English Grammar Rules for Grade 4 to 7
All the important English grammar rules on one page, each with a right and a wrong example. Choose your grade to see only your rules.
✓ right ✗ wrong Gr 5+ = from Grade 5
The verb to be: am, is, are, was, were
- Gr 4+
Now: I am · you are · he, she, it is · we are · they are.
✓She is my friend. They are late.
✗She
aremy friend. Theyislate. - Gr 4+
Yesterday: I was · you were · he, she, it was · we were · they were.
✓We were at school. He was tired.
✗We
wasat school. - Gr 4+
You always takes are or were, even when you talk to one person.
✓You are kind. You were right.
✗You
iskind. Youwasright. - Gr 4+
Have and has: I, you, we, they have; he, she, it has.
✓She has a dog. They have two cats.
✗She
havea dog.
The verb matches the subject
- Gr 4+
One person or thing (he, she, it) in the present tense: the verb takes an ‑s.
✓The dog barks. She plays netball.
✗The dog
bark. - Gr 4+
More than one: no ‑s on the verb.
✓The dogs bark. They play netball.
✗The dogs
barks. - Gr 4+
Doesn’t for he, she, it; don’t for I, you, we, they.
✓He doesn’t know. We don’t know.
✗He
don’tknow. - Gr 4+
There is for one; there are for many.
✓There is one apple. There are three apples.
✗There
isthree apples. - Gr 5+
Each, every, everyone, somebody, nobody are singular.
✓Everyone has a pencil. Nobody was there.
✗Everyone
havea pencil. - Gr 5+
Find the real subject; ignore the words in between.
✓The box of pencils is on the desk.
✗The box of pencils
areon the desk. - Gr 6+
Neither … nor / either … or: the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
✓Neither Thabo nor Sipho is here.
Tenses: past, present and future
- Gr 4+
Simple present for habits and facts.
✓I walk to school every day. Water boils at 100 °C.
- Gr 4+
Present continuous (am/is/are + ‑ing) for what is happening now.
✓Look! It is raining.
✗Look! It
rainsnow. - Gr 4+
Simple past: most verbs add ‑ed.
✓Yesterday we played soccer.
✗Yesterday we
playsoccer. - Gr 4+
Future: will + verb.
✓Tomorrow I will visit Gran.
- Gr 4+
Stay in one tense when you tell a story.
✓Yesterday I went to the shop and bought milk.
✗Yesterday I
goto the shop and bought milk. - Gr 5+
Present perfect (has/have + third form): it happened and still matters now.
✓I have finished my homework.
- Gr 6+
Past perfect (had + third form): what happened first of two past events.
✓The bus had left when we arrived.
Irregular verbs
- Gr 4+
Some verbs do not take ‑ed: learn their three forms.
✓go – went – gone · see – saw – seen · eat – ate – eaten · write – wrote – written
✗I
goedhome. - Gr 4+
The third form goes with has, have or had.
✓I have done it. The bell has rung.
✗I
have didit. The bellhas rang. - Gr 5+
Learn them in families: sing – sang – sung; bring, buy, think → brought, bought, thought.
✓swim – swam – swum · catch – caught – caught · teach – taught – taught
✗He
catchedthe ball.
Words people mix up
- Gr 4+
their = belongs to them · there = a place · they’re = they are.
✓They’re putting their bags over there.
✗
Theirgoing home. - Gr 4+
your = belongs to you · you’re = you are.
✓You’re holding your book.
✗
Yourmy best friend. - Gr 4+
its = belongs to it · it’s = it is.
✓It’s wagging its tail.
✗The dog wagged
it’stail. - Gr 4+
to = towards · too = also or too much · two = 2.
✓The two of us went to town too.
✗It is
tohot. - Gr 5+
than compares · then = at that time or next.
✓She is taller than me. Then we ate.
✗She is taller
thenme. - Gr 5+
were (past of are) · where (place) · we’re (we are).
✓Where were you? We’re here.
- Gr 6+
could have, should have, would have: never of.
✓I could have won.
✗I could
ofwon.
Capital letters
- Gr 4+
Start every sentence with a capital letter.
✓The sun is out.
- Gr 4+
The word I is always a capital, even in the middle of a sentence.
✓Sipho and I went home.
✗Sipho and
iwent home. - Gr 4+
Names of people, places, days, months, languages and festivals take capitals.
✓On Monday Lerato speaks Afrikaans in Durban.
- Gr 4+
Seasons do not take a capital in English.
✓We swim in summer.
✗We swim in
Summer.
Spelling rules
- Gr 4+
Short vowel + one consonant: double it before ‑ing, ‑ed, ‑er.
✓hop → hopping · big → bigger · stop → stopped
✗
stoped - Gr 4+
Drop the silent e before ‑ing.
✓make → making · ride → riding
✗
makeing - Gr 4+
Consonant + y: change the y to i.
✓happy → happiness · cry → cried
✗
happyness - Gr 4+
i before e, except after c (usually).
✓believe · field · receive
✗
beleive
Plurals
- Gr 4+
Most words add ‑s; words ending in s, sh, ch, x add ‑es.
✓books · buses · dishes · boxes
✗
boxs - Gr 4+
Consonant + y → ‑ies; vowel + y → ‑s.
✓babies · cities · boys · days
✗
babys - Gr 4+
Many words ending in f / fe → ‑ves.
✓leaf → leaves · knife → knives
✗
knifes - Gr 4+
Some change completely; some stay the same.
