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Prim-Ed Publications 

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Grammar essentials 

A reference dictionary 


Low resolution display copy 

Published by Prim-Ed Publishing ® 2010 

Published under license to R.I.C. Publications ® 

Copyright © Diane Henderson and Rosemary Morris 2008 

Revised 2012 

ISBN 978-1-84654-239-8 

PR–1184

Foreword 

A basic understanding of grammar, when speaking and writing, is 

essential to avoid possible confusion or ambiguity on the part of 

speakers, listeners, readers and writers. 

Grammar essentials is a small, easy-to-use reference book that 

has been written specifically to allow speakers, readers and writers 

to quickly and easily check any grammatical terms, points or areas 

they may not be sure about and to improve their communication 

skills. 

It is written in simple, easily understood language and uses short 

definitions, explanations and examples wherever possible to 

illustrate grammatical concepts. 

Alphabetical listings make the information readily accessible. 

Contents 

Dictionary........................................................................5–32 

Punctuation notes.........................................................33–41 

Words that cause confusion..........................................43–89 

• Adjectives...................................................................43 

• Adjectives and adverbs..............................................44 

• Contractions...............................................................45 

• Homophones........................................................46–71 

• Nouns and verbs..................................................71–73 

• One word or two?.................................................74–75 

• Prepositions................................................................76 

• Pronouns..............................................................77–78 

• Verbs....................................................................79–81 

• Words that sound or look alike.............................82–89 



Cross-referenced index.................................................90–96



Dictionary 

Abbreviation 

A shortened form of a word or phrase 

A full stop is used to show that a word has been 

abbreviated, except when the last letter is the last 

letter of the word. 

For example: VIP (very important person) 

Tues. (Tuesday) 

Dr (doctor) 

radar (radio detection and ranging)— 

an acronym 

Abstract noun 

A word that names an idea 

For example: courage, happiness, honesty 

Acronym 

A word made using initial letters 

For example: scuba (self-contained underwater 

breathing apparatus) 



Active verb 

A verb which describes the action of the subject 

For example: The dog frightened the boy. 

Dictionary 

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Dictionary 

Adjectival clause 

A group of words containing at least one verb with 

a subject that does the work of an adjective; often 

starting with a relative pronoun 

For example: The girl who was running and 

jumping … 

The pan, sitting on the stove … 

Adjectival phrase 

A group of words that does the work of an adjective 

For example: My teacher, a nasty, bad-tempered 

monster … 

Adjective 

A word that enhances or changes the meaning of a 

noun or a pronoun 

For example: They are comfortable shoes. 

This food is wonderful. 

He is noisy. 

Adverb 

A word that adds information, usually to a verb, and 

can tell how, when or where something happens 

An adverb can modify any word except a noun or a 

pronoun. 

For example: The robber opened the door silently. 

(how) 

We finished the project yesterday. (when) 

I looked everywhere for my helmet. 

(where) 



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Adverbial clause 

A group of words including a verb with a subject 

that is used instead of an adverb to enhance or 

modify a verb 

For example: The crowd waved flags as the band 

passed by. 

Adverbial phrase 

A group of words used instead of an adverb to 

modify or enhance the verb 

For example: The boy walked along the rough path. 

Alliteration 

The repetition of a sound at the beginning of words 

For example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled 

peppers. 

Alphabetical order 

A system used to arrange items so they may be easily 

found. Initially, words are ordered by the first letter, 

then the second, third and so on. 

For example: bean, became, because, become 

Ambiguity 

Language that can have more than one meaning 

For example: The bread is next to the poison, don’t 

eat it. 



Dictionary 



7

Dictionary 

Anagram 

A word created by rearranging the letters of another 

word 

For example: stop—spot or pots 

Analogy 

A comparison or likeness between things 

For example: the human brain and a 

computer 

Antonyms 

Words with an opposite meaning 

For example: happy, sad 

Some antonyms are formed by adding a prefix, such 

as: un, dis, in, im, mis. 

For example: unhappy, dishonest, inattentive, 

impossible, misunderstanding 

Apostrophe 

Can be used for contractions to show where letters 

have been left out 

For example: could’ve (could have), that’ll (that will) 

Apostrophes can also be used for possessives. 

The apostrophe is placed directly after the owner or 

owners. 

For example: The authors’ manuscripts 

(manuscripts belonging to the authors) 

The author’s manuscripts 

(manuscripts belonging to the author) 

The women’s knitting 

(knitting belonging to the women) 



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Article 

A subclass of determiners 

a or an (indefinite) and the (definitive) 

Remember, an is used before a noun starting with a 

vowel sound and a is used for a noun beginning with 

a consonant sound. 

For example: a chair 

an elephant 

an hour 

Auxiliary verb 

A small verb that combines with another verb— 

usually a form of the verb to have, to be or to do—to 

form a compound verb 

For example: have taken 

is coming 

does bring 

Capital letter 

An upper case letter used to begin a sentence, for 

proper nouns and for titles 

For example: The team played well. 

On Saturday, Ms Brown … 

Snow White and Rose Red 



Dictionary 



9

Dictionary 

Clause 

A group of words, including a verb and its subject (A 

clause can be a simple sentence.) 

For example: Feeling cold, Mrs Jones closed the front 

door. 

There can be a number of clauses in a sentence. 

For example: He will wash the car when he finishes 

work. 

Cliché 

An overused, trite or stereotyped expression 

For example: dead as a dodo 

Collective noun 

A noun used to name groups of people, animals and 

things 

For example: crowd, pack, set 

Collocation 

Words that occur in close association 

For example: fish and chips, not chips and fish 

Colloquialism 

Correct but informal language 

For example: He was blowing his own trumpet. 



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Colon 

A punctuation mark indicating that information will 

follow. The information includes: a list, definition, 

quote, subtitle or example. 

For example: You will need: glue, pencils, paper and 

scissors. 

My Mum used to say: ‘There’s never an 

excuse for bad manners’. 

Maths: back to basics 

Comma 

Punctuation used to separate sentence parts to clarify 

meaning 

For example: items in a series: 

Miles, Jane, Adrian and Melissa 

independent clauses: 

I wanted an ice-cream, so I went to 

the shop. 

adjectives: 

He is a pleasant, friendly, talkative 

boy. 

contrasting elements: 

We expected it would rain, not pour. 

words interrupting the flow of thought: 

Today, we think, will be hot. 



Command verb (Imperative) 

A verb used to order or command 

For example: Come here. 

Stir the mixture. 

Dictionary 



11

Dictionary 

Common noun 

A noun which names general rather than particular 

things 

For example: tree, colour 

Comparative adjective 

An adjective used to compare two things, usually 

using the suffix er 

For example: bigger, taller, smarter 

If the adjective is a long word (more than two 

syllables), the word more is used. 

For example: more wonderful 

Compound verb 

A group of two or more verbs combined to give a 

single meaning 

For example: is coming, will learn, has written, may 

have answered 

Compound word 

compound comes from the Latin meaning putting 

together. 

A word formed when two or more words are joined. 

Each of the words must be a word that can stand 

alone. 

For example: raincoat 

father-in-law 



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Conjunction 

A joining word which can be used to join words, 

phrases or sentences 

For example: black and white 

A fast car but difficult to control 

The man carried an umbrella because it 

looked like rain. 

Consistent tense 

Maintaining the same tense 

For example: I went to the shop and I bought some 

bananas. (consistent) 

I went to the shop and 

I buy some bananas. 

(inconsistent) 

Consonant 

One of the 21 letters of the alphabet that is not a 

vowel 

For example: b, c, d 

Contraction 

Joined and shortened words that make 

communication quicker and easier 

An apostrophe is used to show that letters have been 

omitted. 

For example: They are—They’re 

Sydney is—Sydney’s 



Dictionary 



13

Dictionary 

Correlative conjunctions 

Pairs of conjunctions used to show the relationship 

between ideas expressed in different parts of a 

sentence 

For example: You can either watch a film or read a 

book. 

