RIC-20222 Primary Grammar and Word Study Foundation – Parts of Speech

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Primary grammar and word study (Book A) 

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Primary grammar and 

word study – Book A 

Foreword 

Primary grammar and word study is a series of seven books designed 

to introduce students to parts of speech, ways to understand and choose 

words, punctuation and figures of speech. 

Titles in this series: 

• Primary grammar and word study Book A (Ages 5– 6) 

• Primary grammar and word study Book B (Ages 6–7) 

• Primary grammar and word study Book C (Ages 7–8) 

• Primary grammar and word study Book D (Ages 8–9) 

• Primary grammar and word study Book E (Ages 9 –10) 

• Primary grammar and word study Book F (Ages 10–11) 

• Primary grammar and word study Book G (Ages 11–12) 

Teachers notes ..............................................iv – v 

English curriculum links ...................................... v 

Literacy character explanation ..................... vi – vii 

Checklists ................................................... viii – xi 

Parts of speech ............................................. 2–33 

Nouns ............................................................. 2–5 

Verbs ............................................................. 6–11 

Adjectives .................................................... 12–17 

Adverbs ....................................................... 18–21 

Pronouns ..................................................... 22–25 

Conjunctions ............................................... 26–27 

Determiners ................................................ 28–31 

Prepositions ................................................ 32–33 

Contents 

Words that change .................................... 50–53 

Plurals .................................................... 50–53 

Words and their meanings ........................ 54–57 

Synonyms ............................................... 54–55 

Antonyms ............................................... 56–57 

Confused words ........................................ 58–61 

Punctuation ................................................. 62–75 



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Full stops .................................................... 62–63 

Question marks ........................................... 64–65 

Exclamation marks ...................................... 66–67 

Capital letters .............................................. 68–71 

Commas ...................................................... 72–73 

Apostrophes ................................................ 74–75 

Understanding and choosing words .......... 34–61 

Words that are similar .............................. 34–49 

Homographs ........................................... 34–35 

Homophones .......................................... 36–37 

Word groups ........................................... 38–49 

Figures of speech ........................................ 76–83 

Alliteration .................................................... 76–77 

Similes ......................................................... 78–79 

Onomatopoeia .............................................. 80–81 

Personification .............................................. 82–83 

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Primary grammar and word study

Parts of speech checklist 

Name of student Nouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs Pronouns Conjunctions Determiners Prepositions 



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Primary grammar and word study viii 

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Parts of speech 

Nouns 

Focus 

Common nouns 

Definitions 

• Nouns are words used to name people, places, 

things, feelings and ideas. 

• Common nouns name general, rather than 

particular, things that you can see and touch. 

Example: 

The farmer’s dirty feet left marks all over the 

floor. 

Explanation 

• The word ‘noun’ comes from the Latin ‘nomen’, 

which means ‘name’. Nouns are often called 

‘naming words’. 

• While most nouns can be categorised as either 

common or proper nouns, there are two further main 

categories; collective (e.g. swarm) and abstract 

(e.g. sorrow) nouns. 

• Some words used as nouns can also be verbs or 

adjectives, depending on the context in which they 

are used. 

Example: 

John decided to ring (verb) the jeweller about 

Suzie’s damaged ring (noun). 

• Common nouns are not capitalised unless they begin 

a sentence or start a title. 

Worksheet information 

• The depth of the introduction necessary for the 

development of an understanding of nouns will vary. 

Students must first understand what ‘words’ are. 

They also need to be able to understand the concept 

of people, places and things. 

• A suggested introduction is to prepare cutout 

pictures of people, places and things from 

magazines. Draw a table on the board with the 

headings: ‘people’, ‘places’ and ‘things’. Ask 

students to sort the pictures and classify them by 

sticking them on the board under the appropriate 

heading. Write the name (noun) for each picture 

next to it. Explain to the students that the words we 

use to name people, places and things are called 

‘nouns’. 

• Give each student a copy of the worksheet and 

explain the tasks. 

In Question 1, students write three people, places 

and things from the picture. 

In Question 2, they make up a funny story or song 

using three nouns of their own which they have 

written on the page. Encourage students to write 

a common noun—e.g. boy, man, cowboy—rather 

than a proper noun. They can tell or sing their funny 

stories or songs to each other. 

Ideas for further practice 



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• Play ‘I-spy’ with the students to practise naming the 

‘things’ in the classroom. 

• Read simple stories with the students. Ask them to 

recall people, places and things from the story and 

list these under the appropriate headings. 

• Students could go on a ‘noun hunt’ in the classroom 

or school grounds, finding as many nouns as they 

can. 

• is an interactive game where 

students practise identifying nouns. 

Answers 

1. places: park, school, shop 

people: boy, girl, woman, baby 

things: swing, ball, tree, flower, bird, grass, bench, 

bin 

2. Teacher check 

Primary grammar and word study 2 


Nouns 

Nouns are naming words for people, 

places and things. 

shop 

bin 

1. From the picture, write three: 

places 

people 

things. 

swing 

flower 

school 

girl 

grass 

2. Write one place, one 

person and one thing. 

Use these nouns 

to make up a funny 

story or song to tell a 

partner. 

ball 

bench 

boy 

woman 

baby 

boy 



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bird 

park 

tree 

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Nouns 

Focus 

Proper nouns 

Definition 

• Proper nouns are used to name specific people, 

places or things and begin with capital letters. 

Example: 

Jarrad was due to fly in from London on Friday. 

Explanation 

• Nouns can provide us information about who, what 

and where. Proper nouns are also called proper 

names and name a specific or particular person, 

place, animal or thing. Proper nouns are almost 

always capitalised but not all capitalised words are 

proper nouns. 

