Grade 4 - Grammar - A

grammar & conventions
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grammar & conventions G
commas
Commas are one of the most commly used punctuation marks.
Commas separate three or more words in a list.

Commas replace the word “and” and sometimes “or”.
,
Ex. Mark wants to eat eggs and beans and bacon
and toast for breakfast.
Commas replace the word “and”. By using the word “and” less, the sentence
becomes shorter and sounds less repetitive.
Ex. Mark wants to eat eggs, beans, bacon,

and toast for breakfast.
Commas can be used in point form lists:
Ex. clothes: socks, running shoes, t-shirt

fruit: grapes, apples, bananas, berries
practice
Add commas and the ending punctuation to the following sentences.
Ex. Good yogurt should be cold , soft , and creamy .

1. Sharon is allergic to apples peanuts and food colouring
2. Did he walk the dog clean his room and finish his home
work before he went out to play
3. It is a good idea for Rob to join the soccer team

because he likes team sports he likes to run and he
wants to make new friends
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place names
Commas are also used to separate the names of a place or specific iocation if
more than one name is listed. Commas help clarify the location.
For locations, we always start small and get bigger:
neighourhood town/city region country

Ex. Calgary, Alberta, Canada (correct)
practice
Add the missing commas to the following sentences.
Ex. Jonathan visited Niagara Falls in Niagara , Ontario.
1. Tom wants to see the Parthenon in Athens Greece.
2. Richard cannot wait to visit his cousins in Tampa Florida.
3. Chris spent his summer walking around Rome Italy.
4. Alan walked across the Great Wall of China.
5. Edna lives in Cape Town South Africa.
6. Zara’s father travelled to Paris Mosow
Tokyo and San Francisco in one month for business.
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apostrophes
,
One way apostrophes can be used is to show ownership.
When something belongs to someone or something, you

place the apostrophe after the name or word followed by
an “s” to indicate ownership.
,
Ex. Ivana’s lemonade stand was very popular.
If the name or word ends with an “s”, do not add another “s”.
Place the apostrophe after the “s”.
Ex. Jonas’ science project won first prize.
practice
Rewrite the following sentences to show what belongs to whom using an
apostrophe (‘).
Ex. The new laptop belongs to Hannah.

That is Hannah’s new laptop.
1. The house down the block belongs to Matthew.

2. Harold has a fantastic idea.

3. Brad lost his puppies.

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apostrophes
Apostrophes can be used to shorten words.

These shorten words are known as contractions.
Contractions are when you shorten two words by joining them and
,
dropping some letters when the two words are merged into one.
Ex. do not = don’t

I do not know when dinner is.
,
I don’t know when dinner is.
Try not to use contractions in formal writing. Contractions are

allowed in speech and if you are writing in the form of a
speech (dialogue).
identify
Mark an X on the sentences that should not have used a contraction.
Ex. People that are colourblind can’t become pilots.
1. They couldn’t study for their science test because they

forgot their textbook at school.
2. “I’ve made a casserole for the potluck tonight.”
3. He won’t be able to play basketball this year because

he broke his leg.
4. “You’re always telling me what to do!”

contractions
There are rules to follow when writing a contraction. An apostrophe must

always be used.
word + word = word + apostrophe + part of second word
The apostrophe takes the place of the missing letters in the second word.
Ex. we are = we +
’+ re = we’re
Most words cannot be contracted. Instead, you should memorize the

following list of contractions and remember to always include an apos-
trophe when you write contractions.
common contractions
Below is a list of common contractions and their root words.
do not don’t is not isn’t

you are you’re has not hasn’t
did not didn’t what is what’s
we are we’re that is/ that has that’s
I am I’m does not doesn’t
had not hadn’t could not couldn’t
we will we’ll should not shoudn’t
let us let’s would not wouldn’t
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identify
Identify the contraction in the following sentences. Write down the two words
that have formed the contraction.
Ex. We aren’t going to get dessert until we eat our veggies.

