Year 1 English · Key Stage 1 · Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation – English Appendix 2
Year 1 sentences: how words combine to make a sentence
A sentence is more than a pile of words: the words must be put together in an order that makes sense. In Year 1, children learn how words combine to make sentences, how ‘and’ joins words and short sentences, and how a few sentences in sequence can tell a short narrative. They also learn to use the word “sentence” when they talk about their writing.
How words make sentences, explained
English depends heavily on word order. “The dog chased the cat” and “The cat chased the dog” use exactly the same words and mean very different things. Children already use this order automatically when they speak, but Year 1 begins to make it visible. Teachers might hand out word cards and ask children to build a sentence, or read out a muddled one (“mat the on sat cat the”) and ask them to put it right. The idea is that words do different jobs, and that a sentence needs the right words in the right places to make sense.
A simple sentence usually tells us who or what we are talking about and what happened or what they are like: “The cat sat on the mat.” “Mum is tired.” Teachers do not expect Year 1 children to use the labels noun and verb for these parts. Those come later. What matters is that children notice when a group of words feels complete and when something is missing. “The big dog” does not say anything yet, but “The big dog barked” does. The word “sentence” is the key term for Year 1.
Sentences can be made longer by joining. Year 1 children use “and” to join two words (“cats and dogs”) or two short sentences (“I like swimming and I like painting”). It lets them say more without needing complicated grammar. “And” is the joining word the curriculum sets out for Year 1. Children will hear others, such as but and because, in stories and may use them, and these are taught more fully in Year 2.
Finally, sentences work together. A short narrative is a set of sentences in a sensible order, and children practise sequencing them. They might put three sentences about a day at the beach into the right order, or write their own with first, then and last. Each sentence should add something new, follow on from the one before and be about the same story. Good sequencing is the first step towards the paragraphs and longer pieces of writing they will do in later years.
Words your child will hear
- Sentence
- A group of words that makes sense on its own. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Word order
- The order words come in. Changing it can change the meaning or make no sense.
- Join
- To link two words or two short sentences together with “and”.
- Sequence
- Putting sentences or events in order, so the story makes sense.
- Narrative
- A story, or an account of something that happened, told in order.
- Makes sense
- The words fit together to say something complete that a reader can understand.
What the National Curriculum says
The programme of study for Year 1 says:
- Pupils should be taught how words can combine to make sentences
- Pupils should be taught joining words and joining clauses using and
- Pupils should be taught sequencing sentences to form short narratives
- Pupils should be taught to recognise and use the grammatical terminology: sentence
Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Try it: building and ordering sentences
Put these word cards into a sentence: mat, the, on, sat, cat, the. Then join it to another idea and order three sentences into a story.
- Look at the cards and find the starter. A sentence about “the cat” usually starts with “The”, so “The cat” can go first.
- Say what the cat did: “sat”. Then where: “on the mat”. Try it aloud: “The cat sat on the mat.” It makes sense, so the words are in a good order.
- Try a muddled order to test the idea: “Mat the on cat sat the.” It uses the same words and says nothing. Order matters.
- Join it to another idea with “and”: “The cat sat on the mat and the dog sat on the rug.” Two short ideas become one longer sentence.
- Now put three jumbled sentences in order to make a story: “The cat ate its dinner.” “The cat went back to sleep.” “The cat woke up.” The cat has to wake up first, then it eats, and “went back to sleep” tells us that part comes last.
The cat sat on the mat and the dog sat on the rug. The story: The cat woke up. The cat ate its dinner. The cat went back to sleep. The words are in an order that makes sense, the ideas are joined with “and”, and the sentences are in sequence.
Common mistakes and how to help
Thinking any group of words is a sentence
Children hear and read lots of language that is not whole sentences, such as labels, titles and answers like “Yes please”. They may write “The big dog” or “Running in the park” and think it is complete.
What helps: Ask “Does it tell us something? Is anything missing?” “The big dog” leaves us waiting, but “The big dog barked” finishes the thought. Reading it aloud helps children hear if it is complete.
Leaving out small words when writing
Writing each word takes so much effort that small words like the, a and to slip out. A child says “I went to the shop” but writes “I went shop”.
What helps: Say the sentence slowly and count the words on fingers before writing, then check the number of written words matches. Reading it back with a finger under each word shows any gaps.
Using ‘and’ so much that a sentence never ends
“And” is the first joining word children learn and it works every time, so they keep adding ideas: “I got up and I got dressed and I had breakfast and I went to school”.
What helps: Read it aloud together and count how many things happen in the one sentence. Suggest stopping after one or two ideas and starting a new sentence with a capital letter. A story of short sentences is fine in Year 1.
Sentences that don’t follow on from each other
Children often write each sentence as a separate thought. The first is about the beach, the second is about their dog and the third is about lunch, with no link between them.
What helps: Ask “What happened next?” and use time words such as first, then and last. Putting picture cards in order before writing helps the sentences connect.
How to help at home
- Word-card sentences. Write the words of a sentence on separate scraps of paper and jumble them up. Ask your child to put them in an order that makes sense and read it aloud. Then try putting them in a silly order and ask what is wrong.
- Finish my sentence. Say the start of a sentence, such as “The little frog…”, and ask your child to finish it. Notice when it feels complete. Then try “The little frog” and stop, so your child can hear that something is missing.
- Add an ‘and’. Take two short sentences, such as “I like apples. I like bananas.”, and join them together. Ask your child to say the longer sentence out loud. Try pairs of words, too: “fish and chips”.
- Order the story. Write three or four simple sentences about a daily routine on strips of paper, such as getting dressed, eating breakfast and going to school. Jumble them up and ask your child to put them in the right order, then read the story aloud.
- Spot the sentence. Look at a sign, a label or a page of a book and ask “Is this a sentence?” Some are and some aren’t. It is a good way to notice what makes a sentence and where words are doing other jobs.
Related topics
Leads on to
More on vocabulary, grammar and punctuation – English Appendix 2
- Year 1: Spaces and sentence punctuation
- Year 1: Plurals, verb endings and un-
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