Kirkcaldy High School
English Department
Broad General Education
Homework Booklet 2
1
Revision of Nouns
Nouns are words for
people, places, things,
activities and states.
Exercise One
Rewrite the following sentences and circle the nouns in each sentence:
1
Anna lowered herself into the chair slowly and turned on the television.
2
When the play had finished, I couldn’t hide my relief from my sister.
3
In the end, the policeman took them to the station to be questioned.
4
My Christmas presents were received with much delight.
5
We often played chess in the classroom at lunchtimes on Fridays.
6
I could hear the cat mewing for its tea outside the back door.
Exercise Two
Rewrite the following extract from a short story called “A Ghost of One’s Own” by Ursula
Moray Williams. Work out which of the words in bold are nouns and circle them.
Harriet was in the bus, on her way to a party, carrying her family
ghost in a basket. She was going to see Miss Meadie, who was
giving the party at her home. Her brother William sat on the seat
opposite to her, looking sulky, because he had not wanted to come.
Some people can see ghosts and some cannot. Harriet, alone of all
her family, could. Her brother William could not, but he could feel
them and hear them. And he could smell them, for some ghosts have
a fragrance very like old herbs and roses. William did not care for ghosts, so this
caused him a lot of inconvenience.
2
Exercise Three
Rewrite the following passage from “Room 13” by Robert Swindells and underline all the
nouns you can find.
The idea that her friend might be in distress made Fliss forget fear for a
moment. She took a couple of steps towards room eleven, unsure of
what she intended to do. As she did so, she became aware that the noise was not
coming from the room at all, but from the one next to it –
the cupboard. Her eyes flickered to its door. On it, visible in the midnight
gloom, was the number thirteen.
She recoiled, covering her mouth with her hand. When she had asked
Mrs Marriott what lay beyond that door, there had been no number on it.
She knew there hadn’t yet there it was. Thirteen. And somebody was in
there, somebody or something.
Exercise Four
Now look at the next part of the story, which has some gaps where nouns should be. Rewrite
the passage putting in suitable nouns to fill the gaps.
She retreated slowly, holding her . . . . . . . . . .. When she reached the
. . . . . . . . . . of her own room she backed through it, feeling for the
. . . . . . . . . . and keeping her . . . . . . . . . . fixed on the door of room
thirteen. Once inside, she closed the . . . . . . . . . . quickly, crossed to
her . . . . . . . . . . and lay staring at the . . . . . . . . . . while spasms shook her . . . . .
.....
Much later, when the shivering had stopped and she was drifting to sleep, she thought she
heard stealthy . . . . . . . . . . on the . . . . .3. . . . ., but when she woke at seven with the
sun on her . . . . . . . . . . and her friends’ excited chatter in her . . . . . . . . . ., she
Revision of Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of nouns to
make our writing less repetitive and
boring.
Exercise One
Complete the following sentences by writing in suitable pronouns from the box below:
I
me
you
he
your
him
she
it
yours
his
her
its
we
they
mine
hers
my
us
them
ours
theirs
1
Billy decided to clean . . . . . . . . . . new bike.
2
We hid behind the rock and hoped . . . . . . . . . . couldn’t see . . . . . . . . .
3
The two men still said that the footprints weren’t . . . . . . . . . .
4
Claire said . . . . . . . . . . enjoyed the first week at . . . . . . . . . new school.
5
We were so proud: . . . . . . . . . . had finished building the house.
Exercise Two
Copy out each sentence and underline the word or words that are repeated and write a
suitable pronoun in the space provided.
1
Mr Jenkins was very proud of Mr Jenkins’ stamp collection.
Pronoun:
4
2
The tyres of the car were bald so the tyres were dangerous.
Pronoun:
3
Although Newcastle were early leaders, Manchester United overtook
Newcastle in March.
Pronoun:
4
“I don’t like to see you without a coat. Please have my coat,” said Robert.
Pronoun:
5
The road was three miles long so it took Richard an hour to walk along
the road.
Pronoun:
