Free short notes and revision cards
Grade 5 English on Temari has 24 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
Reach for this when the subject is he, she, it or a single name and the verb describes a habit or routine, such as 'Samy helps his father'.
Watch out
Do not add -s after I, we, you or they: write 'they walk', not 'they walks'. Verbs ending in -sh, -ch, -s or -x take -es (wash, washes), and a consonant before a final -y changes the y to -i before -es (carry, carries).
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 2-33, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when you change a Simple Present statement into a question or a negative, for example 'Does Heran clean her room?' or 'They do not walk to school'.
Watch out
After does or doesn't the verb returns to its base form: write 'Does she study?' and 'She does not study', never 'Does she studies?'. For am, is and are, move the verb to the front instead of using do or does.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 2-33, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when you compare two things, such as two seasons or two cities, or when you name the most or least of three or more things.
Watch out
A comparative is followed by 'than' and a superlative comes after 'the'. Adjectives of three or more syllables never take -er or -est: use more/less or most/least (more beautiful, not beautifuler).
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 34-61, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when the subject of a Simple Present sentence is he, she or it, as in 'My father prepares his farmland during the dry season'.
Watch out
Add -es, not just -s, to verbs ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x or -o (wash becomes washes, go becomes goes). After a consonant, change -y to -ies (study becomes studies).
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 34-61, then checked twice before it went up
| Noun | Adjective | Verb (-ing) |
|---|---|---|
| rain | rainy | raining |
| snow | snowy | snowing |
| sun | sunny | shining |
| drizzle | drizzly | drizzling |
When you use it
Reach for this when you describe the weather in a sentence and are unsure whether a weather word should be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
Watch out
'It is snow' and 'It is rain' are wrong. After 'It is', use the adjective (snowy, rainy) or the -ing verb (snowing, raining), never the noun.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 34-61, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this tense when you need to say that an action is happening now, at the time of speaking. For something that is always or usually true, use the simple present instead.
Watch out
In a negative sentence, put not after am, is or are: I am not playing, He is not playing. In a question, move am, is or are before the subject: Is he playing? Do not use do or does with this tense.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 62-83, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this method when you must find out about a local accident and write it up as a short paragraph. Ask a classmate the seven questions on the sheet first, then organise the answers in order.
Watch out
With results in and leads to, the cause comes first and the effect follows. With results from and comes from, the order is reversed, so the effect comes first. Check the order before you write the link word.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 62-83, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when a countable noun names more than one thing. Consonant plus y changes to ies (berry, berries), vowel plus y takes s only (toy, toys), and words ending in ch, sh, s, x or z take es (box, boxes).
Watch out
Do not add s to every noun. Leaf, knife, thief and calf change to leaves, knives, thieves and calves, so 'knifes', 'leafs' and 'thiefs' are errors. Learn child-children, tooth-teeth and sheep-sheep by heart.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 84-113, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when an action is happening now and the receiver of the action is the subject, for example 'Opals are now being mined in Ethiopia.'
Watch out
The Grammar Summary in the book prints the negative as 'am/is/are + being + past participle', which is wrong. Put not between the be verb and being: 'I am not being supported by my friend.' Do not drop being: 'is built' is Present Simple, not continuous.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 84-113, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when you rewrite an active sentence in the passive, or when you describe a routine fact such as how minerals are extracted or used.
Watch out
Only verbs that take an object (transitive verbs) have a passive form. Use the past participle after is, am or are: 'are used', not 'are use'. In negatives, put not after the verb be: 'The flowers are not watered well.'
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 84-113, then checked twice before it went up
| Base form | Simple Past |
|---|---|
| see | saw |
| sleep | slept |
| cut | cut |
| buy | bought |
| find | found |
| speak | spoke |
| say | said |
| make | made |
| win | won |
| lose | lost |
| teach | taught |
| catch | caught |
| draw | drew |
| blow | blew |
| hold | held |
| tell | told |
| go | went |
| do | did |
When you use it
Use this list when you need the past form of a verb that does not take -ed, and check Appendix 1 of the textbook for more verbs.
