Pupils are introduced to a variety of word classes in KS1 and KS2 and they are expected to use and understand these when discussing their writing. This resource pack includes all of the word classes that pupils are expected to know, with a definition, example and challenge question on each poster. These resources can be used to support revisiting terminology previously taught and could help year 6 in preparation for end of key stage assessments (SATs).
The posters could be used as part of a working wall, encouraging pupils to answer the challenge questions and add examples of sentences they have read or written themselves that include each word class to create an interactive display.
Which word classes are included in this KS2 resource?
- noun
- adjective
- verb
- adverb
- conjunction
- preposition
- pronoun
- determiner
What are word classes?
Words have different purposes within a sentence. They belong to different word classes depending on the job that they do within a sentence. A word can belong to more than one word class.
Nouns are words that name people, places, objects, thoughts, ideas and feelings. There are different types of nouns, including proper, common, concrete, abstract and collective.
Pronouns are words that can be used in a sentence to replace a noun or noun phrase. Personal pronouns (I, me, my, we, they, you, ours) refer to people or things already known. Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs) indicates who owns the thing in the sentence. Relative pronouns (that, which, who, whom, whose, where, when) introduce a clause which gives more information about a noun.
Adjectives are words that usually come before a noun and modify it, adding description or specifying which person or object it is. In this sentence ‘The bright sun is high in the blue sky’. the adjectives ‘bright’ and ‘blue’ describe the sun and sky. In the sentence ‘We need plain flour for the recipe.’ the adjective ‘plain’ is specifying which flour we need.
Verbs are words that can identify an action in a sentence. Other verbs join the subject to a description of it and are link verbs. Examples of these include the following: was/were, is/are and be. Modal verbs can be added to verbs to show possibility, likelihood or urgency.
Adverbs are words that modify verbs but can also modify adjectives, other adverbs or whole sentences. They can give the answers to the following questions within a sentence: How …? When …?, Where…?, How often…? or How much …?
Adverbs can, but do not always, end with the suffix -ly.
A preposition is a word that is used before a noun, pronoun or noun phrase. Prepositions can link these to a verb, another noun or an adjective. The most common preposition is of. Other prepositions can show position or direction, timing and a link or relationship.
Determiners are used before a noun or at the beginning of a noun phrase. They show which noun, how many or how much. Examples of determiners include a, the, some, one, and every. Some determiners are possessive and shows who something belongs to. Possessive determiners are my, your, his, her, its, our and their.
National Curriculum programme of study links
- Pupils should be taught to use and understand the grammatical terminology in English Appendix 2 accurately and appropriately in discussing their writing and reading.