Grammar & Punctuation

Understand that words combine to make sentences — a sentence expresses a complete thought; produce and expand complete sentences in speech and writing

Separate words with spaces in writing; understand that spaces mark word boundaries in print

Begin sentences with a capital letter and end them with the appropriate mark (full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark); recognise and name end punctuation

Use frequently occurring nouns (people, places, things) and verbs (action words) appropriately in speech and writing

Understand and use question words (who, what, where, when, why, how) to form and answer questions

Join words and clauses using the conjunction 'and' to create longer sentences

Form and use regular plural nouns orally and in writing by adding -s or -es; understand that plural means more than one

Understand and use the most frequently occurring prepositions of location and direction (e.g. to, from, in, out, on, off, for, by, with)

Use basic grammatical terminology when discussing reading and writing: letter, capital letter, word, singular, plural, sentence, punctuation, full stop…

Use capital letters for proper nouns (names of people, places) the days of the week, and the personal pronoun 'I'

Use verbs to convey past and present tense correctly and consistently, including the progressive form (e.g., she is drumming, he was shouting), understanding…

Understand and use the four sentence types — statement, question, exclamation, and command — recognising how grammatical patterns indicate sentence function

Use commas to separate items in a list within a sentence (e.g., 'I bought apples, bananas, and oranges')

Use and understand Year 2 grammatical terminology in discussion: noun, noun phrase, statement, question, exclamation, command, compound, suffix, adjective…

Use subordination (when, if, that, because) and co-ordination (or, and, but) to join clauses and create compound and complex sentences

Use apostrophes in writing for both contraction (marking omitted letters) and singular possession, distinguishing the two uses

Use expanded noun phrases to describe and specify, adding adjectives and other modifiers before a noun (e.g., 'the blue butterfly', 'the old, creaky door')

Use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns correctly (e.g., I/me/my, they/them/their, anyone/everything), replacing nouns to avoid repetition

Use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in sentences, maintaining subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'He hops' vs 'We hop')

Use determiners (articles a/an/the and demonstratives this/that/these/those) correctly before nouns

Use the present perfect form of verbs in contrast to the simple past tense, understanding how the present perfect indicates an action completed at an…

Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs correctly (e.g., sat, hid, told, went, came, ran), recognising that these do not follow the…

Use and understand Year 3 grammatical terminology accurately when discussing reading and writing: preposition, conjunction, word family, prefix, clause…

Use conjunctions (when, before, after, while, so, because), adverbs (then, next, soon, therefore) and prepositions (before, after, during, in, because of) to…

Choose pronouns for clarity and cohesion, avoiding ambiguity and repetition; use reflexive pronouns correctly (e.g., myself, ourselves, himself)

Punctuate direct speech using inverted commas (speech marks), understanding that direct speech records the exact words spoken and must be enclosed in…

Use adjectives and adverbs correctly, choosing between them depending on whether a noun or verb/adjective is being modified (e.g., 'She ran quickly' vs 'She is…

Form and use irregular plural nouns (e.g., children, teeth, mice, geese) in addition to regular plurals, recognising that some nouns have irregular plural forms…

Use the correct form of the indefinite article — 'a' before words beginning with a consonant sound and 'an' before words beginning with a vowel sound (e.g., a…

Form and use the simple past, present, and future verb tenses consistently in writing

Use Standard English verb inflections in place of non-standard local forms

Know and use Year 4 grammar terminology including determiner, pronoun, possessive pronoun, and adverbial

Use fronted adverbials to vary sentence openings and punctuate them with commas

Distinguish between the plural -s suffix and the possessive -'s suffix in nouns

Expand noun phrases with modifying adjectives, nouns, and preposition phrases to add detail

Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, choosing correctly between them

Ensure subject-verb agreement and pronoun-antecedent agreement within and across sentences

Understand and use abstract nouns to name ideas, qualities, and states that cannot be perceived by the senses

Understand and use modal verbs (can, may, must, might, shall, will, could, should, would) and modal adverbs (perhaps, surely, certainly) to indicate degrees of…

Form and use the progressive (continuous) verb tenses — past progressive (was walking), present progressive (am walking), and future progressive (will be…

