Sentence Structure Teaching Resources
Teach students the elements of sentence structure this school year with printable worksheets, sentence-building activities, sorting games and more primary school teaching resources designed to help extend your students' understanding of how to write clear and concise sentences that follow the rules of English grammar.
This extensive collection of teaching resources has been created by teachers for teachers like you. Aligned to the National curriculum, the English collection includes editable worksheets and teaching presentations and more to save primary teachers time on lesson planning.
Created by expert teachers, each resource in this sentence collection has been carefully reviewed and curated by our team. That means it's ready to use in the classroom! You'll even find editable resources, plus differentiated options.
New to teaching about sentence structure, or just looking for fresh ways to engage your students? Read on for a primer from our teaching team!
English Sentence Structure Explained
From subjects to predicates, objects to clauses, the English language is packed with rules specific to sentence structure that students need to learn on the way to becoming proficient writers.
Ready to break down how to build a sentence in English and look at some examples? Let's go!
Subject
The subject of a sentence is the noun or pronoun that performs the action or is described in the sentence.
For example, in the sentence 'Jaquan did his homework,' Jaquan is the subject.
Predicate
The predicate of a sentence expresses the action or state of being in a sentence.
Let's go back to the sentence 'Jaquan did his homework.' In this case, did is the predicate.
Object
The object of a sentence is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb.
For example, 'homework' would be the object in 'Jaquan did his homework.'
Complement
The complement of a sentence is a word or phrase that completes the meaning of a sentence.
The complement can be a direct object, indirect object or subject complement.
For example: 'a doctor' in 'She became a doctor.'
Modifier
A modifier in a sentence provides additional information about a word or phrase in the sentence. It can be an adjective or an adverb. Example: 'kind' in 'She was a kind teacher.'
What Are Clauses?
Clauses are groups of words containing a subject and a verb. They're important to understand when learning sentence structure. After all, one kind of clause is a sentence!
There are two main types of clauses:
- Independent Clause — An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence because it expresses a complete thought. For example: 'I did all of my homework.'
- Dependent Clause — A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence because it does not express a complete thought. It relies on an independent clause to make sense. Example: 'When I went to the store,' (Dependent clause) 'I bought an apple.' (Independent clause). Dependent clauses can be paired with independent clauses to build sentences.
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Build a Sentence Activity - Sentence Clothesline
Create simple sentences with this printable Build a Sentence Activity Sentence Clothesline resource.
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Complete Sentence vs Fragment Sentence Sort
Make sentence structure lessons engaging and hands-on with this playful Complete Sentence vs Fragment sorting activity.
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Adjectival Clause Teaching Slides
Teach the power of the adjectival clause with this engaging slide deck designed to help primary school students boost their descriptive writing.
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Dependent Clause Worksheets
Explore how a dependent clause can show purpose, time, reason, concession and condition with this engaging set of worksheets for Year 5 students.
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Causal Connectives Worksheet Pack
Teach causal connectives effectively with this comprehensive pack of 9 progressive worksheets designed to help your students master cause and effect relationships in writing.
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Fix the Sentences Worksheets
Use these Fix the Sentences Worksheets to help your students become confident writers.
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Sentence Building Cards and Mat
Use these Sentence Building Cards with Mat to explore the main features of a simple sentence with your Prep students.
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Subject Verb Agreement PowerPoint
Use this subject-verb agreement PowerPoint to teach your students about singular and plural subject-verb agreement in a clear and engaging way.
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Combining Sentences Worksheet Pack
Download and use our combining sentences worksheet pack to help your students learn to combine sentences in various ways.
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Simple Sentence Frames and Word Bank Displays
Engage young writers with this Sentence Frame and Picture Prompts Display.
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Types of Sentences - Sentence Strips Activity Pack
Use our Sentence Types - Sentence Strip Activity pack to teach your students about statements, commands, questions, and exclamation sentences.
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Noun and Verb Sentence Puzzles
Use this nouns and verbs game puzzle to help students identify nouns and their matching verbs while building simple sentences in a fun, hands-on way.
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Trace, Draw and Order Sentences Worksheets
Use this set of sentence cut-and-paste worksheets to help your students build simple sentences.
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Subject-Verb Agreement Game
Use this subject-verb agreement game as a fun and collaborative way of teaching the fundamentals of correct sentence structure.
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Main Clauses and Subordinate Clauses Poster
A poster explaining main clauses and subordinate clauses.
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Grammar and Punctuation Assessment Tool – Year 4
A set of 5 grammar and punctuation assessment tools suited to Year 4 students.
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Successful Sentences – Sentence Construction Cards
Word cards for constructing complex sentences.
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Sentence vs Fragment Worksheet Pack
Help students master the difference between what is a sentence and a fragment with this easy-to-use Sentence vs Fragment Worksheet Pack.
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Comparative Connectives Worksheet Pack
Teach comparative connectives with this set of 9 progressive worksheets designed to help your students show similarity and difference in their writing.
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Cohesive Sentence Interactive Activity
Engage students with interactive slides that teach the features of a cohesive sentence through a variety of hands-on activities.
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Cohesive Paragraph Digital Quiz
Explore what makes a cohesive paragraph using this interactive digital quiz that helps students identify cohesive devices in context.
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Make a Sentence Activity Task Cards
Boost early writing skills with this engaging Make a Sentence Activity designed to help students understand sentence structure through fun, hands-on learning.
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Colour By Code - Simple or Compound Sentence Worksheet
Use a Colour By Code Simple or Compound Sentence worksheet to help your students practise identifying simple and compound sentence types.
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Compound Sentences Quiz
Assess your students ability to identify, write, and edit compound sentences with a printable Compound Sentence Quiz.
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SCOOT! Finish the Sentence Game for Sentence Fragments
Use this Finish the Sentence Game to help your students practice correcting sentence fragments.
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Simple Sentence Exit Tickets
Check your students' knowledge of simple sentences with this set of simple sentence exit tickets perfect for kindergarten.
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Statement, Question, Command, Exclamation – Poster
Discover the features of statement, question, command, and exclamation sentences with a printable Types of Sentences poster.
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Statement, Question, Command, Explanation – Match Up Cards
Teach younger students about the four types of sentences with a printable sentence types matching activity.
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Introduction to Writing Simple Sentences PowerPoint
Teach students how to write simple sentences with these Writing Simple Sentences Teaching Slides.
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Super Sentence Game - Statement, Command, Exclamation & Question
Turn sentence structure practice into an exciting game with the Super Sentence Game for Year 1 and 2.
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Was or Were? Subject Verb Agreement Task Cards
Download these was or were task cards, designed to help students confidently choose the correct verb form while improving their grammar skills.
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Phrase or Clause? Sorting Activity
Build confidence in identifying a phrase or clause with this hands‑on sorting activity that helps students distinguish between the two in a fun, interactive way.
- Sentence Structure Worksheets
- Sentence Structure Games
- Sentence Structure Teaching Presentations
- Sentence Structure Posters
- Sentence Structure for Foundation Year
- Sentence Structure for Year 1
- Sentence Structure for Year 2
- Sentence Structure for Year 3
- Sentence Structure for Year 4
- Sentence Structure for Year 5
- Sentence Structure for Year 6