C
A
b. From How Dumb Animals Talk by Christina Rossetti
… of the cat
If she is unhappy, or in pain, or hungry, she meows. If she is angry,
she sets up her back and her fur, moves her tail from side to side,
and spits. If teased, she growls and puts back her ears. If she is
treated in a way she does not like, up goes her tail straight in the
air, and she marches out of the room.
3. Students insert commas into unpunctuated sentences, for example:
a. Lucy was late for school(,) having got up late.
b. Then after gobbling her breakfast(,) she had hiccups.
c. Her belt dangling on the ground(,) she ran to catch the bus.
d. Just as she reached the bus stop(,) her friend(,) Emma(,) trod on
the end of the belt.
e. Lucy fell backwards(,) treading on Jenny’s foot(,) knocking her
into a lamp post.
f. Lucy started to laugh(,) but then realised her friend had hurt
herself(,) so she said she was sorry(,)* and hugged her.
g. Just then(,) the new(,) shiny green bus(,) driven by Emma’s Uncle
Gary(,) swept around the bend.
* This comma is optional. Note, too, that a thing may be new,
green and shiny, in which case it would read, shiny, green bus,
or the word ‘shiny’ may describe the kind of green, as in the
sentence above.
Checklist: commas
Students should now be able to:
• explain at least two different ways to use commas
• use commas correctly in a written list
• use commas correctly in written work to indicate sense groups
88

A
Some modern texts choose to use these marks the opposite way
round, as in ‘My favourite book is “The Goblet of Fire”, by J.K.
Rowling,’ answered Julie. Either is correct, but teachers in an
education institution should agree on the form to be adopted.
13.1 Activities: inverted commas
1. Students insert the correct punctuation into sentences using direct
speech.
a. Dad said come quickly and you will see a goanna.
b. I can see it shouted Anna jumping up and down.
c. Shh don’t shout whispered Dad you’ll frighten it.
d. What are you all looking at called Gemma from the kitchen
window.
e. Hush mouthed Anna her finger to her lips it’s a goanna.
2. Students write a conversation they have had with one of the
following, remembering that for each new speaker, we start a new
line.
a. the shopkeeper at the corner store
b. a friend
c. a policeman
d. a favourite star or sportsperson
e. an astronaut
f. an uncle or aunt
3. Students are given a copy of a selected passage from a well-known
book, with punctuation omitted. They reconstruct the passage,
inserting punctuation. They then compare their version with the
original.
A suggested passage, from J.K. Rowling’s
The Philosopher’s Stone:
‘I want to read that letter,’ he said loudly.

part which tells something about the subject, and is called the
predicate. Students should now learn the terms, and label sen-
tences accordingly, as well as indicating the parts of speech of the
individual words. This can be treated like a puzzle.
Firstly, some sentences should be labelled on the board with
student participation. Students can then be given time to practise
on their own in their grammar exercise books. Some sentences
should be given for homework to demonstrate independent
learning and accuracy. It is, as always, important for the work to
be corrected to detect misunderstandings and errors.
‘Parse’ is from the Latin word pars meaning ‘part’ and describes
the task we are doing when we divide a sentence to show how it
is made up.
14
92