Count noun 

A noun that can have both a singular and plural 

form, so they can be counted 

For example: one chair two chairs 

Dash 

A longer stroke (without a space on either side) used 

to indicate a break in text 

For example: A rainforest is a wonderful 

environment—if you like exotic wildlife. 

Definite article 

The article used to refer to a particular thing or 

things—the 

Demonstrative determiner 

A word used before singular or plural nouns to show 

how far or near the noun is from the writer 

For example: this book, that book, these books, those 

books 



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Determiner 

A word used before nouns in a similar way to an 

adjective 

For example: a horse, the horse, some horses, 

that horse, these horses, my/his/their 

horse, each horse, every horse 

Direct speech 

The exact words spoken by a person; quotation 

marks are needed 

For example: ‘Where did you put my skateboard?’ he 

asked. 

Double negative 

Two negatives in a sentence, which reverse the 

meaning 

For example: He hasn’t got no skateboard. 

Ellipsis 

Three full stops used in writing to show that text has 

been omitted, indecision or incompleteness of speech 

or thought 

For example: The children enjoyed reciting the 

nursery rhyme, ‘Jack and Jill went 

up …’ 



Dictionary 



15

Dictionary 

Eponym 

A word that comes from a person’s name or the 

name of a place 

For example: braille (Louis Braille) 

sandwich (the Earl of Sandwich) 

Euphemism 

A word or expression substituted for another that 

might cause offence 

For example: collateral damage 

(killing civilians accidentally) 

Exclamation mark 

Used at the end of a remark to indicate strong 

emotion 

For example: You idiot! Here it is! 

Feminine noun 

A noun used to describe something female, as 

opposed to masculine or neuter 

For example: waitress, queen, mare 



Finite verb 

A verb that changes its form to match its subject or 

to indicate tense 

For example: go, goes, went. 

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Formal language 

Language, often in written documents or spoken 

on formal occasions, that aims to be accurate, 

grammatically correct and may take the form of 

complex sentences 

For example: Do you, Emma, take this man, Nolan, to 

be your lawfully wedded husband? 

Full stop 

Used to show the end of a sentence 

For example: My brother played a great game. He 

scored two goals. 

Used to show abbreviation 

For example: ed. (editor), min. (minimum) 

Used for initials within an abbreviation 

For example: p.t.o. (please turn over), 

e.g. (exempli gratia) 

(Most initials no longer use full stops; 

e.g. JP, RAF) 

Future tense 

Indicates that the action (the verb) is going to 

happen in the future, using shall or will 

For example: I shall go there after lunch. He will 

come with me. 



Gender 

Classification corresponding to sex 

For example: masculine, feminine or 

neuter 

Dictionary 



17

Dictionary 

Homographs 

Words that are spelled the same but have different 

origins and meanings and are sometimes pronounced 

differently 

For example: swallow 

wind 

Homophones 

Words that sound the same but are spelled 

differently 

For example: hoarse, horse 

whole, hole 

Hyperbole 

An exaggeration or overstatement 

For example: She has mountains of ironing to do. 

Hyphen 

Punctuation used to join two or more words into 

one word, to show that they belong together 

For example: daughter-in-law 

twenty-two 

ice-cream 

A hyphen can also be used to divide a word at the 

end of a line. The hyphen must be placed between 

syllables. 



Idiom 

A saying, peculiar to a language, in which the real 

and literal meanings are different 

For example: To be on cloud nine 

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Imperative 

A base form of a verb used to give orders, 

instructions or commands 

For example: Do your homework now! 

Run to the shop. 

Indefinite article 

The article used to refer to any thing or things— 

a or some 

Indirect speech 

Speech used to report what someone has said 

For example: Sarah said that she couldn’t ride her 

horse in the show this year. 

Infinitive 

The base form of a verb, usually with the word to 

before it 

For example: He was asked to leave. 

Informal language 

A form of language, often spoken or quoted 

in written text, which may be in the form of 

incomplete sentences, or use colloquial expressions 

or abbreviations 

For example: No worries, it’ll only take a few secs, so 

keep your shirt on. 

a 

a 

a some 



some 

Dictionary 



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Dictionary 

Interjection 

A word used to express a sudden feeling such as 

pleasure or pain 

For example: Ouch! Ssh! 

Interrogative adverb 

A word that asks a question 

For example: Where is your homework? 

When is your birthday? 

How did he swim? 

Why is she so happy? 

Irony 

Saying the opposite of what is meant 

For example: She is such a good friend (when she hasn’t 

been kind to you). 

Irregular verb 

A verb which does not change its form in the usual 

way 

For example: I go (present) 

I will go (future) 

I went or I have gone (past) 



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Jargon 

The specialised language used by people who work 

together or share a common interest, such as sports, 

hobbies, fields of interests and occupations. Jargon 

can be difficult for others to understand. 

Some jargon may eventually become more 

commonly used. 

For example: automatic transmission, italics 

Joining word 

(Conjunction) A word used to join words, phrases or 

sentences 

For example: Tom and Kai went shopping. 

A colourful shirt with red and blue 

flowers. 

The weather was windy but it didn’t 

rain. 

Masculine noun 

A noun used to describe the masculine form of a 

person or animal 

For example: waiter, bull 

Note: Some masculine nouns (for people) are 

no longer used as language is becoming more 

gender-neutral; e.g. fireman—firefighter. 



Metaphor 

A comparison between two things without the use 

of as or like 

For example: The sunset was a rainbow of colours. 

Dictionary 



21

Dictionary 

Mnemonic 

A verse or similar which aims to assist memory 

For example: because (big elephants can always 

understand small elephants) 

Noncount noun 

A noun with only a singular form, so it isn’t usual to 

count it 

For example: water, steel, meat 

Noun 

A word used to name people, places, things, feelings 

or ideas 

For example: doctor, school, book, anger, happiness 

Object 

The person or thing the subject does something (the 

verb) to 

For example: He returned (verb) the book to the 

library. 

Onomatopoeia 

A word which imitates the sound of what it 

describes 

For example: plop, zoom 



Oxymoron 

A statement, usually short, that is seemingly 

contradictory or absurd 

For example: An honest thief 

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Palindrome 

Reads the same backwards as forwards 

For example: mum, madam 

Parenthesis 

(Brackets) Punctuation used to add extra, often less 

important, information to a sentence 

For example: 

The athlete (our best high-jumper) was 

a clear winner. 

Participle 

A verb part that combines with an auxiliary verb to 

form a compound verb 

For example: 

She is running fast. (present) 

He had played cards. (past) 

The food was eaten. (past) 

Passive verb 

A verb describing the action received by the subject 

For example: 

The boy was frightened by the dog. 

Past participle 

A verb part (usually ending with ed) that combines 

with an auxiliary to form a compound verb in the 

past tense 



For example: 

I have looked everywhere. 

Dictionary 



23

Dictionary 

Past tense 

A tense used to show that something has already 

happened 

For example: Our team won the championship. 

Personal pronoun 

A pronoun used instead of a person. A personal 

pronoun has a different form for each category of 

person it represents. 

For example: They gave the book to me. 

Personal pronouns in the first person include: 

I, me, mine, it, we, us and ours. 

Personal pronouns in the second person are: 

you, yours. 

In the third person, the personal pronouns are: 

he, his, she, hers, him, her, it, its, they, 

them, theirs. 

Personification 

A way of describing non-human things using human 

terms 

For example: The storm clouds marched up from the 

horizon. 

My computer hates me. 



24 



Phrase 

A group of words in a sentence which does not have 

a finite verb (i.e. a verb with a subject) 

For example: The girl with red hair played well. 

(adjectival phrase) 

During the school holidays we visited 

the museum. (adverbial phrase) 

Plural 

A word to indicate more than one 

For example: three apples 

lots of people 

Possessive determiner 

A determiner used before a noun to show ownership 

For example: my book, his shoes 

Possessive pronoun 

A pronoun used to show ownership 

For example: That book is mine. The yellow one is 

yours. 

Note: Possessive pronouns do not have an 

apostrophe. 

Prefix 

A word part added at the beginning of a word to 

alter the meaning or make a new word 

The general rule concerning a prefix is to simply 

add it to the word. 

