4th grade English worksheets

Nouns

• Abstract and concrete nouns Concrete nouns can be seen, heard, or touched: bridge, thunder, pretzel. Abstract nouns are ideas and feelings: courage, luck, patience. The five-senses test tells them apart.
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• Identifying nouns, newnew A noun names a person, a place, a thing, or an animal.
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• Irregular plural nouns Some nouns don't add -s for the plural. They change: one mouse, two mice; one foot, two feet.
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• Possessive nouns Add apostrophe-s to show owning: Maya's backpack. If the owners already end in s, the apostrophe goes after: the twins' room.
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Verbs

• Action verbs, newnew An action verb tells what someone or something does.
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• Helping verbs A helping verb works before the main verb: She is running. They have finished. We will visit.
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• Irregular past tense verbs Irregular verbs don't add -ed for the past. They change: go became went, eat became ate.
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• Linking verbs A linking verb connects the subject to a word that describes it: The soup smells wonderful.
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• Modal auxiliaries (can, may, must) Modals are helper verbs that set the strength of a sentence: must is a rule, should is advice, can is ability, may is permission, might is a maybe.
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• Progressive verb tenses Progressive tenses show action in motion: am, is, or are + -ing for now (is raining); was or were + -ing for a moment in the past (was raining).
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• Subject-verb agreement The verb has to match the subject: one dog barks, two dogs bark.
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Adjectives

• Comparative and superlative adjectives Use -er to compare two things and -est to compare three or more: taller of the two, tallest of all.
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• Identifying adjectives, newnew An adjective describes a noun. It tells what kind, how many, or which one.
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• Ordering adjectives English lines up adjectives in a set order: opinion, then size, then age, then shape, then color, then material. A little red boat, never a red little boat.
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Adverbs

• Adjective or adverb? Adjectives describe nouns: a quick fox, the soup smells wonderful. Adverbs describe verbs: she runs quickly, stir gently. Ask what the word is describing.
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• Adverbs of how, when, and where Adverbs answer three questions about an action: how (quietly), when (today), and where (outside).
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• Comparing with adverbs Adverbs compare too: short ones take -er and -est (faster, fastest); -ly ones take more and most (more quickly, most quickly); and well goes better, best.
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• Identifying adverbs An adverb tells how, when, or where something happens.
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• Negatives and double negatives In standard written English, one negative per idea is the rule. After don't, can't, and never, use any-, anything, anyone, ever: We don't have ANY time, not no time.
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Pronouns

• Pronoun-antecedent agreement A pronoun has to match the noun it stands for: Maya packed her bag, and the twins packed their bags. In school writing, a team acting as one takes its, and each of the girls takes her.
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• Relative pronouns and adverbs Relative pronouns glue a description onto a noun: who for people, which for things (with commas), that for things and sometimes people (no commas), whose for belonging, where and when for places and times.
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• Subject and object pronouns Subject pronouns do the action: I, he, she, we, they. Object pronouns receive it: me, him, her, us, them. Drop the other person and your ear solves it: 'The coach chose me.'
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Prepositions

• Identifying prepositions A preposition tells where, when, or how something connects: in, on, under, after, with.
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Conjunctions

• Coordinating conjunctions A conjunction joins ideas: and adds, but shows a difference, or gives a choice, so shows what happens because of it.
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• Subordinating conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions join a helper idea to a main idea and name the link: because (why), although (surprise), until (time), if (condition).
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Interjections

• Interjections An interjection is a burst of feeling with its own punctuation: Ouch! Hooray! Shh! It stands apart from the sentence and sets its emotion.
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Mixed parts of speech

