Year 5 · SPaG · Commas
Year 5 commas in lists, adverbials and clauses worksheet and PowerPoint
To use commas in a list, after a fronted adverbial, around extra information and to avoid ambiguity.
Four jobs for a comma
Commas have more than one job. Read the sentence and decide what the comma is doing.
| in a list | We bought apples, pears, plums and grapes. |
|---|---|
| after a fronted adverbial | Before breakfast, I fed the cat. |
| round extra information | My uncle, a pilot, lives in Spain. |
| to avoid ambiguity | Let’s eat, Grandma. |
Examples
- After the match, we had tea.
- The flag is red, white and blue.
Key words
- list
- three or more things joined in a row
- item
- one thing in a list
- comma
- separates the items
- conjunction
- and, or: joins the last two items
- fronted adverbial
- a word or phrase at the start of a sentence that says when, where or how
- adverbial
- words that tell you more about the verb
- subordinate clause
- a clause that cannot stand on its own
- pair
- two commas: one before and one after
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 a paragraph of six sentences about a school trip. Use a comma in a list, after a fronted adverbial and round extra information at least once each.
Pupil target: I can say what a comma is doing in a sentence.
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 commas in lists, adverbials and clauses PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 12 of 43 in the Year 5 SPaG scheme, in the block “Commas”.
Other lessons in this block
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