Language: text structure and punctuation
Jumbled sentences
Put jumbled parts of a sentence back into the one order that works, using the capital letter, the full stop and the subject to find your way.
A jumbled sentence looks harder than it is. The parts are not in a random order waiting for inspiration — the punctuation and the grammar between them fix almost every position before you have to guess anything.
Start at the two ends
Exactly one part begins with a capital letter: that part goes first. And if a part ends with a full stop or a question mark, that part goes last. Two of your decisions are made before you have read the rest.
Then find who is doing what
Every sentence has a subject — the one the sentence is about — and a verb telling you what they did. Once you have those two, they go in that order, and the rest arranges itself around them.
Keep phrases in one lump
"under the bridge", "across the wide field", "that we met yesterday" — a group of words like this travels together and never gets split up. If you find yourself breaking one open, the order is wrong.
Worked example
Put these in order: "climbed the wall" / "in one leap." / "When the gate swung open," / "the black cat"
"When the gate swung open," has the capital letter, so it goes first.
Only one part has a capital letter at the front, and a sentence can begin nowhere else. That is the whole argument.
Try it together
Now this one: "very difficult." / "the whole class" / "found the last question" / "Although the paper was short,"
Same three moves. Write the whole part each time, exactly as it is printed.
1.Which part goes first?
Have a go
Put the parts in order to make one correct sentence.
Tap the cards below in the right order.
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.