English Language Guide: Grade 4 English Home Language

Sentence Structure

• Definition: A sentence is a group of words.
• Capitalization: Starts with a capital letter; followed by small letters.
• Ending Punctuation: Ends with a full stop (.), a question mark (?), or an exclamation mark (!).

Types of Sentences

1. Statement
   • Provides information.
   • Ends with a full stop (e.g., "Sarah is going to school.").
2. Question
   • Asks for information.
   • Ends with a question mark (e.g., "Where did Sarah go?").
3. Exclamation
   • Shows emotion.
   • Ends with an exclamation mark (e.g., "I’m not speaking to you!").
4. Command
   • Gives orders or instructions.
   • Ends with an exclamation point (e.g., "Do not enter this room!").

Sentence Components

• Subject and Predicate
  • Subject: Who or what the sentence is about.
  • Predicate: Describes what the subject is doing.

Predicate Elements

• Verb: Action in the sentence.
• Direct Object: Follows the verb.
• Indirect Object: Indicates to whom or for whom.

Punctuation

Capital Letters

1. Sentence beginnings.
2. Names of places and people.
3. Titles of movies and books.

Other Punctuation

• Full-stop (.): Ends a sentence; used in abbreviations.
• Question Mark (?): Ends a question.
• Exclamation Mark (!): Ends commands or emotional statements.
• Comma (,): Separates items in a list.
• Apostrophe (‘): Used in contractions (e.g., "We’ve").

Parts of Speech

1. Noun: Naming word.
   • Proper Noun: Specific names (e.g., Mr. Jones).
   • Common Noun: General items (e.g., desks).
   • Collective Noun: Groups (e.g., a class of learners).
   • Abstract Noun: Intangible concepts (e.g., intelligence).
2. Pronoun: Replaces nouns (e.g., she, it).
3. Adjective: Describes nouns (e.g., talented).
4. Verb: Action word (e.g., play).
5. Adverb: Describes verbs (e.g., fast).
6. Conjunction: Connects sentences (e.g., and).
7. Preposition: Shows relation (e.g., on, behind).

Plurals

1. Regular: Add "s" (e.g., houses).
2. Ending in -ch, -sh, -s, -ss, -x: Add "-es" (e.g., churches).
3. Ending in -ay, -ey, -oy, -uy, -iy: Add "-s" (e.g., monkeys).
4. Consonant + y: Change "y" to "-ies" (e.g., skies).
5. Ending in f or fe: Change to "-ves" (e.g., knives).

Articles

• Definite: "the," specific reference.
• Indefinite: "a/an," general reference.
  • "An" before vowels.
  • "A" before consonants.

Direct and Indirect Speech

• Direct Speech: Exact words with inverted commas (e.g., "There will be no homework.").
• Indirect Speech: Reported words without specific punctuation.

Tenses

• Past Tense: Actions that happened (e.g., "lived").
• Present Tense: Actions happening now (e.g., "plays").
• Future Tense: Actions that will happen (e.g., "will go").

Word Formation

• Prefix: Before main word (e.g., "unhappy").
• Suffix: After main word (e.g., "happiness").

Synonyms and Homonyms

• Synonyms: Words with similar meanings (e.g., big, large).
• Homonyms: Same spelling, different meanings (e.g., ball).
• Homophones: Same sound, different spellings (e.g., aloud/allowed).

Idioms

• Figurative expressions (e.g., "Once in a blue moon" - rare occurrence).