• Trademarks are also capitalised. 

• Some words that would appear to need 

capitalisation, such as the names of the seasons 

(winter, summer, spring and autumn), are no longer 

capitalised because, through long usage, they have 

come to be considered common nouns. Cardinal 

directions (north, south, east and west); words for 

relatives (mum, aunty)—unless it is used as part 

of the name, such as Aunty Maude; and names of 

subject areas (maths, science) are also no longer 

considered proper nouns. 


• Review what a noun is with the students. Give each 

student a copy of the worksheet and read the text 

defining proper nouns. Explain that these are nouns 

that give special people, places or things their own 

name. Read the sentences about the boy and his cat. 

Ask students to notice the words in bold; they have 

capital letters and are the name of the boy, the name 

of his cat, and the name of the city in which they 

live. They could then identify the common nouns 

(boy, cat, city). 

• Students then practise writing proper nouns by 

providing information about themselves. They 

practise identifying proper nouns by colouring the 

pictures which have proper nouns written beneath 

them. 


• Students can find nouns in sentences online at 

 

• Students can create riddles where the answer is a 

proper noun. Partners try to guess the answers. 

• Proper noun hunt: Students set off to find and write 

as many proper nouns from the classroom as they 

can in five minutes. Turn the students findings into a 

class book of proper nouns. 

Answers 


2. The pictures of Jess Gresham, Mrs Deering, Leroy 

and JoJo’s Cafe should be coloured. 



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Proper nouns 

Some nouns are the special names for a person, 

place or thing. They are called proper nouns and 

start with capital letters. 

My name is Jacob. I’m a boy. 

This is Puff. She is my cat. 

We live in Oxford. It’s a big city. 

1. What about you? 

My name is . 

I live in . 

I have/want a pet named . 

My friends are . 

2. Colour the pictures of proper nouns. 



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kids penguin Jess Gresham 

Mrs Deering Leroy Jojo’s Cafe 




Verbs 

Focus 

Finite verbs 

Definition 

• Verbs or ‘doing’ words show actions or states of 

being or having. 

Example: 

The boy ran to the gate. 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. 

The cow jumped over the moon. 

‘Ran’, ‘sat’ and ‘jumped’ are verbs which tell about 

an action. 

Example: 

He has a cold and he is sick. 

‘Has’ is a form of the verb ‘to have’ and ‘is’ is a form 

of the verb ‘to be’. 

Explanation 

• Finite verbs change in form to match their subject 

or to indicate tense. 

Example: 

runs, run, ran 

• Non-finite verbs do not change. 

Example: 

present participles – working 

past participles – worked 

infinitives – to work 

• Verbs must have someone doing the action (the 

subject). For the examples in the Definition section 

above, the actions are done by ‘the boy’, ‘Humpty 

Dumpty’ and ‘the cow’. 

• Most verbs describe actions, but verbs also show 

states of ‘being’ or ‘having’. The verbs ‘to have’ and 

‘to be’ have many forms which change with the 

subject and the tense. 

Example: 

to have – has, have, had 

to be – am, is, are, was, were 

• Every sentence must contain a verb. 


• Read the rhyme with the students, emphasising the 

verbs (doing words). 

• Read the explanation about verbs to the students 

while they follow the words. 

• Ask the questions: ‘What am I (row 1) doing?, What 

are the bells doing?, ‘What am I (row 3) doing?, 

‘What are the elephants doing?’ etc. 

• Students use coloured pencils to circle the verbs in 

the rhyme which were emphasised while reading. 

Repeat the reading if necessary. 

• Read the instruction for Question 3, then students 

can match the pictures to the most appropriate verb. 

• As a class, read the picture–sentences together; 

e.g. dogs dig, cats lick etc. 


• Recite popular nursery rhymes with the students 

and whenever a verb (doing word) appears, ask the 

students to shout the word loudly. Give examples 

first. 

• Make up simple sentences with missing verbs to 

complete orally with the students. 

Example: 

The clown 

the car. 



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• Play action games such as ‘What can you do 

Punchinello, funny fellow?’ where students must 

make up actions for Punchinello to demonstrate for 

others to copy. 

Answers 

1.–2. Teacher check 

3. dogs dig, cats lick, ducks quack, rockets zoom 



Verbs are doing words. 

1. Read the rhyme. 

Verbs 

I sing. 

Bells ring. 

I jump. 

Elephants thump. 

I cry. 

Birds fly. 

I sleep. 

Mice creep. 

Verbs can tell what people or things are doing. 

A sentence must have a ‘doing’ word. 

2. Circle the doing words in the rhyme. 

3. Draw a line to match the doing word to the correct picture. 

dig 



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lick 

zoom 

quack 




Verbs 

Focus 

Command verbs (imperatives) 

Definition 

• Command verbs are used to order, command or 

instruct. 

Example: 

Clean your teeth. 

Mix the cake batter. 

Explanation 

• Verbs can describe actions (doing words) and must 

have someone ‘doing’ the action (the subject). Refer 

to pages 6 and 7. 

• Most verbs describe actions but verbs can also show 

states of ‘being’ or ‘having’. 

Example: 




• Command verbs are commonly used when writing 

procedures and are usually the first word in the 

sentence. 


• Play a game such as ‘Simon says’ where students 

must follow the commands given. 

• Read the heading and explain what ‘command’ 

means. Remind the students that a verb is a ‘doing’ 

or action word. A command verb is a word that 

commands or orders someone to do something. 

Do not be overly concerned if the students do not 

remember the term. 

