Years 5 and 6 English · Key Stage 2 · Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

Years 5 and 6 noun phrases, modal verbs and relative clauses

In Years 5 and 6, children learn to pack detail into a sentence with expanded noun phrases and relative clauses, and to show how certain something is using modal verbs and adverbs. They are also expected to use the grammatical terms accurately when they talk about their reading and writing. These are the tools that turn short, choppy sentences into precise, compact ones.

Noun phrases, modal verbs, relative clauses, explained

A noun phrase is a noun with the words that go with it. “Dog” is a noun, “the old dog” is a noun phrase, and “the old dog with the grey muzzle” is an expanded noun phrase. Expanding can happen before the noun, with a determiner and adjectives, and after it, with a prepositional phrase or a relative clause. The curriculum wording is that expanded noun phrases should “convey complicated information concisely”. Instead of three short sentences about the same dog, a writer can fold the details into one phrase: “the limping dog with the torn ear”.

A relative clause adds information to a noun, and it begins with a relative word: who, which, that, whose, where or when. “The teacher who runs the choir” and “the park where we play” both contain one. Sometimes the relative word is left out, as in “the book I borrowed”, which means “the book that I borrowed”. A relative clause cannot stand alone as a sentence. If it gives extra information, rather than telling you which one, it is usually set off by commas: “My cousin, who lives in Leeds, is visiting.”

Modal verbs show how likely, certain or necessary something is: will, would, can, could, may, might, shall, should, must. They sit in front of another verb and never change their form, so there is no “she mights go” or “he can goes”. Children are taught to think of a scale from possible to certain: it might rain, it could rain, it should rain, it will rain. Adverbs can do the same job, such as perhaps, possibly, probably, definitely and surely, and a writer can use both together: “It will probably rain.” This helps in explanation, argument and science, where a careful writer does not claim more certainty than the evidence allows.

The fourth objective is about the words themselves. Children are expected to use and understand the grammar terms in the appendix accurately in discussing their writing and reading. So a teacher might ask, “Which modal verb has the writer chosen, and what does it tell us?” or “Is that a relative clause or a main clause?” Terms are tools for talking about choices: a child who can say “I chose might because I am not sure” is thinking like a writer. Terms from earlier years, such as noun phrase, adverbial, conjunction and determiner, carry on being used alongside the newer ones.

Words your child will hear

Noun phrase: A noun and the words that describe or specify it, such as “the old dog”.
Expanded noun phrase: A noun phrase with extra detail before or after the noun, such as “the old dog with the grey muzzle”.
Relative clause: A clause that adds information about a noun and starts with a word like who, which, that, whose, where or when.
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, could, should, will or must that shows possibility, certainty or obligation.
Determiner: A word like the, a, this or my that comes before a noun and says which one or how many.
Adverbial: A word or phrase that tells you how, when, where or how likely something happens, such as perhaps or in the morning.

What the National Curriculum says

In Years 5 and 6, pupils should be taught to:

Develop their understanding of English appendix 2 concepts by using expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely
Develop their understanding of English appendix 2 concepts by using modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility
Develop their understanding of English appendix 2 concepts by using relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that or with an implied (ie omitted) relative pronoun
Use and understand the grammatical terminology in English appendix 2 accurately and appropriately in discussing their writing and reading

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

Try it: packing detail into one sentence

Combine these notes into one precise sentence: The house is empty. It stands at the end of the lane. Its windows are broken. Maybe it is haunted.

Decide on the main noun, house, and make a list of the details about it: empty, at the end of the lane, windows broken.
Build an expanded noun phrase with a determiner, an adjective and a prepositional phrase: “the empty house at the end of the lane”. One phrase now carries two of the three details.
Add the third detail as a relative clause using whose, because it belongs to the house: “whose windows are broken”. This clause gives extra information rather than saying which house, so it sits inside commas.
Choose a modal verb to show how sure the writer is. “Must be haunted” sounds sure, “will be haunted” sounds like a prediction, and “might be haunted” leaves room for doubt, so the writer picks “might”.
An adverb can do the same job: “Perhaps the empty house at the end of the lane, whose windows are broken, is haunted.” Both versions are correct. The modal verb version flows better, so we keep it.

The empty house at the end of the lane, whose windows are broken, might be haunted.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking more adjectives always makes a better noun phrase

Children are told to add description and so stack words: “the big, huge, enormous, giant dog”. These words repeat the same meaning rather than adding new information.

What helps: Ask what each word tells the reader that the others do not. Better detail often comes after the noun: “the dog with the torn ear” says more than a fourth adjective.

Leaving out the relative word when it cannot be left out: “the girl won the race is my sister”

Children learn that the relative word can sometimes be left out, as in “the book I borrowed”, and then leave it out everywhere.

What helps: It can only be left out when it is not the subject of the relative clause. In “the book that I borrowed”, I is the subject of borrowed, so that can go. In “the girl who won the race”, who is itself the subject of won, so it has to stay.

Treating every clause that begins with “that” as a relative clause

That is used for several jobs. In “The book that I borrowed” it is a relative pronoun, but in “I know that he is late” it joins two ideas and does not describe a noun.

What helps: Ask whether the clause tells you more about a noun just before it. If it does, it is relative. A quick test is to try swapping which or who for that and see if it still works.

Thinking could and would are just the past tense of can and will

They often do look backwards in a sentence like “She said she could swim”. But in “It could rain tomorrow” or “I would love to come”, they refer to the future or to possibility.

What helps: Look at what the modal verb is telling you. Ask whether the writer is describing a time or showing how sure or willing they are. Often it is the second.

How to help at home

Squeeze it into one phrase. Say three short facts about something familiar, such as the family car, and ask your child to fold them into one noun phrase. “It is old. It is red. It has a dent.” becomes “our old red car with the dent”.
Who, which, whose, where. Choose a person, place or object around you and ask for a sentence about it that uses who, which, whose, where or when. Take turns, and see who can find the longest sentence that still makes sense.
The possibility scale. Make a weather or match forecast with the family and say how sure you are, using might, could, should, will and must. Then try the same ideas with perhaps, probably and definitely.
Say why you chose it. When your child reads a sentence they like, ask them to name one feature, such as a noun phrase or a modal verb, and explain what it does. Using the terms in conversation matters more than learning them as a list.
Spot them in books. Hunt for relative clauses in a novel or a non-fiction book. Hide the relative clause with your finger and check whether the sentence still makes sense without it.

Builds on

Years 3 and 4: Conjunctions, present perfect, fronted adverbials
Years 3 and 4: Direct speech, commas and apostrophes

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Writing for different purposes
Key Stage 3: Organising and rhetorical devices
Key Stage 3: Drafting, editing and proofreading
Key Stage 3: Grammar in challenging texts and for effect
Key Stage 3: Standard English and register