word 1: are word 2: not
1. I can’t make it for lunch today Sasha.
word 1: word 2:
2. Ryan said he won’t be able to use Skype today.
word 1: word 2:
3. We’re coming over later.

word 1: word 2:
Identify the two words that can be contracted in the following sentences.
Write down the contraction.
Ex. Arjun is not home from football yet. isn’t
1. They have not returned my phone calls.
2. I did not know our presentation was tomorrow!
3. You are always welcome at our house.
4. We should not walk through that swamp.
5. I would love to come to your rock climbing party.
6. Their idea does not make any sense to me.

quotation marks
If someone is speaking, you must use quotation marks. “”

Ex. “Let’s go swimming everyone!”
The ending punctuation mark has to be placed inside of the
quotation marks when the sentence ends with a quotation.
Ex. “Please clean your room today” said dad.
OR
Dad said “Please finish cleaning your room today.”
If the quote starts the sentence and the quote ends with a question
or exclamation mark you write it in the quote. Do not write a pe-
riod if the quote ends with a period. The period will only appear at
the end of the sentence.
Ex. “We’re leaving without you!” she shouted.
practice
Rewrite these sentence with proper capitalization and add quotation marks.
Then the dentist told me Emmy you need to floss your teeth
every single day or your gums will bleed!
dad we missed our bus! shouted jared and ava.
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identify
Look at the following sentences. One is written correctly with quotes in the
proper location, proper punctuations, and proper capitalizations while the other
two are not. Identify the correct sentence.
Ex. They shouted “catch that cat!”
They shouted “Catch that cat!”
“They shouted catch that cat!”
1. Megan said “My mince meat pie doesn’t have any meat!”
Megan said “my mince meat pie doesn’t have any meat!”
Megan said “my mince meat pie doesn’t have any meat”!
2. “can I borrow the car this weekend? asked Tony.”
“Can I borrow the car this weekend?” asked Tony.
“Can I borrow the car this weekend”? asked Tony.
3. “don’t tell me how the movie ended” he shouted!
“Don’t tell me how the movie ended!” He shouted.
“Don’t tell me how the movie ended!” he shouted.

think
The following sentences are missing their quotation marks and ending
punctuations. Add the correct ending punctuation and quotation marks.
Make sure they go in the right place.
Remember:
• Statements and facts end with a period.
• Questions end with a question mark (?).
• Strong emotions (anger, excitement, shock) end with an exclamation point (!).
Ex. She cheerfully declared “ life is always full of surprises !”

1. Greg shouted excitedly We’re going to visit Africa
2. Nancy asked Can I answer the next question
3. The child shouted I know who broke the vase
4. Packing for a vacation is a lot of work he said
5. Witches fly on broomsticks , live in haunted houses , and keep

black cats as pets she explained
6. Goldilocks declared This porridge is too hot and that

porridge is too cold but this porridge is just right
7. I am going to make tacos for dinner said mom
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practice
Write 4 sentences that contain a quote. Make sure you include the correct
ending punctuation and capitalization. If you use any proper titles you need
to use quotation marks. Ex. His favourite movie is “Star Wars”.
Hint: The first letter of the first word inside of a quote, like a sentence, must
begin with a capital letter.
If you like, you can use the following ideas:
• something is on fire • giving directions
• describing something • stating a fact
Ex. He shouted “The house is burning down!”
1.
2.
3.
4.

tenses: past, present, future
It is important to write in the same tense for your entire piece of writing.
Changing tenses randomly in the same piece of writing will confuse readers.
It will also cause grammatical problems through subject - verb disagreement.
There are 3 main tenses:
Past Tense Something has already happened.

I ate pancakes for breakfast yesterday.
Present Tense Something that is taking place right now.

I’m eating my lunch.
Future Tense Something that will happen later.

I will have macaroni and cheese for dinner.
The verb (action word) in the sentence will tell the readers what the tense is.
Word choice and the form of the verb chosen will affect the tense of a sentence.
identify
Identify the tense in the following sentences.
PA = past PR = present F = future
Ex. PR Travis is walking to the store to buy milk.