Exercise Three
Below is an extract from a passage, Some of the pronouns are missing. Rewrite the passage,
using the table of pronouns below to help you complete the passage.
“. . . . . . . . . . stupid boy!” shouted the head teacher, glaring at John like an angry rhino.
“I’m sorry, sir, it was . . . . . . . . . .
lunch.”
“I know it was . . . . . . . . . . !” said the head teacher. “The question is, what are . . . . . .
. . . . going to do about it?”
“ . . . . . . . . . ., sir?”
“Yes, you, young man! Who else, do you suppose, is going to clean it up?
. . . . . . . . . . ?”
“No, sir, I wouldn’t expect you to do it,” stammered John. “ . . . . . . . . . . thought the dinner
helpers could do . . . . . . . . . ..”
“Don’t be silly,” replied the head teacher, “ . . . . . . . . . . have quite enough work to do, . .
5
. . . . . . . . haven’t got time to clean up your mess even if it is all over . . . . . . . . . ..
6
Revision of Adjectives
Adjectives are used to describe
more about nouns.
Exercise One
Rewrite the following passage. Some of the nouns have been underlined. These are nouns
that are described in the passage using adjectives. Fill in the gaps in the table below the
passage writing in the matching nouns and adjectives from the text. Remember to match the
nouns to their type in the left-hand column.
I was working at the dining room table when Grandad peered round the door. He
was a tiny timid little man, with a domed forehead and freckled, slightly hairy
ears.
“I say, how about a nice, peaceful game of chess?” he asked me.
“I’m sorry, I can’t at the moment, Grandad,” I replied, desperately hoping
he would go away. The last time I had played chess with him, I was rigid with
boredom after half an hour. Every move seemed to take him at least ten minutes
of silent thought. He just stood there, staring at me like a sorrowful owl.
“Go on,” he urged. “I’ll give you one of my Mintoes.”
“Three!” I bargained.
“Two!” he retorted.
“”OK,” I agreed, as he delved into the shadowy corner of the room for the
chess board.
Type of noun
Noun
Thing
owl
7
Adjective(s)
Place
Person
shadowy
man
Thing
Activity
doomed
game
State
Thing
silent
ears
Exercise Two
Look at the passage below. There are gaps where adjectives should be.
Imagine the passage is an extract from a ghost or horror story.
Rewrite the passage choosing adjectives to fill the gaps to make the passage sound as scary
and creepy as possible.
You can use more than one adjective in each gap. For example, you could start the passage
like this:
It was a dark gloomy day.
It was a . . . . . . . . . .day. Ben was walking down a . . . . . . . . . . road
next to a . . . . . .. . . . wood. In front of him was a . . . . . . . . . . house.
As he got nearer to the house he heard a . . . . . . . . . . noise behind him.
He turned around and saw a . . . . . . . . . . man coming slowly towards
him. The man wore a . . . . . . . . . . coat. He smiled, revealing a set of .
. . . . . . . . . teeth.
8
Exercise Three
Now rewrite the passage above, but this time filling in the gaps with adjectives to make the
passage feel more cheerful. For example, you could start the passage like this: It was a
bright, sunny day.
Exercise Four
Read the passage below. It sounds rather silly as it stands. Rewrite it, adding adjectives at
suitable points to give it a more romantic feel.
Sophie was the girl of my dreams. She had teeth and hair and eyes. The
very sound of her voice made me go weak inside. I was in no doubt –
she was a girl!
9
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
Comparative adjectives
compare two things
Superlative adjectives
compare more than two things
Exercise One
Copy and complete the table below by writing in the comparative and superlative forms of
the adjectives which are in the left-hand column. Some examples are done for you.
Adjective
Comparative
clean
cleanest
sweet
helpful
Superlative
more helpful
mild
loud
10
exciting
most exciting
slim
soft
big
bigger
Exercise Two
Rewrite the sentences below, replacing the adjective in brackets with the correct comparative
or superlative form.
1
Your pet rat is the (big) I have ever seen!
2
This is the (pure) diamond of the two.
3
Mr Simms was certainly (slim) than when I last saw him.
4
I think motor racing is (exciting) than football.