• Read the text with the students and say the words 

for the pictures in the procedure. Emphasise the 

command verbs when reading the text. 

• Ask students to identify the command verbs and 

write them to complete Question 2. Beginning 

sounds have been given to assist students with 

finding them in the text. Tell the students that all 

the command verbs in this text have a capital letter 

because they all start sentences. 

• Read the instructions for Question 3. Tell the 

students that these are command verbs. Discuss 

a character from a well-known nursery rhyme 

or fairytale who may have said ‘Help!’ or ‘Stop!’ 

Students could also relate a situation where the 

verbs were spoken; for example: when someone 

is in deep water and cannot swim well or when a 

child runs near the road and Mum yells at him/her. 

Students should draw simple pictures to match the 

spoken command verbs. 

• Select a few students to talk about their pictures. 

Ask them to tell who is saying the command verb 

and who they may be talking to. 


• Learn and say rhymes which contain command 

verbs such as ‘“Stop”, said the red light; “Go”, says 

the green …’ 

• Identify command verbs in familiar fairytales and 

traditional stories such as ‘Run, run as fast as you 

can. You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man’. 

• Play games in the playground where students must 

listen to an order or command and carry out the 

action; for example: ‘Run to the tree and skip back’. 

Emphasise the command verbs when speaking. 



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Answers 


2. Mix, Melt, Add, Tip, Cook, Lick 




1. Read the procedure. 

Command verbs 

Mix , , and in bowl. 

Melt in . 

Add , and . 

Add butter mixture to . 

Mix all together. 

Tip into . 

Cook in . 

Lick the . 

Command verbs give orders. 

2. Write six command verbs from the procedure. 

M M A 



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T C L 

3. Draw a picture to tell what is happening. 

Help! 

Stop! 




Verbs 

Focus 

Past, present and future tense (with auxiliary verbs) 

Definitions 

• Verb tense shows whether the action of the verb 

occurs in the present, the past or the future. 

• Auxiliary verbs are small verbs, often a form of the 

verb ‘to be’ or ‘to have’, that combine with another 

verb to form a compound verb. 

Explanation 

• There are three basic verb tenses—past, present 

and future. These tenses are often formed using an 

auxiliary or helping verb such as ‘is’, ‘can’, ‘had’ 

and ‘will’. 

Example: 

I jump. She jumps. (present tense) 

I jumped. (past tense) 

I have jumped. (past tense with an auxiliary verb 

– ‘have’) 

I will jump. (future tense with an auxiliary verb – 

‘will’) 

• Verbs must have someone ‘doing’ the action. For the 

examples above, the actions are done by ‘I’. 

• Most verbs describe actions, but verbs also show 

states of ‘being’ or ‘having’. 

Example: 




• Some verb tense forms are regular but many are 

irregular. 

Example: 

‘I buy my lunch today’ (present tense) becomes 

‘I bought my lunch yesterday’ (past tense). 


• As the concept of verb tense is very difficult for 

this age group, particularly in reference to auxiliary 

verbs, the intention is ONLY to expose the students 

to different tenses while reading a short text. 

However, young students will be very familiar with 

sentences which include ‘I am …’ and ‘I will …’ 

when writing or reading. 

• Read the text with the students, encouraging them 

to say any words they recognise. Emphasise the 

verbs when reading aloud to make the students 

more aware of them. 

• Discuss and identify which words are verbs or ‘doing 

words’, while the students circle them. Ensure that 

the students circle ‘will be’ (two parts). Tell them it is 

a ‘tricky’ verb that has two parts. 

• Once the verbs are circled, the students can copy 

the verbs into the correct boxes. 

NOTE: In Question 3, the future tense verbs, ‘will be’, 

‘am’ and ‘went’ have been given. Students are only 

required to find and write the more obvious verbs 

from the text. 


• With the students sitting in a circle, select a few 

students to tell a sentence about something they 

did yesterday. Write the verbs on the board as each 

student relates his/her sentence. Repeat with other 

students, relating what they are doing today and 

what they will be doing tomorrow. Used different 

coloured chalk or markers for past, present and 

future verbs and compare them. Note any which 

have two parts. 

• Ask students to write their own three sentences 

about yesterday, today and tomorrow and draw a 

picture to illustrate each. Students should be asked 

to identify the verbs. 

• Listen to stories about children who have grown and 

changed and learnt to do new things. 



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Answers 


3. Yesterday – went, played, climbed, zoomed 

Today – am, read, write, count, learn 

Tomorrow – will be 



Yesterday, today, tomorrow 

1. Read the text. 

Verbs are doing words. 

Yesterday, I went to the park. 

I played on the swings. 

I climbed up the ladder and zoomed down the 

slide. 

Today, I am at school. 

I read my books. I write my name and a story. 

I count to 20 and learn my shapes. 

Tomorrow, I will be a very smart sportsperson. 

2. Circle all the ‘doing’ words in the text. 

3. Copy the ‘doing words’ in the correct boxes. 

Yesterday 

I went. I pl . 

I cl . I z . 

Today 

I am. I r . 

I w . I c . 

I l . 

I w 



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Tomorrow 




Adjectives 

Focus 

Common adjectives 

Definition 

• An adjective is a describing word. It adds meaning 

to or changes the meaning of a noun or a pronoun. 

Example: 

These are shady trees. (describes the noun, ‘trees’) 

The pillow is soft. (describes the noun, ‘pillow’) 

Note: The adjective does not always come before the 

noun: 

She is quiet. (describes the pronoun, ‘she’) 

Explanation 

• The use of suitable adjectives not only makes 

written or spoken language more interesting, it gives 

the reader or listener a clearer understanding. 


