English grammar guide for kids

Subjects and verbs

A verb can show an action or a state of being. The subject tells us who or what the sentence is about. In The dragon guards the treasure., guards is the verb and dragon is the subject. Ask Who guards? to find it.

Commands have a subject too, even when it is not written: in Open the chest!, the understood subject is you.

Direct and indirect objects

A direct object receives the action of a verb. In The pirate found a map., the pirate found what? A map. An indirect object tells us to whom or for whom something is done: in The pirate gave the explorer a map., explorer is the indirect object and map is the direct object.

Object and subject complements

An object complement names or describes the direct object. In We named the dragon Sparky., Sparky renames dragon. A subject complement follows a linking verb and describes or renames the subject: in The dragon is friendly., friendly describes the dragon.

Prepositional phrases

A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and includes its object. In The key under the bridge sparkles., under the bridge tells us which key. In The explorer waited under the bridge., the same phrase tells us where the explorer waited.

Pronouns and conjunctions

Choose a pronoun for its job in the sentence: She helped the knight. uses a subject pronoun; The knight helped her. uses an object pronoun. Conjunctions connect ideas: The gate was locked, but we found another way. The game practices choices such as and, but, or and so.

Adjectives, adverbs and sentence diagrams

An adjective describes a noun: the brave detective. An adverb can describe a verb: the detective walked carefully. Sentence diagrams help you see how words fit together, with the subject and verb on the main line and other words placed according to their jobs.