Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
New
New
Year 4

Fronted adverbials: single words and phrases

I can recognise and punctuate a fronted adverbial of time, place or manner.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils
New
New
Year 4

Fronted adverbials: single words and phrases

I can recognise and punctuate a fronted adverbial of time, place or manner.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A fronted adverbial is a sentence starter that is followed by a comma.
  2. A fronted adverbial can be a single word.
  3. A fronted adverbial can be a phrase.
  4. A phrase is a group of words with no verb.
  5. A fronted adverbial can express detail about time, place or manner.

Common misconception

Pupils may create a clause instead of a phrase by using a verb in their fronted adverbial.

This is not wrong, but explain to children we are focusing on phrases and words today.

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

  • Manner - the way in which a verb is done

Throughout the lesson, gather examples of each form (word and phrase) and type (manner, place, time) so that pupils have plenty of ideas available for the final task (and to use going forwards).
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).

Video

Skip video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
What makes a clause different from a phrase?
It is more than one word.
It is a group of words.
Correct answer: It contains a verb.
Q2.
Which word tells us that this is a clause? 'as the sun rose'
as
the
sun
Correct answer: rose
Q3.
What is the noun phrase in this sentence? 'We stopped because of the snow.'
we stopped
because of
Correct answer: the snow
Q4.
What is the preposition in this sentence? 'We're waiting in the corridor.'
We're waiting
Correct answer: in
the corridor
Q5.
Which of the following is a preposition phrase that could complete this sentence? Sam has attended our school __________.
Correct answer: since 2019.
since she was 7.
for the whole time she's been old enough.
Q6.
Match each preposition phrase to the type of preposition used.
Correct Answer:in the garden,preposition of place

preposition of place

Correct Answer:because of the weather,preposition of cause

preposition of cause

Correct Answer:for 11 minutes,preposition of time

preposition of time

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Tick the fronted adverbials which are phrases.
As she wept,
Correct answer: With a tear,
While he sobbed,
Correct answer: Full of sadness,
Q2.
What punctuation is missing from this sentence? Today I am going to walk to school.
apostrophe
full stop
Correct answer: comma
inverted commas
Q3.
Match each type of fronted adverbial to its meaning.
Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of time,tells us when something happened

tells us when something happened

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of place,tells us where something happened

tells us where something happened

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of manner,tells us how something happened

tells us how something happened

Q4.
Match the type of fronted adverbial to the example.
Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of time,At that moment,

At that moment,

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of place,To my left,

To my left,

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of manner,Angrily,

Angrily,

Q5.
Which fronted adverbial of manner would work best here? __________, we clapped and cheered.
Full of sadness,
Devastated,
Correct answer: Full of joy,
Sadly,
Q6.
How do we know this sentence does not contain a fronted adverbial phrase? As the sun set, I yawned sleepily.
It does not contain a comma after the fronted adverbial.
It does not contain a verb in the fronted adverbial phrase.
Correct answer: It contains a verb in the fronted adverbial.