Year 4 · SPaG · Conjunctions and clauses
Year 4 clauses worksheet and PowerPoint
To recognise main clauses and subordinate clauses and to join them with a conjunction.
Conjunctions and clauses
A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb. A main clause makes sense on its own. A conjunction joins clauses. Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, so) join clauses of equal weight. Subordinating conjunctions (because, when, if, although) add a clause that depends on the main clause. Some conjunctions tell you about time (when, before, after, while, until), place (where, wherever) or cause (because, so, in case).
| coordinating | I was tired but I kept going. |
|---|---|
| subordinating | I kept going because I wanted to win. |
| time | We left before it got dark. |
| place | Sit where you can see. |
| cause | Take a coat in case it rains. |
Examples
- When the bell rang, we lined up.
- We stayed in because it was raining.
Key words
- clause
- a group of words with a subject and a verb
- main clause
- makes sense on its own
- conjunction
- a word that joins clauses
- subordinate clause
- depends on a main clause
What is on the worksheet
Every sheet for this lesson has a short teaching box and 12 questions that get gradually harder: 8 fluency questions, then 4 reasoning questions that ask pupils to explain or choose. A writing challenge follows. The questions use the same styles as the key stage 2 grammar and punctuation test (circle, underline, tick, fill the gap, add punctuation, rewrite, explain). They are written for this website, not copied from past papers.
All the answers are on the last page of the same editable Word file. New questions are made every time, so you can print a different sheet for every group or for homework. The same sheet code always gives the same sheet.
Writing challenge: Write six sentences with a main clause and a subordinate clause. Underline the main clause once and the subordinate clause twice.
Pupil target: I can find a main clause.
The PowerPoint
A 20-slide lesson deck for the same lesson: a starter that revisits earlier learning, key words, an I do and a You do question on each slide with a countdown timer, answers that appear one click at a time, and a challenge. Download the clauses PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 37 of 60 in the Year 4 SPaG scheme, in the block “Conjunctions and clauses”.
Other lessons in this block
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