Collins primary grammar punctuation and spelling

Contents

Cover
TitlePage

Introduction

Grammar
Whatisgrammar?
Words
Phrases
Clauses
Sentences
Makingwords
WritinggoodEnglish
Synonyms
Antonyms
Layout

Punctuation
Whatispunctuation?
Letters
Fullstop
Questionmark
Exclamationmark
Comma
Apostrophe
Invertedcomma
Bracket

Dash
Semicolon
Colon
Hyphen
Bulletpoint


Ellipsis

Spelling
Thealphabet
Syllables
Lettersandsounds
Consonantsandtheirphonemesandgraphemes
Vowelsandtheirphonemesandgraphemes
Digraphsandtrigraphs
Addingendingstowords
Irregularverbs
Addingprefixesandsuffixes
Commonendingsinwords
Choosingbetweenendings
Wordsendinginough
Silentletters
Someverycommonwordsthatyouhavetoknow
Homophones
Howtoimproveyourspelling

Dictionary
HowtousetheSpellingDictionary
Aa

Bb
Cc
Dd
Ee
Ff
Gg
Hh
Ii
Jj
Kk
Ll
Mm
Nn
Oo
Pp
Qq
Rr
Ss
Tt


Uu
Vv
Ww
Yy
Zz

Index

Copyright

AboutthePublisher


Introduction

CollinsPrimaryGrammar,PunctuationandSpellinghasbeendesignedtosupportallpupilswhoare
studyinggrammar,punctuationandspellingfromage7to11,whetherthisisforexamsortorevisethekey
buildingblocksoftheEnglishlanguage.

Itcontainstherulesandadvicethatwillhelpstudentsgettogripswiththeseessentialaspectsofthe
Englishlanguage.Thereareclear,easy-to-followexplanationsofhowgrammarworks,whatpunctuation
does,andhowtospellcorrectly.Eachsection–grammar,punctuationandspelling–islaidoutinan
open,attractivedesignthatguidestheusereasilythroughtheinformationprovided.Dozensofexamples
showexactlyhowtherulesofEnglishwork.

Thefinalsectionisadictionarylistofwordsthatpupilsmustknowhowtospell.Thesehavebeen
speciallyselectedforthisagegroupbasedonreal-lifeexperiencefromSpellingBeesconductedby
CollinsDictionaries.Thewordsarewrittenoutinfull,withtheirwordclassclearlyshown,alongwith
anyotherformssuchasplurals,comparativesandsuperlatives,andinflections–allofwhicharealso
writteninfull,makingiteasyforthepupiltounderstand.Manyhelpfultipsonspellingarealsoincluded
throughoutthespellingdictionarysectiontomakelearningeasier.

CollinsPrimaryGrammar,PunctuationandSpellingisanindispensableguidetothestructureandrules
ofEnglish,offeringclearandaccessibleguidanceforpupilsfromage7to11.

Explorefurtheratwww.collins.co.uk/homeworkhelpforgames,activitiesandextrasupportforparents
andchildren.


Grammar

Whatisgrammar?
Grammaristherulesofalanguagethattellyouhowtoorganisewordstomakesentences.Thinkabout
languageasaseriesof‘blocks’thatyouputtogether.Therearerulesabouthowtheseblockscanbe
joined.Theblocksare:
•theword
•thephrase
•theclause
•thesentence


Thisbookexplainswhattheseare,howtheyworkandhowyoucombinethemtowriteclearandeffective
English.

Words
Wordclass
Everywordinalanguagecanbesortedintoagroupaccordingtowhatitdoeswithinasentence.
Thesegroupsareknownaswordclassesorpartsofspeech.Somewordscanbelongtoanumberof
differentwordclasses.Thissectionexplainswhatthewordclassesareandwhattheydo.

Nouns
Anounisawordthatnamessomething.Inasentence,thenounsarethewordsthattellyouwhichpeople,
placesorthingsareinvolved.
Therearedifferentkindsofnouns.

Commonnouns
Thesenounsareusedtonameeveryexampleofacertaintypeofthing.Theystartwithasmallletter.
girl

city



picture



Therearethreedifferenttypesofcommonnouns.

Concretenouns
Aconcretenounisaphysicalobjectthatyoucanactuallytouch:


donkey

bicycle






doughnut

Abstractnouns
Anabstractnounissomethingthatdoesnotphysicallyexistandsocannotbetouched:


happiness

beauty






imagination

Collectivenouns
Acollectivenounisagrouporcollectionofthings:


pack

bunch



flock

Propernouns
Thesenounsareusedforaparticularperson,placeorthing.Theystartwithacapitalletter.