• The pictures on page 13 have descriptions 

underneath with missing adjectives. Explain to the 

students that the missing words are at the bottom of 

the page. Discuss the pictures and descriptions with 

the students and read the words at the bottom. Ask 

them to suggest which would be the best word to 

cut out and glue under each picture. 

• Depending on the ability of your students, they may 

like to know these words are ‘describing’ words or 

‘adjectives’, which help to make our writing more 

interesting. 


• Present the worksheet on an overhead projector, 

but this time without the words at the bottom. 

Ask students to think of other words that could be 

written in the space under each picture. Alternatively, 

students could add another adjective before or after 

the one given; e.g. pretty, pink flower. 

• Students form circles of five or six. One student 

chooses an object from a selection that has been 

placed in the middle of the circle. He or she names 

the object and then thinks of a word to describe it, 

saying the word (adjective) out loud; e.g. a ball, a 

round ball. 

The object is passed to the next student, who then 

thinks of another adjective; e.g. a white ball. 

This continues until each student has had a turn. 

Other students can suggest an adjective if one 

student is having difficulty. The game continues with 

another object in the pile and so on. 

Answers 

1. a funny clown, a wet day, a hot drink, a pretty 

flower, a tall tree, a sad baby 



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Describing words – 1 

An adjective is a describing word. 

Cut out each describing word below. Glue it in the 

box under the correct picture. 

a clown a day 

a drink a flower 



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a tree a baby 

wet pretty hot 

tall sad funny 




Adjectives 

Focus 

Common adjectives 

Definition 

• An adjective is a describing word. It adds meaning 

to or changes the meaning of a noun or a pronoun. 

Example: 

Avoid busy roads. (describes the noun, ‘roads’) 

The kitten is cuddly. (describes the noun, ‘kitten’) 

Note: The adjective does not always come before the 

noun. 

He is tall. (describes the pronoun, ‘he’) 

Explanation 

• The use of suitable adjectives not only makes 

written or spoken language more interesting, it gives 

the reader or listener a clearer understanding. 


• Revise describing words by showing students 

various objects from the classroom or pictures of 

objects. Ask them to suggest words which tell about 

or describe each. List them on the board or chart 

next to the object/picture. 

• Read the phrases on the worksheet, emphasising 

the describing words. Explain how their picture 

must match what the words say; e.g. It wouldn’t be 

raining in the hot, sunny day picture and any person 

in their picture shouldn’t have a coat on. 

After discussion, students draw and colour their 

pictures and share them in a group or with the class. 


• On a separate sheet of paper, students make up 

their own phrase(s) with two adjectives describing a 

noun. Display students’ work. 

• Provide students with a set of cards with nouns 

and a set of cards with words that can be used 

as adjectives. Place each face down or put in a 

container. Students take out one noun card and two 

adjective cards. They order the words and draw 

what they read. Some, of course, will be amusing! 

For example, the cards might read ‘hairy, red car’. 

Answers 

Teacher check 



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Describing words – 2 

An adjective is a describing word. 

1. Read the words. 

2. Draw and colour each picture in the box. 

(One has been drawn for you to colour.) 

a small, green frog 

a hot, sunny day 



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a little, grey 

mouse 

a fluffy, yellow chick 

a tall, thin man 

a long, curly worm 




Adjectives 

Focus 

Comparative and superlative adjectives 

Definitions 

• Comparative adjectives are used to compare two 

things, usually by adding the suffix ‘er’. 

Example: 

high, higher 

• Superlative adjectives are used to compare more 

than two things, usually by adding the suffix ‘est’. 

Example: 

soft, softest 

Explanation 

• If the adjective has two or more syllables, ‘more’ or 

‘most’ is usually added before the adjective. 

Example: 

comfortable, more comfortable, most comfortable. 

• But if an adjective of two or more syllables ends in 

‘y’, ‘er’ or ‘est’ is usually used. 

Example: 

dirty – dirtier – dirtiest 

• Some comparative and superlative adjectives are 

irregular. 

Example: 

bad – worse – worst 

good – better – best 


• The words used for comparison on page 17 only 

include simple words requiring ‘er’ or ‘est’. Use 

the pictures at the top of the page to introduce the 

concept. Students can then draw animals in the 

boxes to show ‘big’, ‘bigger’ and ‘biggest’ for 

Activity 2. 

• The story in Activity 3 will help to reinforce the 

concept in context. Read it with the students, asking 

them to add the missing correct word at the bottom 

of the page. 


• Ask students to find things in the classroom that 

have specific qualities. 

Example: 

narrow/narrower/narrowest 

tall/taller/tallest 

hard/harder/hardest 

• Some comparative and superlative adjectives are 

irregular. 

Example: 

good/better/best 

Students at this age may say ‘gooder’ instead of 

‘better’. Provide opportunities for oral practice. For 

example, the teacher purposely says a work sample 

is good and another is ‘gooder’ or ‘goodest’, and 

asks students what she/he should have said. 

Answers 


3. silly, redder, silliest 



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Comparing things 

1. Read what each animal is saying in the pictures. 

I am small. I am smaller. I am the smallest. 

When we compare two or more things, 

we can add er or est to a word. 

2. Draw pictures to show a big animal, a bigger animal and an 

animal that is the biggest. 

I am big. I am bigger. I am the biggest. 

3. Fill in the missing words to finish the story. 

We saw three silly clowns with red noses. 

First, the clown with a red nose was . 

He fell off his bike. 



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Then, the clown with a 

nose 

was sillier. He tripped over his shoe. 

