Knowledge of Language Signposts

How words are made
This group of signposts should be considered in conjunction with the school’s phonics programme
26 letters in the alphabet / Vowels & Consonants / The letter y can be a vowel or a consonant / Syllables / Parts of words
Prefix/Stem/Suffix / Word families
Types of words
Noun / Singular/Plural Nouns / Common nouns
Proper nouns / Collective nouns / Abstract nouns
Verb / Verb Stem and suffix
(suffix indicating tense) / Infinitive verb (to__)
Present participle (__ing) past participle (__ed) / ‘Shall’ after I/we
‘Will’ after he/she/you/it/they / Active/Passive Voice
Adjective / Positive
Comparative (r/er)
Superlative (st/est) / Use comparatives and superlatives to convey tone or enthusiasm
Adverb / Adverbs of manner
(-ly) / Adverbs of place, time, or degree / Adverbial phrases
Pronoun / Personal pronouns / Relative pronouns
(who, which, what, that, whom)
Conjunction / And
But
Because / And
But – change/contrast
Since/because - reason
If - condition / Use a range of conjunctions / Repeating/omitting conjunctions for effect / Conjunctions can go at the beginning of sentences: e.g. Although
Prepositions / Prepositions of time and place / Between (two)
Among (more than two)
How Words Are Put Together:
A sentence is a group of words that make sense standing on their own. / A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. / A sentence has a subject and a predicate. The predicate includes a verb. / Full stops, exclamation marks and question marks indicate that a sentence has ended.
Punctuation also gives the added information that the sentence is a statement, question or exclamation.
Punctuation can be used to separate parts of a sentence. / Complex sentences have two or more verbs.
Subordinate clauses can be introduced by words such as who, which, that, when, after
Sentences can be joined together with conjunctions. / Common conjunctions, e.g.
And
But
Because / Conjunction have different purposes:
And
But – change/contrast
Because - reason
Since – reason
If – condition / Repeating/ omitting conjunctions for effect / Conjunctions can go at the beginning of sentences, e.g.
Although, despite
A paragraph is a collection of sentences which are all about the same subject. / Start a new paragraph when changing to a new topic, a different aspect of the topic, or the next part in the sequence / The first sentence of a paragraph is most often the topic sentence. / Add similar points using words/phrases such as:
Furthermore
In the same way
Similarly / Introduce different points to the previous one using words/phrases such as:
Nevertheless
On the other hand
In contrast / Introduce drawing a conclusion using words/phrases such as:
As a result of
Therefore
Consequently
Thus
Recognisepausing punctuation / A comma is used as a pause betweenitems in a list of items. / A comma shows a pause in a sentence. / A colon is an ‘introducing pause’.
It points forward to a quotation, an explanation or a more detailed description. / A semi colon is a ‘finishing’ pause. It often comes between two statements that contrast or are closely connected.
Speech marks
enclose the actual words used by the speaker. / Punctuation belonging to the direct speech goes inside the speech marks. / The full stop is replaced by a comma if the direct speech is followed by a verb of speaking. / Speech marks should never be used back to back. Take a new paragraph whenever speech marks are opened..
Recogniseapostrophes / An apostrophe can indicate a missing letter in an abbreviation. / An apostrophe is used with the letter ‘s’ to show possession / In the singular, apostrophes go before the s
In plurals, the apostrophe goes after the s. / ‘ it’s ’ means ‘it is’
How words are used
26 letters in the alphabet / The alphabet is used to organise words. / We can locate words in a dictionary quickly by using the alphabet
Similes / Metaphor / Personification
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration
Colloquial language / Standard English/Formal English/Informal English / Register and Tone
Understand the concept of specialist vocabulary (register)

Original idea developed by Humbie Primary School 2009 - 2010