Term pack

Year 6 English

Name: ________________________

Skills in this pack

Kinds of nouns and pronouns
Adjectives and their degrees
Adverbs: how, when and where
Determiners
Prepositions of time and place
Adverbs and their kinds
Simile, metaphor and personification
Punctuation and capital letters
Commas with clauses
Reading a factual passage
Topic sentences
Writing about a picture

Free at www.arenapublications.com/learn — no account, no ads, ever.

Year 6 English · 1 of 12

Kinds of nouns and pronouns

Sort a noun into its kind, and choose the pronoun that stands in for a noun.

1.Which sentence uses a reflexive pronoun?
- a) She made the card with them.
- b) She cut herself on the paper.
- c) She made the card yesterday.
- d) She made the card for her.
2.One of these is printed wrongly, because it is a proper noun and needs a capital letter. Which one?
- a) december
- b) teacher
- c) month
- d) school
3.Which word is a collective noun?
- a) sheep
- b) field
- c) flock
- d) shepherd
4.Write the abstract noun made from the adjective "kind".
5.Sort each noun by its kind.
Groups: Common noun · Proper noun · Abstract noun
- Tuesday
- river
- teacher
- courage
- Africa
- honesty
6.Match each collective noun to what it names a group of.
- a flock
- a bunch
- a fleet
- a swarm
- a bundle
- birds
- sticks
- bees
- grapes
- ships
7.Which noun in this sentence names something you cannot touch? "The old teacher spoke of freedom in a quiet room."
- a) room
- b) spoke
- c) teacher
- d) freedom
8.Sort each pronoun by its kind.
Groups: Personal · Possessive · Reflexive
- ourselves
- yourself
- theirs
- ours
- them
- him

Kinds of nouns and pronouns · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 2 of 12

Adjectives and their degrees

Find the adjective in a sentence and build its comparative and superlative with -er and -est.

1.Complete the sentence with the superlative of "tall": That is the ____ building in the city.
2.Write the superlative of "big".
3.Match each adjective to its superlative.
- cold
- large
- heavy
- thin
- bright
- largest
- brightest
- thinnest
- heaviest
- coldest
4.Sort each phrase or sentence by where its adjective sits.
Groups: Before the noun · After a verb like is or looks
- The lane is narrow.
- The sky looks cloudy.
- a narrow lane
- The room seemed silent.
- a cloudy sky
- a silent room
5.Sort each adjective by the spelling change it needs before -er goes on.
Groups: Just add -er · Double the last letter · Change y to i
- tall
- thin
- happy
- big
- soft
- easy
6.Write the comparative of "small".
7.Which of these words is NOT an adjective?
- a) cheerful
- b) wooden
- c) golden
- d) carefully
8.Which word is the adjective in this sentence? "The narrow lane led down to the river."
- a) narrow
- b) lane
- c) led
- d) river

Adjectives and their degrees · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 3 of 12

Adverbs: how, when and where

Recognise an adverb, say whether it tells how, when or where, and build one from an adjective.

1.Which sentence contains an adverb?
- a) She answered politely.
- b) The garden is large.
- c) They bought a red car.
- d) The soup was hot.
2.Match each adjective to the adverb built from it.
- careful
- simple
- angry
- true
- sudden
- truly
- angrily
- simply
- suddenly
- carefully
3.Which word does the adverb tell you more about? "The rain fell steadily all night."
- a) all
- b) night
- c) fell
- d) rain
4.Which of these is an adverb of place?
- a) upstairs
- b) yesterday
- c) quietly
- d) carefully
5.Three of these are adverbs. Which one is NOT?
- a) quietly
- b) friendly
- c) often
- d) upstairs
6.Sort each word by whether it describes a noun or an action.
Groups: Adjective · Adverb
- bravely
- neat
- neatly
- silently
- brave
- silent
7.What does the adverb tell you in "We will leave tomorrow"?
- a) When we will leave
- b) Where we will leave
- c) Why we will leave
- d) How we will leave
8.Match each adverb to what it means.
- rarely
- immediately
- nearby
- carelessly
- daily
- not often
- close to here
- every day
- without taking care
- at once

Adverbs: how, when and where · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 4 of 12

Determiners

Choose the determiner that fits the noun — a or an, this or these, much or many, some or any.