• Commonly confused words Some words sound alike but mean different things: their, there, and they're are three different words.
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• Formal or informal? English wears different clothes for different rooms. Formal: Good afternoon; I would appreciate your help. Informal: Hey! Wanna play? Both are correct, in their place.
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• Parts of speech, newnew Ask what the word does in this sentence: a noun names something, a verb shows an action or a state of being, an adjective describes a noun, an adverb tells how, when, where or how often, and a pronoun takes the place of a noun.
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• Combining sentences Two short sentences about the same thing can join into one smoother sentence. Use a joining word, and say repeated words only once.
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• Complex sentences A complex sentence has a part that cannot stand alone, hooked to a part that can. Words like because, when, and although start the hanging part.
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• Independent and dependent clauses An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent clause has a who-did-what too, but its first word makes it lean on something else.
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• Run-on sentences A run-on squeezes two sentences into one. Find where the first idea ends, then add a period and a capital letter.
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• Sentence fragments A fragment is a piece of a sentence. Find what it is missing: the naming part (subject) or the telling part (predicate).
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• Simple and compound sentences A simple sentence has one who-did-what. A compound sentence is two of them, joined by a comma and a word like and, but, or so.
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• Subject and predicate The subject names who or what the sentence is about. The predicate is everything the sentence says about it, starting with the verb.
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• Types of sentences, newnew A statement tells. A question asks. A command orders. An exclamation bursts with feeling.
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• Capitalizing titles In a title, capitalize the first word, the last word, and all the important words. Little joiners like a, of, the, and in stay small: The Fox of the Field.
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• Commas in compound sentences When two complete sentences join with and, but, or, so, or yet, a comma goes before the joining word: It rained, so we read inside.
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• Contractions A contraction squeezes two words into one. The apostrophe sits exactly where letters dropped out: do not becomes don't.
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• Contractions or possessives? It's, you're, they're, and who's are contractions: two words in a trench coat. Its, your, their, and whose show belonging. Expand the contraction and see if the sentence still makes sense.
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• Quotation marks in dialogue Quotation marks hug the exact words someone says, and the comma stays inside the hug: "Let's go," said Maya.
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• Singular vs. plural possessives One owner: apostrophe before the s (the dog's bowl). Many owners: apostrophe after the s (the dogs' bowls). Irregular plurals act like singles: the children's books.
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• Commonly misspelled words Every famous misspelling has a trap: a double letter (really), a letter people double by mistake (until), or a silent sneak (friend). Know your word's trap and you own it.
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• Spelling words Each week has its own list, and most weeks share a secret: the words follow one spelling pattern. Find the pattern and half the list spells itself.
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• Consonant-le endings (-le, -el, -al) Words that end in a consonant plus le, el, or al share one final sound: ta-ble, cam-el, med-al. The ending is its own last syllable.
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• Fry instant words Fry words are the words you meet most often in books. Know them on sight and reading speeds up.
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• Multisyllabic words Long words are short chunks in a row. Count the beats: im-por-tant is three, cal-cu-la-tor is four. Chunk it, count it, read it.
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• The schwa sound The schwa is the lazy uh sound in unstressed syllables: the a in about, the o in wagon, the e in taken. Any vowel letter can make it.
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Word relationships

• Analogies An analogy is a word puzzle in two pairs: work out how the first pair fits together, then finish the second pair the very same way.
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• Antonyms Antonyms are opposites: hot and cold, up and down, open and closed.
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• Dictionary guide words Guide words are the first and last words on a dictionary page. A word lives on that page only if it fits between them alphabetically.
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• Homophones Homophones are words that sound exactly alike but are spelled differently and mean different things: sea and see, bear and bare. The sentence tells you which one belongs.
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• Multiple-meaning words Some words carry more than one meaning: a bat flies at night, and a bat hits a baseball. The rest of the sentence tells you which meaning is on duty.
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• Synonyms Synonyms are words that mean almost the same thing: happy and glad, big and large.
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Prefixes and suffixes

• Number prefixes (uni-, bi-, tri-) Some prefixes are numbers in disguise: uni- means one, bi- means two, tri- means three. A tricycle is a three-wheeler by name.
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• Prefixes A prefix is glued to the front of a word and changes its meaning: un- flips lock into unlock.
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• Root words and word building Words are built from parts. The root carries the meaning: play. Prefixes and suffixes snap on: re + play = replay, play + er = player.
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• Suffixes A suffix is glued to the end of a word and changes its job: care becomes careful, careless, or carefully.
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• Suffixes -able and -ible -able and -ible both mean can-be: breakable can be broken, visible can be seen. If the base is a whole word, usually -able; if the base is a broken piece, usually -ible. A few rebels (flexible, sensible) take -ible after a whole word anyway, so check a dictionary when unsure.
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• Suffixes -ance and -ence -ance and -ence both turn ideas into nouns and both say the same unsure sound: distance, silence. The schwa hides the vowel, so the eye must learn each family.
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• Suffixes -ive and -ize -ive builds describing words: act becomes active. -ize builds doing words: final becomes finalize. One suffix makes adjectives, the other makes verbs.
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• Suffixes -tion and -sion -tion and -sion both turn actions into things: act becomes action, decide becomes decision. -tion usually says shun. -sion says shun in mission but zhun in vision. The base word picks the spelling.
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Greek and Latin roots

• Greek and Latin roots Old Greek and Latin word parts hide inside big English words: tele means far, so telescope, telephone, and television all reach across distance.
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Figurative language

• Adages and proverbs A proverb is a small sentence carrying old advice: the early bird catches the worm. The situation around it tells you which saying fits.
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• Figurative language, newnew A simile compares with like or as, a metaphor says one thing is another, personification gives a thing a human action, hyperbole stretches the truth, an idiom is a saying with its own meaning, onomatopoeia is a sound word, and alliteration repeats a first sound.
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• Idioms An idiom means something different from its exact words. A piece of cake means easy; raining cats and dogs means pouring. The sentence around it tells you which.
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• Personification and hyperbole Personification gives human actions to things: the wind whispered. Hyperbole exaggerates on purpose: I've told you a million times.
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• Similes and metaphors A simile compares with like or as: brave as a lion. A metaphor says one thing IS another: the classroom was a zoo.
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Context clues

