Grade 8 Language practice

8 Grade 8 language lessons, including commonly confused words, analogies, gerunds, participles and infinitives, verb moods, clear pronouns, hyphens in describing words and more. Each one has a short video where Pip explains the idea, a worked example, and endless new practice questions with step-by-step help when a child gets stuck.

Step 1: Commonly confused words

Some word pairs trip up even adults: affect/effect, accept/except, than/then, lose/loose.

Example: Which word is correct? My tooth is ___ .

Tip: Affect is usually a verb (to change). Effect is usually a noun (a result).

Step 2: Analogies

An analogy compares two pairs that share the same relationship: hot is to cold as up is to down (opposites).

Example: pen is to write as knife is to ___

Tip: Say the relationship in a sentence: "A bird flies; a fish ___."

Step 3: Gerunds, participles and infinitives

Verbals are verb forms used as other parts of speech. Gerund: -ing word used as a noun. Participle: verb form used as an adjective. Infinitive: "to" + verb.

Example: What kind of verbal is the underlined word? Our goal is to win .

Tip: to + verb → infinitive. -ing as a thing → gerund. Describes a noun → participle.

Step 4: Verb moods

Indicative states a fact. Imperative gives a command. Interrogative asks. Conditional says what would happen. Subjunctive shows a wish or something not true.

Example: What mood is the verb in? The library opens at nine.

Tip: Fact → indicative. Command → imperative. Question → interrogative. "would" → conditional. "If I were" / wish → subjunctive.

Step 5: Clear pronouns

A pronoun should clearly point to one noun. If it could mean two things, replace it with the noun.

Example: Which sentence is clearest?

Tip: Ask "who or what is this pronoun?" If there are two answers, it is unclear.

Step 6: Hyphens in describing words

Join two words with a hyphen when they work together to describe a noun that comes after them: a well-known author.

Example: Which is written correctly?

Tip: Before the noun → hyphen (a well-known author). After the noun → no hyphen (The author is well known).

Step 7: Semicolons and colons

A semicolon joins two closely related sentences. A colon introduces a list or an explanation after a complete sentence.

Example: Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

Tip: Full sentence ; full sentence. Full sentence : list or explanation.

Step 8: Dashes and ellipses

A dash (—) shows a sudden break or adds emphasis. An ellipsis (…) shows a pause, trailing off or words left out.

Example: Which mark fits best? The answer ___ believe it or not ___ was zero.

Tip: Sudden break or emphasis → dash. Pause or missing words → ellipsis.

More Grade 8

Language in other grades

Try LearnSum free

Step-by-step video lessons, endless practice, learning games and parent reports. $12.99 CAD a month for up to 2 children, with a 2-day free trial (no credit card).

Start your free trial