Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation - Year 6

Detail of content introduced at Year 6

Word

• The difference between vocabulary typical of informal speech and vocabulary appropriate for formal speech and writing (eg. find out - discover,;ask for - request; go in - enter)
• How words are related by meaning as synonyms and antonyms (eg. big, large, little)

Sentence

• Use of the passive to affect the presentation of information in a sentence (eg. I broke the window in the greenhouse versus The window in the greenhouse was broken (by me))
• The difference between structures typical of informal speech and structures appropriate for formal speech and writing (eg. the use of question tags : He's your friend, isn't he?, or the use of subjunctive forms such as If I were or Were they to come in some very formal writing and speech)

Text

• Linking ideas across paragraphs using a wider range of cohesive devices : repetition of a word or phrase, grammatical connections (eg. the use of adverbials such as on the other hand, in contrast, or as a consequence), and ellipses
• Layout devices (eg. headings, sub-headings, columns, bullets, or tables, to structure text

Punctuation

• Use of the semi colon, colon and dash to mark the boundary between independent clauses (eg. It's raining; I'm fed up)
• Use of the colon to introduce a list and use of semi-colons within lists
• Punctuation of bullet points to list information
• How hyphens can be used to avoid ambiguity (eg. man eating shark versus man-eating shark, or recover versus re-cover)

Terminology

• subject, object
• active, passive
• synonym, antonym
• ellipses, hyphen, colon, semi-colon, bullet points

Words in bold can be found in our glossary