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Year 5

Fronted adverbials: single words, phrases and clauses

I can choose when to use a fronted adverbial single word, fronted adverbial phrase or fronted adverbial clause.

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Year 5

Fronted adverbials: single words, phrases and clauses

I can choose when to use a fronted adverbial single word, fronted adverbial phrase or fronted adverbial clause.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A fronted adverbial is a sentence starter followed by a comma that expresses detail about time, place, manner or cause.
  2. A fronted adverbial can be a single word, phrase or clause.
  3. A clause is a group of words that contains a verb.
  4. A phrase is a group of words with no verb.
  5. A variety of fronted adverbials are useful to achieve text flow.

Keywords

  • Fronted adverbial - a sentence starter followed by a comma

  • Comma - a punctuation mark used after any fronted adverbial

  • Phrase - a group of words with no verb

  • Clause - a group of words that contains a verb

  • Adverbial clause - a type of subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction

Common misconception

Pupils may not understand that the function of some words (e.g. before/after) depends on context.

Emphasise that sometimes these words are acting as subordinating conjunctions and sometimes they start phrases.

Gather banks of different types of fronted adverbial for children to use and explicitly refer to the different types of fronted adverbial you are using whenever you model writing to the class.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Tick the words that are types of determiner.
Correct answer: demonstrative
noun
Correct answer: article
Correct answer: possessive pronoun
Correct answer: quantifier
Q2.
Match the type of determiner to the sentence that uses it.
Correct Answer:article,We had a great time.

We had a great time.

Correct Answer:possessive pronoun,It was our birthday.

It was our birthday.

Correct Answer:quantifier,Let's have some cake.

Let's have some cake.

Correct Answer:demonstrative,I'll have this piece.

I'll have this piece.

Q3.
Which type of determiner is used in this sentence? 'We had plenty of time to get there.'
demonstrative
Correct answer: quantifier
article
possessive pronoun
Q4.
Match the word to its meaning and the example.
Correct Answer:word,a single word (fire)

a single word (fire)

Correct Answer:phrase,a group of words with no verb (a bright fire)

a group of words with no verb (a bright fire)

Correct Answer:clause,a group of words with a verb (a bright fire blazed)

a group of words with a verb (a bright fire blazed)

Q5.
Which part of this sentence makes complete sense on its own? 'Just then, the bear roared.'
just then
then the bear
Correct answer: the bear roared
Q6.
Which of the following are phrases?
Correct answer: just then
we saw a bright star
Correct answer: all of a sudden
Correct answer: a bright star

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What punctuation always follows a fronted adverbial?
full stop
exclamation mark
Correct answer: comma
apostrophe
Q2.
Which of the following can be a fronted adverbial?
Correct answer: a single word
a relative clause
Correct answer: an adverbial clause
Correct answer: a phrase
Q3.
Match the type of fronted adverbial to the example.
Correct Answer:fronted adverbial single word,Soon,

Soon,

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial phrase,After many hours,

After many hours,

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial clause,Before we could stop him,

Before we could stop him,

Q4.
Match the type of fronted adverbial to the sentence that uses it.
Correct Answer:fronted adverbial single word,Now, add the potatoes.

Now, add the potatoes.

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial clause,After the match is over, we can celebrate.

After the match is over, we can celebrate.

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial phrase,After that, we can eat.

After that, we can eat.

Q5.
Match the type of fronted adverbial to its meaning.
Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of time,tells us when the action after the comma happened

tells us when the action after the comma happened

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of manner,tells us how the action after the comma happened

tells us how the action after the comma happened

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of place,tells us where the action after the comma happened

tells us where the action after the comma happened

Q6.
Which of these sentences begins with a fronted adverbial phrase of manner?
Cautiously, we entered the cave.
Correct answer: Full of fear, we entered the cave.
After we had stopped shaking, we entered the cave.