AndyMurray

Switzerland

RiverSeine

Singularandplural
Thesingularformofanounisusedtomeanonlyoneofathing:
apicture



oneelephant






theschool


Thepluralformisusedtomeanmorethanoneofathing:
twopictures

tenelephants




fourschools



Thepossessive
Thepossessive(whichissometimescalledthepossessivecase)isusedtoshowthatapersonorthing
ownsanotherpersonorthing.Youadd’stotheendofthenounthatistheowner:
mymother’ssister
Nick’sfootballboots
thecat’spaw
thestadium’sroof

Ifthenounisapluralthatalreadyendsins,youputanapostropheattheendoftheword:
thesoldiers’uniforms
thoseboys’bicycles
Africanelephants’ears
tractors’wheels

Youdon’tuse’stomakeapluralnoun.Itisonlyusedforshowingthepossessive.

Adjectives
Anadjectiveisawordthattellsyousomethingaboutanoun.Adjectivescandescribenounsinanumber
ofways:
howtheyfeelorwhattheyarelike:
ahappychild

astrangeboy


ajoyfuloccasion

whattheylooklike:
alargetree
aspottydress
agorgeousbeach

whattheysound,smell,tasteorfeellike:
anoisyparty
astinkycheese
adeliciouscake
ahardseat

whatcolourtheyare:
ayellowbag
darkhair
greenleaves

wheretheycomefrom:
ourGermanrelatives
myAmericanfriend


anorthernaccent

whatsomethingismadefrom:
chocolatecake

awoodenbox
avelvetscarf


Comparativeadjectivesandsuperlativeadjectives
Whenyouwanttomakeacomparisonbetweenpeopleorthings,youneedtousecomparativeor
superlativeadjectives.Intheexamplesbelow,talleristhecomparativeformoftallandtallestisthe
superlative.
Roryistall.
Roryistallerthanhisbrother.
Roryisthetallestboyinhisclass.

Comparative
Thecomparativeshowsthatapersonorthinghasmoreofacertainqualitythananotherpersonorthing.In
thiscaseitisthequalityofbeingtall.
Youmakethecomparativeformofanadjectivebyaddingthesuffix‑erattheend.
dull+‑er=duller
green+‑er=greener
clever+‑er=cleverer

Notallcomparativesaremadelikethis,though.Iftheadjectiveisquitealongword,youusemore
instead.


beautiful→morebeautiful
eccentric→moreeccentric
interesting→moreinteresting

Superlative
Thesuperlativeshowsthatapersonorthinghasthemostofacertainqualityoutofagroupofpeopleor

things.
Youmakethesuperlativeformofanadjectivebyaddingthesuffix‑estattheend.
dull+‑est=dullest
green+‑est=greenest
clever+‑est=cleverest

Iftheadjectiveisquitealongword,youusemosttomakethesuperlative.
beautiful→mostbeautiful
eccentric→mosteccentric
interesting→mostinteresting

Goodandbad
Theadjectivesgoodandbaddon’tfollowthenormalrulesforcomparativeandsuperlativeforms.


good

better






best


bad

worse




worst





Therearespellingrulesaboutaddingsuffixes,andyoucanseetheseonpages81–85.

Adverbs
Anadverbisawordthattellsyousomethingaboutaverb.Theydescribethewayinwhichsomethingis
done.Manyadverbsendwiththeletters‑ly.
Someadverbstellyouhow:
Ellarunsquickly.
Thechildrensingloudly.
Someadverbstellyouwhere:
Welivehere.
Theplaneflewsouth.
Someadverbstellyouwhen:
Sheisgoingonholidaytomorrow.
Phonethepoliceimmediately.
Someadverbstellyouhowmuch:
Ireallywanttoseethatfilm.
Hewascompletelyexhausted.
Someadverbstellyouhowoften:

Younevercomeouttoplayfootball.
MysisterandIalwaysargueaboutwhositsinthefrontseatofthecar.
Someadverbsgoatthebeginningofasentence.Thesegiveacommentonthewholesentence:
Fortunately,itdidn’train.


Sadly,Jackiecan’tcomeonFriday.

Prepositions
Aprepositionisawordthatisusedbeforeanounorapronountodescribehowthingsarerelatedor
connectedtoeachother.Forexample,prepositionscantellyou:

•whereapersonorthingis:

acatinthegarden
abookonthetable
asockunderthebed
Otherprepositionslikethisinclude:


above

beside






underneath

near

below


•themovementofsomethingorsomeone:

Thetraincameintothestation.
Wepushedthroughthecrowd.
Otherprepositionslikethisinclude:


around

down



up




onto

•theyalsoshowhowthingsarerelatedintime:

Ihaven’tseenmyauntiesincelastweek.

to


Conjunctions
Aconjunctionisawordthatisusedtojointwowordsortwopartsofasentencetogether.Therearetwo
maintypesofconjunction.