1. They went to bed early.
2. He will study for the test tomorrow.
3. I am eating dinner now.
4. We played cricket all morning
5. They are reading a fantasty novel.
6. They will clean the garage later.
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think
Choose the correct form of the verb for the indicated tense in the
following sentences.
Ex. Present: They are sleeping/slept now.
1. Past: I am/have read the book.

2. Future: They are/will talk later.
3. Future: She’s going/gone to visit France.
4. Present: They are walking/walked the dog.
5. Past: I visit/visited my cousin last spring.
6. Present: He has making/made pancakes.
practice
Identify the tense that the following sentences are written in. Then rewrite the
following sentences in the indicated tense.
PA = Past PR = Present F = Future
Ex. They are going to go to the flea market. PA PR F

Past: They have gone to the flea market.
1. Nick is speaking to his grandmother. PA PR F
Future:
2. Tara will play badminton. PA PR F
Past:
3. We rode horses. PA PR F
Future:

subject-verb agreement
When you write, you must make sure that what you have written makes sense. This
means that your ideas and facts are clear to the readers. This is known as subject-verb
agreement. There are two things that are required for subject-verb agreement:
1. Tense: a tense is selected and the tense does not change at all for the
same piece of writing (with exceptions)
Ex. You are writing about the past weekend.

Correct: Last weekend I went to my aunt’s house. I got to see
my cousins and we played lots of board games.
Incorrect: Last weekend I go to my aunt’s house. I got to see my
cousins and we play lots of board games.
The verb (action word) in the sentence will tell the readers what the tense is.
Verb forms that are not in the same tense as the rest of the sentence create a
subject-verb disagreement.
Ex. You are writing in the present tense about school.

Correct: We are learning about the animal kingdom at school
right now. It is very interesting.
Incorrect: We learned about the animal kingdom at school right
now. It is very interested.
2. Amount: The verb form also has to agree with the amount of your noun or
subject. This applies to the verbs to be, to do, and to have.
Ex. The verb “to be”
Correct: We are riding on the bus. (subject-verb agreement)
Incorrect: We is riding on the bus. (subject-verb disagreement)
The word “is” is only used when the subject is singular (one thing). The pronoun
“we” means that there are two people riding the bus so the subject is plural
(more than one).
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auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary verbs are verbs that give meaning to a clause. They are irregular verbs
that change their form depending on their tense (past, present, future) and their
amount (plural or singular). You need to know the auxiliary verbs and their irregular
forms in order to write with proper subject-verb agreement.
Auxiliary Verb SingularSubject/Noun Plural Subject/Noun Singular but someone is

(one) (more than one) referring to you
I/he/she/it they/we/the you/your
to be am/is/was/will are/were/will are
to do do/did/does do/did do/did
to have have/has have have
identify
Identify the sentences that do not have subject-verb agreement.
The auxiliary verb has been underlined to help you.
Ex. I are going on a cruise with my family.
1. They said that they does have an extra pencil that I can borrow.
2. You has lots of friends and family coming to your recital.
3. My best friend is moving to another town.
4. He are volunteering with the local food bank.

think
Check the following sentences for subject-verb agreement. One sentence is
correct and the other is incorrect. Mark the incorrect sentence with an X.
Ex. He are going to explore the woods with his new friend.
He is going to explore the woods with his new friend.
1. She is thinking about the answer.
She are thinking about the answer.
2. You does a lot of homework on the weekends.
You do a lot of homework on the weekends.
3. We are making strawberry jam.
We is making strawberry jam.
4. They are planning their weekend trip to the lake.
They is planning their weekend trip to the lake.
5. You has forgotten to make your bed again.
You have forgotten to make your bed again.
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practice
Check the following sentences for subject-verb agreement. If they have not
used the proper tense or subject-verb agreement mark the sentence with an X.
Identify what the problem with the sentence is.
T = tense SV = subject-verb agreement
Rewrite the sentence with proper subject-verb agreement.
Ex. You is going to practice the violin for one hour a day.
T SV
You are going to practice the violin for one a day.
1. I am ate dinner now.
T SV
2. They happily does their chores without complaining.
T SV
3. We want to played badminton this afternoon.
T SV
4. It is cold and windy outside.

