Year 5 Grammar B Exercises: Answers

Year 5 Grammar B Exercises: Answers

Exercise 1.1 B Identifying pronouns*

1. Jessica grabbed the torch, which was sitting on the bedside table. It was covered with a layer of dust. She blew on it and flicked the button to switch it on. The torch turned on, flickered twice and then it went out again. Jessica shook her head and then slipped her hand into the top drawer of her bedside table, where she kept a random assortment of bits and bobs, and rooted around for fresh batteries. “Found them,” she muttered to her stuffed animals, who were lined up on her bed. As soon as she had fitted the fresh batteries, the torch came back to life. Jessica stuffed it in her backpack and headed out the door to join the spooky Halloween trail.

2. Jessica hurried towards the old, abandoned school, where the spooky Halloween trail was to start. She thought that the school was an excellent choice. It was very spooky with its tall towers and crumbling roof tiles. Mrs Beacham, who would be leading the trail, was standing to one side with an excited group of children. Jessica ran towards them, gripping her backpack tightly and dodging puddles on the ground. She arrived next to her two best friends from school, Sandeep and Helena, who were facing away from her. She tapped them on their shoulders. “I am so glad you are here!” squealed Helena, “We were afraid that you were going to miss it!” “Will you hold my hand if it gets too scary?” asked Sandeep. Jessica smiled and promised him that she would.

3. Jessica, Sandeep and Helena followed Mrs Beacham as she walked away from the abandoned school and towards the nearby woodland. They looked up at the clock, which struck eight o’clock as they passed by. The bells, that had been chiming the hour for more than thirty years, rang out across the town of Newhaven. It was a quiet town and at eight o’clock on the last day of October, most of the townspeople were tucked up in their homes, watching TV snuggled on their sofas. Jessica huddled down inside her jacket as they entered the woods. She was glad that she had her friends with her. Just as they arrived at a clearing in the woods, a group of adults jumped out of the trees into the open. They were dressed as vampires, werewolves and zombies, carrying pretend weapons and with their faces painted!

4. Sandeep screamed as a pretend zombie lunged towards him, holding her arms out menacingly. Sandeep tripped over his laces, which had come undone on the walk into the woods, and he fell into Jessica. Jessica laughed as she helped him back to his feet. “Sandeep,” she said, “that’s your Mum dressed up as a zombie!” Jessica was right. “Wow, Mrs. Patel,” said Helena, who hadn’t recognised her friend’s Mum either, “you really scared us!” The children and adults all had a good laugh and Sandeep gave his mother a big hug. Mrs Beacham, who had been watching and smiling, clapped her hands. Then she introduced them to the other adults, who were all smiling under their face-paint! Later that night, while lying in her bed, Jessica thought that it had been the best Halloween tour yet.

*Sometimes words like ‘his’ are possessive pronouns, e.g. the book was his. Sometimes they are possessive determiners, i.e. possessive pronouns acting as adjectives, e.g. It was his book. It is not necessary to make this distinction with children.

NB. it’s = it is, so the pronoun is its (no apostrophe as no missing letter)

Exercise 1.2 B Categorising pronouns

Pronoun / Personal pronoun / Possessive* pronoun / Relative pronoun
you /
his /
which /
your /
that /
him /
I /
hers /
it /
who /
their /
me /

*Sometimes words like ‘his’ are possessive pronouns, e.g. the book was his. Sometimes they are possessive determiners, i.e. possessive pronouns acting as adjectives, e.g. It was his book. It is not necessary to make this distinction with children.

