English and Language for Kids
Strong language skills help you read, write, speak and understand the world. These lessons explain grammar, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary and writing styles with clear examples, so you can practise each idea and check what you know with a quiz.
All 66 English and Language topics
Nouns
A noun names a person, place, thing or idea: teacher, Paris, apple, happiness.
Verbs
A verb is an action or state word: run, think, is.
Adjectives
Adjectives describe nouns: a tall tree, a red car, a funny joke.
Synonyms and Antonyms
Synonyms have similar meanings (big/large).
Punctuation
Full stops end statements, question marks end questions and commas separate parts of a sentence.
Similes and Metaphors
A simile compares using "like" or "as": as fast as a cheetah.
Prefixes and Suffixes
A prefix goes at the start of a word (un-happy), a suffix at the end (care-less).
Writing Paragraphs
A paragraph has a topic sentence, supporting details and a closing sentence.
Spelling Tricks
Use tricks like "i before e, except after c" and break long words into syllables.
Storytelling
A story has a beginning, middle and end, with characters, setting, and a problem that gets solved.
Pronouns
A pronoun replaces a noun so we don't repeat it.
Adverbs
An adverb describes a verb, telling how, when or where something happens.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions join words or sentences.
Prepositions
Prepositions show the position or relationship of one thing to another: in, on, under, beside, between.
Articles
A, an and the are articles.
Singular and Plural
Singular means one and plural means more than one.
Past, Present and Future Tense
Tense tells when something happens.
Contractions
A contraction joins two words and replaces missing letters with an apostrophe.
Apostrophes
Apostrophes show belonging (the dog's bone) and replace missing letters in contractions.
Homophones
Homophones sound the same but have different meanings and spellings, like there/their/they're, to/too/two and see/sea.
Idioms
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning isn't the literal words.
Alliteration
Alliteration repeats the same starting sound in nearby words: 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.' It makes writing fun and…
Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia words sound like what they describe: buzz, splash, boom, meow, sizzle.
Personification
Personification gives human qualities to non-human things: 'The wind whispered' or 'the sun smiled down'.
Rhyme and Poetry
Poems use rhythm, rhyme and imagery to express feelings.
Haiku
A haiku is a Japanese poem with three lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables.
Fables
Fables are short stories with animals that teach a lesson, called a moral.
Fairy Tales
Fairy tales are magical stories with characters like princesses, giants and witches, and often start with 'Once upon a time'.
Using a Dictionary
A dictionary lists words alphabetically with meanings, spelling and pronunciation.
Alphabetical Order
Alphabetical order arranges words by their first letter, then the second, and so on.
Main Idea
The main idea is what a text is mostly about.
Reading Comprehension
Good readers understand what they read by asking questions, predicting, summarising and visualising.
Letter Writing
A letter has a date, greeting (Dear…), body paragraphs, a closing (Yours sincerely) and your name.
Persuasive Writing
Persuasive writing tries to convince the reader using clear opinions, reasons, facts and strong words.
Syllables
A syllable is a beat in a word.
Compound Words
A compound word joins two words to make a new one: sun + flower = sunflower, foot + ball = football.
Hello in Many Languages
People around the world speak thousands of languages.
Commas
A comma is a small mark that shows a short pause in a sentence.
Question Marks
A question mark goes at the end of a sentence that asks something.
Capital Letters
Capital letters are used at the start of sentences, for names of people and places, and for the word I.
Quotation Marks
Quotation marks show the exact words someone said or wrote.
Colons and Semicolons
A colon introduces a list, an explanation or an example.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is an exaggeration used to make a point strongly, not to be taken literally.
Oxymorons
An oxymoron puts two opposite words together to create a special meaning, such as deafening silence or bittersweet.
Puns
A pun is a joke that plays on words with more than one meaning or sounds similar.
Sentence Types
There are four main sentence types: statements tell, questions ask, commands tell someone to do something, and exclamations show strong…
Subject and Predicate
Every complete sentence has a subject, which is who or what does the action, and a predicate, which tells what the subject does or is.
Direct and Indirect Speech
Direct speech repeats someone's exact words inside quotation marks.
Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences
A simple sentence has one main clause.
Narrative Writing
Narrative writing tells a story with a beginning, middle and end.
Diary Writing
A diary is a personal record of your thoughts and experiences, written in the first person.
Word Families
A word family is a group of words that share the same root or base, such as play, player, playful and replay.
Root Words
A root word is the main part of a word that carries its core meaning.
Silent Letters
Silent letters are letters that are written in a word but not pronounced, such as the k in knee or the b in lamb.
Blends and Digraphs
A consonant blend is two or three consonants that each keep their sound, such as bl in black.
Vowels and Consonants
Vowels are the letters a, e, i, o and u, and they make an open sound.
Skimming and Scanning
Skimming means quickly reading to get the main idea of a text.
Summarising
A summary is a short version of a text that includes only the main points in your own words.
Book Reviews
A book review shares your opinion of a book, describing what you liked, what you did not like and whether others should read it.
Limericks
A limerick is a funny five-line poem with a rhyme pattern of AABBA.
Acrostic Poems
An acrostic poem uses the letters of a word down the side as the first letter of each line.
Sonnets
A sonnet is a poem with 14 lines, often written in iambic pentameter with a set rhyme scheme.
Legends
A legend is a traditional story that may be based on real people or events but includes exaggerated or magical details.
Proverbs
A proverb is a short, wise saying that gives advice or shares a truth.
Tongue Twisters
A tongue twister is a phrase that is hard to say quickly because of similar sounds.
Interview Skills
An interview is a conversation where someone asks questions to learn about another person.
Frequently asked questions about English and Language
How can children improve their English?
Read a little every day, keep a word journal, write short diary entries and talk about books. Practise one grammar idea at a time.
What is the difference between grammar and vocabulary?
Grammar is the set of rules for building sentences. Vocabulary is the words you know and use.
Why is punctuation important?
Punctuation shows where sentences start and stop and helps readers understand meaning, pauses and questions.