English Grammar
Capital Letters
You must always use a capital letter ……
-at the start of a sentence
-when using ‘I’, meaning ‘myself’.
-for proper names and place names, e.g. Mary, Galway.
-for days, months and festivals.
-For the titles of plays, books, songs, films and poems, e.g. Black Beauty.
-For people’s titles, e.g. Mrs, Dr, Mr.
Full Stops
You should use a full stop……….
-to end a sentence
-to show an abbreviation, e.g. Dr. for doctor, St. for street.
Example: Dr. Dolittle thought that he could talk to animals.
Commas
You must use a comma to separate adjectives in lists.
Example: It was a cold, bleak, miserable day.
Note the last adjective does not need a comma.
You must also use a comma to separate nouns in lists.
Example: I enjoy rugby, wrestling, boxing and ballet.
However, the noun before the ‘and’ does not need a comma.
A comma must be used with when, as, if, though, although, unless, after and since to connect sentences.
Example: I woke up. I got dressed.
When I woke up, I got dressed.
You must use commas to separate words in lists. Listing actions (verbs) can make your writing more interesting.
Examples: The kitten hissed, spat, scratched and bit until the dog decided to leave it alone.
Ken peeled, chopped, diced and sliced every vegetable in the kitchen.
Note: the verb before the ‘and’ does not need a comma.
We use commas to separate phrases and groups of words in sentences.
Example: Snow White swept the floor, dusted the carpets, polished the furniture, washed the dishes, did the laundry and decided to go and look for an easier job.
We use commas to set off an introductory phrase in a sentence.
Example: After he won the prize, Gary felt very proud of himself.
Titles and Abbreviations
When you abbreviate a word, you shorten it . . . and make it easier to spell!
-Mrs. Is the abbreviation of Missus.
-Abbreviated words usually start with a capital letter and end with a full stop.
-You can shorten a name by using the first letter of that name.
Example: P.Sayers for Pat Sayers
Addresses
Addresses are lists of information. Each piece of information goes on a separate line. Each line except the last line, ends with a comma. The last line in an address always ends with a full stop. Look at this address. Notice how it starts with a person’s name, followed by her of house, followed by where the house is . . . . and so on . .
Elanna Dunne,person
‘Villa France’,name of house
16 Ballymore Grove,number of house and estate
Bray,town
Co. Wicklow.County
If an address uses a postcode, this will be on the last line of the address, e.g. Dublin 12.
Paragraphs
A paragraph is made up of a number of sentences that deal with the same idea. A paragraph starts on a new line. All paragraphs start a little way in from the margin.
Example:
My grandma was old and needed a walking stick to get about. Her face was as wrinkled as a dried plum. Her wispy hair was completely white. She always moved slowly.
Her sister, by contrast, was a youthful 81 year old. Her step was sprightly and her smile wide and frequent.
A paragraph is made up of a few sentences dealing with the same idea. A paragraph starts on a new line. The first word of a paragraph usually starts slightly in from the margin.
Direct Speech
“Telltale! Telltale!” chanted Tom at his friend.
“I am not,” retorted Jim crossly.
“Call me that again and I’ll tell on you!”
The words in the bubbles are the actual words that the two boys have said.
Direct speech
When you write speech, put the spoken words on a new line, and place the first inverted commas a little way in from the margin.
Example: The snake curled itself around Charlie’s ankles.
He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck tingling.
“Do something, please,” he whispered desperately.
“Stay cool, Charlie, I’ll think of something, “ replied Jack.
Direct Speech
When you write down the actual words that are said by people, you must put the words inside inverted commas ( “………”).
Example: “Amy has new shoes,” said Lucy.
Note that an ordinary comma is also used after the last word that is spoken.
When a question is being asked, you place the question mark inside the inverted commas. This replaces the ordinary comma.
Example: “Were you born in a barn?” asked Mum crossly.
Apostrophes
We put ‘s at the end of a noun when it owns something.
Examples: the girl’s hands = the hands belonging to the girl.
The cat’ tail = the tail belonging to the cat.
Apostrophes
Remember: ‘s shows that a noun owns something, e.g. Ciara’s pencil.
Remember: Ordinary plurals do not use an apostrophe with the s.
Example: With their eyes shut tight, the boys dived off the cliff’s edge into the sea below.
When plurals ending in s own something, put an apostrophe after the s.
Example: The two stags’ antlers locked in combat.
If a noun owns something else in a sentence, you give that noun an apostrophe and an s (‘s).
Example: The cat’s tail is very long. The word cat gets ‘s because the cat owns the tail.
It is a short way of saying the tail of the cat is very long.
Warning! Watch out for its and it’s.
It’s = it is
Its = belongs to it (this is one word that does not use an apostrophe)
If a plural noun ends in s, we place the apostrophe after the s.
Example: the boys’ coats = the coats of the boys
If a plural noun does not end in s, we put the apostrophe before the s.
Example: the men’s coats = the coats of the men.
Prefixes
A prefix goes in front of a word to make a new word.
