SPaG Depth Set 7
SPaG Depth Set 7 covers Standard English usage points that 11+ examiners specifically look for in a candidate's own writing and in error-spotting tasks: the difference between fewer and less, correct pronoun choice in a compound subject or object such as 'my friend and I' versus 'my friend and me', avoiding double negatives, and correctly punctuating a fronted adverbial with a comma.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Use 'fewer' for things that can be counted individually, such as fewer apples or fewer people, and 'less' for things thought of as a whole amount or that cannot be counted individually, such as less time or less water.
- To choose correctly between 'I' and 'me' in a compound subject or object, mentally remove the other person and test the sentence alone: 'I went to the park' sounds right, so 'I' is correct, not 'me'.
- Apply the same test to the object position: 'Give the ticket to Sam and ___' becomes 'Give the ticket to me' when tested alone, confirming 'me' rather than 'I' is correct there.
- Avoid double negatives, where two negative words are used together and cancel each other out or simply sound non-standard, so 'I don't have no time' should be 'I don't have any time' or 'I have no time'.
- Identify a fronted adverbial: a word or phrase that would normally come later in the sentence but has been moved to the front for emphasis or variety, such as 'Later that evening,' or 'Without warning,'.
- Always place a comma directly after a fronted adverbial, separating it from the main clause that follows.
- When editing your own writing, check pronoun choice and fewer or less in every compound structure and quantity phrase, since these are common places for non-standard forms to slip in unnoticed.
Worked example
Correct any errors in this sentence and explain your corrections: 'Me and my brother don't have no homework tonight, so there was less problems than usual.'
- Test the pronoun: remove 'my brother' and test the rest alone; 'Me don't have' sounds wrong, so the correct pronoun is 'I', giving 'My brother and I'.
- Identify the double negative: 'don't have no homework' uses two negatives, 'don't' and 'no', which should become a single negative, 'don't have any homework'.
- Identify the fewer or less error: 'problems' can be counted individually, so 'fewer' should be used instead of 'less'.
- Combine all three corrections into the full sentence.
- Final answer: 'My brother and I don't have any homework tonight, so there were fewer problems than usual.'
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1Choose the correct word: 'There were (fewer / less) students in the class today.'Show answer
Answer: fewer, since students can be counted individually
Q2Choose the correct word: 'We have (fewer / less) time than we thought.'Show answer
Answer: less, since time is treated as a whole amount here, not counted in individual units
Q3Choose the correct pronoun: 'Jack and (I / me) are going to the cinema.'Show answer
Answer: I; testing alone, 'I am going to the cinema' sounds correct
Q4Choose the correct pronoun: 'The teacher gave the prize to Sam and (I / me).'Show answer
Answer: me; testing alone, 'the teacher gave the prize to me' sounds correct
Q5Correct the double negative: 'I haven't got no pencil.'Show answer
Answer: I haven't got a pencil. (or 'I have no pencil.')
Q6Add a comma in the correct place: 'Without a moment's hesitation she dived into the water.'Show answer
Answer: Without a moment's hesitation, she dived into the water. The comma is placed directly after the fronted adverbial.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Correct all the errors in this sentence and explain each correction: 'Without warning the alarm went off and me and my sister didn't have no time to grab our coats.' (4 marks)
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Explain the rule for choosing between 'fewer' and 'less', giving one correct example sentence for each. (4 marks)
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Nothing ticked yet - 4 available
A pupil wrote: 'Between you and I, there wasn't hardly no time left to finish.' Identify two non-standard features of this sentence and correct them. (3 marks)
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Nothing ticked yet - 3 available
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the spag depth set 7 worksheet pack - 14 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
This topic is chapter 14 of 11+ English Workbook 3, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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