English Grammar Notes for Grade 5

1. Parts of Speech

Nouns

 Definition: A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

 Examples:

o Person: teacher, John

o Place: school, New York

o Thing: book, apple

o Idea: happiness, freedom

Verbs

 Definition: A verb is a word that shows action or a state of being.

 Examples:

o Action: run, jump, eat

o State of being: am, is, are

Adjectives

 Definition: An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

 Examples:

o tall man, blue sky, happy child

Adverbs

 Definition: An adverb is a word that describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb.

 Examples:

o Describing a verb: runs quickly

o Describing an adjective: very tall

o Describing another adverb: sings very beautifully

Pronouns

 Definition: A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.

 Examples:

o he, she, it, they, we

Prepositions

 Definition: A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun)
and other words in a sentence.
  Examples:

o The book is on the table.

o She is sitting beside him.

Conjunctions

 Definition: A conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases, or clauses.

 Examples:

o and, but, or, so, because

Interjections

 Definition: An interjection is a word or phrase that expresses strong emotion or surprise.

 Examples:

o Wow!, Oh no!, Hooray!

2. Tenses

Present Tense

 Simple Present: Describes a habitual action or general truth.

o Examples: She walks to school. The sun rises in the east.

 Present Continuous: Describes an action that is happening now.

o Examples: She is walking to school. They are playing soccer.

 Present Perfect: Describes an action that happened at an unspecified time before now.

o Examples: She has finished her homework. They have seen that movie.

Past Tense

 Simple Past: Describes an action that happened at a specific time in the past.

o Examples: She walked to school yesterday. They played soccer last week.

 Past Continuous: Describes an action that was happening at a specific time in the past.

o Examples: She was walking to school when it started to rain. They were playing
soccer when the bell rang.

 Past Perfect: Describes an action that was completed before another action in the past.

o Examples: She had finished her homework before dinner. They had left by the time
we arrived.

Future Tense

 Simple Future: Describes an action that will happen in the future.

o Examples: She will walk to school tomorrow. They will play soccer next week.
  Future Continuous: Describes an action that will be happening at a specific time in the
future.

o Examples: She will be walking to school at 8 AM. They will be playing soccer at 3
PM.

 Future Perfect: Describes an action that will be completed before another action in the
future.

o Examples: She will have finished her homework by 7 PM. They will have left by the
time we arrive.

3. Sentence Structure

Simple Sentences

 Definition: A simple sentence contains one independent clause.

 Examples: She laughed. The dog barked.

Compound Sentences

 Definition: A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a conjunction

(and, but, or, so).

 Examples: She laughed, and the dog barked. I wanted to go, but I was too tired.

Complex Sentences

 Definition: A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent
clause.

 Examples: Although it was raining, we went for a walk. She smiled because she was happy.

4. Punctuation

Periods (.)

 Usage: At the end of declarative sentences.

o Example: She went to the store.

Question Marks (?)

 Usage: At the end of interrogative sentences.

o Example: Are you coming with us?

Exclamation Marks (!)

 Usage: To show strong emotion or surprise.

o Example: Wow! That was amazing.

Commas (,)

 Usage: To separate items in a list, after introductory elements, before conjunctions in

compound sentences.
 o Examples: I bought apples, oranges, and bananas. After dinner, we went for a walk.
She likes tea, and he likes coffee.

Apostrophes (')

 Usage: To show possession or form contractions.

o Examples: It's a lovely day. Sarah's book is on the table.

Quotation Marks (" ")

 Usage: To show direct speech or quotations.

o Examples: She said, "I am tired." The book was titled "The Great Adventure."

Semicolons (;)

 Usage: To link closely related independent clauses or to separate items in a list when the
items themselves contain commas.

o Examples: She likes coffee; he prefers tea. We visited Paris, France; Rome, Italy; and
Berlin, Germany.

Colons (:)

 Usage: To introduce a list, a quote, or an explanation.

o Examples: Here are the rules: be kind, be respectful, and be punctual. He said: "Be
careful."

Parentheses ( )

 Usage: To add extra information or an afterthought.

o Example: He finally answered (after taking five minutes to think).

5. Subject-Verb Agreement

Rules:

 A singular subject takes a singular verb.

o Example: She runs fast.

 A plural subject takes a plural verb.

o Example: They run fast.

 Be careful with subjects joined by "and," "or," or "nor."

o Examples:

 The dog and the cat are friends. (plural)

 Neither the dog nor the cat is going outside. (singular)

6. Pronouns

Types of Pronouns:
  Personal Pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they

o Example: He is my friend.

 Possessive Pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs

o Example: This book is mine.

 Reflexive Pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves,

themselves

o Example: She made herself a sandwich.

 Demonstrative Pronouns: this, that, these, those

o Example: This is my house.

 Interrogative Pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, what

o Example: Who is coming to the party?

7. Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives

 Definition: Describe nouns.

o Examples: The red apple is sweet. She has a new dress.

Adverbs

 Definition: Describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

o Examples: She sings beautifully. He runs very fast.

Comparison of Adjectives:

 Positive: big, fast

 Comparative: bigger, faster (used to compare two things)

 Superlative: biggest, fastest (used to compare more than two things)

Comparison of Adverbs:

 Positive: quickly, well

 Comparative: more quickly, better

 Superlative: most quickly, best

8. Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

 Definition: Join two elements of equal importance.

o Examples: and, but, or, so, for, nor, yet

Subordinating Conjunctions
  Definition: Join a dependent clause to an independent clause.

o Examples: because, although, since, if, when, while, until

9. Homophones

Definition: Words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings.

 Examples:

o sun (the star) / son (a male child)

o to (preposition) / too (also) / two (number)

o new (not old) / knew (past tense of know)

o there (in that place) / their (possessive form of they) / they're (contraction of they
are)

o whole (entire) / hole (a gap or opening)

o paw (animal's foot) / pore (small opening in the skin) / pour (to cause liquid to flow)

o blue (color) / blew (past tense of blow)

o meet (to come together) / meat (animal flesh)

o sea (large body of saltwater) / see (to perceive with the eyes)

o hear (to perceive sound) / here (in this place)

10. Writing Sentences

Constructing Sentences

 With a noun and a verb:

o The dog barks.

 With an adjective and a noun:

o The red car is fast.

 With an adverb and a verb:

o She sings beautifully.

 With a pronoun:

o Are they coming to the party?

 With a conjunction:

o She is happy because she won.

 With a preposition:

o The cat is under the table.

 With an interjection:
 o Wow! That was amazing.

 With a homophone:

o I see the sea.

 Using the present perfect tense:

o She has finished her homework.

 Using the past perfect tense:

o He had left before I arrived.