Cambridge YLE grammar is cumulative: an A2 Flyers candidate builds on every key structure from Starters and Movers, and adds the 13 new Flyers structures explained below — 35 key structures in total. The new material gets full detail on this page; everything inherited from earlier levels is listed in brief at the end, with links to the full guides.
Based on the “Grammar and structures list” in the official Cambridge English YLE Handbook for Teachers: YLE Handbook for Teachers (PDF)
Describes what was in progress at a moment in the past — often interrupted by a past-simple action.
Examples
Talks about plans and predictions for the future.
Examples
Connects the past to now, with helper words like just, already, yet, ever and never.
Examples
Comparing two things directly, always with than.
Examples
Picking out the top one of a group, always with the.
Examples
Saying two things are equal — or not — with as … as and not as … as.
Examples
Says how an action is done — quickly, carefully, quietly.
Examples
'If + present, will' — talking about a real possibility and its result.
Examples
'To + verb' explains why someone does something.
Examples
The friendly way to suggest doing something together.
Examples
What someone was able to do in the past, or a polite way to ask for something.
Examples
Questions with did — asking what, where and when about past events, essential for story tasks.
Examples
Words that link events in order or show a result, so children can tell longer stories.
Examples
The A2 Flyers exam also assumes everything below. If any of these feel shaky, start with the earlier level's page — each name links straight to its explanation.
No. The Cambridge YLE exams never ask children to name a tense or explain a rule — they test whether a child can understand and use these structures in real sentences, pictures and stories. The terms on this page are for you, the parent; your child just needs plenty of practice hearing and building sentences.
Grammar is tested indirectly everywhere, but it is most visible in the Reading & Writing paper — the gap-fill and sentence-copying parts require children to choose or copy grammatically correct words. In Listening and Speaking, children mainly need to understand the structures when they hear them. There is no separate grammar paper and no pass or fail: children earn up to five shields per skill.
Not with drills or worksheets. At this age grammar sticks through use: reading simple stories, listening, and building sentences in games. Ten minutes a day of playful sentence-building beats an hour of exercises — that is exactly what FlyersEnglish games like Sentence Builder are designed for.
This page is a parent-friendly summary of the “Grammar and structures list” in the official Cambridge English YLE Handbook for Teachers. FlyersEnglish is not affiliated with or endorsed by Cambridge; the official handbook is available from Cambridge English at cambridgeenglish.org.
Kids don't learn grammar from rule tables — they learn it by building sentences. FlyersEnglish turns the A2 Flyers structures into mini-games: in Sentence Builder your child drags words into exam-style sentences with instant feedback, XP and badges.