For example: happy, unhappy 

clockwise, anticlockwise 



Dictionary 



25

Dictionary 

Preposition 

A word used to show the relationship between nouns 

and/or pronouns and other words in a sentence 

For example: The bears ambled through the woods. 

We waited for her. 

Present participle 

A verb ending with ing combined with an auxiliary 

verb to form a compound verb in the present and 

different forms of the continuous tense 

For example: I am swimming well. 

(present continuous) 

I will be playing in the school team. 

(future continuous) 

Present tense 

A tense used to indicate that the action is happening 

now; i.e. at the present time 

For example: Tom is riding his skateboard. 

Pronoun 

A word substituted for a noun 

For example: They gave it to me. 



Proper noun 

A noun used to name particular people, places or 

things 

For example: Bert Smith, Mexico, the United Nations 

26 



Proverb 

A wise saying (usually quite short) that has been 

used for a long time 

For example: A stitch in time saves nine. 

Practice makes perfect. 

Pun 

A figure of speech in which the double meaning of 

words makes it funny 

For example: ‘I’ll give you a ring later.’ 

‘Will it be gold or silver?’ 

Question mark 

Punctuation used to indicate a question 

For example: Where is your brother? 

What is your favourite colour? 

Quotation marks 

Punctuation (inverted commas) used to enclose 

quoted speech or thoughts. Both single and double 

quotation marks are acceptable but must be used 

consistently. 

For example: “Please turn the radio down”, Mum 

shouted. 

‘I’m listening to my favourite song’, 

replied Ben. 

Note: Quoted text must start with a capital 

letter and on a new line unless the same 

speaker is continuing. 



Dictionary 



27

Dictionary 

Relative clause 

A group of words including a verb that describes or 

adds information about a person or thing in the main 

clause, usually beginning with a relative pronoun 

For example: A pharmacist is someone who fills 

prescriptions. 

She is wearing a watch that was made 

in Switzerland. 

Relative pronoun 

A pronoun used in place of a noun which connects 

clauses with other clauses or sentences; i.e. who, 

whom, whose, which and that 

For example: The girl whose father was a teacher 

tried hard in her exams. 

Rhyme 

Agreement in the final sounds of words; often used 

in poetry 

For example: high—sky 

bone—throne 

Semicolon 

A punctuation mark (;) to indicate a pause between 

two connecting statements. It is generally 

a longer pause than a comma, but shorter 

than a full stop. 

For example: Those pencils are mine; these 

are yours. 



28 



Sentence 

A group of words which conveys a complete 

meaning and includes a subject and a verb 

For example: Don’t drop those plates, Ben. 

Simile 

One thing is compared with another and is 

introduced by the words as or like 

For example: As white as snow 

Like peas in a pod 

Singular 

A word which means one 

For example: tree, person 

When a singular noun or pronoun is the subject of a 

sentence, a singular verb must be used. 

For example: The boy watches television. 

Split infinitive 

The to and the base verb that follows it are split by a 

word placed between them 

For example: Remember to always look before you 

cross the road. 

Note: Infinitives are sometimes split to emphasise something or 

to avoid wording that sounds awkward. 



Dictionary 



29

Dictionary 

Spoonerism 

The accidental transposition of initial letters in two 

or more words 

For example: chish and fips (fish and chips) 

a well-boiled icycle (a well-oiled bicycle) 

Subject 

A noun or pronoun which tells who or what did the 

action in a sentence 

For example: The team played well. 

He wrote an excellent story. 

A subject may be implied. 

For example: Pack your bags now. 

(The subject is you.) 

Subject-verb agreement 

A verb must agree with its subject. 

For example: A singular subject needs a singular verb: 

The boy runs. 

A plural subject requires a plural verb: 

The boys run. 

Suffix 

A letter or group of letters added to the end of a 

base word to change its meaning and form a new 

word 

For example: swim/swimming 

love/lovely 



30 



Subordinating conjunction 

A conjunction linking a dependent clause to the 

main clause in a sentence 

For example: While I was asleep, it started to rain. 

When I arrived home, the door was 

locked. 

Superlative adjective 

An adjective used to compare more than two things, 

usually using the suffix est 

For example: biggest, tallest, smartest 

If the adjective is a long word (more than two 

syllables), the word most is used. 

For example: most wonderful 

Syllable 

A unit of sound which contains a vowel sound. All 

words are made up of one or more syllables. 

For example: swim one syllable 

hap/py two syllables 

beau/ti/ful three syllables 

Synonyms 

Words with the same or similar meaning 

For example: wealthy, rich 



Tautology 

The unnecessary repetition of an idea 

For example: The girl descended down the stairs. 

Dictionary 



31

Dictionary 

Tense 

There are three basic verb tenses. 

For example: I walk (present), I will walk (future) 

I walked, I have walked (past) 

Note: The future and the past tenses often form a compound 

verb using an auxiliary or helping verb. 

Some verb tense forms are regular. 

For example: talk/talks (present), 

talked/have talked (past), will talk (future) 

There are many irregular verbs. 

For example: do/does (present), did/have done (past), 

will do (future) 

Verb 

A word to show actions or states of being or having 

For example: write (action), was (being), have (having) 

Vowels 

The five letters of the alphabet that are not 

consonants 

a, e, i, o, u 



32 



Punctuation 

notes 

Punctuation is used to clarify meaning 

and to assist with reading and 

comprehension. 

Apostrophes (’) 

Used to show that something belongs to someone or 

something 

The placement of the apostrophe can be challenging, 

but the simple rule is that it is placed after the owner 

or owners. 

The ‘tail’ of the apostrophe ‘points’ to the owner or 

owners. 



For example: 

the boy’s shirts (one boy) 

the boys’ shirts (more than one boy) 

the lady’s bag (one lady) 

the ladies’ bags (more than one lady) 

Punctuation notes 



33

Capital letters (upper case) 


Needed for: 

• Sentence beginnings 

For example: 

• Proper nouns 

For example: 

• Titles 

For example: 

I like apples. 

They are good for you. 

people’s names (John Brown) 

names of places (Pacific Ocean) 

days of the week (Monday) 

months (January) 

countries (Singapore) 

nationalities (French) 

languages (Italian) 

religious faiths (Christian) 

holidays and festivals (Passover) 

Red Cross 

The sound of music 

Goldilocks and the three bears 



34 



Colons (:) 

The most common use of colons is to introduce a 

list or series of things or people. 

For example: 

Other uses include: 

When I was on holidays I visited: 

Greece, France, Italy, Germany and 

Austria. 

• To make statements stand in contrast to each 

other 

For example: In the summer, I enjoy the beach: in 

the winter, I prefer to stay indoors. 

• To follow an expression, like: ‘the following’, ‘for 

example’, ‘including’ 

For example: The following people attended the 

meeting: Mr Green, Dr Jones and 

Professor Jacobs. 

• To introduce a quotation 

For example: Our school motto: ‘I care’. 

I care 



Our 

Schoo l 




35

Commas (,) 


Can be used: 

• to mark a pause in text. Sometimes these may be 

a matter of personal choice, but the trend seems 

to be to use commas less frequently. 

For example: I wanted to go shopping, then to the 

beach. 

• to separate a series of names (nouns), descriptions 

(adjectives) and actions (verbs—including 

adverbs) 

For example: My friends Jane, Maggie and Barb 

went skiing, snowboarding and 

skating. 

• to separate direct speech from the rest of the 

sentence 

For example: ‘Hurry up’, Mum called to the 

children. 

• at the beginning and end of a letter 

For example: Dear John, 

Yours faithfully, 

• to separate parts of a sentence, including 

the name of the person being addressed and 

additional information so the reader will not 

connect words that do not belong together 

For example: Tom said his sister is very naughty. 

Tom, said his sister, is very naughty. 



36 



Dash (–) 

A longer stroke (without a space on either side) used 

to indicate a break in text. It can be used: 

• to separate a group of words within a sentence 

For example: Fishing is a great sport—if you are a 

patient person. 

• before a specific list 

For example: The following activities will be 

available—abseiling, rock climbing, 

canoeing. 