• Context clues The sentence around a hard word usually hides its meaning. Read past the word, find the clue, then decide: The arid desert had not seen rain for months, so arid must mean very dry.
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Reading passages

• Animal reading comprehension, newnew An animal passage tells how an animal's body and habits help it live. Answer from the passage, not from what you already know about the animal.
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• Author's purpose Every writer has a reason for writing. The three big reasons are easy to remember as PIE: to Persuade (change your mind), to Inform (teach you facts), or to Entertain (tell you a fun story). To find the purpose, ask what the writer wants you to do after reading.
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• Fact vs opinion A fact can be checked and proven: a spider has eight legs. An opinion tells what someone thinks or feels: spiders are creepy. Ask the test question: could we look this up and settle it?
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• Fiction reading comprehension The answers hide in the story. Read it once for fun, then go back and point to the exact sentence that proves each answer.
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• Main idea and details The main idea is what the whole passage is about, in one sentence. The details are the smaller facts that back it up.
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• Making inferences An inference is a smart guess the writer never says out loud. You mix a clue from the text with what you already know: if a character shivers and rubs her hands, you can infer she is cold.
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• Nonfiction reading comprehension Nonfiction is true information. Read to find out what the passage teaches, and be ready to point to the fact that answers each question.
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• Paired passages Two passages, one topic. Read both all the way through before you answer. Some questions are about one passage, some are about both, and the question always tells you which.
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• Reading fluency passages Read the passage out loud for one minute. Read it the way you would talk: smooth, at a steady pace, and with the feeling the sentences call for. Fast is not the goal; smooth and accurate is.
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• Science reading comprehension, newnew A science passage explains how something in the world works. Find the sentence that answers each question, even when it surprises you.
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Comprehension skills

• Author's claim A claim is what the author wants you to believe. Evidence is what they show you so you will. Find the claim first; everything else in the piece is working for it.
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• Cause and effect A cause is why something happened. An effect is what happened because of it. Ask: what happened, and what made it happen?
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• Character traits A trait is what a person is like on the inside, and actions are the proof. The story never says the word; it shows you, and you name it.
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• Compare and contrast Comparing finds how two things are alike. Contrasting finds how they differ. Good readers do both at once.
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• Firsthand and secondhand accounts A firsthand account comes from someone who was there: I saw, I heard, I felt. A secondhand account is put together afterward from gathered information. Each kind knows things the other cannot.
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• Genres A genre is a kind of writing. Every kind leaves clues: talking animals with a lesson, long-ago magic, true facts, or a story that could happen on your own street.
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• Plot A plot is the shape of a story: how it starts, what goes wrong, the moment things turn, and how it all works out.
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• Poetry analysis, newnew A poem means more than its words say on the surface. Read it twice: once for who is speaking and what is happening, then again for how it sounds and what its images, repeats and line breaks add.
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• Point of view Point of view is who tells the story. A character inside it says I. A narrator outside it says he, she, and names.
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• Problem and solution Find what is going wrong, and find what fixes it. The best stories also show tries that failed before the fix that worked.
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• Summarizing A summary tells the whole story in a sentence or two: who or what, the big problem or idea, and how it turned out. Small details stay behind.
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• Text evidence Evidence is the exact line that proves a point. Don't tell me the story says so. Show me the sentence where it says so.
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• Text features Text features are a book's built-in helpers: headings, bold words, the table of contents, the glossary, the index. Good readers use them before reading, not just during.
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• Text structure Every information text has a shape: steps in time, two things compared, causes and effects, a problem and its fixes, or one thing described. Signal words give the shape away.
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• Theme The theme is what a story teaches about life, said in a full sentence. Not what the story is about, but what it shows you.
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• Vocabulary in context When a strange word appears, the sentences around it are usually explaining it. Read past the word, find the clues, then come back and catch it.
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• Cursive alphabet Cursive letters flow: each one is written in one motion, with an entry stroke that leads in and an exit stroke that leads out.
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• Cursive sentences, newnew In a cursive sentence each word is one joined line. Lift the pencil at the end of every word, leave a space, and end with a period.
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• Cursive words In cursive the whole word is one line: the exit stroke of each letter becomes the entry stroke of the next, so the pencil stays down from the first letter to the last.
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• Linking and transition words Transition words are the road signs of writing: also adds, however turns, therefore concludes, meanwhile runs alongside. Choose the sign that matches the turn.
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