Adverbs Worksheet: Year 6 SATs SPaG

Year 6 SATs SPaG worksheet on adverbs: 20 questions in the style of the SATs, with answers. Free PDF.

3-page A4 PDF from the Tiger Shark Education question bank (Word classes): two pages of questions (circle or underline) and an answer page. Example questions: Circle the adverb. The fire crackled warmly. / Circle the adverb. She searched frantically for keys.

What is an adverb? An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb or a whole clause, telling us how, when, where or how often something happens: She ran quickly. They arrived yesterday. It was extremely cold. Many adverbs end in -ly, but plenty do not (soon, often, very, here). Adverbs can usually move around a sentence, which is a useful test. In the SATs, children identify adverbs and use them to change meaning.

Common mistakes and tips: Children assume every -ly word is an adverb (friendly and lovely are adjectives) and that adverbs must end in -ly (missing soon, always and very). Another error is confusing an adverb with an adverbial, which can be a whole phrase. Asking ‘how, when, where or how often?’ about the verb helps children find the word that answers the question.

Quick example to try: write ‘She sang beautifully’, ‘She sang yesterday’ and ‘She sang outside’ on the board, and ask pupils which question each adverb answers: how, when or where. Then challenge them to find an adverb that does not end in -ly.

In the KS2 SATs, grammar and punctuation are tested in a separate paper of around 50 short questions, and this topic regularly appears. The questions on this sheet use the same styles as the test (circle, tick, underline, insert), so children practise the format as well as the knowledge.

Teaching ideas: model the first two questions together and talk through the reasoning, then let children complete the rest independently. Use the answers to group pupils for a follow-up session. For extra challenge, ask children to explain their answers in a full sentence using the correct grammatical terms.

Supporting all learners: for children who find grammar difficult, read the questions aloud and work through the first few together before they continue alone. Colour-coding word classes or clauses on mini whiteboards makes abstract ideas more concrete, and sorting word cards or building sentences from strips helps too. More confident pupils can write their own test-style questions for a partner, with the answers and a short explanation. Once each topic is secure, mix it with others, because the real test does not group questions by topic and pupils need to recognise what each question is asking them to do.