Grammar, usage, and punctuation (grade 3) · lesson

Word jobs

💡 Every word has a job: nouns name, verbs show action, and adjectives describe.

A noun names a person, place, or thing, like girl, park, or ball. A verb shows action, like swim or eat. An adjective tells what a noun is like, like tall or green.

Some adjectives compare. Add -er to compare two things: a fast car, a faster car. Add -est to compare three or more: the fastest car.

If a word ends in y, change the y to i first: happy, happier, happiest.

🧠 Let's work it out

Sentence: The tiny bird hops.

Ask: what does the bird do? Hops. That is the verb.
What is the bird like? Tiny. That is the adjective.
What thing is it? Bird. That is the noun.

What do you think comes next?

noun: a word that names a person, place, or thing
verb: an action word
adjective: a word that describes a noun

Past tense and plurals

💡 Most words add -ed for the past and -s for more than one, but some words change in a special way.

Tense tells when. Today I jump. Yesterday I jumped. Tomorrow I will jump. Time words like yesterday tell you which to use.

Some verbs have a special past. Today I eat; yesterday I ate. Today I sing; yesterday I sang.

A plural means more than one. Most add -s: one cup, two cups. Some change: one tooth, two teeth; one child, two children.

🧠 Let's work it out

Sentence: Last night, we ___ a song.

Ask: when? Last night, so the past.
Sing has a special past form.
Not singed. It is sang.

What do you think comes next?

tense: the form of a verb that shows when
past: already happened
plural: more than one

Complete sentences that match

💡 A complete sentence has a who and a verb, and they must match.

A complete sentence tells who or what, and what they do or are. The cat naps is complete. The cat on the rug is not. It never says what the cat does.

The verb must match the who. One cat naps. Two cats nap. One kid is here. Two kids are here.

Count the who. Is it one, or more than one? Then pick the verb that fits.

🧠 Let's work it out

Sentence: The birds ___ in the tree.

Ask: one bird or more? Birds is more than one.
So use sing, not sings.
Now check a group of words: Under the big bed.
Who? It does not say.
What do they do? It does not say.
So it is not a sentence.

What do you think comes next?

subject: the who or what in a sentence
complete sentence: a group of words with a who and a verb

Commas and quotation marks

💡 Commas help separate parts, and quotation marks hold the exact words someone says.

Put a comma between a city and a state: Austin, Texas. If the sentence keeps going, put a comma after the state too.

When someone talks, put quotation marks around the words they say. Put a comma after said. The first spoken word gets a capital letter.

Example: Dad said, "Time for bed."

🧠 Let's work it out

Check a line: Mom said "wash up."

Ask: is there a comma after said? No.
Does the spoken part start with a capital? No.
Fix both: Mom said, "Wash up."

What do you think comes next?

comma: a mark that separates parts of a sentence
quotation marks: marks that go around the words someone says

Capitals and apostrophes

💡 Names, months, and the first word get capitals, and 's shows that something belongs to someone.

Use a capital letter for the first word in a sentence. Use one for names of people and pets. A title used with a name, like Uncle Ted, gets capitals too. So do months and days.

To show that one person owns something, add an apostrophe and s: Ana's hat.

The apostrophe goes before the s for one owner. Without it, the word just means more than one.

🧠 Let's work it out

Which is right: the dogs bowl, or the dog's bowl?

Ask: is this about more than one dog? No.
It is the bowl that belongs to one dog.
So add 's. The dog's bowl.

What do you think comes next?

capital: a big letter, like T
apostrophe: a mark that shows something belongs to someone