5
The boy wore the (dirty) shirt imaginable.
6
It was the (boring) film I had ever seen.
11
Exercise Three
Look at the sentences in the exercise above. For each word that was used in its comparative
form, write a new sentence in its superlative form. For each word that was used in its
superlative form, write a new sentence using its comparative form.
For example:
1
This is the purest diamond in the world.
12
Verbs
Verbs can describe actions,
feelings and thoughts.
Some verbs are also being and
having words.
Exercise One
Rewrite the sentences below, completing them by choosing an appropriate word from the
“Verbs of Movement” box.
Verbs of Movement
stalked
trailed
scurried
hobbled
raced
hurried
tore
rushed
staggered
dashed
strolled
sprinted
limped
trudged
dashed
strutted
plodded
shuffled
1
As the rain fell, we . . . . . . . . . . for the shelter of the nearest shop doorway.
2
Injured by the defender’s wild tackle, Julie . . . . . . . . . . to the touchline.
3
The man . . . . . . . . . . drunkenly up the path to his front door.
4
Hand in hand, Doreen and Harold . . . . . . . . . . along the promenade.
5
Arms weighed down by his shopping, the old man . . . . . . . . . . wearily
13
home.
6
The rock star . . . . . . . . . . proudly across the stage.
7
With a final effort, Roger Black . . . . . . . . . . for the finishing line.
Exercise Two
Now choose five other verbs from the box and use them in sentences of your own. Make sure
that your sentences clearly show that you understand the meaning of the verbs you have
chosen.
Exercise Three
Now think of five different ways of expressing the phrase “she said”.
For example, “she bellowed” or “she whispered”.
Write down five sentences of your own.
Verbs and time
Verbs can be used to
express past, present and
future time
Exercise One
The passage below is from Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach. Dahl originally wrote it
in the past tense, but for this activity it has been rewritten in the present tense. Rewrite it,
converting it back into the past tense by altering the underlined verbs.
James glances around the room, wondering which of the others he might be
talking to, but they are all asleep. The ladybird is making whistling noises as
she breathes and the Earthworm is coiled up like a spring at one end of his
hammock, wheezing and blowing through his open mouth. As for Miss
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Spider, she has made a lovely web for herself across one corner of the room
and James can see her crouching right in the very centre of it, mumbling
Exercise Two
The passage below is also from James and the Giant Peach. This time rewrite the passage,
converting the underlined verbs into the present tense.
The Old-Green-Grasshopper and the Ladybird gave the Earthworm’s tail
an enormous tug and like magic the Earthworm disappeared into the
tunnel. At the same time, up went James’s hand and the seagull flew right
into the loop of silk that he was holding out. The loop, which had been
cleverly made, tightened just the right amount (but not too much) around its
neck, and the seagull was captured.
Adverbs
15
Adverbs answer the
questions: How?
When? Where?
Exercise One
Rewrite the sentences below.
First of all underline the verbs in them. Then circle the adverbs.
1
Old Mr Williams rose shakily from his chair.
2
The kitten mewed noisily for its food.
3
The defendant’s tackle hurt John badly.
4
We went swimming yesterday.
5
Did I leave my coat here?
6
Mr Jones said Emma’s bad manners really annoyed him.
Exercise Two
Now write five of your own sentences using the adverbs you circled in Exercise One.
For example:
Russell was really anxious to get home and tell his mum the good news.
Exercise Three
16
Copy out the passage below, filling in the blanks with adverbs of your own.
Maureen stared . . . . . . . . . . at the computer screen. She couldn’t
believe what she saw. Her heart was thudding
. . . . . . . . . . as she . . . . . . . . . . typed in another instruction. The
computer whirred . . . . . . . . . . and the printer . . . . . . . . . .
chugged into life. Her hand shaking, Maureen . . . . . . . . . . snatched
the printout from the tray.
A smile spread . . . . . . . . . . across her face.
Sentences: Kinds of sentence

