Punctuation Pyramid
.
. ?
. ? , !
. ? , ! “” … ’
Capital Letters
own name
start of a sentence
all names, all sentences, ‘I’
place names, days, months, headings
LKS2
Openers
The
My, I
He, She, It, We, They
First, Then, Next, Last, Soon, So
When, Because, If, While, After, Before, As
Connectives
and
but, so, then
when, because, if, while, after, before, also, plus
until, although, however, whilst, in spite of, even though, such as, so as to
LKS2
OVERDALE JUNIOR SCHOOL Level-Up Your Vocabulary
said
big
little
nice
good
bad
looked
walked
ran
laugh
cried
scared
mad
happy
sad
funny
First
Next
Soon
Last
and
but
so
then
asked
moaned
tall
massive
small
minute
fine
pleasing
great
brilliant
nasty
dreadful
watched
peered
strolled
marched
hurried
bolted
smile
chuckle
sobbed
wailed
afraid
concerned
angry
silly
glad
merry
unhappy
despondent
strange
amusing
answered
whispered
large
enormous
tiny
miniature
okay
satisfactory
super
excellent
mean
terrible
observed
peeped
sauntered
hiked
raced
scarpered
grin
titter
wept
moaned
fearful
terrified
fuming
stupid
cheerful
jovial
down
downhearted
odd
hilarious
replied
muttered
great
immense
slight
minuscule
alright
lovely
terrific
amazing
awful
horrible
stared
peeked
ambled
strode
sprinted
scampered
beam
snigger
blubbed
snivelled
frightened
apprehensive
annoyed
crazy
pleased
contented
glum
depressed
weird
side-splitting
To begin with
Then
Suddenly
Before long
Finally
Level-up simple OPENERS
To start
At the outset
After that
Following this
All of a sudden In a flash
In no time
Shortly after
In the end
Ultimately
also
in addition
however
other than
therefore
next
before long
Level-up simple CONNECTIVES
plus
including
as well as
along with
furthermore
moreover
although
except
even so
excluding
save for
nevertheless
as a result
consequently
hence
later
afterwards
subsequently
suddenly
all of a sudden
in a flash
LKS2
explained
begged
huge
gigantic
modest
microscopic
pretty
beautiful
wonderful
fabulous
wicked
horrific
gazed
glimpsed
rambled
limped
dashed
scattered
smirk
cackle
bawled
whinged
nervous
anxious
irritated
foolish
overjoyed
elated
miserable
dejected
unusual
humorous
called
screamed
vast
colossal
mini
insignificant
pleasant
kind
fantastic
magnificent
cruel
appalling
gawped
squinted
wandered
staggered
darted
fled
giggle
guffaw
howled
whimpered
worried
petrified
infuriated
idiotic
delighted
thrilled
gloomy
forlorn
peculiar
comical
Initially
Afterwards
Presently
Moments later
Eventually
Originally
Subsequently
Momentarily
Not long after
In conclusion
together with
another thing
apart from
barring
thus
eventually
finally
OVERDALE JUNIOR SCHOOL Level-up Your Connectives
LKS2
A connective is a word or phrase that joins two simple sentences to make a complex sentence.
Simple sentences
Complex sentences
Complex sentences
I got up.
I got up and had breakfast.
I had breakfast when I got up.
I had breakfast.
I got up then had breakfast.
When I got up, I had breakfast.
