Free short notes and revision cards
Grade 4 English on Temari has 26 revision cards, arranged by the chapters of the Ethiopian national curriculum. Every card says when the rule applies, what each symbol in it stands for, and the mistake students most often make with it. They are free to read and need no account.
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When you use it
Use articles before nouns to indicate whether the person or thing is general or specific.
Watch out
Choose between a and an by the starting sound rather than the letter. Use an before vowel sounds and a before consonant sounds.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 1-20, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use the simple present for habits and general truths. Use the present continuous (am, is, are + verb-ing) for actions happening right now.
Watch out
In the simple present, remember to add -s or -es to the verb when the subject is he, she, or it.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 1-20, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use prefer something to something else, or prefer doing something to doing something else, when stating what you like more.
Watch out
Use the preposition to, not than, after prefer. Say I prefer tea to coffee, not I prefer tea than coffee.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 21-36, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use can or can't to show ability, can or may to make polite requests, and should or shouldn't to give advice.
Watch out
Do not add to after these modal verbs. Say you should rest, not you should to rest.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 21-36, then checked twice before it went up
| Singular | Plural | Type |
|---|---|---|
| boy | boys | Regular (-s) |
| bus | buses | Regular (-es) |
| child | children | Irregular |
| woman | women | Irregular |
| foot | feet | Irregular |
| ox | oxen | Irregular |
| sheep | sheep | Irregular |
When you use it
Use this to form plurals by adding -s or -es to regular nouns, or by changing the word form for irregular nouns.
Watch out
Do not add -s to irregular plurals. For example, write children, never childs or childrens.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 21-36, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use So followed by an auxiliary verb and a subject to agree with a positive statement.
Watch out
The auxiliary verb must match the tense and the new subject (for example, use does for third person singular subjects: So does Senait).
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 37-52, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use comparative adjectives to compare two people, animals, or things.
Watch out
For short adjectives ending in a single vowel and a consonant, double the final consonant before adding -er (for example, big becomes bigger).
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 37-52, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use these rules to form the plural of singular nouns ending in s, ss, sh, ch, x, z, or a consonant followed by y.
Watch out
When a noun ends in a consonant followed by y, change y to i before adding -es (such as lorry to lorries).
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 37-52, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use linking verbs to connect a subject to a condition, description, or state of being.
Watch out
Linking verbs (such as is, was, seem, taste, smell, look, sound) do not show an action. They describe what the subject is or feels like.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 53-67, then checked twice before it went up
| Preposition | Time Usage | Place Usage |
|---|---|---|
| at | Precise times (at 8 o'clock, at breakfast) | Specific addresses, points (at the post office) |
| in | Months, years, centuries, long periods (in 2021, in December) | Countries, cities, enclosed spaces (in Ethiopia, in a car) |
| on | Days and dates (on Friday, on a Christmas day) | Streets, avenues, surfaces (on Arada Street, on the floor) |
When you use it
Use this when choosing the correct preposition (at, in, or on) before a time or location.
Watch out
Do not use in for specific days or dates. Use on for days (on Friday) and at for exact clock times (at 5:00).
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 53-67, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use the simple present tense to describe facts, routines, habits, and permanent truths.
Watch out
Add -s, -es, or -ies to the base verb only when the subject is third person singular (he, she, it). For negatives, use does not with he, she, it, and do not with I, you, we, they.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 53-67, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Combine two separate base words together to create a single new word with its own meaning.
Watch out
Do not leave a space between the two words when writing a single compound word such as woodwork, classroom, or homework.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 68-82, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this tense to express actions happening right now, temporary actions happening around now, or planned future events.
Watch out
Always include the correct be verb (am, is, are) before adding -ing to the main verb.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 68-82, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this rule when you write a question or a negative sentence in the simple present tense.
Watch out
Use does not, not do not, with he, she, it or a singular name, and put the main verb in its base form after does: write Halima does not care, not Halima does not cares.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 83-96, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this rule when you change a singular noun into its plural form in a sentence or exercise.
Watch out
A noun ending in a consonant plus y changes the y to i before adding es, so lorry becomes lorries, not lorrys. Irregular nouns such as child, mouse and woman do not take -s or -es at all: write children, mice and women.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 83-96, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when you read or write a time such as 6:15, 6:30 or 7:45 in a dialogue or a sentence.