Statements are the commonest kind of sentence.

Questions often begin with “Who …”, “Which …”,
“Where . . .”, “Why . . .”,
“Is . . .” or “How . . .”

Exclamations say something surprising, exciting,
urgent or awful.

Commands usually request or order someone to
do something
Exercise One
Answer the following questions. What type of sentence do you think would dominate each of
the following pieces of writing?
17
1
An argument between a parent and child about the state of the child’s
bedroom.
2
An interview in a magazine with a famous film star.
3
A newspaper report on a fire.
4
An advert for a new car.
Exercise Two
Choose one of the situations above and write about it in your jotter in the style you have
suggested.
When you have finished, count the number of different kinds of sentences you have used.
Were you right in your first guess?
Exercise Three
Rewrite the passage below. Work out which sentences are: statements, questions,
exclamations, commands. Underline each type of sentence with a different coloured
pen/pencil.
When I got up, my brother was still in the bathroom. Why do boys spend
so long looking at themselves in the mirror? I looked at my watch. He had
been in there for twenty minutes. The big slug! Didn’t he know I had to
catch a bus?
“William, come out!” I eventually called out.
I listened, but there was no reply, so I tried again.
“William, shift yourself!”
Sentences: The subject
18

The subject of a sentence tells us what
the sentence is going to be about.

It usually comes at the beginning of the
sentence, before the verb.

It can be more than one word.
Exercise One
Rewrite the sentences below, underlining the subjects in each sentence.
1
Ali enjoyed the film
2
Peter has lost his tortoise.
3
The ginger cat chased the hamster.
4
The old tree had been in the garden for hundreds of years.
5
On Saturday, Ali is going to watch another film.
6
Sadly, the hamster never came back.
Exercise Two
Now rewrite the following sentences, completing each by adding a suitable subject. The
subject can be one word or more than one word.
1
. . . . . . . . . . came flying over the fence.
19
2
. . . . . . . . . . hurled the book at the wall.
3
Yesterday . . . . . . . . . . saw a man climbing through a window.
4
. . . . . . . . . . phoned the police.
5
. . . . . . . . . . will come back next week.
6
. . . . . . . . . . looked at the man angrily.
Exercise Three
Rewrite the sentences below, underlining the subjects in each pair of them.
1
The rain lashed angrily against the window. Thelma sat in the darkness,
staring at the embers of the fire.
2
The rain lashed angrily against the window. Sitting in the darkness,
Thelma stared at the embers of the fire.
Which version of these sentences do you prefer and why?
Exercise Four
Firstly, rewrite the sentences below, underling the subject..
20
Next, rewrite the sentences so that the subject doesn’t always come at the beginning. You
may also need to change the wording of the sentences a little.
1
The attacker’s hand loomed menacingly over Peter. He shook with terror
and pressed himself against the wall.
2
Sufia decided, in the end, that she would have to move. She slowly
eased herself into the freezing cold water.
3
The front wheel of the motor bike reared upwards. Adam was thrown into
the air like a rag doll.
4
Mrs Williams saw the ball land in her garden. She threw it back over the
fence, even though she had returned it twice already.
5
The squirrel emerged from the hole at the bottom of the tree, his nose
twitching nervously. He boldly ran across the clearing, and scampered up
the nearest oak.
What difference has the change in order made to the sentences?
21
Sentences: Checking agreement
The subject and verb of a sentence
should always agree with each other.
Exercise One
Jane is on holiday. She has written a postcard to her mother, but she has made some
mistakes with her subject/verb agreement.
Rewrite the postcard, correcting her mistakes.
Monday 5 May
The weather am hot here and I has a lovely tan. Karen and I has seen some interesting
sights. She am tanned as well. I has been to the beach today. Karen have gone shopping.
Tomorrow we is going to the fun fair.
I wish you was here too.
See you soon
Jane
Exercise Two
Jane has written a diary entry, but has made some mistakes with the subject/verb agreement.
Rewrite the diary entry, correcting all the mistakes.
Monday 5 May
My Diary
22
Building Sentences: Compound sentences
Compound sentences are made up of clauses joined
together by words like and, but, nor, then or yet.
Each clause can stand on its own as a sentence.
Exercise One
Join the following sentences together to make a compound sentence, using suitable words
from the ones given below. Try to use each word at least once.
and
but
yet
23
1
I had one of my teeth removed. It really hurt.
2
I had one of my teeth removed. It didn’t hurt.
3
I bought a lot of new CDs. They were very expensive.
4
I bought a lot of new CDs. They weren’t very expensive.
5
Angus was good at tennis. He usually won.
6
Angus was good at tennis. He often lost.
Exercise Two
Compound sentences can sometimes become too long. In the recipe for Frosted Banana
Mousse below you will see that the writer has used and, then and but too often. As a result
the recipe sounds very boring. Rewrite the recipe so that it sounds more interesting. Replace
the words in bold with full stops or commas where appropriate.
Frosted Banana Mousse
You will need: 4 large bananas, a pinch of salt, 100g of sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice,
50g of rolled oats, 300ml of double cream, glace cherries and angelica to decorate.
Line a freezing tray with greaseproof paper and mash the bananas and then add the salt,
sugar, lemon juice and rolled oats then mix thoroughly and fold in some of the lightly
whipped cream but remember to leave some for later and freeze the mixture in the usual way
and decorate with the remainder of the cream, the cherries and the angelica.
Building Sentences: Connectives
24
You can join sentences together by using
connectives.
You can sometimes use a connective at the
beginning of a sentence.
Exercise One
Look at the pair of sentences below:
It was a lovely holiday. We didn’t do very much.
They can be joined together using different connectives:
It was a lovely holiday because we didn’t do very much.
Although we didn’t do very much it was a lovely holiday.
Join each of the following pairs of sentences together by using connectives from those
included in the box below. You should:

join each pair of sentences in two different ways.

reverse the order of two of the sentence pairs by putting the connective at the
beginning.
after
although
as
for
how
if
that
so
who
though because
when
but
which
until
while
25
and
since
1
I really love the gold watch. I cannot accept it.
2
It was snowing outside. We stayed in the house.
3
The girl was a talented athlete. Her mother was an Olympic swimmer.
4
Peter was lonely. He has just moved house.
5
My father made the tea. I painted the fence.
Exercise Two
Read the passage below. Then rewrite the passage, using as many different connectives as
you can. Reverse the order of some of the sentences by putting a connective at the beginning
of the sentence.
Remember, writing is usually more interesting if it contains a mixture of simple and multiple
sentences.
Shona didn’t want to go to school on Wednesday. She has English. She hadn’t
26
done her homework. Mr Jessop would be angry. He was a good teacher. He
had a dreadful temper.
Exercise Three
Read the passage below. Then rewrite the passage, using as many different connectives as
you can. Reverse the order of some of the sentences by putting a connective at the beginning
of the sentence.
I hadn’t been out of the laboratory for long. I heard a noise. I returned to the laboratory. I saw
Mr Jones lying on the floor. He was deathly pale.
I checked to see if he was breathing. I phoned reception. I asked them to telephone for an
ambulance. I waited. I checked his pulse. His heart was beating. It was rather weak . . .
27
Paragraphs and whole texts: Using paragraphs.
Paragraphs are ways of organising sentences into
linked blocks.
Exercise One
Rewrite the following passage from the book , The Wreck of the Zanzibar by Michael
Morpurgo. Put a mark like this // wherever you think a new paragraph is needed.
A great storm is gathering, the sea is huge, the sky is full of anger. We went
to fetch Granny May this morning. Her roof looks as if it might blow off at any
time. She didn’t want to leave, she didn’t want to be a trouble. Mother paid no
heed and we took an arm each and brought her home. All day we huddled
together around the fire in the kitchen trying not to listen to the howling
outside. Father saw to the cows today. He’s shut them in the shed now, out of
the storm. It’s high tide tonight. Father says there’ll be flooding. The sea will
pour in across from Great Porth and make another island of us – it’s happened
before. On nights like this, when I was little, I used to go into Billy’s room,
climb into his bed and we’d talk till morning. We could pretend we weren’t
frightened and if we pretended hard enough, then we weren’t. Now I sit alone
on my bed and listen to the roar of the storm outside and the whistle of the
wind in the windows and I am afraid. I can only think of all that sea pounding
our little island, trying to suck us down and sink us forever. I am so afraid.
28
Paragraphs and the whole text: Linking paragraphs
Paragraphs often contain a word or phrase which links
them together to form a complete text.
Exercise One
Look at the article below. The paragraphs are in the wrong order. Read the paragraphs and
decide what order they should be in.
A
In its early years, the cup never left the south of England, and in fact Blackburn Rovers
were the first team to take the cup ‘up north’. Blackburn’s captain, Alf Warburton, said
that the cup would never go back to London, believing that Blackburn’s win was a
29
‘victory for democracy’.
30
Punctuation: Capital letters
Capital letters are most commonly used:
 to begin every sentence
 to begin every new speech
 for the person pronoun “I”
 for names of people and places
 for the names of days and months
Exercise One
Rewrite the passage below. Circle the words which should begin with capital letters.
our neighbour, mrs finch, loves to watch coronation street. in fact, she loves
the programme so much that she will not leave her house on mondays,
wednesdays, fridays and sundays. she once wrote a letter to jack duckworth,
asking him for a job at the rovers return, and she even got a reply, saying
that the vacancy had been filled. according to her, it had been signed by
jack and vera.
last week, peter and i wanted to take her to see steven spielberg’s film,
jurassic park, for the poor dear doesn’t get out very much. it was showing at
the showcase cinema in derby. of course, it happened to be a wednesday
night, and we couldn’t shift her, until peter told her that ken barlow was
making a special appearance in the film. well, she was out of the house and
into my rover in the blink of an eye!
of course, she spent ages looking for ken, and eventually i pointed out jeff
goldblum and said, “it’s him.” fortunately31she had left her glasses at the silver
spray café in london, so i got away with it. At the end, she said that ken
Punctuation: Question marks and Exclamation marks

