.WHAT ARE SENTENCES?.Now think of some more verbs and use them to complete these sentences.

1 The parrot _________ off its perch.2 The robot __________ the house.3 Mavis _________ a song.4 I __________ some new trainers.

Every piece of writing is made up of sentences. A sentence is a completeidea. Here are some examples.

Fred won the lottery.Sharon smiled.I caught the bus.

A sentence always has a verb in it. Verbs are ‘doing’ words. They tell you aboutthe action in a sentence. In the sentences above, won, smiled and caught are all verbs.

Try filling in the gaps in the following sentences with verbs from this list:

laughed, cried, wrote, drove, danced.

1 John ________ a long letter.2 Mrs Swift ________ too fast.3 They ______ by the light of the moon.4 I ________ till I ________.

Now think of some more verbs and use them to complete these sentences.

1 The parrot _________ off its perch.

2 The robot __________ the house.3 Mavis _________ a song.4 I __________ some new trainers.

WHO DID IT?.Every sentence must have a verb in it. Run, shout, eat and read are all verbs.But on their own, verbs don’t tell you a lot. They don’t tell you who is running,shouting, eating or reading. So when you write a sentence, you must say whois doing something.

In the following examples, the words showing who (or what) has donesomething are shown in dark type.

She ran.They are shouting.The dog ate my dinner.Wayne read the comic.

See if you can spot who or what has done something in each of the following sentences. Put a line under the right word.

1 Marmeduke finished his homework.2 She yawned.3 Thieves stole our TV.4 The spider crawled up my leg.

Now fill in the gaps with words of your own to show who has done somethingin these sentences.

1 ____ jumped.2 The ___ roared.3 ___ had her tea.4 ____ waited.

CHECK WHAT YOU KNOW: 1See if you can spot which of the following examples is not a sentence – because it doesn’t tell you who has done something.

I hurried home.Went to the disco.Sue lost her purse.The old lady.

Now fill in the gaps with words of your own to show who or what has donesomething in each of these sentences.

1 _____ went out.2 _____ laughed.3 The ______ wagged its tail.4 ____ woke up.

Do the same with the gaps in these sentences.1 _______ sat down.2 The _______ purred.3 ______ all shouted at once.4 ______ and ______ are going out witheach other.

Finally, fill in the gaps in the following passage with verbs of your own.

The monster ____ out of the lake.It ____ hungry. Its big stomach ____ as it____ to the shore. ‘I ____ some fish andchips,’ ____ the monster.

VERBSVerbs tell you what is going on. They can also tell you when something ishappening. Look at these examples.

Laura met her boyfriend. (past)Laura is meeting her boyfriend. (now)Laura will meet her boyfriend. (future)

Sometimes we use verbs with ‘to’ in front of them – to go, to sleep, to run. This way of using verbs doesn’t tell you who is doing something or when. So on its own, a verb with ‘to’ in front of it will not give you a complete sentence.

A complete sentence must always answer these three questions: Who is doing something? What are they doing? When are they doing it?

Here are a few sentences that show both ways of using verbs.

I want to go home.They ran to catch a bus.

Joe will go to meet her.

See if you can spot which of the following examples is not a sentencebecause it doesn’t tell you who is doing something or when.

Mrs. Clutterbuck sneezed.To go home.The lights went out.

Now fill in the gaps in these sentences with verbs that tell you when somethingis happening.

1 They _________ a video.2 Sadia _________ the car.3 I _____ ___ my homework later.4 He _______ a mistake yesterday.5 My tortoise always _______ in winter.

Do the same with the gaps in this passage.

In the future, people ____ ____ on different planets. They ____ ____ littlespaceships instead of cars. Robots ______ all the work. Kids ____ not ____ to go to school. ____ I lived in the future.

LIVING VERBSEvery sentence must have a verb in it. Walk, eat, run, drive and talk are allverbs. It’s easy to picture people doing these things. But some verbs are moretricky. They tell you what people or things are and not what they are doing. Look at the examples of these ‘living’ verbs shown in dark type in the following sentences.