• between numbers or words to mean ‘to’ or ‘until’ 

For example: The answers will be found in 

paragraphs 4–7. 

• in place of parentheses (round brackets) 

For example: The pupils—Abdol and Alice— 

achieved the school’s highest award. 



Top pupil 




37

Ellipsis (…) 


Three full stops used to show: 

• part of a quotation has been omitted 

For example: 

‘… floating like a butterfly … 

stinging like a bee.’ 

from Muhammad Ali’s quote, 

‘I’ll be floating like a butterfly and 

stinging like a bee.’ 

‘… if you run into a wall, don’t turn 

around and give up. Figure out how 

to climb it …’ 

from Michael Jordan’s quote, 

‘If you’re trying to achieve, there will be 

roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has 

had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop 

you … [quote] … go through it or work 

around it.’ 

• indecision or incompleteness of speech or thought 

For example: 

Question marks, exclamation 

marks and quotation marks 

may precede or follow ellipsis 

points but other punctuation 

marks may not. 

‘Which fruit shall I choose?’ thought 

Jake. ‘An apple … no, pear … or 

maybe a mango.’ 



38 



Exclamation marks (!) 

End sentences that indicate commands, strong 

feelings or convey a sense of urgency. They are 

usually read loudly 

For example: 

Full stops (.) 

Ouch! 

It’s going to crash! 

End sentences that are a statement 

For example: 

We raced down to the water. 

In abbreviations if the last letter is not included. 

For example: Victoria – Vic. Doctor – Dr 

Hyphens (-) 

Can be used to join two or more words into one 

word, to show that they belong together 

For example: 

mother-in-law 

Note: Many words that were previously 

joined with hyphens are now written as one 

word. It is important to consult a modern 

dictionary to check if the hyphen is needed. 



For example: 

audiovisual, nonfiction 

Can also be used to divide a word at the end of 

a line, but the hyphen must be placed between 

syllables 


For example: 

The boys really wanted to play together. 



39

Paragraphs 


Separate text into meaningful sections to facilitate 

reading and understanding 

Note: Paragraphs start on a new line. 

A space is often left between paragraphs. 

The first sentence of a paragraph should indicate and 

introduce the content of the paragraph. 

Pupils are able to make use of this writing 

convention when ‘skimming’ text to quickly gain an 

understanding of the content. 

Parenthesis (most often, brackets) 

Used to add extra, often less important information 

to a sentence. The information may be a comment, 

an example, an explanation or may state the 

information in a different way. 

For example: 

My father (the world’s best dad) gave me 

a horse for my birthday. 

Mammals (for example, whales) give 

birth to live young. 

Acacias (wattles) are found throughout 

Australia. 



I paid five hundred dollars (400 euros) 

for my accommodation. 

40 



Question marks (?) 

End sentences that ask a question 

For example: 

Why were you late to school today? 

Note: Questions often start with wh words— 

what, when, where, which, who, why. 

Quotation marks (inverted commas) (‘’) 

Used to enclose quoted speech or thoughts. Single 

or double quotation marks are acceptable but must 

be used consistently. 

For example: 

Semicolons (;) 

‘Please don’t tease your sister’, Mum 

pleaded. 

Note: Quoted text must start with a capital 

letter on a new line unless the same speaker is 

continuing. 

Used to indicate a pause between two connecting 

statements 

When reading, a semicolon indicates a slightly 

longer pause than a comma but not as long as a full 

stop. 



For example: 

That is your jumper; this one is mine. 

Note: A full stop could also be used but 

because the statements are linked, a semicolon 

is usually used. 




41



Words 

that cause 

confusion 

fewer/less 

For example: 

Adjectives 

uninterested/disinterested 

For example: 

For example: 

He has fewer friends than I have. 

His confidence is less than mine. 

Note: Fewer is used for count nouns and 

less for all other nouns. 

I dislike birds and I am uninterested 

in their habits. (Uninterested means not 

wanting to know something.) 

The umpire was disinterested in the 

final result. (Disinterested means not 

directly involved.) 



Words that cause confusion 



43

Adjectives and adverbs 


bad/badly 

For example: 

good/well 

For example: 

The bad thief was captured last night. 

(adjective) 

The test was done so badly the 

teacher was cross. (adverb) 

The film was good so we saw it 

twice. (adjective) 

The patient was feeling very well 

after his operation. (adverb) 

A well-known athlete visited the 

hospital. (adjective) 

Note: Well can be used as an adjective 

and an adverb. 



44 



Contractions 

it’s 

For example: 

It’s very difficult to hear you with all 

the background noise. 

Note: The word it’s is used only as a 

contraction of it and is. 

Note: The word its is a possessive 

determiner and like the possessive 

pronouns, hers, his, ours, yours, and theirs 

also do not have an apostrophe. 






45

Homophones 


aisle/isle/I’ll 

The shopping aisle was crowded with people. 

(Passageway between rows—noun) 

Our holiday on the isle was fun. 

(Small piece of land surrounded by water—noun) 

I’ll be coming to school by bus tomorrow. 

(Contraction of I will/shall) 

allowed/aloud 

My friend is allowed to stay overnight. 

(Permitted—verb) 

The story was read aloud. 

(Not silently—adverb) 

altar/alter 

The bride walked slowly to the altar. 

(Special place in a church—noun) 

We will need to alter the time of our 

test. (Change—verb) 

ate/eight 

She ate all her lunch. 

(Consumed—verb) 



We saw eight dolphins in the river. 

(Number—adjective) 

The little girl had trouble printing an eight. 

(Number—noun) 

46 



Homophones 

bare/bear 

My bare feet were burnt on the hot sand. 

(Naked, shoeless—adjective) 

The little baby loved his new teddy bear. 

(Animal—noun) 

The bear cub was brown and furry. 

(Animal—adjective) 

We found the loud noise hard to bear. 

(Put up with—verb) 

be/bee 

I will be home early today. (verb) 

The bee stung the boy on his foot. (Insect—noun) 

bean/been 

The beans grew well in the garden. (Vegetable—noun) 

It has been very wet today. 

(Past tense of the verb ‘to be’—verb) 

berry/bury 

The pie is filled with berry jam. 

(Type of fruit—adjective) 



We collected many types of berry for our desert. 

(Fruit—noun) 

The man wanted to bury his rubbish in the yard. 

(Put into the ground—noun) 




47

Homophones 


berth/birth 

The damaged ship managed to berth in the bay. 

(Moor—verb) 

I had a sleeping berth on the train. 

(Place to sleep—noun) 

The birth of the lion cubs at the zoo was exciting. 

(Having babies—noun) 

bight/bite/byte 

I visited the Great Australian Bight. 

(Bay—noun) 

The angry dog may bite you. 

(Nip with teeth—verb) 

A byte is a unit of computer information. 

(noun) 

blew/blue 

The wind blew the leaves around. 

(Past tense of ‘blow’—verb) 

Our school colours are red and blue. 

(Colour—noun) 

Please pass me the blue towels. 

(Colour of object—adjective) 



board/bored 

The builder used a board to cover the hole. (Plank of 

wood—noun) 

The children were bored with the book they were 

reading. (Uninterested—verb) 

48 



Homophones 

boarder/border 

The school had many boarders. 

(Children who stay at school during the term—noun) 

The china plate had a border of flowers. 

(Edge—noun) 

brake/break 

The brake on my bike was faulty. 

(Stopping device—noun) 

I must be careful not to break Mum’s new vase. 

(Smash—verb) 

The break in the film lasted ten minutes. 

(Interruption—noun) 

buy/by/bye 

Dad went to buy a newspaper. 

(Purchase—verb) 

The boy was standing by the door. 

(Near to—preposition) 

Their team has a bye this week. 

(When a game is not played—noun) 

‘Bye, John’, called his mother. 

(Shortened form of ‘goodbye’—interjection) 



caught/court 

The family caught the train into the town. 

(Travelled on—verb) 


Our tennis game was on the first court. 

(Where the game is played—noun) 



49

Homophones 


ceiling/sealing 

Dad painted our ceiling white. 