Use a full stop at the end of a statement.

Use a question mark at the end of a direct question.

Use an exclamation mark to show emphasis.
Exercise One
Rewrite the following sentences. Then mark a tick or a cross against each to indicate whether
the writer has used the right or wrong punctuation.
1
He asked me what the time was?
2
Mrs Gilkes asked if I take sugar in my coffee.
32
3
“Hello Bob! How are you!”
4
I went shopping yesterday!
5
I always go to my Grandma’s house on Sundays.
6
Do you like my shoes?
7
I asked Shona where she bought her shoes?
8
Watch out! A train is coming.
Exercise Two
Rewrite the following sentences, completing each of them with a full stop, a question mark or
an exclamation mark.
1
Stop meddling in my life
2
Are you going to France this year
3
Do you happen to know the time
4
He asked me for the time
5
Stop acting like a child
6
Why did you do that, William
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Punctuation: Commas
Commas can be used to separate items in a list and
different parts of a sentence.
Exercise One
Rewrite the following sentences, putting in the necessary commas.
1
The house was surrounded by an overgrown hedge a barbed wire fence
and a small stream.
2
“I’ll see you at the party” said George.
3
Inside the bedroom there was a lot of damage: drawers had been
emptied mirrors had been smashed nail varnish had been sprayed
around and the mattress had been slashed.
4
He looked at the angle checked the position of the blue considered a
cushion shot for the green thought briefly about the long pink in the
corner pocket and finally decided to play a safety shot.
5
“I don’t think we should go that way” said Freddie.
Exercise Two
Rewrite the following sentences, putting in the necessary commas.
34
1
I bought an apple an orange a banana and three plums.
2
“I can’t wait to escape from this place” said Mark.
3
Patrick is a bright lively pleasant hard working pupil.
4
The old man was lonely half starved very weak filthy dirty and deadly
pale.
5
Charlotte said “I’m sick of my brother playing tricks on me.”
6
“That’s all very well” I said “but I hope you realise that Fiona Saffron and
Ben aren’t happy about it.”
Punctuation: Apostrophes
You use an apostrophe to show possession or to show
that a letter has been missed out.
Rewrite the passage putting in the necessary apostrophes.
Dear Adam
Its been a long time since Ive seen you. I hope youre keeping well. I thought Id write to tell you
about a really funny thing that happened in Mr Tates science class last week.
By the way, hes our most boring teacher. Anyway, we were all sitting listening to Mr Tate drone
on about a flys life cycle, or a frogs reproductive system or something – I cant remember. Hed
been at it for half an hour and we were all rather
35 bored by then. Suddenly there was a loud
knock at the door and a small boys head popped into view to say, “Excuse me, Mr Tate, but
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Punctuation: Colons and Semi-colons

You can use a colon ( : )to introduce a list, between two clauses or to
introduce a saying or rule.