Watch out
After half past, say quarter to with the next hour: 7:45 is quarter to eight, not quarter to seven. Write a.m. after the time when the chapter does, as in half past six (6:30 a.m.).
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 83-96, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when a sentence uses am, is, are, was, were, look, become, seem, smell or taste to describe the state or condition of the subject rather than an action.
Watch out
The word after a linking verb describes the subject, so use an adjective: write 'The food smells good', not 'The food smells well'. Do not treat look, taste or smell as action verbs just because they are common action words.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 97-113, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when a gap needs at, in or on before a clock time, a day, a month, a year, an address, a country, a city, a street or a surface.
Watch out
Write 'on Friday' and 'on Arada Street', not 'in Friday' or 'in Arada Street'. Use in with months, years and countries, and at with clock times and addresses.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 97-113, then checked twice before it went up
| Word | Synonym |
|---|---|
| gifted | endowed |
| abundant | plentiful |
| suitable | fit |
| arable land | cultivable land |
| vast | huge |
| draining | flowing |
| fauna and flora | plants and animals |
| existence | presence; life |
| endemic | native to particular country |
When you use it
Reach for this when a reading passage or fill-in exercise uses one of these words and you need a word with the same meaning in that sentence.
Watch out
Match by meaning in context. Here draining means flowing, as rivers drain into neighbouring countries, and existence means presence or life, so do not give the everyday meaning of each word.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 97-113, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when you punctuate a sentence in the Punctuation Revision or in your own writing. A statement ends with a full stop, a direct question ends with a question mark, and a sentence showing strong feeling such as 'Wow' ends with an exclamation mark.
Watch out
'Do you know what I did last week' is a question, so it ends with a question mark, not a full stop.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 114-125, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this to spot or supply a helping verb: be (is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been), do (do, does, did), have (have, has, had), or a modal (may, might, can, could, must, should, will, would, shall). Helping verbs sit beside the main verb in a sentence.
Watch out
After a modal the main verb takes its base form: write 'Elsa can wash', not 'can washes' or 'can washed'.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 114-125, then checked twice before it went up
| Collective noun | Example |
|---|---|
| herd | a herd of cattle |
| pride | a pride of lions |
| troop | a troop of monkeys |
| pack | a pack of wolves |
| swarm | a swarm of bees |
| flock | a flock of birds |
When you use it
Reach for this when a sentence names a group of people, animals or things as one unit, such as a herd of cattle or a pride of lions.
Watch out
Join the group word to the noun with of, and match the right animal: a pride is used for lions, a herd for cattle, a swarm for bees, and a flock for birds. Do not say a herd of lions.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 126-140, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when a sentence describes an action that began and ended in the past, such as yesterday or last night, and you must write the verb in its past form.
Watch out
Irregular verbs do not take -ed: write went, had, swam, read, not goed, haved, swimmed. Regular verbs add -ed (help, helped). After did or did not, the verb returns to its base form: I did not sleep, not I did not slept.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 126-140, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when a sentence describes a habit or a fact about a person or thing and you must change it into a negative or a question.
Watch out
After he, she or it, the affirmative verb takes -s (she loves), but after does or doesn't the verb returns to its base form: she doesn't love, not she doesn't loves. After I, you, we and they, use do or don't without -s.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 126-140, then checked twice before it went up
| Combined word | Separate or component words |
|---|---|
| woodwork | Wood + work = woodwork |
| blackboard | black + board = blackboard |
| whiteboard | white + board = whiteboard |
| classroom | class + room = classroom |
| homework | home + work = homework |
When you use it
Use this when you must split a compound word into its two parts, or join two words into one new word, as in Activities 2 and 5.
Watch out
Keep the two parts in the order shown, as in wood + work. The joined word is written as one word with no space.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 141-146, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when a sentence describes something happening now, around now, or a planned future action, and you must choose between verb forms.
Watch out
A future plan needs a future time expression such as tomorrow, next week or at 7 o'clock. Without one, the sentence reads as an action happening now.
Drafted from Grade 4 English, pages 141-146, then checked twice before it went up
The student textbook for the new curriculum, free as a PDF. The cards on this page follow its chapters.
Ministry of Education edition, English
77 pages
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