T SV

5. It do not happen all the time.
T SV
6. The surprise is happening today.
T SV
7. We are go stargazing tonight.
T SV
8. It is time for a break because you have done enough work.
T SV
9. The boxes is too heavy for a small child to lift.
T SV
10. Everyone thinks that are not the best idea.
T SV
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preposition
Prepositions are words that connect two words together in a relationship.

It is used to position (timing, action, relationship) a clause (fact or idea)
before a thing (noun or pronoun).
Ex. The weather in August is very hot.

Ex. Abdel came with Kevin to watch the football game.
Ex. The rabbit ran into the rabbit hole.
Ex. A troll is living under the bridge.
The following words are common examples of prepositions:
of in to for with
on at from by about
as into like through after
over between out against during
without before under around among
Note: A few of these words are also used as conjunctions. It depends on how the word is
used. Both prepositions and conjunctions connect ideas together in a sentence but in
different ways. A preposition connects a noun or pronoun to a sentence while a con-
junction connects two separate clauses (ideas) together into one sentence.

think
Select the right preposition for the blanks in the following sentences.

Ex. Jonah wanted to buy a present his friend.
a. for b. from c. like
1. Jody walks the park to get to school.

a. before b. around c. under
2. Omar’s house is located Lucy’s house and Carl’s house.

a. with b. from c. between
3. Bal goes the tunnel.

a. through b. after c. from
4. Maren would to eat spaghetti with meatballs.

a. for b. like c. into
5. Saul can get school back to his house in five minutes.

a. from b. into c. for
practice
Choose 3 of the following prepositions and write a sentence with each one.

between around during before through

Ex. I read every night before I sleep.
1.
2.
3.
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conjunctions
Conjunctions are joiner words. They join or connect two separate

but related ideas together into one sentence. By using a
conjunction, two sentences become a compound sentence.
Ex. Fluffly is a kitten. & Fluffy likes to play with yarn.
Join the two together with a conjunction.
Fluffy is a kitten that likes to play with yarn.
Conjunctions make your writing shorter and clearer (concise).
The following words are common examples of conjunctions.
and that but or as

if when than because while
where after so though since
until whether before although nor
like once unless now except
Note: A few of these words are also used as prepositions. It depends on how the word is
used. Both prepositions and conjunctions connect ideas together in a sentence but in
different ways. A preposition connects a noun or pronoun to a sentence while a conjunction
connects two separate clauses (ideas) together into one sentence.

identify
Identify the conjunction in the following sentences.
Ex. Arnold and Sally like to ski in the winter.
1. Nathan has been playing the trumpet since he was four.

2. Petra goes ice skating because it is fun.
3. Bubbles and Sparkles are hamsters that love lettuce.
4. She goes to dance practice every day of the week except on Sundays.
practice
Rewrite the following two sentences as one sentence by using the correct
conjunction and changing words where necessary.
Ex. Peter likes to cook. Dana likes to cook.
a. and b. but c. if
Peter and Dana like to cook.
1. Blaine plays tennis. He plays after school.

a. and b. and c. before

2. Gemma likes vegetables. Gemma does not like fruits.
a. or b. and c. but

3. The dishes fell and broke. The cat knocked it over.
a. because b. after c. and
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practice
Choose 3 of the following conjunctions and write a sentence with each one.
and than like when if until

Ex. They will visit Calgary and Edmonton on their Alberta road trip.
1.
2.
3.
review
Identify if the underlined word is a preposition (P) or a conjunction (C). The
difference is that a preposition connects a noun to an idea or clause while a
conjunction connects two separate but similar ideas or clauses together.
Ex. Terry and Rosa follow the path around the forest. P C
1. Hank wants to go to Tom’s party but Ron’s party is P C

at the same time.
2. Blair hid her journal under a stack of old newspapers. P C
3. Deepak and Trish are both in charge of looking after P C

the class pet.
4. Marvin has dinner before he goes to gymnastics. P C

run-on sentences
A sentence should express one idea or fact.
Ex. Dogs make very good pets.