(The surface opposite the floor—noun) 

We were sealing the parcels with tape. 

(Fasten—verb) 

In the past, sealing wax was used to close letters. 

(Type of wax—adjective) 

cent/scent/sent 

I lost an American ten cent coin in the park. 

(Coin—noun) 

My favourite scent is lemon. (Aroma—noun) 

Nanna sent a parcel for my birthday. (Mailed—verb) 

cereal/serial 

The film was shown in serial form on television. (In 

episodes—adjective) 

The boy read his favourite serial in the paper. 

(In episodes—noun) 

We had a choice of cereal for breakfast. 

(Breakfast food—noun) 

check/cheque 

I need to check your work. 

(Look over, correct—verb) 



The pattern used checks, circles and colours. 

(Crossed straight lines—noun) 

The man wrote a cheque for the plumber. 

(Written money order—noun) 

50 



Homophones 

chews/choose 

Our dog chews on a bone. 

(Gnaws—verb) 

The teams will choose new captains. 

(Select—verb) 

coarse/course 

The sandpaper was very coarse. 

(Rough—adjective) 

The storm blew the boat off course. 

(Direction—noun) 

The golf course is near our home. 

(Ground on which the game is played—noun) 

‘Of course I will help you,’ said the teacher. 

(Certainly—adverb) 

complement/compliment 

Those colours complement each other. 

(Work together—verb) 

He gave the chef a nice compliment on the food. 

(Expression of praise—noun) 

complementary/complimentary 

The angles were complementary. 

(Adding up to 90 degrees—adjective) 



We were given complimentary tickets to the show. 

(Free—adjective) 




51

Homophones 


council/counsel 

The council workers removed the dead tree in the park. 

(Local administrative body—adjective) 

We pay rates to our local council. 

(noun) 

The teacher needed to counsel the pupil after the 

accident. (Advise—verb) 

curb/kerb 

The teacher was forced to curb the noise from the 

classroom. 

(Restrain—verb) 

Their car hit the kerb in the accident. 

(Edge of the pavement—noun) 

currant/current 

The chef added currants to the scones. 

(Dried fruit—noun) 

We always watch current affairs. 

(The latest—adjective) 

The current in the stream was flowing swiftly. 

(The movement in water—noun) 



dear/deer 

This clock is too dear for me to buy. 

(Expensive—adjective) 

A deer stood silently in the clearing. 


52 



Homophones 

die/dye 

The vet didn’t want the pet to die. 

(Cease to live—verb) 

The artist needed to dye the fabric. 

(Change colour—verb) 

draft/draught 

The boy wrote a draft copy of his story. 

(Rough—adjective) 

We felt a draught coming through the window. 

(Current of air—noun) 

Do you like to play draughts? 

(A game—noun) 

draw/drawer 

I love to draw with crayons. 

(Sketch—verb) 

The football match ended in a draw. (Tie—noun) 

The group will draw the raffle on Wednesday. (Select 

the winner—verb) 

I keep my treasures in a locked drawer. 

(Receptacle—noun) 



eye/I 

The boy had a sore eye after he was hit with the ball. 

(Seeing organ—noun) 


I am running late for school. 

(personal pronoun) 



53


fair/fare 

The little girl had fair hair. (Blonde—adjective) 

It isn’t fair to cheat in a game. (Just—adjective) 

We all enjoyed the rides at the fair. (Carnival—noun) 

I had enough money to pay my fare. 

(Cost of travel—noun) 

feat/feet 

That was a great feat of courage. 

(Noble deed—noun) 

My feet were sore after the long walk. 

(Lowest parts of the legs—noun) 

flour/flower 

Mum baked the cake using plain flour. 

(Soft ground wheat—noun) 

The flower had a strong scent. 

(Blossom—noun) 

Our flower garden is very pretty. 

(Floral—adjective) 

fort/fought 

The soldiers protected the fort. 

(Fortified building—noun) 



The team fought hard to win the match. 

(Tried, competed—verb) 

54 



fowl/foul 

The fowl escaped from the barn. 

(Bird—noun) 

The batter hit three fouls. 

(Out of the boundary—noun) 

What a foul smell! 

(Unpleasant—adjective) 

guessed/guest 

The contestant guessed the answer. 

(Estimated—verb) 

Our guest stayed for three weeks. 

(Invited person—noun) 

hair/hare 

The boy’s hair was very short. 

(Covering on head—noun) 

The hare was chased by the fox. 


hear/here 

I can hear the school siren as I walk up the path. 

(Listen to sound—verb) 

Here is my homework. I will put it over here. 

(In this place—adverb) 



heard/herd 

He heard about the book in the library. 

(Perceived sound—verb) 


The herd of cows headed to the milking shed. 

(Group—collective noun) 



55

Homophones 


hoarse/horse 

My voice was very hoarse after singing for so long. 

(Husky, croaking—adjective) 

His horse was in the far paddock. 


hole/whole 

I had to mend the hole in my jeans. 

(Tear, gap—noun) 

The whole school attended the assembly. 

(Entire—adjective) 

hour/our 

There are sixty minutes in an hour. 

(Unit of time—noun) 

Our teacher read that book to us. 

(Belonging to us—determiner) 

idle/idol 

The engine was idle. 

(Still—adjective) 

Many people considered the singer to be 

their idol. (Object of worship—noun) 



key/quay 

I lost the key to my car. 

(Object that opens or closes—noun) 

The boat was tied up at the quay. 

(Landing place—noun) 

56 



Homophones 

knead/need 

We had to knead the dough to make the bread. 

(Press—verb) 

I need to finish my homework tonight. (Require—verb) 

The new boy had need of a friend. (Required—noun) 

knew/new 

The clever boy knew the answer. 

(Identified—verb) 

My new shoes are very comfortable. 

(Recent—adjective) 

knight/night 

The group meets every Friday night. 

(Time of darkness—noun) 

The knight wore shining armour. 

(A noble—noun) 

lead/led 

We drew the picture using our lead pencils. 

(Metallic element—adjective) 

The guide led the way through the tunnels. 

(Showed—verb) 



main/mane 

Road works were holding up traffic on the main road. 

(Principle, major—adjective) 


The lion’s mane was thick and bushy. 

(Hair on neck or face—noun) 



57

Homophones 


mare/mayor 

The mare was grazing in the field. 

(Female horse—noun) 

The town welcomed the new mayor. 

(Head of a city or town—noun) 

meat/meet 

Lots of animals eat meat. 

(Flesh—noun) 

She is going to meet her friend at 10.00 am. 

(Catch up with—verb) 

morning/mourning 

I like to wake up early in the morning. 

(First part of the day—noun) 

Morning tea was provided. 

(First part of the day—adjective) 

The nation was in mourning after the death of the 

president. (State of sadness—noun) 

muscle/mussel 

The gymnast had a sore muscle in her arm. 

(Contractile fibrous band—noun) 



The mussels were cooked in garlic. 

(Bivalve mollusc—noun) 

58 



Homophones 

one/won 

One of the boys missed the bus. 

(Single number—number, determine) 

He was lucky to have won the money. 

(Achieved success—verb) 

pair/pear 

Mum was cross when he lost his new pair of shoes. 

(Two—noun) 

That pear was really juicy. 

(Fruit—noun) 

passed/past 

The speeding car passed the line of traffic. 

(Went by—verb) 

In the past, pioneers helped to 

develop many countries. 

(Time gone by—noun) 

The winner ran past the others as 

they rounded the bend. 

(Beyond—preposition) 

The past tense of the verb was used. 

(Referring to what has happened— 

adjective) 



We walked to the lake past the house. 

(Position—preposition) 




59

Homophones 


pause/paws/pores/pours 

There was a short pause while he prepared his speech. 

(Lapse of time—noun) 

My cat lay cleaning its paws in the sun. 

(Animals’ feet—noun) 

Our skin has many pores. 

(Small holes—noun) 

The college student pores over her 

books every night. 

(Studies intently—verb) 

The chef pours the milk in gradually. 

(Moves liquid—verb) 

peace/piece 

Mum needed some peace and quiet. 

