SPAG: Nouns, Verbs and Pronouns

• SPAG Revision Checklist

Word Class

• Nouns are persons, places, or things
• Nouns can be proper, collective, abstract or common
• Proper nouns are specific, like "Peter", "Manchester", or "Buckingham Palace"
• Collective nouns refer to groups, such as "a pack of pencils" or "a flock of sheep"
• Abstract nouns are intangible, like "love" or "kindness"
• Common nouns are everything else, such as "book", "table", or "chair"
• Verbs are doing words, for example, "walk" and "talk"
• Modal verbs help the main verb, as in "I can walk" or "you will/won't/shall/could/would see

Additional Word Types

• Pronouns replace nouns to avoid repetition, such as "he", "they", or "she"
• Personal pronouns refer to known people or things, such as "I", "you", "they", or "she"
• Possessive pronouns indicate ownership, for example, "my", "mine", "your", "yours", "her", or "hers"
• Relative pronouns often start with 'w' and connect clauses, such as "where", "when", "whose", "why", or "which"; "that" is an exception
• Prepositions show relationships between things, indicating position, like "over", "under", "around", "from", or "in"
• Conjunctions link parts of sentences or clauses, such as "and", "so", or "moreover"
• Coordinating conjunctions join equal strength clauses; there are 7, remembered by FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
• Subordinating conjunctions join a main clause and a subordinate clause, like "although" or "because"
• Correlative conjunctions come in pairs, for example, "either/or", "both/and", or "whether/or"
• Prefixes are added to the start of words to change meaning and suffixes are added to the end
• Prefixes still allow the root leaving the root word behind
• Examples are unlikely and disappointed
• Suffixes go at the end of the word
• Examples are disappointment, freedom, feminism

Punctuation

• Brackets/Parenthesis adds extra information
• "The football team (Manchester United) were beaten in a friendly (3-0)."
• Ellipses indicate thoughts or fading scenes
• "I feel into a deep sleep..."
• Semi-colons can link items in a list that contain commas or link related independent clauses
• Example for a list: I needed: two ships, preferably without masts; three planes, in good condition; a pair of skis; a red hat and a bike
• Example for independent clauses: I was happy on Monday; I was sad on Tuesday
• Colons introduce lists or link clauses where the second explains the first
• Example for a list: I needed: two ships, one car, three planes and a bike
• Example for linking: It was cold outside: I wore a coat
• Hyphens join words to make a single word; dashes add extra information or extensions
• Rock-hard is a good example to use for a hyphen
• Speech Marks indicate direct speech.
• "I'm fine," said the man.
• Reported speech does not require speech marks
• The man told me he was fine.
• Apostrophes indicate contraction or possession
• He + is = he's
• Contraction of shall not = shan't
• Possession
• The dog's dinner
• The boys' cloakroom
• When the word is plural and ends in s, the apostrophe goes after the s
• "The cats' play area is for many cats; the cat's play area is for one cat."

Sentences and Clauses

• There are four types of sentences:
• Statements
• I would like to go home
• Commands
• Go home
• Questions
• Can I go home?
• Exclamations
• I can't believe I arrived home!
• Clauses are word groups
• There are several types
• Main Clause; an independent clause
• The man walked into the shop
• Subordinate Clause; a dependent clause which adds more detail
• As the sun was rising
• Relative Clause; refers to subordinate clauses
• The TV, which I bought on Monday, didn't work

Tenses

• There are three tenses
• Past, present and future
• Each tense comes in three forms
• Simple, perfect, and progressive
• Simple Tenses
• There are no added words
• Past Simple
• The man sat on the bench
• Present Simple
• The man sits on the bench
• Future Simple
• The man will sit on the bench
• Perfect Tenses
• Uses the verb with 'to have'
• Past Perfect
• The woman had sat on the bench
• Present Perfect
• The woman has sat on the bench
• Future Perfect
• The woman will have sat on the bench
• Progressive Tenses
• Always contains the verb 'to be' and 'ing' endings
• Past Progressive
• The child was sitting on the bench
• Present Progressive
• The child is sitting on the bench
• Future Progressive
• The child will be sitting on the bench

Other Key Terms

• Noun Phrases are nouns with an adjective
  • The blood-red, terrifying moon; add your example: the tall, shy person
• Adverbials explain how, where, or when something happened
• We went to the cinema on Friday
• Fronted Adverbials are at the front of a sentence
• They need commas to separate them from the rest of the sentence
• On Monday mornings, she would share her sweets
• All of a sudden, he ran away
• Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it
• Passive and Active Verbs
• Active verbs have the subject doing the verb
• The boy kicked the ball
• Passive Verbs have the subject having the verb done to it
• The ball was kicked by the boy

English Types

• Standard English is formal English
• The language used when meeting with a king or applying for a job
• Non-Standard English is informal
• Usually used when talking with a friend or family member
• An example of Standard English
• I am planning to travel to an establishment where I hope to purchase a beverage
• An example of Non-Standard English
• I'm gonna pop down to the shops and am gonna buy a drink

Synonyms and Antonyms

• Synonyms are similar to another word
• Synonyms for 'Cold' are chilly, freezing, or nippy
• Antonyms are the opposite of a word
• Antonyms for 'Cold' are hot, warm, or piping hot
• Antonyms for 'Big' are small, tiny, or minuscule