Or, a sentence can express two similar ideas or facts that are connected.
Usually a conjunction is used to join the two ideas or facts together. This
is a compound sentence.
Ex. Dogs make very good pets because they are friendly.
The problem with some conjunctions, such as “and”, is that a sentence

might become too long with too many ideas. This is called a run-on
sentence. A run-on sentence is when different ideas that are not related
are joined together.
Ex. The dog runs into the house and the cat is furry. (run-on)
This sentence has two completely separate ideas. One idea describes how the
cat feels and the other describes what the doing. The two are not related.
A run on sentence can also be when ideas that are related are joined to-
gether in the wrong way. A run on sentence also occurs when an idea
has become too long to be expressed in one sentence.
Ex. Cats and dogs make great pets and they are easy to
take care of and they are cute and they are friendly.
(run-on)
This sentence has used “and” too many times. Either the writer can use
commas in the place of “and” or they can separate these related clauses
into two separate sentences.
Ex. Cats and dogs make great pets because they are
friendly, cute, and easy to take care of.
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identify
Look at the following sentences. Identify the run-on sentences with an X.
Identify if the sentence is simply too long (L) or if the ideas and clauses should be
in two separate sentences because they are unrelated (U).
Ex. Don wants to visit a new place every year and he visits a
new country every summer and he goes skiing in the
winter.
L U
1. Rina spends her weekends studying music, dance, and

gymnastics.
L U
2. They like to cook and bake and read but I do not like to
cook and clean.
L U
3. We are going to run every morning except on Saturdays.
L U
4. Ashley has a coin collection and a stamp collection and

a vintage toy collection and a comic book collection
but she does not have a hat collection.
L U

practice
Rewrite these run on sentences as separate sentences.
Ex. You watch a lot of TV and you watch it every day and you
like to watch cartoons.
You watch a lot of TV every day. You like to watch cartoons.

1. Cameron is going to visit the dentist on Saturday and see the
eye doctor on Monday and go to the gym on Tuesday.
2. Birds always fly south for the winter to get away from the cold
weather and snow and they fly south in the fall.
3. Flowers smell and look nice and they bloom in the spring and
die in the fall.
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perspectives
When you write, you are always writing from a perspective.
There are 3 perspectives to think about:
First Person This is writing from your point of you (i.e. using I, we, me)
Ex. I am doing something.
Ex. We are doing something.
Ex. Something funny happened to me.
Second Person This is writing used to directly address the reader. Often this
is used to describe what the reader should do, or what
they have done. Sometimes it is used in storytelling to
make the reader feel closer to the experience of the tale.
Ex. Your new puppy is waiting at home for you.
Ex. Can you empty the garbage please?
Ex. (Can you) Help me with these boxes please!
Third Person This is writing about someone or something else (i.e. using
he, she, it, they). This is the most common way to tell a
story or write about something.
Ex. The box is big.
Ex. Something strange has happened to them.
Ex. They are very kind.
Ex. He is very punctual.
Hint: The noun or pronoun helps determine the perspective.

identify
Identify which perspective (first, second, third) the following sentences are
written in.
First = F Second = S Third = T

Ex. Jack and Jill went into the gingerbread house. F S T
1. My name is Jane Doe. F S T
2. You can travel by ship. F S T
3. The kite is flying away! F S T
4. Are you going to eat the last cookie? F S T
5. We will help the clean their house. F S T
6. He is trying to jump around the entire street. F S T
7. Drake and I are going to collect donations today. F S T
8. Please come over now! F S T
9. It is raining heavily this afternoon. F S T
10. Take the pot of soup out and reheat it on the oven. F S T
11. I want to ride in a hot air balloon for my birthday. F S T
12. My friends and family make me very happy. F S T
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practice
Identify the tense that the following sentences are written in. Then rewrite these
sentences in the indicated tense.
First = F Second = S Third = T

