Starter quiz
- What can we use hyphens for?
- to join words or parts of words together ✓
- to show a space between words
- to create compound adjectives ✓
- to add prefixes to words ✓
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- Which numbers are punctuated correctly?
- twenty-seven ✓
- one hundred and seventy two
- nineteen ✓
- twenty-two thousand, four hundred and forty-seven ✓
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- Which of these phrases requires a hyphen to create a compound adjective?
- a long standing commitment ✓
- a deep dark cave
- a tall beautiful tree
- a feel good movie ✓
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- Which of these sentences uses the word 'recover' to mean 'get back to normal'?
- I don't think I'll re-cover this wall with paint - I prefer the bare bricks.
- It will take the country a long time to recover from this shock. ✓
- Please re-cover the food in the fridge after you have eaten some.
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- Match the prefixes with hyphens to the root words that they could be joined to.
- pro-⇔active ✓
- self-⇔centred ✓
- non-⇔verbal ✓
- co-⇔author ✓
- Which of these sentences use ellipsis correctly?
- Then, the door slammed behind me... ✓
- There it was, the... hidden treasure!
- There it was... the hidden treasure! ✓
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Exit quiz
- Which of the following could be used to introduce a list?
- There were many people at the party, including:
- There were many people at the party, including the following: ✓
- There were many people at the party: ✓
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- Match the main clauses to the lists that could follow the colon.
- We bought a range of items:⇔mince pies, a turkey, potatoes, rice and double cream. ✓
- He visited three countries:⇔Spain, Portugal and Switzerland. ✓
- She asked for four presents:⇔a book, a hair tie, a cricket bat and a watch. ✓
- Which of these sentences is correctly punctuated?
- There were three competition winners, including: Alex, Jun and Sofia.
- There were three competition winners: Alex, Jun and Sofia. ✓
- There were three competition winners: Alex, Jun, and Sofia.
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- Which of these could come before a question introduced by the colon?
- The real question was this: ✓
- We all had a question running through our minds about:
- One question that occurred to me was:
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- Which of these sentences is the correct version?
- As we stepped in, my heart was racing: were we alone in the house? ✓
- As we stepped in, my heart was racing: Were we alone in the house?
- As we stepped in, my heart was racing I wondered: were we alone in the house
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- Which of the following are possible uses for a colon?
- to improve text cohesion by joining sentences ✓
- to introduce a question ✓
- to introduce a list of nouns ✓
- to come after a list of nouns
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- A colon is a piece of punctuation with more than one purpose.
- A colon is always placed after a main clause.
- A colon can introduce a list or a question.
- A colon can help to improve text cohesion.
Common misconception
Pupils may not place a main clause before the colon.
Emphasise that for questions and lists, we always have a main clause before the colon; for questions, we also have one after the colon.
Keywords
Colon - a piece of punctuation placed after a main clause that can introduce a list or a question
Main clause - a group of words that contains a verb and makes complete sense
Text cohesion - how a text flows to maintain the interest of the reader and achieve text purpose
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