(Calm—noun) 

My sister ate the last piece of cake. 

(Bit, slice—noun) 

plain/plane 

The recipe used plain flour. 

(Simple—adjective) 



Lions roamed across the plain. 

(Level tract of country—noun) 

The plane flew low over the buildings. 

(Aircraft—noun) 

60 



Homophones 

pray/prey 

We visited the church to pray. 

(Entreat/worship—verb) 

Lions prey on smaller animals. 

(Plunder/kill—verb) 

Carnivorous animals hunt their prey. (Food—noun) 

principal/principle 

The principal of our school was very popular. 

(Head teacher—noun) 

The principal actor in the play was famous. 

(Most important—adjective) 

The teacher told us how important it was to stick to 

our principles. 

(Rules of conduct—noun) 

Hint: Remember the principal is my pal. 

profit/prophet 

The bank made a large profit this year. 

(Gain—noun) 

The class would profit from extra tuition in maths. 

(Benefit—verb) 

The prophet told many stories of his life. 

(Spokesman, inspired teacher—noun) 



read/red 

The pupil read the story to the class. 

(Reproduced vocally—verb) 

The red balloon floated upwards. 

(Colour—adjective) 




61

Homophones 


right/rite/write 

I use my right hand to do most things. 

(Opposite to left—adjective) 

The door was on the right of the building. 

(Opposite to left—noun) 

That church’s wedding rite was long and involved. 

(Ceremony—noun) 

Our class will write to the children overseas. 

(Compose a letter—verb) 

road/rode/rowed 

The road was very narrow. 

(Street—noun) 

He rode his bike to school every day. 

(Cycled—verb) 

The crew rowed the boat to the jetty. (Oared—verb) 

rose/rows 

I picked the lovely red rose. 

(Flower—noun) 

The smoke rose from the chimney. 

(Went into the air—verb) 



She wore a rose-coloured skirt. (Pink—adjective) 

The audience lined up in rows to enter the theatre. 

(Lines—noun) 

The crew rows to shore to search for water. 

(Uses oars—verb) 

62 



Homophones 

sail/sale 

The yacht began to sail out to sea. 

(Move on water—verb) 

The toys were all on sale. 

(Reduced—noun) 

The sale price was a bargain. 

(Cheaper—adjective) 

sauce/source 

We love sauce on our hotdogs. 

(Relish—noun) 

The explorers found the source of the water. 

(Origin—noun) 

saw/soar/sore 

I saw the plane land at the airport. 

(Observed—verb) 

The tradesman used a saw to cut the wood. 

(Tool to cut—noun) 

The eagle can soar high into the air. 

(Fly high—verb) 

My hand was very sore where it was cut. 

(Painful—adjective) 



scene/seen 

That was my favourite scene in the film. 

(Part—noun) 


I have seen the film many times. (Viewed—verb) 



63

Homophones 


sea/see 

The sea looked very calm. 

(Body of salt water—noun) 

I can see his bag on the desk. (View—verb) 

sew/so/sow 

Mum had to sew my top together. 

(Stitch—verb) 

I was late so I missed the bus. 

(Therefore—conjunction) 

The girl was so tired she found it hard to work. 

(Very—adverb) 

The farmer began to sow the crop. 

(Plant—verb) 

sight/site 

Sight is one of our senses. 

(Seeing—noun) 

The sight-impaired man used a cane. 

(Seeing—adjective) 

The site for the building was near the coast. 

(Place—noun) 

sole/soul 

The sole on my shoe was loose. 

(Bottom—noun) 

The old man was the sole survivor in the family. 

(Only—adjective) 

We ate battered sole and chips. 

(Fish—noun) 



64 



Homophones 

He put his heart and soul into the performance 

(Emotional spirit—noun) 

son/sun 

His son is the captain of the team. 

(Male child—noun) 

The sun was hidden by clouds. 

(Solar body—noun) 

stair/stare 

The carpet on that stair was torn. 

(Step—noun) 

He began to stare at the strange animal. 

(Look at intently—verb) 

stationary/stationery 

The stationary car was blocking the road. 

(Not moving—adjective) 

The children needed to buy some new stationery for 

school. 

(Writing materials—noun) 

Hint: stationary (car) and stationery (paper) 

steal/steel 

The thief tried to steal the valuable painting. 

(Thieve—verb) 



Steel was used to support the roof. 

(Metal—noun) 


The steel box is very strong. 

(Metal—adjective) 



65

Homophones 


straight/strait 

He found it hard to draw a straight line. 

(Not crooked—adjective) 

The boat travelled across the strait to the island. 

(A narrow passage of water—noun) 

tail/tale 

Their cat had a long tail. 

(Appendage—noun) 

The police started to tail the robber. 

(Follow—verb) 

The tale had a sad ending. 

(Story—noun) 

their/there/they’re 

Their books were the most attractive. 

(Belonging to them—possessive determiner) 

My friend is standing over there. 

(Location—adverb) 

They’re asking for his autograph. 

(They are—contraction) 

threw/through 

I threw my jacket onto the bed. (Tossed—verb) 



The train sped through the tunnel. 

(From end to end—preposition) 

66 



Homophones 

throne/thrown 

The queen sat on the royal throne. 

(Seat—noun) 

The ball was thrown against the wall. 

(Tossed—verb) 

tide/tied 

The tide was out when we walked on the beach. 

(Rising and falling of the sea—noun) 

The dog was tied to the fence. 

(Attached—verb) 

to/too/two 

I went to the cinema yesterday. 

(As far as—preposition) 

You may have an apple too. 

(Also—adverb) 

My two brothers are tall. 

(Number—adjective) 

toe/tow 

She cut her toe on the rough stone. 

(Digit on the foot—noun) 



The mechanic had to tow the car to the garage. 

(Pull along—verb) 




67

Homophones 


vain/vane/vein 

The princess was very vain. 

(Proud—adjective) 

Our wind vane pointed to the west. 

(Instrument to show wind direction—noun) 

The prospectors found a rich vein of gold. 

(Fissure in rock—noun) 

wade/weighed 

The boys wanted to wade into the water. 

(Paddle—verb) 

The greengrocer weighed the fruit. 

(To put on scales—verb) 

waist/waste 

The tailor measured my waist. 

(Middle of torso—noun) 

We recycle all our waste paper. 

(Used things or rubbish—adjective) 

Please don’t waste the paint. 

(Not use effectively—verb) 

That toy is a waste of money. 

(Not worth the money—noun) 



wait/weight 

They had to wait in a queue to buy their tickets. 

(Pass time—verb) 

We estimated the weight in the bags. 

(Mass—noun) 

68 



Homophones 

war/wore 

The soldiers went off to war. (Battle—noun) 

The children wore their school uniforms to the 

museum. 

(Were dressed in—verb) 

ware/wear/we’re/where 

The market sold many different types of wares. 

(Goods—noun) 

I chose a dress to wear to the party. 

(Dress in—verb) 

We’re going to be late if we miss the bus. 

(We are—contraction) 

Where were you when your name was called? 

(Location—adverb) 

weak/week 

The sick man is very weak. 

(Frail—adjective) 

There are seven days in a week. 

(Measure of time—noun) 

weather/wether/whether 

They listened to the weather report. 

(Atmospheric conditions—adjective) 

The weather will remain fine all week. 

(Atmospheric conditions—noun) 

The wether was separated from the rest of the sheep. 

(A male sheep—noun) 

He wanted to know whether the dress was casual or 

formal. (If—conjunction) 






69

Homophones 


which/witch 

Which way did you travel to the town? 

(The particular one—adjective) 

The witch cast a spell on the animals. 

(Sorceress—noun) 

who’s/whose 

Who’s coming to your party? 

(Who is—contraction) 

Whose painting will be chosen to hang in the gallery? 

(Belonging to whom—pronoun) 

wood/would 

The desk was made from wood. 

(Timber—noun) 

I would love to go to the tennis. 

(Desired—verb) 

yoke/yolk 

The dress was made with a yoke. 

(The part of a garment that is over the shoulders—noun) 

The yolk of an egg is yellow. 