Ex. Jack and Jill went into the gingerbread house. F S T
F: Jack and I went into the gingerbread house.
1. Priya won the spelling bee. F S T
F:
2. You should always walk around with a smile. F S T
T:
3. Everyone should drink eight glasses of water a day. F S T
S:
4. I would like a cheeseburger with fries please. F S T
T:
5. Burt and Dana are fraternal twins. F S T
F:
6. They will call Amara back in a few minutes. F S T
S:

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grammar & conventions

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ii PRESCRIPTION TutorBright © 2015. v1.0 TutorBright

Commas are one of the most commly used punctuation marks.

Commas separate three or more words in a list.

Ex. Mark wants to eat eggs, beans, bacon,

Ex. clothes: socks, running shoes, t-shirt

Add commas and the ending punctuation to the following sentences.

Ex. Good yogurt should be cold , soft , and creamy .

3. It is a good idea for Rob to join the soccer team

For locations, we always start small and get bigger:

neighourhood town/city region country

Add the missing commas to the following sentences.

Ex. Jonathan visited Niagara Falls in Niagara , Ontario.

1. Tom wants to see the Parthenon in Athens Greece.

2. Richard cannot wait to visit his cousins in Tampa Florida.

3. Chris spent his summer walking around Rome Italy.

4. Alan walked across the Great Wall of China.

5. Edna lives in Cape Town South Africa.

6. Zara’s father travelled to Paris Mosow

Tokyo and San Francisco in one month for business.

2 SQUARE GRAMMAR & CONVENTIONS A TutorBright © 2015. v1.0 TutorBright

When something belongs to someone or something, you

Ex. Jonas’ science project won first prize.

Ex. The new laptop belongs to Hannah.

Apostrophes can be used to shorten words.

Ex. do not = don’t

Try not to use contractions in formal writing. Contractions are

Ex. People that are colourblind can’t become pilots.

1. They couldn’t study for their science test because they

2. “I’ve made a casserole for the potluck tonight.”

3. He won’t be able to play basketball this year because

4. “You’re always telling me what to do!”

4 SQUARE GRAMMAR & CONVENTIONS A TutorBright © 2015. v1.0 TutorBright

There are rules to follow when writing a contraction. An apostrophe must

Most words cannot be contracted. Instead, you should memorize the

Below is a list of common contractions and their root words.

do not don’t is not isn’t

Ex. We aren’t going to get dessert until we eat our veggies.

1. I can’t make it for lunch today Sasha.

2. Ryan said he won’t be able to use Skype today.

3. We’re coming over later.

Ex. Arjun is not home from football yet. isn’t 

1. They have not returned my phone calls. 

2. I did not know our presentation was tomorrow! 

3. You are always welcome at our house. 

4. We should not walk through that swamp. 

5. I would love to come to your rock climbing party. 

6. Their idea does not make any sense to me. 

6 SQUARE GRAMMAR & CONVENTIONS A TutorBright © 2015. v1.0 TutorBright

If someone is speaking, you must use quotation marks. “”

dad we missed our bus! shouted jared and ava.

Ex. They shouted “catch that cat!”

They shouted “Catch that cat!”

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PAGE 6 PAGE 7 PAGE 8 PAGE 9 PAGE 10

PAGE 11 PAGE 12 PAGE 13 PAGE 14 PAGE 15

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Ex. Arjun is not home from football yet. isn’t

1. They have not returned my phone calls.

2. I did not know our presentation was tomorrow!

3. You are always welcome at our house.

4. We should not walk through that swamp.

5. I would love to come to your rock climbing party.

6. Their idea does not make any sense to me.