Active Grammar 1 - Nigel Turton 2007
Unit 1 Writing
• The alphabet
• Small letters
• Capital letters
• Punctuation
● The alphabet (the ABC)
Sally is writing notes to some of her friends.
Read the note to Wendy and you will know why.
3rd June
Dear Wendy,
It's my birthday on Saturday and I'm having a party at my house. The party starts at three o'clock and ends at five. I hope that you can come.
Lisa, Tom, Jill and Mat will be there. We are going to sing songs, dance and play party games. We are going to have lots of fun.
Love from,
Sally
When you write, you put letters together to make words. Sally's note begins with two words:
Dear Wendy
There are four letters in the first word.
Dear
There are five letters in the second word.
Wendy
Reminder
Say: Wendy has five letters.
Don’t say: Wendy has five alphabets.
You use lots of different letters to make words.
There are 26 letters altogether:
b f z j u k i w h r l p a s v o q n e t y d g x c m
This set of 26 letters is called the alphabet. When you learn the alphabet you learn the letters in this order:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
These letters are in alphabetical order.
PRACTICE
1 Which name in each group has the most letters? Circle it.
Kim Lucy Ali Luke Jill Emma Simon
2 Which letters are missing? Can you name them?
abcd _ fghij _ Imno _ qrst _ vwxyz
3 Which letter does each group of words begin with? Write the letter in the space provided.
a key kite kitten kettle ...
b bicycle balloon bee butterfly ...
c tap telephone tiger train ...
4 Put the letters in each group in alphabetical order.
a e d c b s r t c i g h
● Small letters
(abcde)
When you write, you use small letters and big letters.
Dear Wendy,
It's my birthday on Saturday and I'm having a party at my house. The party starts at...
Small letters look like this:
● Capital letters
(ABCDE)
Some words begin with a big letter:
Dear Wendy
It's my birthday on Saturday and I'm having a party at my house. The party starts at...
Big letters are called capital letters (or just capitals). They look like this:
REMINDER
Each small letter has its own capital letter.
You use a capital letter for:
● the beginning of a sentence:
The party starts at three o'clock and ends at five.
● the name of someone:
Lisa, Tom, Jill and Mat will be there.
REMINDER
The first word in а sentence begins with a capital letter.
● the word I:
It's my birthday on Saturday and I'm having a party at my house.
● the name of a day or month:
It's my birthday on Saturday ...
3rd June
● the first word in a greeting or closing:
Dear Wendy,
Love from, Sally
PRACTICE
1 Some letters in these sentences are not right. Circle them.
a My cAt is calleD Wilson.
b He is Good at catcHing micE.
c ThE mice Do not like Wilson.
2 Which words in these sentences should begin with a capital letter? Circle them.
a my best friend is called nina.
b on Sunday my father and i are going fishing.
c are you going to Sally's party?
● Punctuation
When you write, you use punctuation marks.
These little signs help to make your meaning clear.
• the full stop (.)
You use a full stop to mark the end of a sentence.
The party starts at three o'clock and ends at five.
REMINDER
A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
• the comma (,)
1 You use a comma between two things in a list.
Lisa, Tom, Jill and Mat will be there.
2 Between the last two things in a list you use and.
Lisa, Tom, Jill and Mat will be there.
3 You also use a comma after a greeting or closing.
Dear Wendy,
Love from,
• the apostrophe (')
When you write, you sometimes leave out a letter and join two words together. You use an apostrophe to show where a letter is missing.
It’s my birthday...
I’m having a party ...
Did you know?
I’m = I am
you’re = you are
she’s = she is
he’s = he is
it’s = it is
we’re = we are
they’re = they are
Sometimes you leave out two letters:
We’ll all have lots of fun.
Did you know?
I’ll = I will
you’ll = you will
she’ll = she will
he’ll = he will
it’ll = it will
we’ll = we will
they’ll = they will
PRACTICE
1 Insert full stops (.) for the sentences below and circle the words that should begin with a capital letter.
a My cat is called Wilson he is good at catching mice
b The mice do not like Wilson they are frightened of him
2 In each sentence, put in the missing commas (,).
a Wilson eats fish chicken beef and ice cream.
b He has a white face black ears blue eyes a black nose and a pink tongue.
3 In each sentence, put in the missing apostrophe (').
a When its raining, Wilson stays indoors.
b Hes very fat because he eats too much.
с I think youll like Wilson when you see him.