But the clown with the reddest nose 

was the 

. He got a 

custard pie in his face! 

silliest silly redder 




Adverbs 

Focus 

Common adverbs of manner 

Definition 

• An adverb is a word that adds information, usually 

to a verb and can tell about how (manner), when 

(time) or where (place) something happens. 

Example: 

The cows waited patiently. 

Note: Adverbs can modify (add information to) any 

words that are not nouns or pronouns. (These are 

modified by adjectives.) 

Explanation 

• Adverbs clarify meaning by telling more about the 

action, allowing for greater precision and adding 

interest to writing. 

• The words in italics in the story are all adverbs 

of manner. They all modify a verb, telling how it 

happens. 

• Some teachers may prefer to just focus on the 

concept of words telling how something happens, 

while others may like to also teach the term 

‘adverb’. Many children enjoy the fact that they can 

remember, understand and use this term. 


• Introduce the worksheet by reading the story to the 

class, acting each of the verbs as described by the 

adverb; for example: roaring (verb) loudly (adverb). 

This will help any students who are unsure of the 

vocabulary used. 

• Read the story again, choosing particular students to 

show, for example, what Jack did and how he did it. 

(Jack jumped on the bus happily.) 

• The students can then be placed in small groups of: 

lions, elephants, birds, giraffes, the Jacks holding 

the rabbit, and the Jacks leaving. Each group should 

discuss what they are doing (the verb) and how they 

are doing it (the adverb) and practise it. 

• Read the story again and have the groups dramatise 

their parts as it is read. 

• Students can complete Question 1 by showing how 

the action happened, saying the adverb or copying 

the adverb from the text. (The adverbs are all in 

italics to facilitate this task.) Some students may, 

however, choose to do all three. 

• As preparation for completing Question 2, ask 

students from the different groups the questions: 

Who are you? 

What are you doing? (verb) 

How are you doing it? (adverb) 

How do you move? (adverb) 

• Question 2 should be modelled to the class before 

students work with a partner; for example: ‘I am a 

crocodile; I am sleeping; I am sleeping peacefully; 

I move silently’. It may be helpful to have one 

student ask the other questions as a prompt. 


• Students take turns to mime an action, then ask 

others to identify what they are doing and to suggest 

adverbs to say how they were doing this action; 

for example: ‘You were playing a guitar beautifully/ 

quickly/happily/softly’. 



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Answers 

1. (a) loudly (b) quietly 

(c) gracefully (d) gently 




How things happen – 1 

Jack listened to the lions roaring loudly. 

He listened to the elephants walking 

quietly. 

He saw the birds eating greedily. 

He saw the crocodiles sleeping peacefully. 

He saw the giraffes standing gracefully. 

He held the rabbits carefully and patted 

them gently. 

He left the zoo sadly. He climbed slowly on to the bus and 

went back to school. 

Words that tell how things happen are 

called adverbs. 

1. Show, tell or write your answers. 

(a) How did the lions roar? 



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(b) How did the elephants walk? 

(c) How did the giraffes stand? 

(d) How did Jack pat the rabbits? 

2. Draw a picture of one of the zoo animals on the back of this 

sheet. Tell a friend: 

(a) what animal it is 

(c) how it is doing it 

(b) what it is doing 

(d) how it moves. 




Adverbs 

Focus 

Common adverbs of manner 

Definition 

• An adverb is a word that adds information, usually 

to a verb and can tell about how (manner), when 

(time) or where (place) something happens. 

Example: 

They searched desperately. 

Note: Adverbs can modify (add information to) any 

words that are not nouns or pronouns. (These are 

modified by adjectives.) 

Explanation 

• Adverbs of manner clarify meaning by telling more 

about the action, allowing for greater precision and 

adding interest to writing. 

• The words in italics in the story, are all adverbs 

of manner. They all modify a verb, telling how it 

happens. 

• Some teachers may prefer to just focus on the 

concept of words telling how something happens, 

while others may like to also teach the term 

adverb. Many children enjoy the fact that they can 

remember and use this term. 


• Introduce the worksheet by reading the story to the 

class, acting each of the verbs as described by the 

adverb; for example: climbs (verb) quickly (adverb). 

This will help any students who are unsure of the 

vocabulary used. 

• Discuss each adverb in the story by asking the 

students to suggest, for example, other ways Brad 

could have climbed out of bed (sleepily, sadly, 

happily, slowly). 

• Explain why the writer added these adverbs; i.e. to 

tell the reader more about how things happen. This 

makes the writing more interesting. Make the point 

that writers need to choose their adverbs carefully or 

people won’t know how things are happening. 

• Read the text again, with the students emphasising 

the adverbs. 

• Students work with a partner to complete 

Question 1. The adverbs are in bold italics in the text 

but could also be written on the board or on small 

cards for those students who have difficulty locating 

them in the text. 

• Discuss different things people do quickly and 

slowly before students complete Question 2. Provide 

opportunities for students to discuss and compare 

their answers. 


• Discuss playing football or another sport and 

brainstorm to list some of the things the players and 

spectators do. Each of these verbs can be written 

on the board, circled and with a bigger circle drawn 

around it for adverbs describing how people do it. 

Example: 

cheer – loudly, quietly, happily, sadly 

run – quickly, cleverly, dangerously, poorly, 

bravely 

• Discuss anger and some of the different things 

people do to show they are angry. Write the word 

‘angrily’ on the board and model some sentences to 

help students think of some of their own. 

Example: 

She stamped her foot angrily. 

He slammed the door angrily. 



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Answers 

1. (a) quickly (b) hard (c) badly 




How things happen – 2 

Brad climbs quickly out of bed. 

He is late for football. 

He tries hard to find his things. 