Link ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time (later, meanwhile, after a while), place (nearby, far away, beyond the wall), and number (secondly…

Use cohesive devices within a paragraph — including pronouns, adverbials (then, after that, firstly), and synonyms — to link sentences and build a coherent flow…

Know and use Year 5 grammar terminology accurately when discussing reading and writing: modal verb, relative pronoun, relative clause, parenthesis, bracket…

Form and use prepositional phrases (preposition + noun phrase) to add detail about time, location, or direction within sentences, recognising how they function…

Use brackets, dashes, and commas to indicate parenthesis — additional information inserted into a sentence that could be removed without changing the sentence's…

Form and use relative clauses beginning with relative pronouns (who, whose, whom, which, that) and relative adverbs (where, when, why) to add detail, qualify…

Order adjectives within sentences according to conventional English patterns (opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose) to produce natural-sounding…

Convert nouns and adjectives into verbs by adding suffixes -ate, -ise (-ize), and -ify, understanding how word class changes affect sentence construction

Use verb prefixes (dis-, de-, mis-, over-, re-) to change verb meaning, understanding how each prefix modifies the action expressed by the root verb

Use commas to clarify meaning and avoid ambiguity in sentences where the absence of a comma could cause misreading

Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, so, yet) when joining two independent clauses in a compound sentence

Recognise and correct sentence fragments (incomplete sentences lacking a subject or predicate) and run-on sentences (two or more independent clauses joined…

Know and use Year 6 grammatical terminology accurately: subject, object, active voice, passive voice, synonym, antonym, ellipsis, hyphen, colon, semi-colon…

Use the passive voice to shift focus from the agent to the action or recipient, understanding how passive constructions affect the presentation of information…

Use verb tense to convey various times, sequences, states, and conditions, selecting tenses deliberately to express the precise timing and nature of actions and…

Recognise and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense within and across sentences and paragraphs, maintaining consistency unless a shift is required by…

Link ideas across paragraphs using a wider range of cohesive devices including word repetition, grammatical connections such as adverbials, and ellipsis to…

Use hyphens to avoid ambiguity in compound modifiers and prefixed words, distinguishing between meanings that change based on hyphen placement

Use commas to set off the words yes and no, to set off tag questions, and to indicate direct address in sentences

Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to indicate titles of works, applying conventions for different types of works such as books, stories, poems…

Use a comma to separate an introductory element from the rest of the sentence, including introductory words, phrases, and clauses

Expand, combine, and reduce sentences for meaning, reader interest, and style, using techniques such as embedding clauses, using appositives, and varying…

Use semi-colons, colons, and dashes to mark boundaries between independent clauses, choosing the appropriate punctuation based on the relationship between the…

Explain the function of conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections in general and in particular sentences, understanding how each word class contributes to…

Use the subjunctive form in formal writing and speech to express wishes, demands, suggestions, or hypothetical situations (e.g., 'If I were you', 'I suggest…

Use correlative conjunctions correctly in sentences, pairing words such as either/or, neither/nor, both/and, not only/but also, and whether/or

Use a colon to introduce a list and semi-colons to separate items within lists, particularly when list items contain internal commas or are complex phrases

Punctuate bullet points consistently to list information clearly, applying conventions for capitalisation, end punctuation, and parallel structure across items

Analyse the effectiveness and impact of grammatical features in texts read — understanding how authors make deliberate grammatical choices (sentence length…

Discuss reading, writing, and spoken language with precise and confident use of linguistic and literary terminology — including terms for word classes, sentence…

Understand and analyse the function of phrases (noun, verb, adjectival, adverbial, prepositional) and clauses (main, subordinate, relative) in general and in…

Use punctuation confidently and accurately for effect and clarity — including semicolons to link related clauses, colons to introduce lists or explanations…

Choose among and construct simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences to signal different relationships among ideas, varying sentence patterns…

Know and understand the differences between spoken and written language — including differences in formality, register, grammar, and vocabulary — and between…

Understand and use active and passive voice deliberately, and recognise verb moods (indicative, imperative, subjunctive, conditional) and their effects…