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Common Core ELA4th GradeLanguage

L.4.1: Grammar and Usage in Writing and Speaking

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1 · Cluster: Conventions of Standard English.

Make a Sentence ScrambleAll 43 4th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 4, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What L.4.1 Means in Plain English

Fourth graders join ideas with who, whose, which, that, where and when, use progressive tenses like was walking, use can, may and must for conditions, order adjectives as in a small red bag, add prepositional phrases, and fix fragments, run-ons and mix-ups like to, too and two.

Third graders (L.3.1) used irregular verbs, simple tenses and subject-verb agreement, and wrote compound and complex sentences. Fourth grade adds the pieces that make longer sentences work. Fifth grade (L.5.1) moves to the perfect tenses, unwanted tense shifts and pairs like neither and nor.

L.4.1 I Can Statements

  • I can use who for people and that or which for things.
  • I can put adjectives in the usual order: size, age, then material.
  • I can fix a run-on by splitting it or joining it correctly.

L.4.1 Worked Example

One sentence about a sundial in the park with four slips: a verb tense, an adjective order, a relative pronoun and a run-on.

Prompt

Fix the verb, the adjectives, the relative pronoun and the run-on in this sentence.

Not YetWhile we walk through the park, Ms. Ferraro showed us a stone big old sundial who still tells time, it was built before the town had any clocks.Walk is present, but the rest is past, and the walking was still going on when she showed it. Stone big old breaks the usual order. Who is for people, not sundials. And a comma alone can’t join two complete sentences.
Meets the StandardWhile we were walking through the park, Ms. Ferraro showed us a big old stone sundial that still tells time. It was built before the town had any clocks.Were walking, the past progressive, shows an action in progress when something else happened. Size, then age, then material gives big old stone. That fits a thing, and a period splits the run-on into two complete sentences.
Moves to Use
Use was or were plus an -ing verb for an action in progress: we were walking.Order adjectives by size, age, color, then material: a big old stone sundial.Use who for people, and that or which for things.Split a run-on with a period, or join it with a comma and and, but or so.

Common Mistakes with L.4.1

Who for everything

“That’s the book who won the prize,” or “the town which I was born” where it should be where

Try this: Sort relative words on a chart: who for people, which or that for things, where for places, when for times.

Fragments that look finished

“Because the bus was late.” written as a whole sentence, capital and period included

Try this: Have students read each sentence alone and ask whether it makes sense by itself. A because-clause on its own never does.

Mixing up to, too and two

“We had to many books too carry, so two of us went to.”

Try this: Post a chart: to goes before a place or a verb, too means also or more than enough, two is the number.

Where L.4.1 Fits

Comes BeforeL.3.1Use irregular verbs, simple tenses and agreement, and write compound and complex sentences.
AlongsideW.4.3Write narratives, where progressive tenses and complete sentences carry the action.SL.4.6Use formal English when presenting, the grammar of this standard said out loud.
Comes NextL.5.1Use the perfect tenses, avoid tense shifts and pair either with or, neither with nor.

Practice L.4.1

Sentence Scramble GeneratorFree ToolScrambled sentences with progressive verbs, stacked adjectives and who, which or that clauses, so students rebuild each one in the order that sounds right.Adjective orderRelative pronounsGrade 4
Make a Scramble

Quick Check

  1. Why is were walking better than walk in the strong sentence?
  2. Put these adjectives in order: a wooden little old box.
  3. Fix the run-on: “The bell rang, everyone lined up.”

L.4.1: Other Names

L.4.1CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.