a well-constructed sentence. Grammar is a well-constructed sentence. Kindly contributed to the Adult Basic Skills Resource Centre http://www.skillsworkshop.org/ by Gill Moore, Skills for Life tutor, Tamworth & Lichfield College April 2008 Ws/E2.1 Construct simple and compound sentences, using common conjunctions to connect two clauses (e.g. as, but, and). (a) understand that simple sentences can be combined to make compound sentences by using conjunctions (b) understand that, if a compound sentence has too many bits added on, the reader will not be able to follow the sense. (c) know some common conjunctions e.g. and, but, or, as. Ws/E3.1 write in complete sentences (a) understand that simple and compound sentences can be amplified by expanding the information about the noun and the verb to give additional information about agents and actions (b) understand that longer or more complicated sentences are built up according to patterns or rules, relating to word order Ws/E3.2 use correct basic grammar (e.g. appropriate verb tense, subject-verb agreement) (a) understand the concepts of past, present and future, that human beings exist in time, and that language reflects this through the tenses of verbs which can change form to convey time past, present or future (b) understand that understand that verbs convey actions (physical and non-physical) (c) understand that a verb and its subject or 'doer' must 'agree'; both must be either singular (i.e. one) or plural (i.e. more than one) (d) understand that in some regional varieties of spoken English the subject and verb do not  always agree (e.g. he were, we was) but, as written English is a non-regional standard, writers use the same written forms wherever they live (e) know and understand the terms verb, tense, subject of a sentence

A sentence must have A capital letter at the beginning. A . or ? or ! at the end.

What’s wrong here? my son and i watched aston villa last saturday

A sentence must include A verb (doing or being). A subject (someone or something to do the verb).

Is this a sentence? The cat sat on the mat. Has it got a verb? Yes - sat Has it got a subject? Yes - the cat

Verbs change according to when the action takes place The action can be in the past, the present or the future. We call this the verb tense.

Verbs change according to who is doing them I was You were He/she was We were They were I am You are He/she is We are They are

What’s wrong here? My son and I go to see Aston Villa last Saturday. My son and I went to see Aston Villa last Saturday.

Simple sentences My son and I watched Aston Villa. We enjoyed it. How can you join these two sentences together?

Joining words are called connectives My son and I watched Aston Villa and we enjoyed it. It rained. Can you think of a connective to join this bit?

My son and I watched Aston Villa and we enjoyed it but it rained. Can you think of any more words which we can use to connect up simple sentences?

Some more connectives I must go the shops _______ I have run out of milk. because

I trusted her _______ I had only met her once. although

I went to the bank ________ I went to the shops. before after

I must dash ____ I will miss the bus. or

I will feel sick ___ I eat any more chocolate. if

There are many more. Using different ways to connect sentences makes the writing more interesting. See how many more you can find.