Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) is the accuracy strand of the 13+ Common Entrance English paper, covering correct spelling, punctuation such as apostrophes and inverted commas for direct speech, and grammar such as word classes and consistent tenses.
Before you start
No specific prerequisites - this is a good place to start.
Method
- Learn the names and jobs of the main word classes (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction, determiner) so you can identify and talk about grammar accurately.
- Learn the two jobs of the apostrophe: showing a missing letter in a contraction (do not becomes don't) and showing possession (the dog's lead for one dog, the dogs' lead for more than one).
- Learn when a comma is needed: after a fronted adverbial, between items in a list, and around a non-essential extra clause, but never to join two complete sentences on its own (a comma splice).
- Learn to punctuate direct speech correctly: open inverted commas, a capital letter for the first spoken word, the punctuation mark before the closing inverted commas, and a new line for a new speaker.
- Learn common homophones (their/there/they're, its/it's, whose/who's, effect/affect) and the spelling rules for adding suffixes, such as dropping a final e or doubling a final consonant.
- When correcting a passage, read it through once for sense, then go through a second time checking spelling and punctuation word by word, marking every error rather than stopping at the first one you find.
- Before moving on, check that subject and verb agree (he walks, not he walk) and that the tense stays consistent across the sentence or passage.
Worked example
Rewrite this sentence correctly, adding the missing capital letters and punctuation: im not sure if the twins bags are in the hallway or if theyre still on the bus
- Add a capital letter and an apostrophe to the contraction at the start: im becomes I'm.
- Add an apostrophe to show possession for twins: since the bags belong to more than one twin, the plural possessive is twins', with the apostrophe after the s.
- Add an apostrophe to the second contraction: theyre becomes they're (short for they are).
- Add a capital letter at the very start of the sentence and a full stop at the end. Final answer: I'm not sure if the twins' bags are in the hallway or if they're still on the bus.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Which punctuation mark is missing, and where, from this sentence: Please bring your pencil case ruler and calculator to the exam.Show answer
Answer: Commas are missing between the list items: Please bring your pencil case, ruler and calculator to the exam.
Q2Choose the correct homophone to complete the sentence: The dog wagged ___ tail happily. (its / it's)Show answer
Answer: its (the possessive form, meaning belonging to it; it's would mean it is)
Q3In the sentence 'The overexcited puppy chewed through the new shoe,' what word class is 'chewed'?Show answer
Answer: A verb (it is the action the puppy is doing).
Q4Correct the punctuation in this sentence, which reports direct speech: she shouted watch out and pulled her brother back from the roadShow answer
Answer: She shouted, 'Watch out!' and pulled her brother back from the road.
Q5Add an apostrophe in the correct place: The three girls coats were left on the bus. (There is one coat per girl, and three girls in total.)Show answer
Answer: The three girls' coats were left on the bus. (plural possessive, since the coats belong to more than one girl)
Q6Which sentence uses a semicolon correctly? A) I like tennis; and swimming. B) I like tennis; my sister prefers swimming.Show answer
Answer: B - a semicolon joins two closely related complete sentences without needing a joining word such as 'and'.
Q7This sentence contains a comma splice: The rain started early, we cancelled the picnic. Correct it in one way.Show answer
Answer: The rain started early, so we cancelled the picnic. (Adding a joining word, or splitting into two separate sentences, both correct the splice.)
Q8Find and correct the tense error in this sentence: Yesterday, Priya walks to school and meets her friend Tom.Show answer
Answer: Yesterday, Priya walked to school and met her friend Tom. (The verbs must be in the past tense throughout, to match 'yesterday'.)
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 13+ Common Entrance exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Rewrite this sentence, correcting all four errors: yesterday mrs patel said the trip was cancelled but leo thought he should of gone anyway
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 4 available
Punctuate this direct speech correctly, adding inverted commas, capital letters and any other punctuation needed: mind the step called the guide as the group walked into the cave
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
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Correct the FIVE spelling, punctuation and grammar errors in this passage, rewriting it correctly: the concert start at seven oclock and tickets cost 12 pounds each dont forget to bring you're ticket on the night
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 5 available
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the spelling, punctuation and grammar worksheet pack - 12 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 31 of 13+ English Workbook, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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