1.Write "a" or "an": I saw ____ eagle above the hill.
2.How ____ chairs are there in the hall?
- a) less
- b) a little
- c) many
- d) much
3.How ____ sugar do you need?
- a) few
- b) a few
- c) many
- d) much
4.____ books on the shelf beside me are torn.
- a) This
- b) Any
- c) Much
- d) These
5.She is ____ university student.
- a) some
- b) the
- c) an
- d) a
6.Please give me ____ little more time.
- a) an
- b) the
- c) some
- d) a
7.Sort each noun by whether you would count it with "many" or measure it with "much".
Groups: Countable — use "many" · Uncountable — use "much"
- chairs
- rice
- advice
- information
- books
- water
- pencils
- apples
8.Ravi waited for ____ hour at the station.
- a) a
- b) an
- c) some
- d) the

Determiners · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 5 of 12

Prepositions of time and place

Choose the preposition that fits a time or a position.

1.We walked ____ the bridge to reach the other bank of the river.
- a) below
- b) among
- c) across
- d) between
2.Write "in", "on" or "at": She keeps her pens ____ a small box.
3.I have known Meera ____ 2019.
- a) for
- b) from
- c) by
- d) since
4.Match each preposition to what follows it.
- at
- in
- on
- for
- since
- between
- how long something lasted, as in "for six days"
- a named day, as in "on Friday"
- a clock time, as in "at four o'clock"
- the point when something started, as in "since Monday"
- a month or a year, as in "in April"
- a position with two named sides
5.Sort each time expression by the preposition it takes.
Groups: in · on · at
- seven o'clock
- March
- 2015
- night
- midnight
- Tuesday morning
- the evening
- Monday
6.My birthday is ____ March.
- a) at
- b) in
- c) on
- d) by
7.Write "in", "on" or "at": The book is ____ the table.
8.The shop is ____ the bank and the post office.
- a) among
- b) beside
- c) between
- d) across

Prepositions of time and place · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 6 of 12

Adverbs and their kinds

Spot an adverb, name its kind — manner, place, time, frequency or degree — and tell it apart from the adjective it was built from.

1.In "She sang beautifully at the concert", which word is the adverb?
- a) beautifully
- b) She
- c) concert
- d) sang
2.Write the adverb formed from the adjective "happy": She smiled ____ when she heard the news.
3.Write the adverb formed from the adjective "gentle": He closed the door ____.
4.Which sentence contains an adverb of degree?
- a) He runs outside.
- b) He is very tired.
- c) He runs fast.
- d) He runs daily.
5.Write the adverb of frequency that means "not even once": He has ____ been late.
6.Match each adverb to the question it answers.
- silently
- upstairs
- tomorrow
- often
- extremely
- When?
- To what degree?
- How?
- Where?
- How often?
7.Which of these words is NOT an adverb?
- a) never
- b) slowly
- c) lonely
- d) almost
8.Sort each word by whether it is an adjective or an adverb.
Groups: Adjective · Adverb
- suddenly
- sudden
- brave
- true
- bravely
- truly
- loudly
- loud

Adverbs and their kinds · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 7 of 12

Simile, metaphor and personification

Tell a simile, a metaphor and personification apart, and explain what each one means.

1."He has a heart of gold." What does it mean?
- a) He has a heart problem.
- b) He wears a gold chain.
- c) He is very rich.
- d) He is very kind.
2.Sort each phrase by how it makes its comparison.
Groups: Compares using "like" or "as" · Compares by saying one thing IS another
- like a bolt of lightning
- the world is a stage
- her smile is sunshine
- as light as air
- a sea of troubles
- as cold as ice
3.Which sentence is a simile?
- a) The moon is a silver coin.
- b) The moon smiled at the sleeping village.
- c) The moon shone like a silver coin.
- d) The moon rose at eight o'clock.
4.What figure of speech is "The sun greeted us at dawn"? Write one word.
5.Complete the simile with the animal it usually names: as stubborn as a ____.
6.Match each simile to what it means.
- as light as a feather
- as cold as ice
- as busy as a bee
- as good as gold
- as clear as crystal
- as quick as lightning
- extremely cold
- moving extremely fast
- behaving very well
- working without a pause
- very easy to understand
- weighing very little
7.Sort each sentence by the figure of speech it uses.
Groups: Simile · Metaphor · Personification
- Her voice was as sweet as honey.
- The old gate groaned in the night.
- The classroom was a zoo.
- Time is a thief.
- He ran like the wind.
- The wind whispered through the trees.
8."The waves whispered to the sand." Which figure of speech is this?
- a) personification
- b) metaphor
- c) none of these
- d) simile

