Year 6 SATs query stumps grown-ups as they declare ‘mind has switched off’
Are you smarter than a 10-year-old? Some adult TikTok users may not want to know the answer to that question after a Year Six SATs question left them scratching their heads.
Last week, Year 6 pupils were put through their paces in English, Maths and Science as they sat down for the annual tests. Now a social media star called Sarah, known as the Grammar Slammer and a guru for trainee primary teachers on the English National Curriculum, has decided it’s time for grown-ups to step up to the plate.
She asked: “Insert one comma into the correct place in the question below,” which read: “Every night Dad and my brother take the dog for a walk.”
READ MORE: Brits put on Asian hornet alert as expert tells exactly what to do if one attacks
Click for more of the latest news from the Daily Star.
For those of you who fell asleep in English classes, the comma should go after the phrase ‘every night’. Sarah explained: “Commas are used in sentences to separate phrases and clauses.”
She then pointed out that the sentence had an “adverbial phrase” to “[tell] us when the action is happening.” When this appears at the start of the sentence this is known as a “fronted adverbial” and requires a comma.
Some TikTok users were left baffled by the explanation, with one writing: “I got it right, but didn’t know the reason. Its just the place where it makes sense to take a breath.”
Another agreed: “Commas are there to take a breath when reading out loud!” A third chimed in: “I got this right and I was taught its when you take a breath?”
However, Sarah was quick to debunk the ‘breath’ theory. “We pause at commas when reading, but that’s not what they’re actually for,” she clarified.
(Image: Getty Images/Cultura RF)
Others argued Year Six students are too young to grasp the intricacies of syntax. One wrote: “We need a better way of teaching this stuff. As soon as clauses and adverbials come up, my brain’s switched off because it sounds complicated.”
But Sarah countered: “To children they’re no more complicated than learning dinosaur names or names of footballers.” Sarah, who is a parent herself, has a following of 15,000 and posts SATs teasers daily on her account.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