✓man → men · child → children · mouse → mice · sheep → sheep
✗
childs - Gr 6+
Some words ending in o add ‑es.
✓tomatoes · potatoes · heroes
The apostrophe (’)
- Gr 4+
One owner: ’s.
✓the dog’s bone · Thabo’s bag
- Gr 4+
More owners ending in s: only ’.
✓the girls’ bags
- Gr 4+
Plurals without s: ’s.
✓the children’s toys · the men’s room
- Gr 4+
A plain plural takes no apostrophe.
✓Apples for sale.
✗
Apple’sfor sale. - Gr 4+
Contractions: the ’ stands where letters are left out.
✓do not → don’t · I am → I’m · will not → won’t
✗
do’nt
Nouns and a / an
- Gr 4+
Use an before a vowel sound and a before a consonant sound.
✓an apple · an hour · a university · a dog
✗
aapple - Gr 4+
A collective noun names a group.
✓a herd of cattle · a swarm of bees · a troop of monkeys
- Gr 5+
Uncountable words (water, rice, advice) take some, not a.
✓Can I have some advice?
✗Can I have
an advice? - Gr 5+
An abstract noun is something you cannot touch.
✓kindness · freedom · happiness
Pronouns: I or me?
- Gr 4+
Take the other person away and listen: if it sounds right alone, it is right together.
✓Sipho and I went (I went). Mum gave Sipho and me a sweet (gave me).
✗Mum gave Sipho and
Ia sweet. - Gr 4+
Subject: I, he, she, we, they. Object: me, him, her, us, them.
✓She called him.
✗
Hercalledhe. - Gr 4+
Possessives with no apostrophe: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.
✓The bag is hers.
✗The bag is
her’s. - Gr 5+
who for people · which for things · whose for ownership.
✓the boy who won · the book which I read · the girl whose bag is red
✗the boy
whichwon
Degrees of comparison
- Gr 4+
Two things: ‑er … than. Three or more: the ‑est.
✓Sipho is taller than Thabo. He is the tallest of all.
- Gr 4+
Long words take more and most; never use both.
✓more beautiful · most important
✗
more taller·most biggest - Gr 4+
Learn the odd ones.
✓good – better – best · bad – worse – worst · many – more – most
✗
gooder·baddest - Gr 5+
fewer for things you can count; less for things you cannot.
✓fewer apples · less water
✗
lessapples
Adjectives and adverbs
- Gr 4+
An adjective describes a noun; an adverb describes a verb.
✓a quick runner · she runs quickly
✗she runs
quick - Gr 5+
good is the adjective; well is the adverb.
✓a good swimmer · she swims well
✗she swims
good - Gr 5+
Not every word ending in ‑ly is an adverb.
✓a friendly dog · a lovely day (adjectives)
Prepositions and conjunctions
- Gr 4+
at a time · on a day or date · in a month, year or season.
✓at 3 o’clock · on Monday · in June · in winter
✗
onJune ·inMonday - Gr 4+
and adds · but contrasts · so gives a result · because gives a reason.
✓It rained, so we stayed in. We stayed in because it rained.
Punctuation
- Gr 4+
. ends a statement · ? ends a question · ! shows strong feeling.
✓Where is my bag? Watch out!
- Gr 4+
Commas separate the items in a list.
✓We bought apples, pears and bananas.
- Gr 4+
A comma before or after the name of the person you talk to.
✓Come here, Aisha.
- Gr 4+
An indirect question ends with a full stop.
✓She asked where the hall was.
✗She asked where the hall was
? - Gr 5+
A colon (:) comes before a list.
✓Bring three things: a pen, a ruler and glue.
- Gr 6+
A semicolon (;) joins two sentences that belong together.
✓It was late; we went home.
Direct and reported speech
- Gr 4+
The exact words go in inverted commas; the comma or full stop goes inside them.
✓“I am tired,” said Mia.
✗“I am tired”
,said Mia. - Gr 5+
Reported speech: no inverted commas, and usually one tense back.
✓Mia said that she was tired.
✗Mia said that she
istired. - Gr 5+
Questions become asked if or asked where/when; commands become told … to.
✓Mum asked if I was ready. Dad told me to close the door.
- Gr 6+
Pronouns and time words change too.
✓“I will help you tomorrow.” → He said that he would help me the next day.
Active and passive voice
- Gr 5+
Passive: be in the same tense + third form + by + the doer.
✓Mum bakes the cake. → The cake is baked by Mum.
- Gr 5+
Keep the tense the same.
✓Dad lit the braai. → The braai was lit by Dad.
✗The braai
is litby Dad. (wrong tense) - Gr 6+
Future: will be + third form.
✓The fence will be painted by Thabo.
Sentences and negatives
- Gr 4+
Every sentence needs a subject and a verb.
✓I was running to the shop.
✗
Running to the shop. - Gr 4+
A compound sentence joins two sentences with and, but, or, so.
✓The dog barked and the cat ran.
- Gr 5+
One negative is enough in English: not two.
✓I don’t have any money. I have no money.
✗I don’t have
nomoney. - Gr 6+
A complex sentence has a main clause and a clause that cannot stand alone.
✓We stayed inside because it rained.
Do you know the rules? Test yourself in the quiz for your grade.
- Choose one topic per evening. Let your child read the rule aloud and then make up a new example.
- The wrong examples are the mistakes children make most often: look for them in your child’s writing.
Afrikaans Grammar Rules for Grade 4 to 7 · All summaries
Follows CAPS for Grade 4 to 7. Always check your teacher’s notes and textbook too.