(The middle part of an egg—noun) 



your/you’re 

For example: 

I like your picture. 

(Belonging to—possessive determiner) 

You’re a good artist. 

(You are—contraction) 

70 



Nouns and verbs 

Some nouns and verbs are confused because, 

although they sound the same, they are spelt 

differently. 

council/counsel 

The local council was responsible for looking after 

the park. 

(Administrative body—noun) 

His mother tried to counsel the boys after the 

tragedy. 

(Give advice—verb) 

guest/guessed 

Our special guest was very welcome. 

(Invited person—noun) 

I guessed the answer before my friend. 

(Conjectured—verb) 

licence/license 

For example: 

He passed his driving licence. 

(Permit—noun) 

We need to license our car today. 

(Get permission for—verb) 






71



medal/meddle 

For example: 

practice/practise 

For example: 

stairs/stares 

For example: 

Our team won the silver medal. 

(Award—noun) 

Please don’t meddle in our business. 

(Interfere—verb) 

I will do some piano practice 

tonight. 

(Exercise—noun) 

Have a practice shot before we start. 

(Skill development—adjective) 

The team will practise their skills. 

(Perform—verb) 

The boy ran quickly up the stairs. 

(Steps—noun) 

He stares out the window until his 

mother gets home. 

(Looks intently—verb) 



72 




Some nouns and verbs are confused because the 

noun and verb sound similar 

advice/advise 

For example: 

breath/breathe 

For example: 

device/devise 

For example: 

effect/affect 

For example: 

The speaker gave advice about a job. 

(noun) 

I would advise you to listen carefully. 

(verb) 

Take a deep breath. 

(noun) 

I can’t breathe. 

(verb) 

What is that device used for? 

(noun) 

They will need to devise a winning 

plan. 

(verb) 

The effect of the storm was a loss of 

electrical power. 

(noun) 



loan/lend 

For example: 

Did that affect your study? 

(verb) 

We took out a loan. (noun) 

The bank will lend me some money. 

(verb) 




73

One word or two? 


Some words are confusing 

because they can be written as 

one word or two. 

Others, such as almost and 

although, are always just one word. 

already/all ready 

For example: We had already packed our cases for 

the trip. 

alright/all right 

For example: 

also/all so 

For example: 

The children were all ready to go 

swimming. 

The doctor asked if I was feeling 

alright. (Informal use) 

The group had the answers all right 

in the test. 



The cost also included the art 

materials. 

The tourists were all so surprised by 

the scenery they asked to stay. 

74 



One word or two? 

altogether/all together 

For example: 

always/all ways 

For example: 

everyday/every day 

For example: 

everyone/every one 

For example: 

Altogether, there were 100 sweets in 

the jar. 

The team sat all together on the bus. 

I always come to school early. 

The researcher tried all ways to solve 

the problem. 

Ice-cream was an everyday treat at 

the camp. 

Every day during the holidays we 

went for a picnic. 

Everyone had fun making the 

puppets. 

Every one of the children came 

quickly when called. 






75

Prepositions 


among/between 

For example: 

from/off 

For example: 

My brother and I ate the cake 

between us. 

The presents were distributed among 

the five families. 

Note: Things are shared between two 

people and among three or more. 

The teacher took the 

ball from him. 

He fell off his bike. 



76 



Pronouns 

me/I 

For example: 

I looked at a photo. (subject) 

Note: The pronoun I is used as the subject 

of a verb. 

The teacher looked at me. (object) 

Note: The pronoun me is used as the 

object of the verb. 

When there are two or more people involved, 

working out which pronoun to use can be more 

difficult. 

For example: 

My father and (I or me) enjoy 

watching tennis. 

Hint: Try saying the sentence using only one of the 

pronouns: I enjoy watching tennis, or Me enjoy 

watching tennis. 

For example: 

He gave tickets to my father and 

(I or me). 

Hint: Try saying: He gave tickets to I, or He gave tickets 

to me. The same rules apply to the pronouns below. 

We/he/she/they are all used as the subject in a 

sentence. 

Us/him/her/them are the objects of a sentence. 



For example: 

We wanted to visit the zoo. 

The nurse asked us to line up quietly. 

She was waiting at the gate for her 

friend. 




77

The mother gave her a lift to school. 


He stood up and gave the women his 

seat on the bus. 

The teacher awarded him the prize. 

They are all coming to the school 

fair. 

The coach needed them to practise 

their skills. 

who/which/that 

For example: The boy who forgot his homework 

had to do it at recess. Note: Who only 

refers to people. 

Pronoun verb agreement 

Which one is blue and white? 

I enjoyed that book. Note: That and 

which usually refer to animals and things. 

Some pronouns (anybody, nobody, everybody, each, 

either, neither) take a singular verb followed by a 

singular pronoun. 

For example: 

Each boy has brought his own lunch. 



78 



Verbs 

Some verbs look and sound alike and can be 

confused. 

bought/brought 

For example: I brought my new pencils to school. 

(Brought is the past tense of bring. Think 

br-) 

Some verb tense can be confusing. 

choose/chose 

For example: 

This is the new jacket I bought 

yesterday. 

(Bought is the past tense of buy. Think b-) 

Please choose one. 

(present tense) 

He chose the red one. 

(past tense) 

Some verbs are used alone and others need help. 

(auxiliary verbs) 



did/done 

For example: 

Last night I did my piano practice. 

The girls have done all the work. 

We should have done better in the 

test. 




79

Verbs 


seen/saw 

For example: 

The children saw their friends 

coming. 

We have seen many people at the 

show. 

A crowd was seen waiting for the 

train. 

Some verb contractions are confusing. 

have/of 

For example: 

He should have returned the book. 

She could have done better. 

I could have been hurt. 

Note: When the auxiliary verb have is contracted in 

would’ve, could’ve and should’ve the end sounds like 

of (that is: would of, could of, and should of), but this is 

incorrect and should never be used. 

There are other words which are similar, including: must 

have, might have, will have and won’t have. 



80 



Verbs 

Some verbs have different meanings. 

borrow/lend 

For example: 

May I please borrow your pen? 

Yes, I will lend it to you. 

Note: You borrow something from someone and lend 

something to someone. 

teach/learn 

For example: 

used/used to 

For example: 

I will teach you to drive. 

I am sure you will learn quickly. 

The painter used a wide brush. 

We used to travel to the beach every 

weekend. 

Note: Used is the past tense of the verb use. Used to means 

something done previously. 






81

Words that sound or look alike 


There are many words that are 

confused because they sound the 

same or look similar but have 

different meanings. 

accept/except 

For example: 

access/excess 

For example: 

I would love to accept your 

invitation. 

(Accept means to agree to take or do 

something for somebody.) 

Everyone was coming except my 

cousin. 

(Except means that something or someone 

is not included.) 

The ticket allowed access to all areas 

of the ground. 

(Access means the approach or right to 

entry.) 



We had to pay for our excess 

luggage. 

(Excess means overstepping the limits, too 

much.) 

82 




addition/edition 

For example: 

angel/angle 

For example: 

In addition to our homework we 

had to read a book. 

(Addition means as well or besides; also 

the adding of numbers.) 

This was the first edition of her new 

novel. 

(Edition means the number of copies of a 

book or newspaper.) 

There was a large mural of an angel 

in the church. 

(Angel means a heavenly being.) 

The angle formed by the lines was a 

right angle. 

(Angle means the space between lines or 

to fish.) 

brought/bought 

For example: I brought my umbrella to school. 

(Brought is the past tense of the verb to 

bring.) 



She bought some apples and oranges 

at the shop. 

(Bought is the past tense of the verb to 

buy.) 




83



confidant/confident 

For example: 

The news reporter was the confidant 

of many people. 

(A confidant is a person trusted with 

private affairs.) 

The man was very confident he 

would win the match. 

(confident means trusting, fully assured or 

bold.) 

dependant/dependent 

For example: The couple had two dependant 

children. 

(A dependant is a person who depends 

on you.) 

desert/dessert 

For example: 

The experiment was dependent on 

the results of the tests. 

(Dependent means subject to.) 

