KS2 SATs Grammar: Formal and Informal Language
Informal language uses contractions, question tags ("isn’t it?"), everyday vocabulary and exclamations. Formal language uses full forms, precise vocabulary, the passive voice and the subjunctive. Learn the features of each, the trap of assuming polite means formal, then choose the most formal version of a sentence in a SATs-style question.
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2:45KS2 SATs Grammar: Determiners (Articles, Demonstratives, Possessives, Quantifiers)
A determiner introduces a noun and specifies which one, whose, or how many: articles (a, the), demonstratives (that, those), possessives (my, their) and quantifiers (several, every). Learn the four families, avoid the classic trap where the same word works as a pronoun, then circle all four determiners in a SATs-style sentence.
2:37KS2 SATs Grammar: Modal Verbs for Possibility, Certainty and Obligation
Modal verbs (can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must) help a main verb and show degrees of possibility, certainty or obligation. Place them on a certainty scale, avoid the mistakes of adding -s or "to" after a modal, then choose the sentence that expresses possibility in a SATs-style question.
2:33KS2 SATs Grammar: The Active and Passive Voice
In the active voice the subject performs the action (The fox chased the rabbit); in the passive voice the subject receives it (The rabbit was chased by the fox). Learn how the passive is built (a form of "be" plus a past participle), why writers choose it, the trap of confusing it with the progressive, then identify the passive in a SATs-style question.