Year 5 Five sentence types worksheet

“Two kinds of clause” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 5 English unit “Five sentence types”, for children aged 9 to 10, and takes about 22 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Week 1 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Two kinds of clause

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 5 · English · about 22 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can tell relative clauses and adverbial clauses apart by their opening word.

A Look back3 min

1.
Circle the verb (the doing word) in this sentence: The dog barked loudly.
Thedogbarkedloudly
2.
Circle the group of words that makes sense on its own.
Under the tableDogs sleep at night
3.
Circle the mark that ends a sentence which tells us something.
full stopcommaapostrophe

B Watch me, then you5 min

Ali’s class watched the sports day race. Read the sentence below and see how it is built.

A school sports day finish line with bunting and a white tape across the track

Watch me

“We cheered” has a verb and makes sense alone: main clause.

“because Jun ran fast” has a verb but starts with because.

Because starts an adverbial clause, so it cannot stand alone.

Now you

1.
The crowd cheered when the race ended. Circle the word that starts the adverbial clause.
whencrowdcheered
2.
Ali, who trained daily, ran the final lap. Circle the word that starts the relative clause.
whoAliran

C Your turn8 min

Read each group of words. Decide what kind of clause it is.

1.
Circle the type of clause: because the rain stopped
main clauseadverbial clauserelative clause
2.
Circle the type of clause: who loved to dance
main clauseadverbial clauserelative clause
3.
Sort these clauses into the two columns. Then write which kind of clause each column holds: relative or adverbial.
which was tallwhen the bell rangwho sangwhile we waited
Starts with who/which Opens with when/while/because
4.
Write a sentence with a main clause and a relative clause that starts with which. Underline the relative clause.

Say it out loud: Which word did you look at first, and what did it tell you?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Kit says: “Because it rang is a main clause, because it has a verb.”

1.
Circle the right type for “Because it rang”.
main clausesubordinate clause

E Think deeper4 min

Picture a school trip to the seaside.

A coach parked by a seaside promenade on a windy day

1.
Write two sentences about a school trip to the seaside. In one, use an adverbial clause. In the other, use a relative clause. Mark each subordinate clause with a wavy line, then write AC or RC beside it. Check: would the marked part make sense alone?

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Two kinds of clause · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. barked If your child circles “dog”, that is a noun, not a doing word. Ask: what did the dog do?

2. Dogs sleep at night If your child circles “Under the table”, there is no doing word. Ask your child to find the verb in each group.

3. full stop If your child circles “comma”, a comma marks a pause inside a sentence. Ask where a sentence finishes.

B

1. when If your child circles “crowd”, that is a noun in the main clause. Ask which word starts the second part.

2. who If your child circles “Ali”, that is the name the clause describes. Look for the word that starts the clause.

C

1. adverbial clause If your child circles “relative clause”, check the opening word. Because is a subordinating conjunction, so it is adverbial.

2. relative clause If your child circles “adverbial clause”, look at the first word. Who is a relative pronoun, so it starts a relative clause.

3. Starts with who/which: which was tall, who sang · Opens with when/while/because: when the bell rang, while we waited If your child puts “when the bell rang” in the first column, ask which word it starts with. Move it across.

4. Look for: A main clause plus a relative clause starting with which, which adds detail about a noun or thing, and is underlined.

D

1. subordinate clause Kit thinks any verb makes a main clause. Ask your child whether the group could be a sentence alone. It cannot, so it is subordinate.

E

1. Look for: Two sentences: one with a clause starting because, when, while or as (AC), one with a clause starting who or which (RC), each marked and labelled.

Words to use

Say“Which word opens this clause? Does the group make sense on its own?”

Instead of“Just tell them the answer, or say that all subordinate clauses are the same.”

After the sheet

At dinner, say one sentence with because and one with who. Ask your child to name the opening word of each and say which kind of clause it starts.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Four sentence types(with a plan)
Commas in four sentence types(with a plan)
Adding -ing clauses(with a plan)
Two Things at Once(with a plan)
Commas after -ing starters(with a plan)

Every Year 5 English worksheet

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