Grammar Terms: Nouns, Verbs and Tense
Use and understand Year 2 grammatical terminology in discussion: noun, noun phrase, statement, question, exclamation, command, compound, suffix, adjective, adverb, verb, tense (past/present), apostrophe, comma
What a learner can do afterwards
- Use the term 'noun phrase' when discussing expanded noun phrases in own writing
- Identify adjectives, adverbs, and verbs in sentences using correct terminology
- Explain what 'tense' means and give an example of past and present tense
1 · Read
You already know that sentences are made of words. Grammar gives names to the jobs those words do, so you can talk about your own writing and make it better. A noun names a person, place, or thing. A verb tells what someone does or is. An adjective describes a noun, and an adverb describes a verb.
Look at the sentence: 'The little cat runs fast.' Little is the adjective, it tells you what kind of cat. Cat is the noun, it names the animal. Runs is the verb, it tells what the cat does. Fast is the adverb, it tells how the cat runs.
Tense tells you when something happens. Past tense means it already happened, like 'walked.' Present tense means it is happening now, like 'walks.' Past tense words often end in -ed.
Nouns name, verbs act, adjectives and adverbs describe, and tense tells you when it happened.
The rewritten readings were written for this dataset.
More to read
Noun and verb phrases
A phrase is a group of words that work together, like a little team!
A noun phrase is a group of words built around a noun. A noun is a person, place, or thing.
For example: 'the big red ball' is a noun phrase. The main word is 'ball' (that is the noun). The other words, 'the', 'big', and 'red', tell us more about the ball.
You can use noun phrases to make your writing more interesting. Instead of just saying 'dog', you could say 'the fluffy brown dog'. That gives your reader a much better picture in their mind.
Adjectives and adverbs
Adjectives are words that describe a noun. A noun is a person, place, or thing. Adjectives tell us more about it.
For example, you could say a sandwich is stinky or yummy. 'Stinky' and 'yummy' are adjectives.
Adverbs are words that describe a verb. A verb is an action word, like run or jump. Adverbs tell us how, when, or where something happens.
For example, you could make your sandwich quickly, carefully, or slowly. 'Quickly', 'carefully', and 'slowly' are adverbs. Many adverbs end in -ly.
Glossary: Adjectives and adverbs
Adjective: a word that describes a noun. Examples: a blue hippo, a big book, three cookies.
Adverb: a word that tells more about a verb (an action word). It tells how, when, or where something happens. Examples: laughed loudly, ran quickly, played yesterday.
Try it yourself. Pick a noun, like 'cat', and add an adjective in front of it, like 'fluffy cat'. Then pick a verb, like 'jump', and add an adverb, like 'jump high'.
Simple and progressive aspects
Verb tense tells us when something happens. There are two tenses you will use most: past tense and present tense.
Present tense means it is happening right now. For example: 'I jump.' or 'She plays.'
Past tense means it already happened. For example: 'I jumped.' or 'She played.'
Notice how we often add '-ed' to a verb to show it happened in the past. 'Jump' becomes 'jumped'. 'Play' becomes 'played'.
Find what words do
Words work together to make sentences. Look for the job each word does.
A noun names someone, somewhere or something. 'Boy' and 'park' are nouns. Nouns can name ideas too.
A verb can tell what someone does or how something is. 'Run' and 'jump' are action verbs.
An adjective gives details about a noun. Try 'happy' or 'tall'.
An adverb can describe an action. 'Quickly' and 'quietly' tell how it happens.
Find the nouns and verbs first. Then look for describing words. This can help you read sentences and write your own.
2 · Watch
En anglaisTake it off screen
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.