KS3 Sentence and clause – self-assessment

[2016 note: Unfortunately the links from individual answers no longer work, but you can still check your answers against the answers in the answer file.]

These self-assessment exercises will help you to check your knowledge of teaching and assessing sentences and clauses.

Select a self-assessment exercise from the options below:

Self-Assessment Exercise: A rich merchant

So that you can assess your knowledge, you will be asked a series of questions about this passage.

I once met an extremely rich merchant called Jeremiah who was quite excessively fond of cats. Whenever he went to his shops in the city Jeremiah took one of his cats with him, and his favourite cat’s portrait could be seen on the signboard above each of his shops.

Question 1

In the first sentence,

I once met an extremely rich merchant called Jeremiah who was quite excessively fond of cats.

one of the verbs has a complement. Choose it from the following list:

an extremely rich merchant

Jeremiah

quite excessively fond of cats

 

Question 2

In the first sentence,

I once met an extremely rich merchant called Jeremiah who was quite excessively fond of cats.

What kind of clause is who was quite excessively fond of cats?

an adverbial clause

a finite main clause

a non-finite main clause

a relative clause

 

Question 3

Here is the text again:

I once met an extremely rich merchant called Jeremiah who was quite excessively fond of cats. Whenever he went to his shops in the city Jeremiah took one of his cats with him, and his favourite cat’s portrait could be seen on the signboard above each of his shops.

Click on the underlined word which is a subordinating conjunction.

 

Question 4

The highlighted words are a clause:

I once met an extremely rich merchant called Jeremiah who was quite excessively fond of cats. Whenever he went to his shops in the city Jeremiah took one of his cats with him, and his favourite cat’s portrait could be seen on the signboard above each of his shops.

Is it:

an adverbial clause

a declarative main clause

a relative clause?

 

Question 5

What is the subject of the clause Whenever he went to his shops in the city?

He

his shops

the city

Question 6

The last clause in this passage is highlighted again:

I once met an extremely rich merchant called Jeremiah who was quite excessively fond of cats. Whenever he went to his shops in the city Jeremiah took one of his cats with him, and his favourite cat’s portrait could be seen on the signboard above each of his shops.

Is it:

relative

negative

passive

interrogative?

Question 7

The subject of the last clause is:

Jeremiah

his cat

his favourite cat’s portrait

the signboard above each of his shops

 

Self-Assessment Exercise – Sentences

Each of these sentences contains a subordinate clause:

You’ll hurt yourself if you’re not careful.

Although it was cold, the weather was pleasant enough.

Where are the biscuits that I bought this morning?

John, who was very angry, began shouting.

Q8-11. Click on the first word of the subordinate clause in each sentence.

Self-Assessment Exercise: About a poem

This passage written by a pupil at KS3 uses subordinate clauses with confidence.

It is probably a poem that could be handed down in his family so that all his descendants would know what a wonderful person he thought his grandfather was.

You will be asked a series of questions about the clauses in this sentence.

Here is the sentence again with a (rather long) clause underlined:

It is probably a poem that could be handed down in his family so that all his descendants would know what a wonderful person he thought his grandfather was.

Q12. How is this clause signalled – by:

 

Question 13

Now, another question about the same clause:

It is probably a poem that could be handed down in his family so that all his descendants would know what a wonderful person he thought his grandfather was.

Which word does this clause modify?

 

Question 14

Now we open a Chinese box and look at the next nested clause:

It is probably a poem that could be handed down in his family so that all his descendants would know what a wonderful person he thought his grandfather was.

This clause is signalled by the subordinating conjunction, so that. What is the function of this clause?

 

Question 15

What is the function of this next clause?

It is probably a poem that could be handed down in his family so that all his descendants would know what a wonderful person he thought his grandfather was.

 

Question 16

What is the function of this shortest clause?

It is probably a poem that could be handed down in his family so that all his descendants would know what a wonderful person he thought his grandfather was.

 

Self Assessment Exercise: Loch Ness

This is the opening of a KS3 pupil’s story.

There I stood on the edge of the loch just looking around at the views and at the old castle which stood opposite me. Then from the middle of nowhere this monster like thing just popped out of the water, its long green body moving slowly along the top of the water. Then I suddenly thought, “is that the loch Ness monster”?. I carried on watching it moving along the water, I looked around to see if there was anybody near me, watching this strange creature, there was nobody.

Question 17

All the highlighted subordinate clauses are …?

 

 

Question 18

What kind of clause is underlined?

There I stood on the edge of the loch just looking around at the views and at the old castle which stood opposite me. Then from the middle of nowhere this monster like thing just popped out of the water, its long green body moving slowly along the top of the water. Then I suddenly thought, “is that the loch Ness monster”?. I carried on watching it moving along the water, I looked around to see if there was anybody near me, watching this strange creature, there was nobody.

Is it …

Question 19

Another subordinate clause is highlighted here:

There I stood on the edge of the loch just looking around at the views and at the old castle which stood opposite me. Then from the middle of nowhere this monster like thing just popped out of the water, its long green body moving slowly along the top of the water. Then I suddenly thought, “is that the loch Ness monster”?. I carried on watching it moving along the water, I looked around to see if there was anybody near me, watching this strange creature, there was nobody.

What kind of subordinate clause is this?

 

 

 

Question 20

Now look at the underlined clause here:

There I stood on the edge of the loch just looking around at the views and at the old castle which stood opposite me. Then from the middle of nowhere this monster like thing just popped out of the water, its long green body moving slowly along the top of the water. Then I suddenly thought, “is that the loch Ness monster”?. I carried on watching it moving along the water, I looked around to see if there was anybody near me, watching this strange creature, there was nobody.

 

This subordinate clause is adverbial. Is it:

 

Question 21

Look at the underlined passage:

There I stood on the edge of the loch just looking around at the views and at the old castle which stood opposite me. Then from the middle of nowhere this monster like thing just popped out of the water, its long green body moving slowly along the top of the water. Then I suddenly thought, “is that the loch Ness monster”?. I carried on watching it moving along the water, I looked around to see if there was anybody near me, watching this strange creature, there was nobody.

Remembering the Chinese boxes, decide how many subordinate clauses are highlighted.

 

 

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