Year 7 NAPLAN Language

Year 7 NAPLAN — Language Conventions Practice

Practise spelling, grammar and punctuation skills tested in the Year 7 NAPLAN Language Conventions assessment.

Exam Tips for Year 7 Language Conventions

1. Identify the voice — know whether a sentence is active (subject does the action) or passive (subject receives the action).

2. Check parallel structure — items in a list or comparison should follow the same grammatical pattern.

3. Use word roots — if unsure about spelling, break the word into prefix + root + suffix.

4. Semicolons join equals — a semicolon connects two complete sentences that are closely related.

The Language Conventions test has about 50 questions in 45 minutes. It tests three main areas:

Commonly confused words, word roots and prefixes, technical vocabulary.

Passive vs active voice, relative clauses, parallel structure, modifiers.

Semicolons, colons, dashes and hyphens.

⚠ than / then — than = comparison (bigger than), then = time/sequence (and then)

⚠ who / whom — who = subject (who did it?), whom = object (to whom?)

⚠ Dangling modifiers — "Running to class, the bell rang" (the bell wasn't running!)

⚠ Semicolon vs comma — semicolons join two complete sentences; commas cannot

●Active vs passive voice: Active = subject does the action. Passive = subject receives the action (uses "was/were + past participle").
●Relative clauses: Non-essential information needs commas on both sides: "The dog, which was old, sat down."
●Parallel structure: Items in a list must follow the same grammatical pattern (all nouns, all -ing words, etc.).
●Modifiers: Place describing phrases next to what they describe to avoid confusion.
●Semicolons: Join two complete, related sentences. Often used with words like "however," "therefore," "moreover."
●Colons: Introduce a list, explanation or example — but only after a complete sentence.