Simile, metaphor and personification · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 8 of 12

Punctuation and capital letters

Punctuate a sentence with capital letters, end marks, commas and speech marks.

1.Sort each word by whether it needs a capital letter wherever it appears in a sentence.
Groups: Needs a capital letter · Does not need a capital letter
- india
- december
- teacher
- table
- monday
- pencil
2.In the line "we saw the taj mahal on tuesday", which word does NOT need a capital letter?
- a) taj
- b) tuesday
- c) we
- d) saw
3.Which sentence sets out the shout correctly?
- a) "Wait for me!" shouted Anil.
- b) Wait for me! "shouted Anil."
- c) "Wait for me!" Shouted Anil.
- d) "Wait for me"! shouted Anil.
4.Match each mark to the job it does.
- Full stop
- Question mark
- Exclamation mark
- Comma
- Apostrophe
- Speech marks
- ends a statement
- ends a question
- enclose the exact words somebody said
- shows a missing letter or belonging
- separates parts of a sentence
- shows a strong feeling
5.What is the name of the mark that ends a question? Write two words.
6.Which sentence sets out the speech correctly?
- a) I am ready, said Meera.
- b) "I am ready" said Meera.
- c) "I am ready," Said Meera.
- d) "I am ready," said Meera.
7.Which sentence uses its comma correctly?
- a) Before we, left we locked the door.
- b) Before we left we, locked the door.
- c) Before we left, we locked the door.
- d) Before, we left we locked the door.
8.Which sentence puts the comma in the right place before the speech?
- a) Amit said "I will come later,"
- b) Amit said "I will come later".
- c) Amit, said "I will come later."
- d) Amit said, "I will come later."

Punctuation and capital letters · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 9 of 12

Commas with clauses

Put the comma where a clause needs one — after a clause that comes first, around an extra piece of information, and between two main clauses joined by a joining word.

1.Meera has exactly one brother. Which sentence is punctuated correctly for her?
- a) My, brother who lives in Pune is a doctor.
- b) My brother, who lives in Pune is a doctor.
- c) My brother who lives in Pune, is a doctor.
- d) My brother, who lives in Pune, is a doctor.
2.Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
- a) However, we could not find the key.
- b) How ever, we could not find the key.
- c) However we could not, find the key.
- d) However we could not find the key.
3.In which sentence is the comma wrong?
- a) It was late, so we took a taxi.
- b) Before we left, we locked the gate.
- c) We locked the gate, before we left.
- d) Our neighbour, who is a nurse, works nights.
4.Sort each sentence by whether it needs a comma in it.
Groups: Needs a comma · Needs no comma
- Because the road was blocked we turned back.
- We turned back because the road was blocked.
- Although he was tired he finished the race.
- When the rain stopped we went out.
- We went out when the rain stopped.
- He finished the race because he wanted the medal.
5.In which sentence is a comma doing a job that only a full stop or a joining word can do?
- a) The bell rang before the children ran out.
- b) The bell rang, the children ran out.
- c) When the bell rang, the children ran out.
- d) The bell rang, and the children ran out.
6.Sort each sentence by whether its comma is in the right place or the wrong one.
Groups: Right place · Wrong place
- Because she was late, she missed the bus.
- After the film, ended we walked home.
- Because, she was late she missed the bus.
- After the film ended, we walked home.
7.Rewrite this with one comma added: "When the gates opened the crowd rushed in." Write the whole sentence.
8.Match each rule to the sentence that follows it.
- A clause that comes before the main clause
- A clause that comes after the main clause
- Two main clauses joined by a joining word
- An extra piece of information dropped into the middle
- The lights went out, but we had a candle.
- Our house, which is very old, has no fan at all.
- We lit a candle when the lights went out.
- When the lights went out, we lit a candle.