Exercise 1.3 B Categorising pronouns

Sentence / Personal pronouns / Possessive pronouns* / Relative pronouns
My elephant has one red foot which he dyed by standing in blackcurrant jam when he was just a young calf. / he
he / my / which
The vampire, who had loved to drink blood since he was bitten, reached his hands towards my face. / he / his
my / who
Your sister has really pretty eyes; I love the way that they sparkle. / I
they / Your
The book of magic spells, which was open on his table, seemed to call to him. / him / his / which
The bagpipe player, who had been polishing his pipes for weeks, was upset when my octopus climbed on his back! / his
my
his / who
The king, who loved the jester he had sent to his daughter, asked me to sing for him instead. / he
me
him / his / who
The old castle, where the witches held their knitting competitions, looked very scary to me. / me / their / where
He grabbed her hand and pressed the doorbell which shone with a magic glow. / He / her / which
John, who is a bit mad, was looking for mermaids in your bath with his socks on! / your
his / who
I want to find the cat that scared my dog! / I / my / that
She knew that her peacock would win its first race. / She / her
its
Are you the wizard who sent me a jar of pickled toadstools? / You
me / who

*Sometimes words like ‘his’ are possessive pronouns, e.g. the book was his. Sometimes they are, strictly, possessive determiners, i.e. possessive pronouns acting as adjectives, e.g. It was his book. It is not necessary to make this distinction with children.

Exercise 1.4 Pronouns

1. The ogre grabbed the sewing kit that was on his window sill.

He looked at the quilt that he had been working on for twenty years.

His mother, who had introduced him to sewing, smiled down on him.

She was in a picture on the wall, wearing her best polka dot hat.

He still had the hat, which had convinced the villagers that ogres aren’t dangerous, and kept it proudly on display on his wall.

Personal pronouns / Possessive pronouns* / Relative pronouns
He, he, him, him, She, He, it / his, his, her, his / that, who, which

2. The pirate ship, which was painted black, seemed to lean on its side.

It looked deserted but you can never tell when pirates are being sneaky!

The captain put down his telescope and closed it as he pondered the ship.

If they were lucky, the crew might find treasure aboard the ship, he thought.

The first mate, who was a cautious man, shook his head.

Personal pronouns / Possessive pronouns* / Relative pronouns
It, you, it, he, they, he / its, his, his / which, who

3. Sir Barry, who was not a successful knight, was determined to be a hero.

He received an electronic pigeon from some villagers, who were very worried.

They had heard that a dragon was nesting in a volcano nearby and it was getting ready to attack the village.

When he heard this, Barry ran to the stable, where his trusty steed Mabel lived.

Mabel tossed her head in excitement when Barry strode in wearing his armour!

Personal pronouns / Possessive pronouns* / Relative pronouns
He, They, it, he / his, her, his / who, who, where

4. In a cave near the top of the volcano, which was active but hadn’t erupted for years, sat the dragon, its tail wrapped around its hind legs.

Sir Barry dug his heels into Mabel’s side and she snorted loudly.

Barry and Mabel made their way up the side of the volcano, which was steep.

Barry listened to the volcano report on his mp3 player.

It was not predicted to erupt so he sighed and mopped his brow.

Personal pronouns / Possessive pronouns* / Relative pronouns
she, It, he / its, its, his, their, his, his / which, which

5. The dragon, who had its ears tuned to the sounds of Barry and Mabel’s approach, stretched.

Mabel put her head around the edge of the cave and then quickly backed away when she saw what was sitting inside it!

Barry slid off the saddle, which was high up for a knight as short as him.

He gathered his courage and went into the cave to face the dragon.

“Welcome Barry,” said the dragon, “Would you like a cup of tea?

Personal pronouns / Possessive pronouns* / Relative pronouns
she, it, him, He, you / its, her, his / who, which

6. I grabbed the first goblin that came out of the cave, he was stinky!

The goblin leader, who was wearing a yellow crown, aimed a spear at my head.

I ducked and it flew over me, crashing into a tree where it stayed quivering.

The goblins were proving too many for us, so I grabbed the spear and threw it at the goblin leader. Our only chance was to stop him.

The spear bounced off his crown and he fell off the rock that he had stood on and fell unconscious to the floor. I had saved the day!

Personal pronouns / Possessive pronouns* / Relative pronouns
I, he, I, it, me, it, us, I, it, Our, him, he, he, I / my, his / who, that

*Sometimes words like ‘his’ are possessive pronouns, e.g. the book was his. Sometimes they are, strictly, possessive determiners, i.e. possessive pronouns acting as adjectives, e.g. It was his book. It is not necessary to make this distinction with children.