The books are on the desk.She was in a bad mood.I am hungry.Her mum and dad were out.Mr Singh seems happy.

See if you can fill the gaps in the following sentences with verbs that saywhat people or things are.

1 Emma __ in Year 10.2 We ____ hungry.3 Tiddles, where ___ you?4 The dishes ____ piled up in the sink.5 You ___ cheerful today.

Do the same with the gaps in this passage.

The sounds ____ coming from theroom upstairs. But when I got there, theroom ___ empty. The window ___ openand there ____ some footprints on thewindow ledge. I __ sure they ____ thebiggest footprints I had ever seen. ___our mysterious visitor a human, ananimal – or something else?

MORE ABOUT VERBSVerbs that tell you when something is happening are often made up of morethan one word. For example:

I am going out tonight.We have finished the job.Mr Summs will be taking us for math this year.

See if you can underline the verbs in the following sentences.

1 I am writing a letter. ___________2 Mr Benson has lost his job.______________3 Tony is playing in today’s match.___________4 She felt sleepy because she had stayed out late last night. __________5 Where are you going? ______________

Complete the following sentences with words of your own.

1 I am _____________ my friends at 6 o’clock.2 Janice is __________ out with Kevin.3 Rover was ___________ Mrs Smith’s cat.4 She will _________ to go home.5 I shall __________ you some sandwiches.

6Now fill the gaps in these sentences with verbs that are made up of morethan one word.

1 Some aliens ____ ____ in my back garden.2 He ____ _____ like a lunatic.3 Aunt Mabel was cross because I ____ _____ her old clock.4 I ____ ____ you a nice cup of tea.5 They ____ _____ so loudly you could hear them for miles.

CHECK WHAT YOU KNOW: 2.Underline the verbs in the following sentences.1 Sandra laughed. _____________2 Jeff worked hard. _____________3 We missed the last train. ______________4 Our history teacher was telling us about the Romans. _____________5 You seem happy today. _____________

Now fill the gaps in these sentences with verbs of your own.1 They _______ up the hill.2 I _______ some lovely presents for my birthday.

3 We ____ _____ shopping next week.4 Where ______ you ______?5 Jatinder _____ ________ TV when the doorbell ______.

Finally, fill the gaps in this passage with ‘living’ verbs that say what people orthings are, rather than what they are doing.

I _____ sure I put my bag on the table. Where ___ it? It ______ to have disappeared. This ___ very strange. ____ you sure you haven’t taken it by mistake?

.LONGER SENTENCESSentences can be long or short. Here are a few short ones.

Winston spoke.Mrs Jones sneezed.He did his homework.

These sentences tell you who did what.

But they don’t tell you much else. You could add some words to make thesesentences longer and more interesting.

For example:Winston spoke kindly to the lost child.Mrs Jones sneezed loudly.He did his homework carelessly.Words such as kindly, loudly and carelessly tell you how somebody doessomething. They are called adverbs.

Fill in the gaps in the following sentences with adverbs from this list:angrily, hard, loudly, quickly, carefully.

1 Faisal walked _____________.2 She worked ____________.3 The dog growled ___________.4 Beverly drove ______________.5 Dave spoke _______________.

Now think of some more adverbs and use them to complete these sentences.

1 Lehla ran ____________________.2 Basil ate _____________________.3 Luke and Daniel fought ___________.4 I wrote the essay _________________.5 Why did he shout so _____________?

ACTION PHRASESSometimes you can describe how somebody does something by using justone word. For example:

She walked quickly.Gareth drove carelessly.The little boy smiled sweetly.

There are other times when you can’t describe how something is done withjust one word. You need to use a few words – a phrase – to get the meaningacross. Here are some examples.

He worked as hard as possible.She waved at him with a sad look on her face.The old man walked with a limp.

Write out the following sentences, seeing if you can add phrases to show howthings are done.

1 He pushed the button _____________.2 The mouse looked at the cat _______.3 The books fell off the table ________.4 Sonia walked home ______________.5 They waited for the bus ___________.