He has carelessly left them all over the house. 

Luckily he finds his boots and socks under his bed. 

His shirt is folded neatly on the table. 

Where are his shorts? 

Brad finds some old shorts to wear. 

He is very late and he plays badly. 

Words that tell how things happen are called adverbs. 

1. Tell and try to show a partner how these things happen. 

Then find the adverb and write it on the line. 

(a) How Brad climbs out of bed 

(b) How he tries to find things 

(c) How he plays 



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2. Draw pictures of the things you do. 

I do this slowly. 

I do this quickly. 




Pronouns 

Focus 

Personal pronouns: subjective and objective 

Definitions 

• A pronoun is a word substituted for a noun. 

• A personal pronoun is used in place of a person or 

thing. 

Example: 

he, she, it, they 

• A subjective pronoun is used as the subject of a 

verb. 

• An objective pronoun is used as the object of a 

verb or a preposition. 

Explanation 

• Using pronouns prevents constant repetition of a 

noun, making the text run more smoothly. 

• Within a sentence, a pronoun can perform the same 

role as a noun, indicating the subject or the object of 

a verb. 

• A personal pronoun replacing either the subject or 

the object of a verb has a different form for each 

category of person it represents. 

Example: 

I (subject) introduced her (object). 

She (subject) introduced me (object). 

• Subjective and objective personal pronouns (singular 

and plural), in the first, second and third person, are 

shown in the table below. 

Person Subject Object 

First I, we me, us 

Second you you 

Third he, she, it, they him, her, it, them 


• While students learn the correct pronouns to use in 

place of a noun, they also need to know which noun 

the pronoun is replacing. The worksheet provides 

opportunities for both practices. 

• Discuss the pictures in the story. Read the text 

together. Indicate the pronouns and discuss who/ 

what they refer to. 

• In Questions 2 and 3, students use the words at the 

end of the sentence to replace those in bold print. 

• Question 3 (b) has not been directly lifted from the 

text. Discuss why Mum might have been cross with 

Dad. 


• Allow students to act out the story. Follow this by 

asking questions of the performers and the audience 

about what they did and how they felt. This will bring 

in the personal pronouns relating to the first and 

second person. 

• With ideas from the students, create similar short 

stories, and, on the board, write the text for each 

scene. Students take turns to act out the scenes. 

Determine the students’ understanding of personal 

pronouns in each context, through oral questioning 

of performers and audience. 

• Plan a simple class biography, detailing activities 

groups of students enjoy. Display photographs of 

the students with matching text from the biography. 

Make full use of personal pronouns in the text. 



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Answers 

2. (a) She baked it. 

(b) He ate it. 

3. (a) Mum dropped the cake on the floor. 

(b) Mum was cross at Dad for eating the cake. 



1. Read the picture story. 

She, he, it … 

Mum baked a cake. She dropped it on the floor. 

Dad ate the cake. 

He won’t eat it again. 

2. Write a new sentence. 

(a) Mum baked a cake. 

(b) Dad ate the cake. 

She 

it 



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He 

it 

3. Write a new sentence. 

(a) She dropped it on the floor. 

Mum 

the cake 

(b) She was cross at him for eating it. 

Mum the cake Dad 




Pronouns 

Focus 

Possessive pronouns 

Definitions 

• A pronoun is a word substituted for a noun. 

• A personal pronoun is used in place of a person or 

thing. 

• A possessive pronoun is used to indicate 

possession of a noun. 

Example: 

mine, hers, yours 

Explanation 

• Using pronouns prevents constant repetition of a 

noun, making the text run more smoothly. 

• Within a sentence, a pronoun can perform the same 

role as a noun, indicating the subject or the object of 

a verb. 

• There are four types of personal pronoun: subjective, 

objective, possessive and emphatic-reflexive. 

• A personal pronoun replacing either the subject or 

the object of a verb has a different form for each 

category of person it represents. 

Example: 

I (subject) taught her (object). 

She (subject) taught me (object). 

• The possessive form of the personal pronoun 

indicates possession of the noun it substitutes. 

Example: 

The toy is mine. 

The possessive pronouns are, in the first person: 

mine, ours; second person: yours; third person: 

his, hers, its, theirs 

Note: While the possessive pronoun its exists, it is 

not generally used. 

Note: Possessive determiners do not replace 

the noun, so are not pronouns. They describe 

possession of the noun and always appear 

with it. 

Example: 

My dog chased its tail. 

Possessive determiners in the first person are: 

my, our; in the second person: your; and in 

the third person: his, her, its, their. 


• While students learn the correct pronouns to use in 

place of a noun, they also need to know which noun 

the pronoun (in this case, possessive) is replacing. 

The worksheet provides opportunities for both 

practices. 

• Set the scene for the text: The family are clearing up 

a room in the house and returning the items to their 

owners. Read the text with the students and give 

them the opportunity to role-play the scene. With 

one group performing and the rest of the class as 

the audience, identify who each character is talking 

to or about. For example: Is it male or female? 

A single person or more than one? Is it about 

themselves or a third person? Reinforce the pronoun 

used in each case. 

• Students complete the activity sheet, choosing 

words from each box to fill the gaps. 


• Students hand out personalised items to individual 

students and to groups repeating, for example, ‘This 

book belongs to Rachel. It is hers’; ‘These pens 

belong to the Green Group’; ‘They are theirs’. 

• In groups of three, students work with a range of 

classroom items following the patterns: 

1. ‘This ball belongs to James. It is his. This ball 

belongs to you, James. It is yours.’ 

2. ‘These books belong to you, James and Joanne. 

They are yours.’ 

3. ‘These scissors belongs to us. They are ours.’ 