Co-ordinatingconjunctions
Aco-ordinatingconjunctionjoinstwothingsthatareasimportantaseachother:
Ilovefishandchips.
ItwasdrysoIwalkedhome.
Youcanhaveabiscuitoracake.
Shehasneithermothernorfather.

Itcanalsoshowacontrastbetweentwothings:
Joeishavingabirthdaypartybuthehasn’tinvitedme.

Subordinatingconjunctions
Asubordinatingconjunctionintroducesaclausewhichislessimportantthanthemainpartofthesentence:
Theteacherwasangrybecausethepupilswouldnotpayattention.
Markreadhisbookwhilehewaitedforhismumtoarrive.
Imusttellyousomeexcitingnewsbeforewegetstarted.
Somedogsgoabitcrazywhenit’swindy.

Pronouns
Apronounisawordthatisusedinplaceofanoun.Youuseapronouninsteadofrepeatingthenameofa

person,placeorthing:
Rachellivesnextdoortome.Rachelisinmyclass.
>Rachellivesnextdoortome.Sheisinmyclass.


ThatisthebookIamreadingjustnow.Thebookisveryfunny.
>ThatisthebookIamreadingjustnow.Itisveryfunny.
Iliketositinthegarden.Thegardenisverysunny.
>Iliketositinthegarden.Itisverysunny.

Personalpronouns
Youuseapersonalpronouninsteadofthesubjectorobjectofasentence:
Sheisgoodatmaths.
Nobodylikeshim.

Possessivepronouns
Youuseapossessivepronountoshowthatsomethingbelongstoapersonorthing:
Wehadtomoveoutwhenourhousewasflooded.
Ithinkthebluejacketismine.
Thedogburieditsboneinthegarden.

Relativepronouns
Youusearelativepronouninsteadofanountojointwodifferentpartsofasentence.Therelative
pronounsarewho,whom,whose,whichandthat.Theyintroduceinformationaboutanouninanearlier
partofthesentence.Thisnounisknownastheantecedent.Youusewho,whomandwhosewhenthe
antecedentisaperson,andwhichandthatwhenitisnotaperson.
who:Youusewhowhentheantecedentisthesubjectofthesecondclause.
IhaveanauntwholivesinAustralia.
whom:Youusewhomwhentheantecedentistheobjectofthesecondclause.
Itwasthesamemanwhomwehadseenearlier.

whose:Youusewhosetoshowthatsomethingbelongstotheantecedent.
ScotthasabrotherwhosenameisJamie.


which:Youusewhichwhentheantecedentisnotaperson.
Wetooktheroadwhichleadstothesea.
that:Youusethatwhentheantecedentisnotaperson.
Georgebroughtthesandwichesthathehadmadethenightbefore.

Determiners
Adeterminerisawordthatyouputinfrontofanountoshowmoreclearlywhatyouaretalkingabout.
Therearedifferentkindsofdeterminers:

Articles
Thewordtheiscalledthedefinitearticle.
therobot
thetraffic
thefootballers
Thewordaiscalledtheindefinitearticle.
acaravan
agiraffe
ascooter
Ifthewordafterabeginswithavowel,youuseaninstead:
ananimal
anumbrella
anorangepencil


Otherdeterminers
Othertypesofdeterminersgivedifferentinformationaboutthenoun:

•thedistancebetweenthespeakerandthethingtheyaretalkingabout:



thisshoe

thesebooks




thatman

thosehouses


•whoownsthething:

mybag



yourphone


hiskite

hermug




itsdoor

ourcar






theirgarden


•howmuchorhowmany:

somesugar



muchmoney

bothgirls


fewpeople



manyadults




severalbirds


•theexactnumber:

onemelon
thetwobrothers
fiftyroses




tenthousandyears
•howsomethingissharedout:

Everychildgotaprize.
Eachrunnerisgivenanumber.
Eitherteamcouldwinontheday.

Neithersideisplayingwellatthemoment.

Verbs
Averbisawordthattellsyouaboutanaction.
Emilyplaystheguitar.
Thechildrenranacrossthefield.
Wealwayslistentotheradiointhecar.
AndrewisaScout.

Tense
Thetenseofaverbtellsuswhentheactiontakesplace.

Presenttense
Iftheactionishappeningnow,youusethepresenttense.Therearetwotypesofpresenttenseyoucanuse:
Simplepresenttense:Forthisyouusetheverbasitis,oraddan‑sattheend:
Ilikebroccoli.
Youlovepeas.
Maxhatescarrots.