Now do the same with the following sentences.1 Yasmin sat down _________________.2 The chicken squawked ___________.3 We followed him _______________.4 Mr O’Brien wrote on the board ____.5 The car skidded _______________.

ACTION CLAUSESYou can describe how something is done by adding a single word – anadverb – to the verb, or by adding a short phrase. For example:

She spoke quietly. (adverb)She spoke in a quiet voice. (phrase)

Another way to describe how or why somebody does something is to add agroup of words with their own verb to the main idea in your sentence. Thesegroups of words are called clauses. Look at the clauses shown in darker type inthe following sentences.

They walked to the top of the hillwhere they could see the view.She stayed in bed because she felt ill.I felt pleased as I had just been paid.

Write out the following sentences, adding clauses to describe how or whythings are done. Make sure there is a verb in each clause you add.

1 Jeff hurried home because _________.2 Melissa wrote a letter after _________.3 The puppy wagged its tail when ____.4 Dinosaurs died out because ________.5 I phoned him so that ______________.

Sometimes you can add a clause to the beginning of a sentence. Look at thisexample.

I felt better.When I had eaten I felt better.Now rewrite and add clauses to these sentences.1 He felt better when_______________.2 ______________ I had an early night.3 They walked to the station where _______________.4 I bought a lottery ticket because_______________.5 Gerry worked so hard that _________.

CHECK WHAT YOU KNOW: 3.

An adverb describes how somebody does something. Slowly, carefully, well and fast are all adverbs.

Add an adverb to each of the following sentences.Example:The cat crept up to the mouse stealthily.1 Our principal spoke to us _______.2 Rickie worked ________________.3 He wrote ________________.4 Diane and Imran looked at each other _________________.5 The hamster nibbled some lettuce __________________.

Now rewrite the following sentences, adding a short phrase to describe theaction in each.

Example:My mum’s best teapot fell to the floor with a loud crash.1 I woke up ___________________.2 Salma went away ________________.3 Alex swam ____________________.4 The film ended __________________.5 The new teacher walked into the classroom ___________________.

things are done. Remember, a clause is a group of words with its own verb thatyou add to the main idea in a sentence.

Example:Sharon ran all the way to school because she was late.1 He fell off his bike because ________.2 Carl felt better when ______________.3 I called my friend after ____________.4 We walked to the disco where _____.5 Mr. Brown stood in the line so that _________________.

DESCRIBING DO-ERS.One way of making a sentence more interesting is to add a word that describes the ‘do-er’, the person or thing doing something in the sentence.These describing words are called adjectives. Here are some examples.

The old car was parked outside his house.The cake was delicious.The unknown band reached number one in the charts.

Add adjectives to describe the ‘do-ers’ in the following sentences. Think upadjectives of your own or pick them from this list: new, disappointing, short,horrible, famous.

1 All these ________ creepy crawlies like the warm weather.2 Steve’s _______ bike can go really fast.3 The ___________ striker didn’t score a single goal all season.4 Rina bought a _______ skirt in the sales.5 My exam results were _____________.

Now rewrite these sentences, adding two or more adjectives to each. Usecommas between the adjectives.

Example:That old, derelict and haunted house is up for sale.

1 My ________________ jeans feel very comfortable.2 The _________ boxer decided to retire.3 The _______________ woman was wearing diamond earrings.4 Her _______________ brother put an ice cube down her back.5 There is our ________ English teacher.

PHRASES FOR DO-ERS.You can use a single word – an adjective – to describe the person orthing who is doing something in a sentence. But you can give even moreinformation by adding a short phrase.

Here are some examples.I bumped into Wayne, an old friend of mine.My sister, a student nurse, is keen on drag racing.Our dog, a friendly old labrador, didn’t bother the burglar.

Always use commas to separate phrases like these from the rest of the sentence.

Now rewrite the following sentences, adding phrases to describe the ‘do-ers’.Remember to use the right punctuation.