Watch out
Do not add -ed to an irregular verb. Write "bought", not "buyed", and "caught", not "catched".
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 114-139, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when you choose between a possessive pronoun and a short form that sounds the same, as in gap-filling items in the exam.
Watch out
Possessive pronouns its, your and their never take an apostrophe. It's means it is or it has, and you're means you are. Check the meaning by reading the sentence with the full words.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 114-139, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when you write or say what a person can, could or was able to do, in the present or in the past.
Watch out
After can, could or be able to, the main verb stays in its simple form. Write 'Alemu can swim', not 'can swims', 'can to swim', 'can swimming' or 'could swam'.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 140-166, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when you ask for permission, give it or refuse it, and need to choose between can, could and may.
Watch out
Could is not used to give permission; use can or may for that. Also write 'may not' in full, never 'mayn't'.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 140-166, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when you talk about a habit or a state in the past that no longer happens now.
Watch out
Use 'used to' with the base form of the verb only: 'we used to live', not 'we use to live', 'used to went' or 'used have'. Negatives and questions take didn't use to and Did ... use to.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 140-166, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when you add the doer or the tool to a passive sentence, to choose the correct preposition.
Watch out
'By' introduces the person or thing that does the action, as in 'painted by Leonardo da Vinci'. 'With' introduces the object used to do the action, as in 'peeled with a knife'. Students often write 'by' before a tool.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 167-191, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use should, ought to or had better to give advice to a friend, a classmate or yourself, followed by the simple (base) form of the verb.
Watch out
Put the base verb straight after the modal with no 'to': 'You should study', not 'should to study' or 'ought to to drink'. 'Had better' carries a warning that something bad follows if the advice is ignored, and its negative is 'had better not'.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 167-191, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use was or were with the past participle (V3) of the main verb when the doer of the action is unknown or unimportant, or when the focus is on the action itself.
Watch out
Only transitive verbs, where the action passes to an object, can become passive. Use was with I, he, she, it and singular subjects, and were with we, you, they and plural subjects. Write the past participle, as in 'was broken', never the base form, as in 'was break'.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 167-191, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use the Past Continuous to describe an action that was going on at a time in the past, or a longer action that was interrupted by a shorter one. Form it with was or were plus the V-ing form of the verb.
Watch out
Do not write both actions in the simple past. The longer, ongoing action takes was/were plus V-ing, while the interrupting action takes the simple past. Use 'when' with the simple past and 'while' with the Past Continuous.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 192-216, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this method when you are asked to write a paragraph that convinces the reader that your position is right, such as whether it is better to live in a city or a village.
Watch out
An opinion with no reasons loses marks. Give convincing reasons for your position and support each one with a specific detail, such as ambulances arriving in minutes, as the sample paragraph does.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 192-216, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when you write a sentence in the Present Perfect Simple, or change one into a negative or a question.
Watch out
Use has only with he, she or it, and have with I, we, you and they. Never add did, and write the past participle (done, gone, bought), not the simple past. In a question, put has or have before the subject, as in Have they gone to the USA? and never Have they went.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 217-241, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when a statement must be turned into a question with what, when, why, who, how or how many, as in Lesson 12 Activity 2.
Watch out
Keep this order: Wh-word, then has or have, then the subject, then the past participle, then the rest of the sentence. Do not write did or the simple past: When have you heard the news? is correct, but When did you hear the news? is not in the Present Perfect.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, pages 217-241, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when you write or say what will happen in the future, or when you ask a question about a future event or plan.
Watch out
After will or won't the main verb stays in its base form: write 'She will help', not 'She will helps', 'She will helped' or 'She will to help'. In a question, put will before the subject: 'Will she help?'
Drafted from Grade 5 English, page 242 onwards, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when a writing task asks you to describe an assistive device, such as a walker, white cane, wheelchair or hearing aid, in a paragraph of 4 to 5 sentences.
Watch out
Write the outline before the paragraph. A paragraph that only names the device and its use, without its users, features, sizes or a modern version, is only a definition and does not describe the device.
Drafted from Grade 5 English, page 242 onwards, 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
279 pages
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