The troops tried to desert. 

(Desert means to abandon) 

It was hot in the desert. 

(A desert is a barren, treeless region.) 



We ate strawberries for dessert. 

(Dessert is a sweet course at the end of a 

meal.) 

84 




diary/dairy 

For example: 

The traveller kept a diary of his trip. 

(A diary is a book in which personal 

events or thoughts are recorded.) 

The cows were milked every day in 

the dairy. 

(A dairy is a place on a farm where cows 

are milked.) 

eligible/illegible 

For example: My friend was eligible to be the 

captain. 

(Eligible means fit to be chosen, suitable 

or desirable.) 

The doctor’s writing was illegible. 

(Illegible means not able to be read.) 

employee/employer 

For example: He is an employee of the company. 

(An employee works for someone.) 



The company is an excellent 

employer. 

(An employer provides work for people.) 




85



ensure/insure 

For example: 

immigrant/emigrant 

For example: 

import/export 

For example: 

For example: 

The added features ensure your 

comfort. 

(Ensure means to make certain.) 

We need to insure our luggage when 

we travel. 

(Insure means to secure payment for 

injuries, loss or damage.) 

My grandfather was an immigrant 

from Italy. (Immigrants arrive in one 

country from another.) 

The emigrant left last Friday. 

(Emigrants leave one country and travel 

to a different country.) 

This business imports cars. 

(An import is brought into a country.) 

We export iron ore. 

(Goods sent from a country are exports.) 



86 




lay/laid 

For example: 

lie/lay 

For example: 

lightening/lightning 

For example: 

The hens lay eggs. 

(Present tense of lay) 

The hens will lay eggs. 

(Future tense of lay) 

The hens laid eggs. 

(Past tense of lay) 

I lie on the bed. 

(Present tense of lie) 

I will lie on the bed. 

(Future tense of lie) 

I lay on the bed. 

(Past tense of lie) 

I am lightening the colour of the 

fabric with bleach. 

(Lightening means to make pale.) 

The lightning flashed across the sky. 

(Lightning is a flash of light in the sky.) 



loose/lose 

For example: 

My shirt button is loose. 

Be careful or you’ll lose it. 

(Loose is an adjective and lose is a verb.) 




87



medal/metal 

For example: 

of/off 

For example: 

quiet/quite 

For example: 

The runner easily won the gold 

medal. 

(Medal means an award, usually made of 

metal.) 

The vase was made of metal. 

(Metal is an element such as tin or gold.) 

I would like one of those books. 

He fell off his bike. 

Hint: You use two legs to jump off—off 

has two f ’s. 

The room was very quiet as we went 

inside. 

(Quiet means the opposite of loud.) 

The little girl wasn’t quite old 

enough to join. 

(Quite means almost, somewhat or 

rather.) 



88 




sewage/sewerage 

For example: 

For example: 

stalactite/stalagmite 

For example: 

tired/tried 

For example: 

The sewage is removed through 

pipes. 

(Sewage is waste product.) 

This country’s sewerage system is 

one of the best in the world. 

(A sewerage system deals with sewage.) 

That stalactite is hanging from the 

ceiling. 

Which stalagmite is taller? 

Hint: Stalactites have to hang tight on 

the ceiling. Stalagmites might reach the 

ceiling if they grow. 

The tired child fell asleep. 

The pupil tried hard to pass his 

spelling test. 

(Tired is an adjective and tried is a verb 

or adjective.) 






89

Cross-referenced index 


Figures of speech 

Alliteration.......................................................... page 7 

Ambiguity........................................................... page 7 

Anagram.............................................................. page 8 

Analogy............................................................... page 8 

Cliché................................................................ page 10 

Colloquialism.................................................... page 10 

Euphemism....................................................... page 16 

Hyperbole......................................................... page 18 

Idiom................................................................ page 18 

Informal language.............................................. page 19 

Irony................................................................. page 20 

Jargon................................................................ page 21 

Metaphor........................................................... page 21 

Onomatopoeia................................................... page 22 

Oxymoron......................................................... page 22 

Personification................................................... page 24 

Proverb.............................................................. page 27 

Pun................................................................... page 27 



Simile................................................................ page 29 

Spoonerism....................................................... page 30 

Tautology.......................................................... page 31 

90 



Parts of speech 

Adjective ................................................page 6 

– adjectival clause .................................... page 6 

– adjectival phrase.................................... page 6 

– comparative adjective.......................... page 12 

– confused adjectives.............................. page 43 

– confused adjectives and adverbs........... page 44 

– superlative adjective............................. page 31 

Adverb....................................................page 6 

– adverbial clause..................................... page 7 

– adverbial phrase..................................... page 7 

– interrogative adverb............................. page 20 

Article....................................................page 9 

– definite article..................................... page 14 

– indefinite article.................................. page 19 

Conjunction.......................................... page 13 

– correlative conjunctions...................... page 14 

– subordinating conjunction................... page 31 

Determiner........................................... page 15 



– possessive determiner.......................... page 25 

Noun.................................................... page 22 

– abstract noun........................................ page 5 

– collective noun................................... page 10 

– common noun.................................... page 12 




91


– confused nouns and verbs..............pages 71–73 

– feminine noun.................................... page 16 

– gender................................................ page 17 

– masculine noun................................... page 21 

– plural.................................................. page 25 

– proper noun........................................ page 26 

– singular............................................... page 29 

Preposition............................................ page 26 

– confused prepositions.......................... page 76 

Pronoun................................................ page 28 

– confused pronouns........................pages 77–78 

– personal pronoun................................ page 24 

– possessive pronoun.............................. page 25 

– relative pronoun.................................. page 28 

Verb...................................................... page 32 

– active verb............................................. page 5 

– auxiliary verb........................................ page 9 

– command verb (imperative)................. page 11 

– compound verb................................... page 12 

– confused nouns and verbs..............pages 71–73 



– confused verbs...............................pages 79–81 

– irregular verb...................................... page 20 

– object................................................. page 22 

– participle............................................. page 23 

– past participle...................................... page 23 

92 



Punctuation 

– present participle................................. page 26 

– tense................................................... page 32 

- consistent tense.............................. page 13 

- future tense.................................... page 17 

- past tense....................................... page 24 

- present tense.................................. page 26 

Abbreviations....................................................... page 5 

Apostrophes....................................................... page 33 

Capital letters..................................................... page 34 

Colons............................................................... page 35 

Commas............................................................ page 36 

Dash.................................................................. page 37 

Direct speech..................................................... page 15 

Ellipsis............................................................... page 38 

Exclamation mark – interjection........................ page 39 

Full stops........................................................... page 39 

Hyphens............................................................ page 39 

Indirect speech................................................... page 19 



Parenthesis......................................................... page 40 

Question marks................................................. page 41 

Quotation marks................................................ page 41 

Semicolons........................................................ page 41 




93


Sentence structure 

Clause................................................................ page 10 

Conjunction...................................................... page 13 

Joining word...................................................... page 21 

Phrase................................................................ page 25 

Relative clause................................................... page 28 

Sentence............................................................ page 29 

Subject.............................................................. page 30 

Subject-verb agreement..................................... page 30 

Words 

Parts of words 

Consonant............................................... page 13 

Prefix....................................................... page 25 

Syllable.................................................... page 31 

Vowels..................................................... page 32 

Word categories 

Antonyms.................................................. page 8 

Collocation.............................................. page 10 

Contraction............................................. page 13 



Determiner.............................................. page 15 

Double negative....................................... page 15 

Eponym................................................... page 16 

Homographs............................................ page 18 

94 



Homophones.....................................pages 46–70 

Palindrome............................................... page 23 

Synonyms................................................ page 31 


Adjectives................................................ page 43 

Adjectives and adverbs.............................. page 44 

Contractions............................................ page 45 

Homophones.....................................pages 46–70 

Nouns and verbs................................pages 71–73 

One word or two?.............................pages 74–75 

Prepositions............................................. page 76 

Pronouns...........................................pages 77–78 

Verbs..................................................pages 79–81 

Words that look or sound alike...........pages 82–89 






95

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