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📘 Four words. Then five extra ones walk in.

You sit down with a pencil and write four words. The cat sat still. That is a whole sentence. A thing, an action, a how. Then you try again. The cat sat under the table and she hissed — wow. Five extra words walked in. None of them names a

5
lessons
~25 min
to learn
Adults
level
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What you’ll learn

  1. Three jobs that never name a thingExplain that conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections do not name or do the action: they join, place, or burst, and Grade 5 asks for the function in a particular sentence.A four-word sentence grows five extra words. And glues. Under places. Wow bursts. None of them is a noun or a verb. Paper clips and bridges are the picture: they hold other things.
  2. The words that glueUse coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS) to join equals, subordinating conjunctions to hang a dependent clause, and correlative pairs such as either/or.A handshake joins equals. Or is a fork. Because builds a span that cannot stand alone. Either…or marks both ends. Purdue wants a comma before a coordinator that joins two full clauses.
  3. The words that placeRecognise a preposition as the start of a phrase that ends with a noun or pronoun, and tell whether that phrase is placing a verb or fattening a noun.The cat under the table. Keys on the table. A train through a tunnel. A bird on a branch. Purdue's on/at/in habits split surface, container, and point. Year 4 uses the same phrases to expand nouns.
  4. The words that burstIdentify an interjection as a word that expresses emotion, can stand alone, and does not join the grammar of the sentence beside it.Wow can stand in a room by itself. Latin: thrown in between. Strong bursts take !. Mild ones often take a comma. Formal writing uses fewer of them. Lift the word out: if the sentence still stands, it was never load-bearing.
  5. The same word, a different jobDecide a word's job from what follows it, sort before/after/since by noun versus clause, and explain the function in this sentence.Before dinner is a preposition. Before she sat is a conjunction. Four checks: gasp, follower, equals, function here. Tonight, steal a sentence and walk them. Some borders are still argued.

Questions this course answers

In The cat sat under the table and she hissed — wow, what job is under doing?

Under starts a prepositional phrase that ends with the noun table. It shows a place relationship, which is the preposition's job.

Match each small word to the job it is doing in this sentence: Wow, the fox jumped over the fence and landed.

Wow bursts. Over places the jump relative to the fence. And glues a second verb on. Fox is a noun, so it is not in this family.

Purdue's seven coordinators.

FANBOYS stands for for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Purdue lists those seven as the coordinating conjunctions that can join two independent clauses.

Put these checks in the order you should walk them before naming a small word's job.

Burst first, because it can stand alone. Then look at the follower, which splits preposition from conjunction. Then check for equals, which splits coordinating from subordinating. Last, say the function here — that is the Grade 5 line.

Which sentence uses before as a preposition?

Dinner is a noun, so before dinner is a prepositional phrase. The other three follow before with a clause, so before is a subordinating conjunction there.

In your own words, why is Because the river was high. not a sentence, even though it has a subject and a verb?

The river was high can stand alone. Adding because makes it dependent. Purdue's test: a dependent clause has a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought.

Grounded in trusted sources

  • Common Core State Standards Initiative, English Language Arts Standards, Language, Grade 5: L.5.1.a (explain the function of conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections in general and their function in particular sentences); L.5.1.e (form and use correlative conjunctions, e.g. either/or, neither/nor), https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/5/
  • Department for Education, English Appendix 2: Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation (Year 2: subordination using when, if, that, because and co-ordination using or, and, but; Year 3: expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions when, before, after, while, so, because, or prepositions before, after, during, in, because of; terminology for pupils: preposition, conjunction, clause, subordinate clause; Year 4: noun phrases expanded by preposition phrases), https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335190/English_Appendix_2_-_Vocabulary_grammar_and_punctuation.pdf
  • Department for Education, National curriculum in England: English programmes of study (years 3 and 4: extending the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions, including when, if, because, although; using conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study
  • Purdue University Online Writing Lab, Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses (seven coordinating conjunctions for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so; dependent marker words including after, although, because, before, if, since, unless, until, when, while; comma when the dependent clause comes first), https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/independent_and_dependent_clauses/index.html
  • Purdue University Online Writing Lab, Prepositions for Time, Place, and Introducing Objects (a prepositional phrase begins with the preposition and ends with the object; on / at / in for time and place; over / above; under / underneath / beneath / below), https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/prepositions/index.html
  • LibreTexts, Rhetoric and Composition, 6.1: Parts of Speech (coordinating conjunctions FANBOYS; correlative pairs either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also; subordinating conjunctions; prepositions and prepositional phrases; interjections thrown in between, able to stand alone), https://human.libretexts.org/Courses/Citrus_College/Rhetoric_and_Composition_(Wikibooks)/06%3A_Grammar_and_Mechanics/6.01%3A_Parts_of_Speech
  • LibreTexts, Horse of a Different Color, 16.7: Interjections (inter + iacere; Wow, Oh, Hey, Ow; exclamation mark or comma depending on the importance of the emotion; interjections do not relate to the grammar of the sentence), https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Composition/Introductory_Composition/Horse_of_a_Different_Color_-_English_Composition_and_Rhetoric/Part_III%3A_Grammar_and_Mechanics/16%3A_Parts_of_Speech/16.7%3A_Interjections

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