1. Which of these is a noun (a naming word)?
table
'Table' names a thing. 'Jump' is a doing word, 'quickly' tells you how, and 'happy' describes.
2. Which of these is a verb (a doing word)?
jump
'Jump' is an action, something you do. The other words name, describe or tell you how.
3. Which of these is an adjective (a describing word)?
happy
'Happy' describes how someone feels or seems. It's often placed right next to a noun.
4. Which of these is an adverb (it tells you how, when or where something happens)?
quickly
'Quickly' describes how the jumping happened. Many adverbs end in 'ly'.
5. What punctuation mark normally comes at the end of a sentence that is a statement?
A full stop
A full stop shows a sentence has finished making its point.
6. What punctuation mark goes at the end of a question?
A question mark
A question mark tells the reader the sentence is asking something.
7. Which of these words would come first in alphabetical order: cat, ant, dog, bee?
ant
Alphabetical order goes by the first letter first: a, b, c, d, so 'ant' comes before the others.
8. What is a syllable?
A beat or chunk of sound in a word
'Cat' has one syllable, but 'ele-phant' has three, one for each beat you can clap out.
9. Two words rhyme when they do what?
End with the same or a similar sound
'Cat' and 'hat' rhyme because they end with the same sound, even though they start differently.
10. What is a plural?
A word meaning more than one
'Dogs' is the plural of 'dog', showing there is more than one.
11. Where would you look to find out what a word means and how to spell it?
A dictionary
A dictionary gives you a word's spelling, meaning and often how to say it.
12. In a dictionary, words are listed in what order?
Alphabetical order
Alphabetical order lets you find a word quickly by its first, second and third letters.
13. Which word in this sentence should start with a capital letter: 'we visited wellington last week'?
Wellington
Wellington is a proper noun, the name of a place, so it always needs a capital letter.
14. What is a contraction?
Two words joined together with letters left out, like 'don't' for 'do not'
An apostrophe marks the spot where letters have been left out, like 'do not' becoming 'don't'.
15. What does the apostrophe show in the phrase 'the cat's tail'?
That the tail belongs to the cat
An apostrophe plus 's' shows ownership: the tail belongs to the cat.
16. Which pair of words are homophones (they sound the same but mean different things)?
there / their
'There' and 'their' sound identical but have completely different meanings and spellings.
17. What is a prefix?
Letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning, like 'un' in 'unhappy'
'Un' at the start of 'unhappy' flips the meaning to 'not happy'.
18. What is a suffix?
Letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning, like 'ing' in 'jumping'
'Ing' added to 'jump' shows the action is happening right now.
19. What is a simile?
A comparison using 'like' or 'as', such as 'as brave as a lion'
Similes use the words 'like' or 'as' to compare two different things.
20. Where do you usually put commas when writing a list of three or more items?
Between each item, though usually not before the final 'and'
Commas separate the items so a reader knows where one ends and the next begins.
21. What is a paragraph mainly used for?
Grouping a set of related sentences about one main idea
A paragraph keeps sentences about the same idea together, which makes writing easier to follow.
22. Most English plurals are formed by adding what to the end of a word?
s or es
'Dog' becomes 'dogs' and 'bus' becomes 'buses', both by adding 's' or 'es'.
23. What is the plural of 'child'?
children
'Child' is an irregular plural: it doesn't just add 's', it changes to 'children'.
24. What is the plural of 'mouse' (the animal)?
mice
'Mouse' is another irregular plural. It changes its middle sound to become 'mice'.
25. What is the plural of 'foot'?
feet
'Foot' changes its vowel sound to make 'feet', rather than adding 's'.
26. What is the plural of 'sheep'?
sheep, it stays the same
Some words don't change at all in the plural. One sheep, two sheep.
27. Which sentence uses an apostrophe correctly to show something belonging to more than one dog?
The dogs' bones were buried in the yard.
For a plural word already ending in 's', the apostrophe goes after the 's': dogs'.
28. Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
I packed an apple, a sandwich and a drink.
A comma separates each item in the list, making it clear there are three separate things packed.