Prefixes ( such as un -, anti -, dis -, etc. ) often change the meaning of a word to its opposite.
Examples: able- unable, obey – disobey, freeze – antifreeze.
Nouns
Nouns are names
A noun can be the name of a person, a place, a thing, an animal, a period of time or an idea.
Remember, a noun is a label or naming word. Common nouns are the names of people (e.g. teacher, girl, scientist), places (e.g. city, mountain, home), animals (e.g. cat, dog, pig) and things (e.g. table, book)
Examples: The diver jumped off the boat into the sea that morning.
Diver, sea, boat and morning are common nouns.
Nouns are names. There are thousands of them!
Common nouns are the names of persons, places, animals and things.
Examples: man, town, tiger, bag.
Proper nouns are particular names of persons, places, days, months, feasts, titles, etc.
Examples: Anne, Monday, Easter, Carlow.
Proper nouns always start with a capital letter.
Suffixes
You can make a new word by adding a suffix to the end of the original word.
Examples: care + less = careless
King + dom = kingdom
Pronouns
A word that takes the place of a noun is called a pronoun.
Example: Anne likes to eat icecream.
She likes to eat it.
She replaces Anne while it replaces ice cream.
Similes
Comparisons that use the words like or as are called similes ( simil – ays)
Similes help us to explain or describe things more clearly.
Examples: He ran as fast as a speeding bullet.
She looked like a million dollars.
We often use the words as or like when we are describing something. Phrases that compare things and use the words as or like are called similes.
Adjectives
Adjectives tell us something about nouns (e.g. people, places, things).
They make language more interesting.
Example: The cat sat on the mat.
The sleek, graceful cat sat on the beautiful, blue mat.
The ordinary adjective is called the positive form, e.g. big.
The comparative form is when we compare two objects, e.g. bigger.
The superlative form is when we compare more than two objects, e.g. biggest.
An adjective tell us more about a noun. Adjectives can make a sentence more interesting.
Example: I see a chair. (chair = noun)
I see a comfortable chair. (comfortable = adjective)
Remember, we use adjectives to describe nouns.
Example: The green, white and orange flag fluttered in the light breeze.
Sometimes nouns can be used as adjectives to describe another noun.
Example: We went to the football stadium. Normally football is a noun, but in this sentence it is describing the stadium.
Adjectives do not always appear beside the noun.
Example: The girl’s handwriting was appalling.
It is another way of saying the girl had appalling handwriting
Some adjectives compare two or more things.
Example:
My feet are small. - positive
Aine’s feet are smaller. - comparative
Roger’s feet are the smallest in the class. – superlative
The positive from of the adjective is used to describe one object.
The comparative form of the adjective is used to compare two objects.
The superlative form of the adjective is used to compare three or more objects.
Young – younger- youngest
When comparing some adjectives, the final consonant must be doubled
.red – redder – reddest
When comparing some adjectives ending in y, the y must be changed to i.
Lonely – lonelier – loneliest
Metaphor
When we use a metaphor to describe something, we do not use the words as or like.
Example: The lonely mountain hunched its back against the wind and the rain of the storm. ( The mountain is compared to a lonely person turning his or her neck to the storm.)
Overused Words
Sometimes we use the same word too often when we are writing a story. It can make our stories very boring to read.
Example:
Good – beautiful, wonderful, fabulous, fantastic, delicious, reliable, powerful, brilliant, thorough, great, marvellous, lovely.
Bad – tragic, terrible, horrible, miserable, serious, ridiculous, catastrophic, awful, disastrous, revolting, painful, nasty, dangerous, stupid.
Verbs
A verb is a word that describes action.
Every sentence needs at least one action word in order to make sense.
Examples: Mahatma Gandhi was an extremely wise man.
Brazil is the largest country in South America.
Alfie swerved, skidded and smashed the new car into the telegraph pole.
A verb is the doing, or action, word of a sentence.
Examples: Emma wrote a letter. Jeff has a new pen.
Anne thinks that she is great. Marie scored a goal.
Note: Words such as is, are, has and said are all verbs even though they do not seem to be ‘doing’ much.
Sometimes a verb will use more than one word to get its meaning across.
Examples:
I will have to go to school next week.
Mary told us what has happened.
Jeff might be late today.
Ali should have been here by now.
Punctuation
Remember
-A sentence always ends with a full stop or question mark.
-Actual words spoken must be written inside quotation marks.
-A comma is used after the last word that is spoken.
Adverbs
Adverbs tell us more about actions ( verbs).
Example: The referee spoke crossly to the player.
Adverbs can be made from adjectives by adding – ly
Example: It was a rough game.
The team played roughly in the game.
Rough = adjective
Roughly = adverb
Adverbs describe verbs (action words).
You can make an adverb by adding ly to the end of an adjective ( describes nouns).
Example: quick – quickly
She is a quick runner. (adjective)
She ran quickly. ( adverb)
To change adjectives ending in y into adverbs, drop the y and replace it with ily.