Connectives
synonyms
and
and
in addition
also
as well as
too
together with
plus
along with
including
another thing
but
but
whereas
however
apart from
although
yet
other than
even so
except
on the other hand
so
so that
because
as a result
therefore
consequently
since
hence
thus
for this reason
then
then
next
secondly
later on
after that
afterwards
soon after
before long
following this
after a while
when
when
earlier
as
once
while
as soon as
during
after
before
meanwhile
however
but
it appears
yet
on the other hand
still
whereas
though
despite this
nothing
several
none
many
some
most
few
mainly
a minority
the majority
because
as
since
given that
seeing as
First
First of all
To begin with
At first
In the beginning
synonyms
To start
At the outset
At the start
Initially
It all started
Originally
Next
Next
Secondly
Then
Later
After that
After a while
Following this
Soon after
Afterwards
Subsequently
Soon
Soon after
Before long
Quickly
In no time at all
Suddenly
Shortly after
All of a sudden
Moments later
In a flash
Not long after
Last
At last
Finally
Last of all
In time
Lastly
Ultimately
In the end
Eventually
To finish
In conclusion
so
however even so
some
because for that reason due to
Openers
OVERDALE JUNIOR SCHOOL Level-Up Your Writing
LKS2
Using the 3 ‘Power’ Openers
1. Starting with a connective
So
Then
When
Before
After
Also
As well as
Although
Therefore
Therefore
Next
As soon as
Earlier
Later on
In addition
Including
However
As a result
As a result
Later
Before long
Previously
Following
Furthermore
Not only
Even though
Consequently
Consequently
Soon after
While
Up until then
Afterwards
Moreover
Together with
Nevertheless
Accordingly
The upshot was
Afterwards
Whilst
Formally
Subsequently
Besides
What’s more
Despite
For that reason
2. Starting with ‘…ly’ words (adverbs)
Slowly
Quickly
Gradually
Rapidly
Steadily
Speedily
Bit by bit
Swiftly
Little by little
Hurriedly
Quietly
Loudly
Silently
Noisily
Calmly
Deafeningly
Without a sound
Raucously
Like a ghost
At full volume
Happily
Sadly
Gladly
Unhappily
Cheerfully
Miserably
Joyfully
Wretchedly
Gleefully
Sorrowfully
3. Starting with ‘…ing’ words (verbs)
Walking
Stumbling
Striding
Staggering
Marching
Strolling
Hiking
Ambling
Strutting
Limping
Looking
Watching
Staring
Glancing
Gaping
Peering
Gazing
Peeping
Observing
Peeking
Talking
Yelling
Chatting
Shouting
Gossiping
Whispering
Speaking
Mumbling
Discussing
Stammering
Using combinations of ‘ly’ and ‘ing’ words
Proudly marching…
Closely watching…
Quietly chatting…
Marching proudly…
Watching closely…
Chatting quietly…
OVERDALE JUNIOR SCHOOL Level-Up Your Punctuation
L2
A
capital letter
L2
?
question mark
L3
!
exclamation
mark
L3
,
comma 1
L4
,
comma 2
L4
“”
speech marks
L4
’
apostrophe 1
L4
A capital letter is used to show the start of a sentence. It must also be used for the first letter
of a person’s name, or place name (proper noun) and the word ‘I’ meaning ‘me’.
One day…
Edward Street
It was sad.
Coombe Drive
I wish I had one. Peter Boddy
Red Hall
Darlington
Mary Jones
England
A full stop is used to show the end of a sentence. It tells the reader to where to pause and
helps make sense of the text. Without it your writing will be very difficult to read.
.
full stop
L2
LKS2
’
apostrophe 2
Note: Every sentence must also start with a capital letter.
A question mark is used at the end of a question or a sentence you want to be read as a
question. It must be used at the end of the sentence or word in place of the full stop.
When?
Why was that?
Who did this?
How much?
What time is it?
Which?
Where is it?
Did he?
Really?
Ten pounds?
An exclamation mark is used to show emotion (joy, anger etc) or surprise. It helps the reader
read with expression and is used in place of the full stop.
Stop thief!
Shut up!
Fire!
Oh dear!
Fantastic!
Bang!
Ow!
Get out!
Never!
Oh no!
A comma is used to separate items in a list. It is not used before the last item which has ‘and’
in front of it. It tells the reader to pause, but not for as long as a full stop.
At the fruit shop I bought apples, oranges, grapes and bananas.
I packed sunglasses, sun-cream, sandals and shorts.
A comma is also used to separate parts of a sentence into clauses. A clause is a mini sentence
inside another sentence. If the clause is in the middle of the sentence two commas are used to
show where it starts and ends.
The dog was dirty. I gave the dog a bath.
A boy was watching. He started to laugh.
As dog was dirty, I gave it a bath.
A boy, who was watching, started to laugh.
Speech marks are used to show the actual words spoken by a character. They are used at the
beginning and end of the actual words spoken.
“What do you want?” I asked.
Helen said, “I’m going home”.
Note: Use a new line for each speaker.
Use a comma before the spoken words.
An apostrophe is used with ‘s’ to show possession (who owns something). If the owner is
more than one (plural) and already ends in ‘s’ the apostrophe is added to the end of the word.
Dad’s car
The girl’s hat
David’s hair
A bird’s egg
Singular
My parents’ house
The girls’ coats
Boys’ football team
Birds’ eggs
Plural
An apostrophe is also used to show were a letter is missing when two words are joined and
shortened. It is used to show the actual words spoken by someone and should normally be
used within speech marks.
Do not
He will
should not
have not
We had
Don’t
He’ll
shouldn’t
haven’t
We’d