1 My cat _____________ went missing.2 We went to Kelowna____________.3 The woman _____________ laughed nervously.4 I think that animal _____________ is a porcupine.5 The bike _____________ was lying in a ditch.

Do the same with the following sentences.1 My brother _______________ is a great dancer.2 We met Mr. Ciolfitto _____________.3 The shop ____________________ was closing down.4 The hedgehog ___________________ was hibernating.5 Nikki _________ said she saw a ghost.

CLAUSES FOR DO-ERS.As well as using adjectives and phrases to describe the person or thing doingsomething in a sentence, you can use clauses. A clause is a group of wordswith its own verb that you add to the main idea in a sentence. Look at theclauses shown in these examples.

She bought the jeans which she had wanted for ages.It was the same cat he had seen the day before.The student who got the highest marks won a prize.

Underline the clauses in these sentences.

1 He bought the bike which had been advertised in the newspaper._________________________________________________________2 The man who is wearing a woolly hat is our new science teacher._________________________________________________________3 The girl who lives next door invited me to her party._________________________________________________________

Now rewrite these sentences, adding clauses that tell you more about theperson or thing doing something.

1 The laptop _______________ is very expensive.2 That is the teacher _______________ .3 The prisoner ________________ gave himself up.4 Sonja ________ has lost some weight.5 Fred finally got the job ____________.

Finally, rewrite and add clauses to these sentences.

1 There goes the man _____________.2 The bumble bee ________________ finally flew out of the window.3 The criminal ___________________ escaped with the loot.4 I bought the book _______________.5 It was the same car _______________.

CHECK WHAT YOU KNOW: 4.Use adjectives to describe the person or thing doing something in each of thefollowing sentences.

Example:This cottage pie is revolting.1 The weather is __________.2 The _________ hairdresser cut off too much of my hair.3 We rented a ________ video last night.4 The _________ bus has already left.5 The _____ ______ fox jumped over the lazy dog.

Now use short phrases to describe the ‘do-ers’ in the following sentences.

Examples:That’s Ms. Keating, my English teacher.George Clooney, the actor, has just got married again.

1 My sister _____________________ is a keen swimmer.2 There’s Dr. Johnson ______________ .3 The cat ___________________ chased the dog up the road.4 Maggie _____________________ goes to a different school.5 I rang up George ________________.

Finally, rewrite the following sentences, adding clauses to describe the ‘do-ers’.Remember, a clause is a group of words with its own verb that you add to themain idea in a sentence.

Example:The man who was wearing a bow tie looked like a spy.1 The girl _______________ was waiting at the bus stop.2 He finally bought the computer game __________________.3 The car ________________ was parked outside the school gate.4 The strange sounds ________________ went on all night.5 Cheryl ___________________ was late again this morning.

PHRASES WITH -ING.One way of making sentences more interesting is to add phrases which useverbs ending in ‘-ing’. These are called participle phrases. Here are someexamples.

walking down the roadthinking about something elsewatching a video

On their own, these phrases are not complete sentences. To turn them intosentences we have to add some words that tell us who is doing what and when.We could, for example, say:

Walking down the road, he bumped into a lamp post.Thinking about something else, I suddenly realized I was lost.Watching a video, Tracy lost track of the time.

See if you can turn the following participle phrases into sentences.

1 Running along the High Street _____________________________.2 Thinking about her problems ______________________________.3 Leaving the classroom _______________________________.4 Watching TV ____________________.5 Turning towards her ______________.

Now rewrite and add participle phrases to these sentences.1 _________________ he walked away.2 _____________ Donna thought about what her mum would say.3 _________________ they decided to drop the plan.4 ___________ Gary was nearly run over.5 _________________ I didn’t hear the doorbell ring.

WHO DOES WHAT?.Participle phrases can be tricky phrases which use the ‘-ing’ form of a verb. You have to make sure that it’s clear who is doing the walking, thinking, looking or other action in the sentence. Can you see what’s wrong with this sentence?