4. ‘This book is mine. Let’s read it together.’ 

• Laminate pieces of card on which are written 

different possessive pronouns and words and 

phrases which could be joined together to make 

simple sentences. Students work in small groups to 

make a number of sentences which must include 

possessive pronouns. Allow the groups to self-check 

their work. 



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Answers 

1. (a) mine (b) theirs (c) ours (d) yours 

2. (a) theirs (b) hers (c) his 



Mine, yours, ours ... 

Dad held up a brown bear. 

‘This is yours, Ellie’, he said. 

‘No, that’s mine’, squealed Robbie crossly. 

‘The pink one is hers.’ 

Then the twins ran into the room. ‘The train 

set is ours’, they cried. 

Dad handed some comics to Ben and Joe. 

‘These are yours, too’, he said. 

Ellie held her nose. ‘And these socks are theirs’, she giggled. 

‘Haven’t you got anything, Dad?’ asked Ben. 

Mum walked in with a birthday cake. ‘This is his’, she said. 

1. What did they each say? Choose and write a word. 

mine theirs ours yours 

(a) Robbie: The brown bear is . 

(b) Ellie: The socks are . 

(c) Twins: The train set is . 



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(d) Dad: The comics are . 

2. Choose the correct word to write. 

theirs hers his 

(a) The comics belong to the twins. They are . 

(b) Ellie owns the pink bear. It is . 

(c) It is Dad’s birthday. The cake is . 




Conjunctions 

Focus 

Conjunctions: ‘and’, ‘but’ 

Definition 

• Conjunctions are joining words which can be used 

to connect words, phrases, clauses or sentences. 

Examples: 

black and white 

a fast car but difficult to control 

We went to the beach and made a sandcastle. 

I enjoy swimming but my sister likes diving better. 

Explanation 

• Using conjunctions enables a writer to build and 

combine ideas and to avoid needless repetition. 

• Conjunctions can join: 

– one word with another, such as: 

cold and wet 

– one adjective with another, such as: 

The girl was hot and tired. 

– one clause with another, such as: 

She left the room because she was ill. 

– one sentence with another, such as: 

It was raining so I took an umbrella. 


• Read the rhyme with the students, emphasising the 

conjunctions. Students then complete Question 2 by 

circling the joining words. 

• Explain the example given in Question 3 and explain 

that the joining words and and but are missing. 

Students will need to work out which word should fit 

in each space. 


• Make up simple sentences with missing 

conjunctions to complete orally with the students. 

Example: 

Zac 

Jess went to the zoo. 

• Students orally describe an object using adjectives 

and connect the adjectives with the joining word 

‘and’. 

Example: 

This ball is large and yellow. 

• Students read simple texts aloud. Whenever the 

conjunctions ‘and’ and ‘but’ appear, they shout the 

words loudly. Give examples first. 

Answers 


2. brown and white 

small but strong 

soft and light 

little and long 

3. (a) bacon and eggs 

(b) bat and ball 

(c) I like peas and carrots, but I don’t like beans. 



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Conjunctions 

Conjunctions are joining words. 

1. Read the rhyme. 

My pet rat is … 

Brown and white, 

Small but strong, 

Soft and light, 

Little but long. 

Conjunctions can be used to join ideas. 

2. Circle the joining words in the rhyme. 

3. Fill in the missing joining words. 

bread and butter 



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(a) bacon eggs 

(b) bat ball 

(c) I like peas carrots, I 

don’t like beans. 




Determiners 

Focus 

Articles: the (definite); and, a/an (indefinite) 

Definitions 

• A determiner is a word usually used before a noun 

that determines how definite it is. 

Example: 

Our dog sat looking out that door at some old 

boots the gardener leaves here each week. 

• An article is a type of determiner that precedes 

a noun and identifies how definite (specific) or 

indefinite (nonspecific) that noun is. 

Example: 

a book (meaning any book), the book (meaning a 

particular book) 

Note: In traditional grammar, some words 

used as what are now called determiners 

in functional grammar are referred to as 

adjectives; e.g. first, seven; or as possessive 

pronouns; e.g. my, your. 

Explanation 

• Determiners are useful for making information more 

precise for the reader or listener. 

• The definite article the is used to refer to a particular 

thing or things and when referring to specific, oneof-a-kind 

things. 

Example: 

the Nile River, the book (meaning a particular book) 

• Indefinite articles such as a and an are used to refer 

to any thing. The noun following an indefinite article 

is nonspecific. 

Example: 

an umbrella (meaning any umbrella) or a boat 

(meaning any boat) 

• Articles can indicate a significant difference in 

meaning. 

Example: 

a house (any house) and the house (a particular 

house) 

• The indefinite article a precedes a noun that begins 

with a consonant sound. 

Example: 

a yacht, a boat, a dog, a unicycle 

The indefinite article an precedes a noun that begins 

with a vowel sound. 

Example: 

an apple, an ice-cream, an umbrella, an hour 


• Definite and indefinite articles are a difficult concept 

and while some rely on noun phrases ‘sounding 

right’, there are definite rules which apply. At this 

stage, students may not be able to distinguish 

whether the article is correctly matched to the 

noun, that is why a puzzle approach has been used. 

Students select the pieces which fit together. This 

automatically matches the correct article to the 

correct noun. 

• It is a good idea to discuss any observations 

students may have regarding the matching of 

articles and nouns. Through discussion, you may 

like to point out specifically to students that a is 

used with general nouns beginning with consonant 

sounds, an is used with general nouns beginning 

with vowel sounds and the is used when referring to 

a particular noun. 

