Can Do Cubes : Enjoying English grammar and Synthetic Phonics

English Grammar Guides

These guides are for those of us who have forgotten (or were never taught) the basics of English grammar. They are designed to show the range of grammatical understanding encouraged by the enjoyment of Can Do Cubes. All points shown here, from the simple recognition and use of word classes through to that liberating understanding of how the use of sentence variety can bring joy and polish to an individual's writing, are covered in the Activities Book which accompanies the Cubes.

Word Classes | Grammar Grid | Verb Tenses | Sentences

Word Classes

word	examples
noun	common man, cheese, park proper: Jack, India, Mrs Egg abstract: love, hate, fear
pronoun	I, you, him, theirs
determiner	a, the, this, an, these
adjective	good, slimy, red
verb	full: want, eat, give auxiliary: be, have modal auxiliary: would, might, must
adverb	happily, slowly, sometimes
preposition	up, over, on
conjunction	coordinating and, or, but subordinating: if, because, whereas

Grammar Grid

Nouns	classified as	singular plural	lion, town, football books, boxes, loaves, jellies mice (irregular)
Nouns	classified as	common (concrete) proper abstract	man, cheese, television Jasmine, Manchester love, hatred, fear
Determiners	combine with	nouns	a lion, the lion, that lion, my lion, which lion, one lion
Common nouns	agree with	their determiner	that door those doors
Common nouns	may be modified by preceding or by following	adjectives nouns prepositions relative clauses	large dog mountain dog the dog in the water the dog that danced
Pronouns	may replace	a noun a noun phrase	John said he was coming. the huge man knew he was right.
Phrases	classified as	noun phrases prepositional phrases adjectival phrases adverbial phrases	the smelly dog inside the zoo as happy as her spoke quickly
Noun phrases and pronouns	may function	as a subject of a verb as the object of a verb as a complement of a verb after a preposition as a possessor	The man went. He kicked the man. He became a man. I walked over a mountain. the boy’s pen the boys’ school
Prepositional phrases	may function as	a complement of a verb an ‘adjectival’ modifier of a noun an ‘adverbial' modifier of a verb an adjective	He was in a car. a man with a book He ate at the zoo. mad on football
Verbs	are classified as	finite: present past imperative or non-finite: infinitive or participle: past present	He/they shouts/shout. He shouted/ran. Run fast! She likes to think. he has wanted/given He is singing.
Verbs	are classified as	active passive	He eats it. It is eaten.
Verbs	are classified as	main or auxillary: ordinary or modal auxiliary	She moves. He has moved. He should move.
Auxiliary verbs	combine with	each other and main verbs to make verb chains	He must have been going.
Verbs	need	a subject	The man thought. I thought. He was thinking. Was he thinking?
Some verbs	need	an object or complement	I ate the bread. I made her proud.
Verbs	agree with	their subject	She comes in. They come in.
Clauses	are classified as	main subordinate	She went away. Go away! If he comes, give him bread.
Main clauses	are classified as	declarative interrogative imperative exclamative	She is noisy. Is she noisy? Why is she noisy? Be good! How good he is!
Subordinate clauses	are marked by	a subordinating conjunction or a wh-pronoun or that or a non-finite verb	If it says it who said it that he said it saying it
Conjunctions	are classified as	coordinating subordinating	Jim ate and Jane danced. Jim ate while Jane danced.

Verb Tenses

Voice	Present Tense	Past Tense	Future Tense
active passive	Simple Present I want the dog. The dog is wanted.	Simple Past I wanted the dog. The dog was wanted.	Simple Future I will want the dog. I am going to want the dog. The dog will be wanted.
active passive	Present Continuous I am wanting the dog. The dog is being wanted.	Past Continuous I was wanting the dog. The dog was being wanted.	Future Continuous I will be wanting the dog. I am going to be wanting the dog. The dog will be being wanted *
active passive	Present Perfect I have wanted the dog. The dog has been wanted.	Past Perfect I had wanted the dog. The dog had been wanted.	Future Perfect I will have wanted the dog. I am going to have wanted the dog. The dog will have been wanted.
active passive	Present perfect Continuous I have been wanting the dog. The dog has been being wanted. *	Past Perfect Continuous I had been wanting the dog. The dog had been being wanted. *	Future Perfect Continuous I will have been wanting the dog. I am going to have been wanting the dog. The dog will have been being wanted. *

* very rarely used

Sentences

A sentence must make sense.

It must have at least one subject (noun or pronoun) and at least one verb.

Simple sentences contain one subject and one verb. They consist of one main clause.

e.g. Jack ate
Smelly Jack happily ate the slimy, red cheese.
It was good.

Compound sentences contain at least two main clauses joined be a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but).

e.g. Jack ate and Jasmin laughed.
Smelly Jack ate the slimy cheese, but Jasmin went to India.

The two clauses in each of these compound sentences contain different information of equal importance.

Complex sentences contain one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. Subordinate clauses add information to the main clause. They do not make sense on their own.

Subordinate clauses may be formed by:

starting a clause with a subordinating conjunction;
starting a clause with a pronoun who, whom, which, that (forming a relative clause);
using a non-finite verb in a clause (forming a non-finite clause).

e.g.

Jasmine went to India because Jack ate the cheese.
If Jasmine eats the cheese, Jack will go to India.
Jasmine, who ate the cheese, went to India.
The cheese, that was inside Jack, went to India.
Eating the cheese, Jasmin laughed at Jack.
Jack, now smelling the cheese, went to India.
The cheese, wanted by Jasmine, was in India.

Punctuation in complex sentences

A subordinate clause does not need a comma if it comes after the main clause. If a subordinate clause starts the sentence, a comma should be used to show where it ends and the main clause begins. A subordinate clause, which is embedded within a sentence, has its beginning and end marked by a comma.

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