You can use a semi-colon (; )to break up long sentences and list or to
join clauses which are closely related.
Exercise One
Rewrite the following sentences putting colons in the correct place.
1
To make an apple pie you will need 250gm of flour; 100gm of butter;
20ml of water; four cooking apples; four tablespoons of sugar.
2
Manchester United are most likely to win the championship they combine
youthful vigour with experience, power and skill.
3
This is a wide-mouthed frog there are few left of them in the world.
4
Don’t be late the early bird catches the worm.
Exercise Two
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Rewrite the following sentences putting semi-colons in the correct place.
1
Mr Williams was not exactly fashionable: his clothes were threadbare his
elbow patches needed stitching it looked as though his shoes could do
with some polish.
2
Will was one of the ugliest people I had ever seen his bride, on the other
hand, was utterly beautiful.
3
I do intend to come I always enjoy Leanne’s parties.
4
Our cat is very unfriendly: she bit my dog’s leg she jumped on our next
door neighbour’s head she ripped up my uncle’s best shoes.
Exercise Three
Rewrite the following sentences putting colons or semi-colons in the gaps.
1
The snow was everywhere . . . it had drifted into the shop doorways . . . it
bent down the branches of trees . . . it lay thick on the roofs of the
houses.
2
Come and join in . . . many hands make light work.
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3
Joyce was clearly sick . . . she had not eaten for days . . . her face was
white . . . she had a terrible cough and a high temperature.
4
We will not be able to take the car up the track . . . we will have to walk
the rest of the way.
Exercise Four
Read the following short passages. For each one, write an explanation of why the colons and
semi-colons have been used.
1
David stumbled, staggered, crawled: onwards in the darkness, uphill all
the time, the going hard and stony: it must be a mountain slope. . .
(Ann Holm, “I am David”)
2
Thirteen years and five months after our wedding day, Lucy died in my
arms; her last words were these: “Samuel, I have done my best to do my
duty, but my life has never been very happy . . .
(Mary E. Braddon, “Samuel Lowgood’s Revenge”)
3
I saw that he was no living man – that none of them were living men, like
myself! A pale phosphorescent light – the light of putrefaction – played
upon their awful faces; upon their clothes, earth-stained and dropping to
pieces; upon their hands, which were as the hands of corpses long
buried . . .
(Amelia B. Edwards, “The Phantom Coach”)
4
Something curious, too, about the man’s face. A withered woebegone
face. The eyebrows painfully contracted; the mouth fast set, and drawn
down at the corners; the hollow cheeks sadly and, as I cannot help
fancying, prematurely wrinkled; the scanty, grizzled hair . . .
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(Wilkie Collins, “The Ostler”)
Punctuation: Speech marks
You put speech marks around the actual words spoken.
The final speech mark comes after the closing
punctuation.
Exercise One
Write out the sentences below. Underline any words that are spoken in each sentence. Then
put the speech marks around the underlined sections. Remember the final speech mark
comes after the closing punctuation.
1
John said, Let us try to get together tomorrow.
2
What are you doing at my desk? asked Jane.
3
Becky asked, What time are we going home?
4
I will see you at the school disco, Jenny told me.
5
Shall we meet at seven o’clock? Ben asked.
Exercise Two
Rewrite the following passage, adapted from Ian McEwan’s book, “The Daydreamer”, putting
in speech marks in the correct places. Remember the final speech mark comes after the
closing punctuation.
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Kate was running into the room crying. And following her were his parents,
looking very grim.
Oh Peter. Something terrible has happened, his sister cried.
It’s William Cat. I’m afraid he’s . . . said mother.
Oh William! Kate’s wail drowned her mother’s words.
He just walked into the kitchen, and climben on to his favourite shelf above the
radiator, closed his eyes, and . . . died, said his father.
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