

Exercise 1.5 C

Put one letter in each box to show the word class.

noun
A / verb
B / adjective
C / adverb
D

1. The tasty hot dog was actually made of rubber.

2. A group of badgers cleverly tricked me with this rubber hotdog.

3. I tried hard to trick them back with a plastic pie.

4. The first badger easily saw that the pie was a trick.

5. The second badger nearly tried to eat the fake pie.

6. “It’s plastic!” cried the third badger loudly after he chomped the plastic pie.

7. Badgers clearly hate being tricked by sneaky humans.

8. I was delighted that the badger stupidly fell for my trick.

9. To celebrate, I decided to eat a massive cheese sandwich quickly.

10. Unfortunately, my sandwich was made of chewy cardboard.

Exercise 1.6 C

Expand the noun into a noun phrase by adding words before and after the noun.

The first one has been done for you. Many answers possible – examples given

Noun / Noun phrase
village / the small village behind the mountain
ball / an orange ball with green spots
giraffes / three baby giraffes in the zoo
garden / the back garden which was filled with flowers
Claudia / young Claudia with a pretty face
truck / the noisy truck belching out fumes
dog / the black dog which was aggressive
friend / my old friend by the dining room table

Exercise 1.7 C

These are the types of noun:

Now identify each type of noun in the sentences below. The first one has been done for you.

1. The team was getting ready for a big match in Scotland.

abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common noun
team / 
Scotland / 

2. The toad in my pond has a lot of energy.

abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common noun
toad / 
energy / 

3. Having slugs for lunch is a bad idea.

abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common noun
slugs / 
idea / 

4. Amir saw a gaggle of geese going down the road.

abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common noun
Amir / 
gaggle / 

5. The crew of the ship all came from Spain.

abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common noun
crew / 
Spain / 

6. I saw a red parrot eating a burger.

abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common noun
parrot / 
burger / 

7. Helen is not allowed to spend too much time on the computer.

abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common noun
Helen / 
time / 

8. There are a lot of foxes in Manchester.

abstract noun / collective noun / proper noun / common noun
foxes / 
Manchester / 

Exercise 2.1 C

In each sentence, circle the three words that should start with a capital letter.

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. dr cooper told me that a space ship landed in her garden in april.

1. the aliens knew they had to be careful of cornish badgers if they were going to land in england.

1. the badgers would like the aliens to land in france, but aliens don’t speak french.

1. alex thinks that aliens from jupiter would never invade on a monday.

1. i agree with alex – aliens prefer friday invasions.

1. aliens often land their space ships in the united states.

1. the americans would rather the aliens landed in britain.

1. a space ship crashed into buckingham palace.

1. no-one saw because they were all away for easter until tuesday.

10. according to alex, the aliens pushed their space ship back to jupiter to get it fixed.

Exercise 2.2 C

1. Tick one box to show where the missing exclamation mark should go.

‘Stop’ shouted the zoo keeper as two tigers escaped over the fence.

2. Put one question mark and one exclamation mark in the correct boxes.

Why would anyone shout ‘Stop’ at two tigers

3. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.

‘What shall we do now’ said one of the tigers as they ran away.

4. Tick one box to show where the missing exclamation mark should go.

‘Let’s go surfing’ replied the other tiger.

5. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.

‘Why didn’t you stop the two tigers’ asked the zoo keeper’s boss.

6. Tick one box to show where the missing exclamation mark should go.

‘They’re too big’ replied the zoo keeper.

7. Put one question mark and one exclamation mark in the correct boxes.

‘Big’ shouted the zoo keeper’s boss, ‘Do you think that’s a good excuse’

8. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.

‘Well,’ said the zoo keeper, ‘what would you have done’

9. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.

Do you think the zoo keeper’s boss should have stopped the two tigers

10. Tick one box to show where the missing exclamation mark should go.

‘Hurray’ shouted the tigers as they surfed in the sea.

11. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.