Walking down the road, the bus nearly hit Tom.

What this sentence says is that the bus was walking down the road when it nearly hit Tom! It should have said:

Walking down the road, Tom was nearly hit by the bus.

See if you can change the following sentences so that it’s quite clear who isdoing what in each of them.

1 Walking down the High Street, a car nearly ran Jenny over.__________________________________________________________2 Sleeping heavily, the loud noise did not wake him.__________________________________________________________3 Feeling very hungry, the sandwich did not satisfy her.__________________________________________________________4 Thinking about his homework, the dog greeted Tony.__________________________________________________________5 Losing our way in the town, a policeman gave us directions.__________________________________________________________

Now rewrite the following sentences, adding phrases with ‘-ing’ verbs in them. Make sure it is clear who these phrases are about.

1 _____________________________ the car swerved to avoid Mohammed.2 _____________________________ the alarm clock did not wake her.3 _____________________________ she ate six sandwiches.4 _____________________________ the dog bounded up to him.5 _____________________________ I noticed the new building.

CHECK WHAT YOU KNOW: 5Can you tell which of the following are complete sentences and which are justphrases? Put an S next to each sentence and a P next to each phrase.

1 Sitting down to lunch ____2 John yawned ____3 Abid tucked into his pudding ____4 Mr Best looked at his watch ____5 Watching an exciting film ____

Now rewrite the following phrases, turning them into sentences by sayingwho is doing what and when.

1 Swimming five lengths a day __________________________.2 Smiling at him _____________________________________.3 Walking home last night _____________________________.4 Finding a spider in the bath ___________________________.5. Looking really angry ________________________________.

Finally, rewrite these sentences, adding phrases with ‘-ing’ in them. Make sure itis clear who the phrases are about.

1 _________________________________________ Steve saw his friends.2 __________________________________ we watched the end of the film.3 _________________________________ I finished my food before anyone else.4 _________________________________ the cat purred contentedly.

5 _________________________________ he nearly bumped into the tree..

ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER.

\When you are writing you often need to show that something happens before orafter something else. To do this, you can start off a sentence with a clausebeginning with when, before or after.

Here are some examples.

When he had finished his tea, Dad turned the TV on.Before they left the house, they tidied up.After I’ve watched this program, I’ll do the washing up.

Rewrite the following sentences, adding complete clauses.

1 After _____________________________________the cat ate the budgie.2 Before ___________________________________ he bought a return ticket.3 When ___________________________________ she did her homework.4 After ____________________________________ he baked a cake.5 Before __________________________________ my Science teacher heard what I had to say.

Rewrite the following sentences to include clauses beginning with when,before or after.

1 __________________________________________ Fred went off to work.2 __________________________________________ he made sure the lights were turned off.3 __________________________________________ I’ll clean my room.4 __________________________________________ we’ll go to the disco.5 __________________________________________ they decided they could not afford a holiday.

IF AND UNLESS.One useful way of building up sentences is to add clauses beginning with if or unless. You can use these clauses when you are talking about things which might happen in the future.

If my toothache doesn’t go away soon, I’ll have to see the dentist.

Unless you pay attention, you won’t know how to play this game.

Rewrite the following sentences, adding clauses beginning with if or unless.(Remember, a clause is a group of words with a verb that you add to the mainidea of a sentence.)

1 ________________________________________ you will have an accident.2 ________________________________________ I will take my noisy neighbor to court.3 ________________________________________ Lyn should see her doctor.4 ________________________________________ they will ban mountain bikes from the park.5 ________________________________________ I will go to the match with Jeff.

Clauses with if or unless can be added to the beginning or end of a sentence.

If it stops raining, I’ll go out shopping.I’ll go out shopping, if it stops raining.

Now add clauses with if or unless to these sentences. Write each sentence out twice, first with the clause at the beginning and then at the end of the sentence.