Commas with clauses · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 10 of 12

Reading a factual passage

Answer questions about a factual passage by finding what it actually says, including the order of what happens and what it leaves out.

1.Which would make the best title for the banyan passage?
- a) The tree that looks like a forest
- b) Birds of the forest
- c) Meeting places in hot countries
- d) How to plant a seed
2.Which of these does the salt passage NOT tell you?
- a) Where the pans are dug
- b) How the salt is gathered up
- c) How much salt one pan makes
- d) What makes the water rise
3.Match each thing in the salt passage to the part it plays.
- the shallow pans
- the sun and the wind
- the workers
- the white crust
- what is left when the water has gone
- turn the water to vapour
- hold the sea water
- rake the salt into heaps
4.Put the stages of a banyan's growth in the order the passage gives them.
- One tree comes to look like a small forest.
- A bird drops a seed high up on another tree.
- The roots reach the ground and thicken into trunks.
- Roots come down from the branches like thin ropes.
5.From the salt passage: why can the same pans be used year after year? "Nothing is added and no fire is used, which is why the same pans can be used year after year."
- a) Because they are scrubbed clean every night
- b) Because nothing is added to them and no fire is used
- c) Because they are cut out of solid stone
- d) Because the sea is close by
6.Read this passage. "Salt has been taken from the sea for thousands of years, and the method has hardly changed. Sea water is let into shallow pans dug near the shore. The sun and the wind do the rest of the work: the water slowly turns to vapour and rises, leaving the salt behind as a white crust. Workers rake the crust into heaps and leave it to drain. Nothing is added and no fire is used, which is why the same pans can be used year after year." What makes the water leave the pans?
- a) Workers pour it away
- b) Pumps built under the pans
- c) Rain washes it out
- d) The sun and the wind
7.Sort each statement by whether the banyan passage says it. "A banyan tree does not grow the way most trees do. It begins life high up on another tree, where a bird has dropped its seed. Roots come down from its branches like thin ropes, and when they reach the ground they thicken into new trunks. In time a single banyan can look like a small forest, with dozens of trunks holding up one enormous crown. In many hot countries the shade of an old banyan is used as a meeting place."
Groups: The passage says this · The passage does not say this
- A bird brings the seed to where it starts growing.
- Banyan wood is used for building boats.
- One banyan can have many trunks.
- Banyan leaves are cooked and eaten.
- People meet in the shade of an old banyan.
- A banyan grows faster than any other tree.
8.From the banyan passage: what happens to the roots when they reach the ground? "A banyan tree does not grow the way most trees do. It begins life high up on another tree, where a bird has dropped its seed. Roots come down from its branches like thin ropes, and when they reach the ground they thicken into new trunks. In time a single banyan can look like a small forest, with dozens of trunks holding up one enormous crown."
- a) They turn back into branches
- b) They thicken into new trunks
- c) They are carried away by birds
- d) They dry up and fall off

Reading a factual passage · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 11 of 12

Topic sentences

Find the topic sentence of a paragraph, judge whether one is too narrow or too broad, and keep every other sentence under it.