Example: heavy – heavily
Contractions
-A word that is shortened is called a contraction.
-Apostrophes (‘) are used to show that letters have been left out.
Example: She’s the tallest girl in the village.
She is the tallest girl in the village.
You’re, I’l, didn’t, couldn’t, when’s, I’ve, he’s, you’ll, wasn’t, shouldn’t, you’ve, she’s, he’ll, weren’t, wouldn’t, what’s, we’ve, we’re, can’t, you’d, they’re, should’ve, aren’t, we’ll, hadn’t.
When two words are shortened into one, we call it a contraction.
Examples: I have not time./ I haven’t time.
She is here./ She’s here.
An apostrophe (‘) shows where the missing letter should be.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs give more detail to a sentence.
Example: The boy licked the ice cream. ( &adjective)
The young boy licked the raspberry – flavoured ice cream. (& adverb)
The young boy lovingly licked the raspberry- flavoured ice cream.
Homophones
Homophones are words that have the same sound but different meanings or spellings.
Example: They’re, their, there
They’re = they are
Their = belongs to them
There = a place; used with ‘there is’, ‘there are’, etc.
Example: They’re all very annoyed that their team was beaten when they played that match over there.
Hole/whole, pain/ pane, board/ bored, soar/ sore, pair/ pear, knows/ nose, through/ threw, to/ two, cellar/ seller.
Remember, words that sound the same but have different meanings or spellings are called homophones. E.g. see/sea, bare/bear
Homophones
Remember:
Homophones are words that have the same sound but different meanings or spellings.
Examples: She is not right!
Tie that knot tightly.
Mussels/muscles, story/storey, haul/hall, reign/rain/ rein, sow/sew, dew/due.
Remember, homophones sound the same but have different meanings or spellings.
Example: The two dogs were too tired to even bark.
Overused Words
Said- added, replied, denounced, shouted, remarked, stated, pronounced, yelled, observed, wondered, expressed, announced, declared, uttered, cried, agreed, mentioned, responded, whispered, answered, commented.
Spelling Rules
Rule 1:
If a word ends in a single vowel and a single consonant ( e.g. big, rub), double the final consonant when adding an ending to it.
Example: big = bigger, rub = rubbing
Rule 2:
If a word ends in a consonant & y (e.g. try, fly), change the ‘y’ to ‘I’ for all endings ( except ing)
Example: fly = flies ( flying)
Rule 3:
When a word begins with ‘all’, only one ‘L’ is used.
Example: always, although
Rule 4:
When words end with ‘full’, only use one ‘L’.
Example: useful, helpful.
Spelling Rules 2
Most plurals are formed quite simply by adding a s ( dog/dogs).
However, some plurals are more difficult.
Rule1:
Words that end in a consonant & y – drop the y and add ies.
Example: baby/babies.
Rule 2:
Most words that end in ch, sh, or x – add es.
Example: church/churches
Rule 3:
Most words that end in z, s or o
Spelling Rules
Doubling a letter:
If a word ends with a single vowel followed by a single consonant, you will need to double that last consonant when you add endings such as ed, er, ing, y, le and est.
Look at these examples:
Pat – patted, wet – wetter, hop – hopping, run – running, big – biggest, rub – rubble
Synonyms
A word that means the same, or almost the same, as another word is called a synonym.
Example: terrible – dreadful
Big-large
Right-correct
Intelligent – clever
Evident-apparent
Minute-tiny
Helpless-powerless
Habitat-home
Synonyms are words that have the same (or almost the same) meaning.
Examples: strike/hit, shut/close, select/choose, amusing/droll, huge/massive, collect/gather, middle/centre, extrovert/outgoing, undisciplined/unruly, eat/dine, crash/collide, impolite/rude, compassionate/humane, glory/prestige, costly/expensive, dreary/ gloomy, anger/rage, cut/dissect, price/ cost, feast/ banquet, pointless/ futile.
Antonyms
A word that means the opposite,or almost the opposite, is called an antonym.
Example: dark- bright
Cowardice – courage
Weakness – strength
Tenses
Verbs tell us what is happening in a sentence. The tense of a verb tells us when it happens, whether it be in the past, the present or the future.
Examples:
She saw horses = past tense
She sees horses = present tense
She will see horses = future tense
Alphabetical Order
We use alphabetical order to help us to organise and find words in dictionaries and names in telephone books.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions link words together in sentences.
Example: I like sausages and chips.
Conjunctions are also used to join two shorter sentences together.
Example: I got up. I got dressed quickly.
I got up and got dressed quickly.
Some more conjunctions – until, unless, but, because, as, if, or, so, while, after, before, although, since, when, that
Silent Letters
Doubt, wrinkle, knock, soften, whistle, folk, reign, hour, gnaw, lamb, calm, knee, wrong, gnat, hymn, half, thumb, crumb, limb, climb, autumn, honour, calf, knob, honest, castle, knot, walk, wren, could, listen, knit, write, wrist, apostle
Sentence Ending
There are three different ways to end a sentence.