1 Steve will get into trouble._____________________________________________________________2 She will never come back._____________________________________________________________3 I will help you with your homework._____________________________________________________________4 They will shut the disco down._____________________________________________________________5 Michelle won’t go to his party._____________________________________________________________

CHECK WHAT YOU KNOW: 6.Add clauses with when, before, after, if or unless to these sentences. Write each sentence out twice, first with the clause at the beginning and then at the end of the sentence.

Example:

He will get into trouble.Unless he stops being so rude, he will get into trouble.He will get into trouble unless he stops being so rude.

1 He will have an accident._______________________________________________________________2 They put the money in a safe place._______________________________________________________________3 My mum went off to work._______________________________________________________________4 She thought carefully about going out with him._______________________________________________________________5 Mrs. Smart gave him a grade A._______________________________________________________________

Now rewrite this passage. Use clauses with when, before, after, if or unless tofill the gaps.

Jake and Rob planned their escape._______________, they decided to dig atunnel. They knew the plan would only work ___________. Every day they dug afew metres ___________. They never went into the exercise yard with the other prisoners __________. __________, they finally finished the tunnel. ________, they found themselves in the middle of the prison governor’s office!

SO, AS AND BECAUSEShort, simple sentences tell you who has done what and when. If you want to saywhy something has happened, you need to write longer, more complicated sentences. One way of doing this is to use the words so, as or because to link two short sentences. Here are some

examples..Kate was working in the library.She wanted some peace and quiet.Kate was working in the library because she wanted some peace and quiet.

Gary sold his old skate board.He could then buy a new one.Gary sold his old skate board so he could buy a new one.

You can use so, as or because at the beginning of a sentence as well as in themiddle.

For example:It was hot. I went swimming.As it was hot, I went swimming.

Try linking each of the following pairs of sentences with the words so, as orbecause.

1 Sadia saved up her pocket money. She wanted to go on holiday.______________________________________________________________2 Bruno barked at the new postman. He does not like strangers.______________________________________________________________3 It’s cold today. I am wearing six layers of clothes.______________________________________________________________4 Wayne overslept this morning. He was late for school.______________________________________________________________5 The teacher was angry. His pupils were making too much noise.______________________________________________________________

BUILDING SENTENCES.Short, simple sentences can be useful, but for more complicated ideas, you need to use longer sentences. There are lots of ways of building up a sentence. For example:

Jim sold the van to Fred.

This sentence gives us the bones of a story but it doesn’t tell us anything about Jim, Fred or the van. So how can we make the sentence more interesting? First, we can add a phrase about Jim:

Jim, a second-hand car dealer, sold the van to Fred.Then we can say something about the van:

Jim, a second-hand car dealer, sold the clapped-out old van to Fred.We still don’t know anything about Fred.

An extra clause will put that right:Jim, a second-hand car dealer, sold the clapped-out old van to Fred, who thought he had bought a real bargain.

Rewrite the following sentences, making them more interesting by filling the gaps with words, phrases or clauses.

1 Jenny _________ sold her __________ ice-skates to Dave ______________.

2 Craig _______ helped Donna ________ with her homework __________.3 Mr Summs ____________ wrote the answers ___________ on the board.4 Savita ____________ used to go to my old school _______________.5 The __________ guinea-pig ate all the vegetables ____________.

Do the same with these sentences.1 Kevin _________ was always playing games on his __________ computer.2 Sharon __________ is going to Spain ___________.3 The tree __________ fell down in the storm __________.4 Steve _____________ borrowed some money from John _______________.5 The thief __________ was caught red handed by the store detective _____.

MORE SENTENCE BUILDING.Look at this short, simple sentence.

Eddie was walking up the road.

The sentence does not tell us anything about Eddie or why he was walking upthe road. We can put that right by adding phrases and clauses to the sentence.

Eddie, who should have been at school, was walking slowly up the road looking for trouble.

Rewrite the following sentences, making them more interesting by filling the gaps with words, phrases or clauses.

1 Ms Smith, who _______________ was walking to the station because _____________.2 The _____________ monster woke up after _________________ .3 Mike, who _________ sold his bicycle to his cousin __________.

