A Parent-Friendly Guide to Primary School Grammar Curriculum

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1. Key Grammar Topics Taught in Hong Kong Primary Schools

English grammar in Hong Kong’s primary curriculum focuses on building a solid foundation in sentence construction, parts of speech, and tense usage. Below is an overview of the core grammar elements students are expected to master.

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① Parts of Speech

Students are introduced to the eight parts of speech, each playing a unique role in sentence structure:

• Nouns: Names of people, places, things, or ideas
  e.g. dog, book, Hong Kong
• Pronouns: Words that replace nouns
  e.g. I, you, he, she, it, we, they
• Verbs: Describe actions or states
  e.g. run, eat, is, have
• Adjectives: Describe or modify nouns
  e.g. happy, big, red
• Adverbs: Modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs
  e.g. quickly, very, well
• Prepositions: Indicate time, place, or direction
  e.g. in, on, at, under
• Conjunctions: Connect words or clauses
  e.g. and, but, because
• Interjections: Express strong emotions
  e.g. Wow!, Oh no!

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② Basic Sentence Structures

Grammar instruction begins with simple sentence construction, helping students understand the building blocks of English:

• S + V (Subject + Verb)
  e.g. I run.
• S + V + O (Subject + Verb + Object)
  e.g. She eats an apple.
• S + V + C (Subject + Verb + Complement)
  e.g. He is happy.

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③ Basic Tenses

Primary students are taught the three basic tenses:

• Present Simple Tense
  Used for habits or facts
  e.g. I go to school every day.
  He/She/It → add -s/-es to the verb
  e.g. She likes ice cream.
• Past Simple Tense
  Used for completed actions
  Regular verbs: add -ed
  Irregular verbs: memorize separately
  e.g. I played football yesterday.
  e.g. She ate a sandwich.
• Future Simple Tense
  Used for actions that will happen
  Use will or be going to
  e.g. I will visit my grandma.
  e.g. They are going to have a test.

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④ Questions and Negative Sentences

Students also learn how to form interrogative and negative sentences:

• Yes/No Questions
  Use Do/Does/Did or Be verbs
  e.g. Do you like pizza?
  e.g. Is she a teacher?
• Wh- Questions
  e.g. What is your name?
  e.g. Where do you live?
• Negative Sentences
  Use do not / does not / did not or Be + not
  e.g. I do not like spiders.
  e.g. She is not happy.

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⑤ Common Grammar Rules

• Articles: a / an / the
  a before consonants (a book),
  an before vowels (an apple),
  the for specific things (the sun)
• There is / There are
  e.g. There is a cat.
  e.g. There are three dogs.
• Have / Has
  e.g. I have a pen.
  e.g. She has a brother.

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2. How Grammar Is Taught in Hong Kong Primary Schools

① Interactive Exercises

• Fill-in-the-blank questions
• Jumbled sentence activities
• Matching words to images

② Contextual Learning

Grammar is taught through stories and dialogues:
Teacher: “What did you do last weekend?”
Student: “I went to the park.”

③ Charts and Mnemonics

• Verb tense tables Base VerbPast Tenseeatategowent
• Mnemonics for rules
  “He, She, It — Verb adds s!”

④ Writing Practice

Students apply grammar in short sentences, diaries, or stories:
“Yesterday, I played football with my friends. It was fun!”

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3. How Parents Can Support Grammar Learning at Home

✅ Encourage daily short sentence writing (e.g., use past tense to describe yesterday)
✅ Read English storybooks regularly
✅ Play grammar-based games (like “sentence building challenge”)
✅ Use grammar learning apps like Grammarly Kids or English Grammar in Use

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4. Common Grammar Mistakes and Corrections

❌ Incorrect: “She go to school.”
✅ Correct: “She goes to school.” (add -s for third-person singular)

❌ Incorrect: “I am eat breakfast.”
✅ Correct: “I eat breakfast.” OR “I am eating breakfast.”
(avoid mixing Be verbs and base verbs)

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Conclusion

English grammar in Hong Kong primary schools focuses on parts of speech, sentence patterns, and tense mastery. Through interactive, context-based learning, students naturally build grammatical skills. Parents can support this journey through daily conversations, games, and storytelling to strengthen their child’s English foundation.

Note: This article is for reference only.
Please refer to the official website of the Hong Kong Education Bureau for detailed curriculum information: www.edb.gov.hk
Draft prepared with AI assistance.
Edited by Prof. Chan Kwok Wai.
Supervising Editor: Alex Kong.