Level: Upper-primary to intermediate
Objective: Students will understand and apply different types of
sentence transformations with accuracy.
1. Learning Outcomes
By the end of
the lesson, students will be able to:
- Convert assertive sentences into
interrogative forms and vice versa.
- Change simple sentences to complex
and complex to compound.
- Identify subordination and
coordination in sentences.
- Use connectors, question forms,
and clause structures correctly.
- Apply transformations in speaking
and writing tasks.
2. Warm-Up (10 minutes) – Speaking
+ Listening
Activity: “Say
it Another Way”
Teacher speaks 5 sentences aloud; students must change the tone or structure
spontaneously.
Example:
Teacher: “She likes music.”
Student: “Does she like music?” (interrogative)
This activates
prior knowledge.
3. Introduction to Concepts (10
minutes) – Grammar Focus
Give clear
definitions with quick examples.
A. Assertive → Interrogative
- Add auxiliary verbs/do-support.
- Change tone; sometimes rearrange
helping verbs.
Example:
Assertive: She can dance.
Interrogative: Can she dance?
B. Simple → Complex
- Replace a phrase with a dependent
clause.
- Look for: to + verb, phrases,
participles.
Example:
Simple: To win the prize, he worked hard.
Complex: He worked hard so that he could win the prize.
C. Complex → Compound
- Replace subordination with
coordination (and, but, or, so).
Example:
Complex: Although he was tired, he finished the work.
Compound: He was tired but he finished the work.
4. Guided Practice (20 minutes) –
Reading + Grammar
Provide
sentences for transformation.
A. Assertive → Interrogative
- She is coming today.
- They have finished their homework.
- You like chocolate.
B. Simple → Complex
- He worked to earn money.
- On seeing the police, the thief
ran.
- I heard the birds chirping.
C. Complex → Compound
- When the rain stopped, we went
out.
- Because he was late, he missed the
train.
- Though it was cold, they went
swimming.
Students
transform and check answers together.
5. Vocabulary Support (5 minutes)
Teach
connectors and their functions.
Subordinators (for complex sentences)
- because, although, when, while,
if, since, unless
Coordinators (for compound sentences)
- and, but, or, so, yet
Question starters (for interrogatives)
- Do/Does/Did
- Is/Am/Are
- Has/Have/Had
- Can/Should/Would
Students match
connectors to example sentences.
6. Pair Speaking Task (10
minutes) – Speaking + Grammar
Pairs take
turns converting sentences orally.
Example
prompts:
- “He likes to sleep early.” →
(complex) He likes to sleep early because he wakes up early.
- “They were excited although it
rained.” → (compound) It rained but they were excited.
Encourage
fluency, not perfection.
7. Listening Activity (10
minutes) – Listening + Writing
Teacher reads a
short paragraph twice.
Example
paragraph:
"Riya wanted to finish her project quickly. When she realized she
needed help, she called her friend. They worked together because the deadline
was near."
Students write any
three sentence transformations based on what they heard.
8. Writing Task (15 minutes) – Writing
+ Grammar
Students write one
short paragraph (6–8 lines) on a topic:
“A day you solved a problem.”
Rules:
- Must use at least one
transformation of each type.
- Highlight the transformed
sentence.
Teacher checks
structure and accuracy.
9. Worksheet / Homework
(Optional)
Assign 10–12
transformations covering all categories.
Example tasks:
- Change into interrogative: He
must leave now.
- Change into complex: Seeing the
train, they ran.
- Change into compound: If you
study well, you will succeed.
10. Assessment Rubric
|
Skill |
Criteria |
Marks |
|
Grammar |
Transformation
accuracy |
5 |
|
Writing |
Use of 3
sentence types |
5 |
|
Speaking |
Oral
transformation fluency |
5 |
|
Listening |
Correct
sentence conversions |
5 |
1. Assertive → Interrogative
Confusions
- Forgetting to bring the helping
verb to the front
- Using the wrong helping verb
(do/does/did vs is/am/are)
- Changing positive → negative when
unnecessary
- Words like “never,” “no one,”
“nothing,” “everyone” cause confusion
Tricks to Remember
✔ Trick 1: Find the helper.
If you see is/am/are/was/were/can/will, just bring it forward.
She is happy → Is she happy?
✔ Trick 2: If no helper is present, use DO/DOES/DID
He plays cricket → Does he play cricket?
✔ Trick 3: For “never,” “nobody,” “nothing” → use Negative Questions
Nobody knows the truth → Doesn’t anybody know the truth?
2. Simple → Complex
Confusions
- Students confuse phrases
with clauses
- They miss adding a subject
and finite verb
- Wrong connector selection
Tricks to Remember
✔ Trick 1: Add “because/when/although/so that” and create a clause
Phrase → Clause
To win the prize, he tried hard → He tried hard so that he could win the
prize.
✔ Trick 2: If the sentence starts with “to + verb,” change it to “so that +
clause.”
To finish early, she ran → She ran so that she could finish early.
✔ Trick 3: If the sentence has “-ing” (participles), add when/while/after
Seeing the police, he ran → When he saw the police, he ran.
3. Complex → Compound
Confusions
- Forgetting to remove the subordinator
(because/although/when)
- Adding the wrong coordinator
(and/but/or/so)
- Repeating subjects unnecessarily
Tricks to Remember
✔ Trick 1: Remove “because/although/when” → replace with AND/BUT/SO
Although he was tired, he worked → He was tired but he worked.
✔ Trick 2: When you see “because” → use SO
Because he was late, he missed the bus → He was late so he missed the bus.
✔ Trick 3: For “although/though” → use BUT/YET
Though it rained, we played → It rained yet we played.
4. Compound → Complex
Confusions
- Students think compound means long
sentence
- Forget which coordinator maps to
which subordinator
- Overusing “because” everywhere
Tricks to Remember
✔ Trick 1: Replace coordinators with suitable subordinators
- AND → when/while
- BUT/YET → although
- SO → because
Example:
He was tired but he worked → Although he was tired, he worked.
5. Negatives and Question Tags
Confusions
- Students change tense accidentally
- Wrong negative question formation
- Using "isn't it?"
everywhere
Tricks to Remember
✔ Trick 1: Helping verb in sentence decides the tag
He is happy, isn’t he?
They have left, haven’t they?
✔ Trick 2: If no helper, use DO/DOES/DID
She sings well, doesn’t she?
✔ Trick 3: Positive → Negative tag, Negative → Positive tag
6. Changing Degrees of Comparison
Confusions
- Wrong structure for superlative →
comparative
- Using “than” for positive degree
Tricks to Remember
✔ Trick 1: Superlative → start sentence with “No other…”
Ravi is the tallest boy → No other boy is as tall as Ravi.
✔ Trick 2: Comparative → add “than” + subject
Ravi is taller than Rohan.
✔ Trick 3: Positive → use “as + adjective + as”
Ravi is as tall as Rohan.
7. Direct to Indirect Speech
Confusions
- Tense backshifting
- Pronoun changes
- “Said to” vs “asked”
Tricks to Remember
✔ Trick 1: If reporting verb is past tense, shift tense back one step
Present → Past
Past → Past perfect
✔ Trick 2: For questions, use “asked” and remove question structure
“Do you like tea?” she said → She asked if I liked tea.