1.These three sentences are the details of one paragraph. "Its roots reach deeper than the tree is tall." "Its bark can survive a fire." "It goes on growing for hundreds of years." Which is the best topic sentence for them?
- a) This tree has thick bark.
- b) Trees are important to us all.
- c) This tree is built to survive almost anything.
- d) Some trees lose their leaves in winter.
2.In this paragraph the topic sentence comes last. Which one is it? "The bell had gone twenty minutes earlier. The corridors were empty and the lights were off. Not one bag was left on a hook. The school had emptied faster than on any day that year."
- a) The school had emptied faster than on any day that year.
- b) The corridors were empty and the lights were off.
- c) Not one bag was left on a hook.
- d) The bell had gone twenty minutes earlier.
3.Put these sentences in order to make one good paragraph.
- Getting a kite into the air is easier than it looks — it takes three short steps.
- Then hold the kite up and let the wind take it from your hand.
- The first of those steps is to wait for a steady wind rather than a gusty one.
- Done in that order, it will be flying before you have run a step.
- Finally, let the string out slowly as the kite climbs.
4.A paragraph is being written about how bees make honey. Sort each sentence by the job it would do.
Groups: Topic sentence · Supporting detail
- The nectar is carried back to the hive in its body.
- Inside the hive, the nectar is passed from bee to bee.
- Other bees fan the nectar with their wings until it thickens.
- First it drinks nectar from a flower.
- Making honey takes a bee three careful stages.
- The finished honey is sealed into a cell with wax.
5.Which sentence would best follow this topic sentence? "A bicycle needs looking after in three simple ways."
- a) Bicycles cost far less to run than cars.
- b) I was given it on my last birthday.
- c) My bicycle is blue with a silver bell.
- d) First, the tyres should be checked before every long ride.
6.Match each paragraph subject to the topic sentence that would open it best.
- how a spider builds its web
- why the library is always full
- what happens on the first day of term
- how to plant a seed
- The first day of term follows the same pattern every year.
- There are three reasons the library is never empty at lunchtime.
- A spider builds its web in a fixed order, thread by thread.
- Planting a seed properly takes four short steps.
7.Which sentence is the topic sentence of this paragraph? "A market at dawn is a busy place. Vans arrive with crates of vegetables. Traders shout across the aisles to one another. By seven o'clock every stall is stacked and ready."
- a) A market at dawn is a busy place.
- b) By seven o'clock every stall is stacked and ready.
- c) Traders shout across the aisles to one another.
- d) Vans arrive with crates of vegetables.
8.Why is "My bicycle has a bell" a poor topic sentence for a paragraph about looking after a bicycle?
- a) It is too narrow — it covers one small detail and leaves the rest homeless
- b) It is not a sentence at all
- c) It is too broad — almost anything would fit under it
- d) It is in the wrong tense

Topic sentences · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 12 of 12

Writing about a picture

Describe a picture in an ordered paragraph — what is there, what is happening, and where each part sits.

Before you start

Every part of this picture has a name. Find out what each one is called before you write about any of it — six parts, in any order, and there is nothing here to get right.

1. The sun
2. The kite
3. The tree
4. The bench
5. The boy flying the kite
6. The pond

Notice where each part sits. The sun and the kite are up in the background, the tree and the bench are in the middle, and the pond is right at the front — which is very nearly the order you would write about them in.

1.Sort each one by whether it only names what is there or tells you what is happening.
Groups: Names what is there · Tells you what is happening
- The boy is flying a kite.
- The water shines in the sun.
- a tall tree
- a wooden bench
- Two birds fly over the field.
- a small pond
2.You are writing about the park picture. Sort each sentence by whether it belongs in that piece of writing.
Groups: Belongs · Does not belong
- The film starts at seven.
- My cousin lives in another city.
- The pond lies in the front corner.
- A tall tree stands in the middle of the park.
- Yesterday I lost my pencil.
- A boy is flying a kite above the field.
3.Which sentence would make the best closing sentence for writing about the park picture?
- a) A kite is a toy made of paper.
- b) There is also a pond.
- c) The tree is in the middle.
- d) The whole scene is quiet and unhurried.
4.In a picture, what do we call the part that lies farthest away, behind everything else?
- a) The outline
- b) The middle
- c) The foreground
- d) The background
5.Which of these tells you what is happening, rather than only what is there?
- a) a boy flying a kite
- b) a tall tree
- c) a wooden bench
- d) a small pond
6.Tap the part of this picture that tells you it is daytime.
Write the number of the part.
7.Match each part of the park picture to a phrase that describes it.
- the sun
- the kite
- the bench
- the pond
- a bright circle in a clear sky
- a wooden seat in the shade of the tree
- a diamond of paper high above the field
- a patch of still water in the front corner
8.Put these sentences in order to make one good paragraph about the park picture.
- To the right of the tree, a boy is flying a kite high above the field.
- The picture shows a park on a bright morning.
- Seen in that order, the tree, the kite and the pond make a quiet, unhurried scene.
- Last of all, you notice the small pond in the front corner.
- First, your eye goes to the tall tree standing in the middle.

Writing about a picture · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Answer keys — Year 6 English

In the same order as the worksheets.