When the tigers got tired, one of them said, ‘Shall we go home’

12. Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go.

‘Do you mean to the jungle,’ asked the other tiger, ‘or back to the zoo’

Exercise 2.3 C

Draw lines to match the words with their most likely final punctuation.

Use each punctuation mark once.

1.

Help
What’s wrong
I thought I saw a dinosaur
?
.
!

2.

That’s not a dinosaur; it’s a poodle
I’m scared
Are you really scared of a poodle
?
.
!

3.

I wonder how it got so big
Why don’t you ask it
No way

4.

How did you get so big
I ate my tuna custard
Gross
?
.
!

5.

Do you want some tuna custard
Of course I don’t
I’ll eat yours then – great
?
.
!

6.

Do you like tuna custard
I absolutely love it
I’m not so keen
?
.
!

7.

Stop
What’s the matter
You’re going to spill the tuna custard
?
.
!
?
.
!

8.

There’s plenty more
Hurray
What shall we do with it
?
.
!

9.

How much tuna custard is there left
There’s enough for a week
Phew
?
.
!
Ow
Are you okay
The tuna custard is very hot
?
.
!

10.

Exercise 2.4 C

Which of the sentences below use commas correctly?

1. Tick one.

After the raid the pirates had gold silver rubies, an emerald,

a bus ticket and a pile, of socks.

After the raid, the pirates had gold, silver, rubies, an emerald,

a bus ticket and a pile of socks.

After, the raid, the pirates had gold, silver rubies, an emerald,

a bus ticket, and a pile of socks.

After the raid the pirates had gold silver rubies an emerald

a bus ticket and a pile of socks.

2.Tick one.

They lifted the anchor, scrubbed the decks and hoisted the sails.

They lifted, the anchor, scrubbed the decks, and hoisted the sails.

They lifted the anchor, scrubbed the decks, and, hoisted the sails.

They lifted, the anchor scrubbed, the decks and hoisted, the sails.

3.Tick one.

The queen said, they were thieves, cheaters, and bullies.

The, queen said they were thieves cheaters and bullies.

The queen said they were thieves, cheaters and bullies.

The queen said they were thieves, cheaters, and bullies.

4.Tick one.

So the navy went, after them with cannons, rifles, and elastic bands.

So the navy went after them with, cannons, rifles and elastic bands.

So the navy went after them with cannons, rifles and elastic bands.

So, the navy, went after them with cannons rifles and elastic bands.

5.Tick one.

But the pirates were cleverer, faster and smellier.

But the pirates were, cleverer, faster, and smellier.

But the pirates were cleverer faster and smellier.

But the pirates, were cleverer faster, and smellier.

6.Tick one.

They landed on, an island that was spooky overgrown, tangled

and full of caves.

They landed on an island that was spooky, overgrown, tangled

and full of caves.

They landed on an island that was spooky, overgrown tangled

and full, of caves.

They landed on an island that was, spooky overgrown tangled

and full of caves.

7.Tick one.

They ran, crawled, stumbled, and tumbled, into, the darkest cave

on the island.

They ran, crawled stumbled, and tumbled into the darkest cave,

on the island.

They ran, crawled, stumbled and tumbled into the darkest cave

on the island.

They ran, crawled, stumbled and tumbled, into the darkest cave

on, the island.

8.Tick one.

The navy, came after them, running, shouting and threatening.

The navy came after, them, running, shouting and threatening.

The navy came after them, running, shouting and, threatening.

The navy came after them, running, shouting and threatening.

9.Tick one.

The captain of the pirates said she had a plan that was clever,

cunning and sure to succeed.

The captain of the, pirates, said she had a plan that was clever,

cunning and sure to succeed.

The captain of the pirates said she had a plan, that was clever

cunning, and sure to succeed.

The, captain of the pirates said she had a plan that was clever,

cunning, and sure to succeed.

10.Tick one.

They dressed up, as flamingos, buffaloes, pelicans, toads

and donkeys, and they crept, past the navy to their ship.