Note: In the examples provided in the student 

activity, ‘the sun’ and ‘the dog’ are referring to a 

particular sun and dog. However, it is possible to 

have ‘a sun’ or ‘a dog’, meaning any sun or any dog. 



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• Make and display headings on coloured card ‘a’, ‘an’ 

and ‘the’. Students then compile words and pictures 

of objects and sort them under an article heading to 

create a list. 

• Students create their own puzzle matching articles 

with nouns of their own choice and give them to 

classmates to solve. 

Answers 

1.–5. a crab; a kite; an egg; an apple; the sun; the dog 



‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ 

1. Read these words. 

2. Cut out each puzzle piece. 

3. Match the puzzle pieces correctly. 

4. Glue onto a sheet of paper. 

5. Read them. 

a 

a 

an 

an 

egg 

sun 

dog 

crab 



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the 

apple 

the 

kite 




Determiners 

Focus 

Cardinal numbers 

Definitions 

• A determiner is a word usually used before a noun 

that determines how definite it is. 

Example: 

Our homework was placed on that table with 

some books because the teacher wanted us to 

take a book home each night. 

• Cardinal numbers are used to determine a specific 

element of the noun or the amount of a quantity of 

items. 

Example: 

three apples 

Note: In traditional grammar, some words 

used as what are now called determiners 

in functional grammar were referred to 

as adjectives; e.g. ten, seventh; or as 

possessive pronouns; e.g. his, their. 

Explanation 

• Determiners are useful for making information more 

precise for the reader or listener. 

• When using a cardinal number as a determiner, it 

must come before the noun it is referring to within a 

sentence. 


• Students do not need to know the grammatical term 

used to name how the numbers are used in this 

activity. However, it would be a good opportunity to 

discuss with students that the numbers used are 

there to ‘determine’ the number of objects; i.e. to tell 

us exactly how many. 


• Students write a sentence that uses a cardinal 

number to determine the quantity of the noun. Draw 

a picture to match. Display. 

• Organise objects into groups and write labels to 

match; for example: ‘This shelf has ten books’. 

Answers 

1.–3. Adam’s ten toes wriggle. 

My two cats like to play. 

His four cars go very fast. 

These five fruits are sweet. 

Her eight fish swim all day. 

Those three boys are very kind. 



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Numbers 

1. Look at the pictures and read the sentences. 

2. Read and cut out each number word. 

3. Glue each number word to finish the sentences. 

Adam’s 

toes My 

wriggle. 

play. 

His 

fast. 

cars go very 

These 

sweet. 



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cats like to 

fruits are 

Her 

day. 

fish swim all 

Those 

very kind. 

boys are 

two three four five eight ten 




Prepositions 

Focus 

Prepositions 

Definition 

• Prepositions are words used to show the 

relationship between nouns and/or pronouns in the 

same sentence. 

Example: 

The kitchen is opposite the living room. 

He was hiding under the bed. 

Explanation 

• The word ‘preposition’ combines the prefix ‘pre’ 

(meaning ‘before’ or ‘in front of’) and the word 

‘position’. This indicates the nature of prepositions; 

words that are positioned in front of nouns or other 

words that function as nouns, such as pronouns. 

• Prepositions indicate a connection between things 

mentioned in a sentence, such as between a person 

and where she/he is going. 

Example: 

Ben walked towards the car. 

Prepositions can refer to manner (he came to work 

by bus); time (school starts at 9 am); place (he left 

his shoes at school); position (the cat lay under the 

table); or direction (it ran between the buildings). 

• Some prepositions are formed by combining words 

such as in front of, on top of and prior to. They are 

known as compound prepositions. 

• Prepositions used to introduce phrases that 

add more information to the noun are called 

prepositional phrases. 

• The following is a list of commonly used 

prepositions: about, above, across, after, against, 

around, at, before, behind, beneath, beside, between, 

beyond, by, for, from, in, inside, near, off, on, out, 

over, through, to, toward, under, until, upon and 

with. Bear in mind that these words are not always 

prepositions; sometimes they function as adverbs. 

Example: 

Mia took her shoes off. 


• A good introduction to this worksheet would be to 

engage the students physically in moving body parts 

on, under, through and around objects, such as in a 

game of ‘Simon says’. 

• After the game, talk with students about the words 

that were used in the game, such as ‘on’, ‘under’, 

‘between’ and ‘above’. Discuss these words and 

how they tell us about the position of things. If 

you wish, introduce the term ‘preposition’ to the 

students. Give each student a copy of the worksheet 

and explain the task. Students read the instructions 

to complete the picture. 

• Once they have finished they colour their pictures, 

then describe it to a friend or partner, using 

prepositions such as ‘the bird is in the sky above the 

ship’ or ‘the shark is swimming in the water under 

the ship’. 


• Students could play ‘Twister ’. As three or so players 

get ‘tangled up’, those watching call out the players’ 

relationship to each other in terms of physical space. 

• Students could work with a partner, taking turns 

to give each other directions, with one student 

pretending to be a robot and the other the 

‘controller’. Students tell each other to go through, 

over, under, between etc. objects around the 

classroom. 

• Create an obstacle course for the students, so they 

can move under, through, between etc. Pretend the 

course is a pirate ship or magical kingdom. 



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Answers 

Teacher check 



Above, under, in and on 

Some words, like above, under, in 

and on, can tell us where things are. 

1. Draw these things on the pirate ship picture. 

(a) a in the lookout 


Primary grammar and word study 

(b) a on the flagpole 

(c) a under the ship 

(d) a above the ship 



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(e) a on the ship

RIC-20222 Primary Grammar and Word Study Foundation – Parts of Speech

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