What this page helps you practise
- spelling of high-frequency and irregular words
- correct punctuation usage including quotation marks and commas
- subject-verb agreement, tenses, and word classes
- identifying and fixing grammatical errors in context
NAPLANYear 5Language Conventions
NAPLAN Year 5 Language Conventions Practice Test
Year 5 language conventions assesses a student's control of spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Familiarity with the question styles helps students avoid simple mistakes.
Year 5 Language Conventions sample questions with worked solutions
Try each question first, then open the worked solution to check your answer and see how to reach it.
1.Which of the following is a complete sentence?
- ARunning quickly
- BThe dog
- CBecause it rained
- DThe cat sat on the sofa.
Show answer and working
Answer: D (The cat sat on the sofa.)
A complete sentence needs a subject (who or what) and a verb (the action), and it must express a complete thought. 'The cat sat on the sofa.' has the subject 'the cat' and the verb 'sat'. 'Running quickly' has no subject, 'The dog' has no verb, and 'Because it rained' leaves the reader waiting for more.
2.In the phrase "The boy's bike", what does the apostrophe show?
- APlural
- BPossession
- CContraction
- DNothing
Show answer and working
Answer: B (Possession)
An apostrophe followed by s after a noun shows possession, meaning something belongs to someone. 'The boy's bike' means the bike belongs to the boy. It is not a plural, because more than one boy would be 'boys' with no apostrophe. It is not a contraction either, because no letters have been left out.
3.Which word is a conjunction?
- AAnd
- BRun
- CBig
- DHouse
Show answer and working
Answer: A (And)
A conjunction is a joining word that links words, phrases or clauses, for example 'I like pasta and pizza.' 'And' is a common conjunction, along with 'but', 'so', 'or' and 'because'. 'Run' is a verb, 'big' is an adjective and 'house' is a noun, so none of them can join ideas together.
4.Complete the sentence: "He is ___ honest man."
- AA
- BAn
- CThe
- DSome
Show answer and working
Answer: B (An)
Use 'an' before a word that begins with a vowel sound, and 'a' before a consonant sound. 'Honest' is spelled with an h, but the h is silent, so the word starts with an 'o' sound. That means we write 'an honest man'. The sound matters, not the letter, which is why we also say 'an hour'.
5.Which sentence uses the correct form of "there"?
- ATheir going to the park.
- BTheyre is a car.
- CThere is my book.
- DThere going home now.
Show answer and working
Answer: C (There is my book.)
'There' refers to a place or introduces something, as in 'There is my book.' 'Their' shows belonging (their house), and 'they're' is a contraction of 'they are'. Options A and D need 'they're' (they are going), and option B is wrong because 'theyre' is missing its apostrophe and means 'they are', which does not fit.
6.Which word is a pronoun?
- ATable
- BShe
- CRun
- DQuickly
Show answer and working
Answer: B (She)
A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun so we do not repeat it, such as he, she, it, we and they. 'She' can replace a girl's name, as in 'Maya smiled. She was happy.' 'Table' is a noun, 'run' is a verb and 'quickly' is an adverb, so only 'she' is a pronoun.
7.Which sentence uses the correct tense?
- AI will went to the store.
- BI go to the store yesterday.
- CI am going to the store tomorrow.
- DI was go to the store.
Show answer and working
Answer: C (I am going to the store tomorrow.)
The verb tense must match the time word in the sentence. 'Tomorrow' is in the future, and 'I am going to the store tomorrow' correctly uses a present continuous form to talk about a planned future event. 'Will went' mixes future and past, 'go … yesterday' needs 'went', and 'was go' should be 'was going'.
8.Which word is an adverb?
- ACat
- BSlowly
- CKind
- DBook
Show answer and working
Answer: B (Slowly)
An adverb describes a verb, telling us how, when or where an action happens. Many adverbs end in -ly, like 'slowly', as in 'The turtle walked slowly.' 'Cat' and 'book' are nouns, and 'kind' is an adjective that describes a noun, such as 'a kind teacher'.
9.Identify the preposition: "The cat is under the table."
- ACat
- BIs
- CUnder
- DTable
Show answer and working
Answer: C (Under)
A preposition shows the position or relationship between things, often answering 'where?'. In 'The cat is under the table', the word 'under' tells us where the cat is, so it is the preposition. Other prepositions include on, beside, behind and between. 'Cat' and 'table' are nouns, and 'is' is a verb.
10.Choose the correct homophone: "Yesterday I ___ a letter to my grandmother."
- ASent
- BScent
- CCent
- DSend
Show answer and working
Answer: A (Sent)
Homophones sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. 'Yesterday' tells us the action happened in the past, so we need the past tense of 'send', which is 'sent'. 'Scent' means a smell, and 'cent' is a coin. 'Send' sounds similar but is present tense, so it does not match 'yesterday'.
Preparation strategy
1
Keep a log of spelling mistakes from writing tasks to review weekly.
2
Practice proofreading short passages written with errors.
3
Learn the rules for speech marks and possessive apostrophes.
Frequently asked questions
What does Year 5 language conventions test?
It evaluates spelling accuracy, proper use of punctuation, and grammar rules (like verb tenses and pronoun use).
How can students prepare for Year 5 spelling?
Learning common prefixes, suffixes, and spelling rules while practicing identifying misspelled words in sentences is key.