4 Lisa _______________ wants to be an engineer when _______________.5 Have the people who _____________ moved out?

Now do the same with the gaps in this passage.

___________ Mandy saw someone in the water. _______ she realized it was a little boy _________. She ______ took her shoes off and jumped into the river.She grabbed hold of the child _________ and carried him to the river bank _________. The boy __________started crying ______________.

CHECK WHAT YOU KNOW: 7.Look at the following short sentences. They don’t give you much information.Rewrite them, adding words, phrases and clauses that say more about who or what the sentences are about, and why, how and when things are happening in them.

1 Mr Wood _____________ threw down his paintbrush _____________.2 Sharon wished she had never met Bill ____________.3 ______________ he decided to walk to school _____________.4 Anil ____________ was waiting for his friends _______________.5 Rupert ______________ loved honey.

Now do the same with the gaps in this passage.

Jim _________ sold a ________ van to Fred ________ . __________ he triedto return the van to Jim. But Jim _______ had gone off to London __________ and Fred could not find him. _____________ Fred had the van repaired ___________.

ENDING SENTENCES.How do you know when you’ve come to the end of a sentence? Ask yourself if what you have written is a complete idea that says who is doing what and when. Then put a full-stop, question mark or exclamation mark at the end of the sentence – not a comma. Look at these examples.

Wrong:Gwen left the party, she had to be home by 11.Right:Gwen left the party. She had to be home by 11.

Put full stops where they are needed in these sentences.

1 I saw that woman again, she was dressed like Father Christmas.__________________________________________________________2 You shouldn’t talk like that, who do you think you are?__________________________________________________________3 I bought a video yesterday, it wasn’t worth the money.__________________________________________________________4 Walking through the park, Steve found a pound coin.__________________________________________________________5 Please return trays to the counter, do not leave them on the tables.__________________________________________________________

Now rewrite this passage, filling in the gaps with full stops or commas, andputting capital letters at the beginning of each sentence.

Jake Warble is the lead singer of The Bluechips__ he also plays keyboards__Jake’s hobbies are skydiving and knitting__ his favorite colour is blue__being so famous__ Jake likes to relax on his secret island hideaway where none of his fans can find him__

CHECK WHAT YOU KNOW: 8.People often get full stops and commas muddled up. Remember, you use acomma when there is a pause in a sentence but a full stop to show that thesentence has ended.

Look at the sentences in this list. Put a cross next to the ones with commaswhere there should be full stops, and a tick next to the ones that are writtencorrectly.

1 She rushed out, she didn’t want to miss the last bus. ___2 Listening to the radio, I fell asleep. ___3 The gates opened, the fans rushed in. ___4 The door opened. The Law teacher walked in. ___5 The sun shone, the birds sang, I felt happy. ___

Now put commas, full stops and capital letters where they are needed in thefollowing passage.

Using a computer is easy first you have to switch it on then you have to put a program disk into your disk drive unless you have a program on your hard disk once you are into the program you can use your mouse to call up the help menu it will tell you what to do next

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SPOT THE SENTENCE.

A sentence can be long or short but it is always a complete idea. Look at this group of words.

Falling asleep in class.

This is not a sentence because it doesn’t tell us who is or was falling asleep inclass. To turn this phrase into a sentence, we have to add some words.

For example:Falling asleep in class, Michelle did not hear about the school trip toFrance.

Can you spot the sentences in the following list? Put an S next to the complete sentences and an N next to groups of words that are not sentences.Now rewrite all the phrases you have spotted, turning them into completesentences.

1 Trying to keep from giggling ______________________________________________________________2 With reference to your letter of 5th November ______________________________________________________________3 I refer to your letter of 5th November ______________________________________________________________4 Waking up suddenly after a late night on the town ______________________________________________________________5 I woke up with a start ______________________________________________________________6 Standing on the corner, watching all the people go by carrying their shopping _______________________________________________________________7 Gerry smiled _______________________________________________________________8 To boldly go where no woman has gone before _______________________________________________________________