Year 5 English · Key Stage 2 · Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation – English Appendix 2

Year 5 relative clauses and modal verbs: a guide for parents

In Year 5, children learn two ways of adding precision to a sentence. Relative clauses, beginning with words like who, which, whose, where, when or that, add information about a noun. Modal verbs such as might, should and must, and adverbs such as perhaps and surely, show how likely or certain something is. They are also expected to know and use the grammar terms for these.

Relative clauses and degrees of possibility, explained

A relative clause is a part of a sentence that gives more information about a noun and begins with a linking word. The most common are who for people, which for things, and whose for belonging. There are also where for places, when for times, and that, which works for both people and things. In “The girl who won the race is my cousin”, the relative clause is “who won the race” and it tells us which girl. In “We visited the village where my gran grew up”, the clause “where my gran grew up” describes the village. The words who, which, whose and that are called relative pronouns in school, and where and when are used in the same way, although some grammar books call them relative adverbs.

Relative clauses sit straight after the noun they describe, and often in the middle of a sentence, which makes them a good way of joining two short sentences into one smooth one. “I met a boy. His dog was enormous.” becomes “I met a boy whose dog was enormous.” The linking word can sometimes be left out, as in “The book I borrowed was funny”, which means “The book that I borrowed was funny”. Whether commas are used matters. “The children who were late missed the start” means that only some children were late. “The children, who were late, missed the start” means they all were, and the clause is extra information. Commas round extra information are covered more fully in the work on parenthesis.

The other half of the topic is how sure a writer or speaker is. Modal verbs are small verbs that go in front of a main verb: will, would, can, could, may, might, shall, should and must. Adverbs such as perhaps, maybe, possibly, probably, surely and definitely do the same kind of work. Children learn to arrange them on a scale. “It might rain” is a real possibility, “it should rain” is expected, and “it will rain” is certain. Modal verbs have two rules to remember: they never take an –s or –ed ending, and the verb that follows is in its plain form, so we say “she might go” and not “she mights goes”.

Why does this matter? In stories, relative clauses let a writer slip in background without stopping the action, as in “the old man, who had lived there all his life, locked the door”. In science and history, degrees of possibility help children say what the evidence allows. “The plant should grow taller if it gets more light” is a more honest sentence than “The plant will grow taller”, because the evidence only supports an expectation. Year 5 children are also expected to recognise and use the terms modal verb, relative pronoun and relative clause, so you may hear them in homework. They are part of the language teachers use to talk about writing.

Words your child will hear

Clause: A group of words with a subject and a verb. A sentence has at least one.
Relative clause: A clause that gives more information about a noun, beginning with who, which, whose, where, when or that.
Relative pronoun: A word such as who, which, whose or that, which begins a relative clause and links it to the noun it describes.
Modal verb: A verb such as might, should, will or must that shows how likely, certain or necessary something is.
Adverb: A word that adds to a verb, adjective or sentence, such as perhaps, surely or definitely.
Subject: The person or thing doing the action in a clause.
Degree of possibility: How likely something is, from impossible through possible and probable to certain.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Year 5 says:

Pupils should be taught relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that, or an omitted relative pronoun
Pupils should be taught indicating degrees of possibility using adverbs or modal verbs
Pupils should be taught to recognise and use the grammatical terminology: modal verb, relative pronoun, relative clause

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: joining sentences and showing how sure

Join each pair of sentences with a relative clause. (a) My aunt lives in a village. There is a castle in the village. (b) I helped the girl. Her kite had blown away. (c) The book was funny. I borrowed it. Then show how certain you are that it will rain tomorrow.

(a) The village is a place, so use where: “My aunt lives in a village where there is a castle.” The clause “where there is a castle” sits straight after the noun village and describes it.
(b) The kite belongs to the girl, so use whose: “I helped the girl whose kite had blown away.” Whose shows belonging, and it replaces the word her.
(c) Use that: “The book that I borrowed was funny.” Because that is not the subject of borrowed (I is), it can be left out: “The book I borrowed was funny.” Both are correct.
For certainty, put the modal verbs in order. Might and could mean it is possible, should means it is expected, and will means it is certain. Adverbs can do the same job: “Perhaps it will rain”, “It will probably rain”, “It will definitely rain”. A careful writer chooses the one that fits the evidence, for example “It might rain tomorrow” if the forecast is uncertain.

(a) My aunt lives in a village where there is a castle. (b) I helped the girl whose kite had blown away. (c) The book (that) I borrowed was funny. Possibility: it might rain (possible), it should rain (expected), it will rain (certain).

Common mistakes and how to help

Writing a relative clause as a sentence on its own: “The girl who won the race.”

A relative clause has a subject and a verb, so it looks like a sentence. But it depends on the noun it describes and needs a main clause to go with it.

What helps: Ask, “What happened to the girl who won the race?” The answer is the main clause: “The girl who won the race was given a medal.”

Mixing up whose and who’s

They sound the same. Whose shows belonging, while who’s is a short form of who is or who has, and children are wary of apostrophes either way.

What helps: Try replacing the word with who is or who has. If it makes sense, use who’s. “The girl who is in my class” works, but “the girl who is kite blew away” does not, so it needs whose.

Writing “should of”, “could of” or “mights”

“Should’ve” sounds like “should of”, and children forget that modal verbs are different from ordinary verbs, so they add endings such as –s.

What helps: Modal verbs are followed by have, not of: should have, could have, might have. They never change their ending, so we say “she might go”, “he can swim”, “they must leave”.

Putting commas round every relative clause, or round none

Children are told that commas “go round extra information” but cannot always tell whether the clause is extra information or tells you which one is meant.

What helps: Ask, “If I took the clause out, would we still know which one the writer means?” If we would, it is extra information and goes in commas. If not, it stays without commas.

How to help at home

Join two sentences. Say two short sentences about the same thing, such as “We have a neighbour. She grows giant sunflowers.” Ask your child to join them with a relative clause, then try the same with a place and a time.
Describe it without naming it. Play a guessing game in which your child describes a person or object using relative clauses only: “It’s something that you wear on your feet.” Make sure each clue uses who, which, whose, where or that.
How sure are we? Talk about everyday predictions, such as the weather, a football result or whether the bus is on time. Ask your child to choose between might, should and will, and say why.
Spot the modal verb. Read a few sentences from a book or a leaflet and ask your child to find the modal verbs. Then swap one for another, for example must for might, and talk about how the meaning changes.
Use the terms. When your child reads a sentence they like, ask them to name the relative clause or the modal verb if there is one. Using the words in conversation helps them stick.

Updated 20 October 2026.