Exercise 1.5 B Personal pronouns

1. My name is Dilip and I love to cook and bake. I love to be in my kitchen, it is beautiful, big and filled with all my favourite pots and pans. My grandma taught me to cook. She is amazing, combining brilliant flavours and creating lovely dishes. Her banana and raisin rock cakes are legendary. They are very popular when I take them to school. All of her cakes are delicious and she only ever uses old-fashioned methods. She doesn’t even own a blender! All of my friends love coming to tea at my house because we will always have something tasty for pudding, courtesy of my grandma.

Pronoun / Refers to
I
I
it
me
She
They
I
them
she
She
we / Dilip
Dilip
the kitchen
Dilip
Grandma
rock cakes
Dilip
the rock cakes
Grandma
Grandma
Dilip’s family

2. The troll grabbed his club and stalked towards the entrance to the castle. It loomed over him, dark and forbidding. He hefted the club in his right hand and bashed three times on the door with his left hand. Inside the castle the dragon was sleeping. Every time she snored, small flames shot out of her nose! She woke up at the sound of the banging on the door and she stretched her wings. Dragons are not known for their patience or good moods when they are woken up! The troll roared and stamped his feet as the dragon swooped out of the upstairs window. It was not the best first date ever!

Pronoun / Refers to
It
him
He
she
She
she
they
It / the castle
the troll
the troll
the dragon
the dragon
the dragon
dragons
the date

3. Jon and Isabelle were running hard. They got to the edge of the field and looked at the series of obstacles ahead of them. Jon laughed out loud as he jumped over the first hurdle. Isabelle giggled as she slid through the mud underneath it and jumped back to her feet. “Wow,” said Jon, “you are covered in mud now!” “It makes me work harder!” she laughed as she accelerated towards the next obstacle. She was first to reach the rope swing and she swung over the river. Jon didn’t want to wait for the rope to come back so he waded through the river instead. With all this training, they were going to win the big race.

Pronoun / Refers to
They
them
he
she
it
you
it
me
she
She
she
he
they / Jon and Isabelle
Jon and Isabelle
Jon
Isabelle
the hurdle
Isabelle
the mud covering her
Isabelle
Isabelle
Isabelle
Isabelle
Jon
Jon and Isabelle

4. Stella the mermaid swam down through the ocean towards the sunken ship. She flapped her tail and swam towards it. The other mermaids rarely visited the ship, they thought it was boring. Stella loved it though, she thought it was a magical place and always imagined how it had been 100 years ago before it sank. Stella knew that the ship had been a pirate ship, sailing around until it was sunk by a rival pirate ship. Imagining the final battle made Stella excited every time. She longed for adventure and dreamt of pirate battles while brushing the seaweed out of her hair.

Pronoun / Refers to
She
it
they
it
it
she
it
it
it
it
She / Stella
the ship
the other mermaids
the ship
the ship
Stella
the ship
the ship
the ship
the ship
Stella

5. Derek knew that he wasn’t like the other robots. They were more advanced in many ways but Derek didn’t think that was the problem. The difference between him and the other robots was that they didn’t like their human masters. That worried Derek, he wanted to protect the humans. They had always been good to him and he enjoyed his work in the custard factory. One Monday morning, on his way to the factory, Derek decided to tell the human foreman about his worries. The humans told him that they were aware of the mutterings but that, advanced as the other robots were, they couldn’t attack or even disobey humans!

Pronoun / Refers to
he
They
him
they
he
They
him
he
him
they / Derek
the other robots
Derek
the other robots
Derek
the humans
Derek
Derek
Derek
the other robots

6. Ranjit the werewolf was prepared for the swingball tournament. He knew that the vampires had won the last three years running. They had the advantage of supernatural speed and reactions. Ranjit didn’t let that trouble him though. He had been training all summer, building up his strength. Werewolves were naturally stronger than vampires anyway and with all of the training, Ranjit knew that he would be the strongest person in the tournament. On the day of the tournament, when the third vampire had a bat destroyed by the power of Ranjit’s swing, he was declared the winner.