29. Which word correctly completes this sentence: '___ going to the beach tomorrow.'
We're
'We're' is short for 'we are'. The other words sound similar but mean something completely different.
30. Which word correctly completes this sentence: 'Please put your books over ___.'
there
'There' points to a place. 'Their' shows ownership, and 'they're' means 'they are'.
31. Which word correctly completes this sentence: '___ dog is barking loudly.'
Their
'Their' shows the dog belongs to them. 'There' points to a place, and 'they're' means 'they are'.
32. Which punctuation mark is missing from this sentence: 'Are you coming to the party'
A question mark
The sentence is asking something, so it needs a question mark, not a full stop.
33. What is the difference between a statement and an exclamation, in terms of punctuation?
A statement ends with a full stop, an exclamation ends with an exclamation mark to show strong feeling
The exclamation mark signals excitement, surprise or strong feeling that a full stop doesn't carry.
34. Which word is spelled correctly?
definitely
'Definitely' comes from 'definite', which is why it's spelled with an 'i' in the middle, not an 'a'.
35. Which of these words is spelled correctly?
because
'Because' is one of those words that's easiest to learn by remembering its shape, since the sound alone doesn't give away the spelling.
36. Why might a writer choose to start a new paragraph?
To signal a new idea, a change in time, or a change in speaker
A new paragraph is a signal to the reader that something has shifted, a new idea, a new moment, or a new voice.
37. Which sentence correctly uses a comma after an introductory phrase and commas in a list?
After school, Mia packed her bag, tied her shoes and left.
The comma after 'After school' separates the introduction from the main sentence, and the list commas separate each action.
38. Which of these words can be either a noun or a verb, depending on how it's used in a sentence?
run
'Run' can be a verb ('I run fast') or a noun ('I went for a run'). Its job depends on the sentence around it.
39. In the sentence 'The dog that lives next door barked all night', what job is the phrase 'that lives next door' doing?
It gives extra information describing which dog
This kind of phrase adds detail about which dog is meant, without being the main action of the sentence.
40. Which sentence correctly uses an apostrophe to show something belonging to James, a name that already ends in 's'?
James's bike is red.
The usual rule for a singular name is to add an apostrophe and an 's', even when the name already ends in 's'.
41. Which prefix means 'again', as in the word 'rewrite'?
re-
'Re-' shows something is being done again, like 'rewrite' meaning to write again.
42. Which sentence shows correct agreement between the subject and the verb?
The group of students is going on a trip.
'Group' is one single thing, even though it's made of many students, so it takes the singular verb 'is'.
43. Which sentence uses the word 'too' correctly?
I want to come too.
'Too' meaning 'also' comes at the end here. 'To' is used before the word 'come', showing direction or purpose.
44. Which of these sentences is a simile rather than a metaphor?
The moon was like a silver coin.
A simile uses 'like' or 'as' to compare two things. A metaphor says one thing simply is the other, with no 'like' or 'as'.
45. Which sentence uses capital letters correctly?
We went to New Zealand last summer.
'New Zealand' is a proper noun and always needs capitals, but season names like 'summer' don't need one.
46. Which sentence correctly uses 'its' and 'it's'?
It's raining, so the dog hid in its kennel.
'It's' is short for 'it is'. 'Its' with no apostrophe shows something belongs to it, like the dog's own kennel.
47. Adding both 'un' and 'ly' to 'happy' in the right order gives which word?
unhappily
'Un' goes on the front to flip the meaning, and the 'y' changes to an 'i' before adding 'ly' at the end.
48. Which spelling is correct when adding '-ing' to the word 'run'?
running
Short words with one vowel before a final consonant, like 'run', often double that consonant before adding 'ing'.
49. Which spelling is correct when adding '-ed' to the word 'hope'?
hoped
Words ending in a silent 'e', like 'hope', drop the 'e' before adding 'ed'. This is different from the doubling rule for words like 'hop'.
50. Which sentence correctly joins two ideas using a comma and a joining word?
I wanted to go outside, but it was raining.
When joining two complete ideas with a word like 'but', the comma goes just before the joining word, not after it.