Weenjoyswimming.
MartinandKateplaythepiano.
Progressivepresenttense:Thisisalsoknownasthecontinuouspresenttense.Forthisyouaddthe
ending‑ingtotheverbandputaformoftheverbbeinfrontofit:
Iamdoingmyhomework.
Youareannoyingme.
Laraispaintingapicture.

Pasttense
Iftheactionhasalreadyhappened,youusethepasttense.Therearefourtypesofpasttenseyoucanuse:

Simplepasttense:Formostverbs,youadd‑edtotheendtomakethesimplepasttense.Youadd‑dif
theverbalreadyendsine:
Thechildrenscreamedwhenthelightswentout.
Thedogbarkedatthepostman.
Iscrambledoverthewall.
Progressivepasttense:Thisisalsoknownasthecontinuouspasttense.Youadd‑ingtotheverbandput
itafterwasorwere.Youusethistotalkaboutsomethingthatwasstillhappeningatacertainpointinthe
pastorwhensomethingelsehappened:
ThatwasthesummerwhenJackandIwerelearningtoride.
Richardwascookingdinnerwhenthefirealarmwentoff.
Presentperfecttense:Forthisyouusehasorhavewiththesimplepasttenseoftheverb.Youusethe
presentperfecttensetoshowthatanactionhasbeencompleted:
AbbyhasfinishedherprojectonJapan.
Ihavebakedacakeforthebirthdayparty.


Pastperfecttense:Forthisyouusehadwiththesimplepasttenseoftheverb.Youusethistoshowthat
somethinghadbeencompletedwhensomethingelsehappened:
Matthewhadfinishedhislunchbeforetheothershadevenstarted.
Ihadpackedmysuitcasewhenthetaxiarrived.

Futuretense
Iftheactionhasstilltohappen,youusethefuturetense.Youdothisbyusingwillorshallandthenthe
verb:
Iwillbethereontime.
Hesayshewillphonelatertoday.
Weshallseeifthat’strue.

Auxiliaryverbs
Therearethreeauxiliaryverbs:be,haveanddo.Theseareusedwithotherverbstomakedifferent

tenses.
Iwaswashingmyhair.
Thechickenhadcrossedtheroad.
Ididtidymyroomeventually.
Be,haveanddoareirregularverbs,whichmeansthattheydonotfollowtheusualrulesformakingverb
forms.

Be
Iamhappy.
Youaresad.
Sheistired.


Weareexcited.
Theyarelate.
Iwasworried.
Youwereangry.
Hewasscared.
Wewerejealous.
Theyweresleepy.
Heisbeingsilly.
Wehavebeenreadyforanhour.

Have
Ihaveacat.
Youhaveadog.
Shehasarabbit.
Wehaveaparrot.
Theyhavenopets.
Ihadanapple.

Youhadanorange.


Hehadapear.
Wehadsomegrapes.
Theyhadstrawberries.
Maryishavingababy.
Wehavehadnosleepfortwodays.

Do
Idonotlikeher.
Youdonotlikehim.
Shedoesnotlikeme.
Wedonotlikethem.
Theydonotlikeus.
Ididlikehim.
Youdidlikeher.
Shedidlikeyou.
Wedidlikethem.
Theydidlikehim.
Theboysaredoingtheirhomeworkintheirrooms.


Ihavedonewhatyoutoldme.

Modalverbs
Themodalverbsarecan,could,may,might,must,shall,should,will,wouldandought.Theyareused
withotherverbstoaddcertainmeaningslikepossibility,doubtorhavingtodosomething.Unlikeall
otherverbs,theydonotchangetheirspellings:
Icanrideabike.

OliviacanspeakItalian.
Myfriendscanallcometomyparty.
Icouldbelatesodon’twaitforme.
Youmayberight.
Imightgotothelibraryafterschool.
Youmustlistentotheteacher.
Shallwetakethedogforawalk?
Youshouldcleanyourteethatleasttwiceaday.
Willyouhangyourjacketup?
Iwouldloveacupoftea.
Weoughttoleavenow.

Phrases
Aphraseisagroupofwordswhichgotogether.


abusystreet
thefamilypet
verygoodattennis
Althoughaphrasemakessense,itisnotafullsentenceandneedsmorewordstomakeitcomplete.
Weliveonabusystreet.
ThefamilypetisatortoisecalledBob.
Mysisterisverygoodattennis.

Nounphrases
Anounphrasecontainsatleastonenoun.
atallgirl
anextremelytallgirl
anextremelytallgirlwithpiercingblueeyes

Adjectivephrases
Anadjectivephrasecontainsatleastoneadjective.
abrownbear
abigbrownbear
abigscarybrownbear

Verbphrases