David Kinder, of Froxfield, an English teacher at Alton College, has devised a card game which he says can improve pupils’ grammar.

Grammaticus, now on sale at One Tree Books, Lavant Street, follows the format of well-known games such as rummy and pontoon but substitutes numbers and suits with words and word classes, such as nouns, adjectives and verbs.

Mr Kinder said the students that have played the game show a better understanding of grammar.

“The cards have proved very popular with students and work equally well with anyone interested in playing word games and improving their grammar knowledge in an enjoyable and painless way,” he said.

“Adults hoping to brush up on their grammar will find them just as useful – it is basically about playing a fun card game and learning along the way.

“You can play a game of rummy but instead of collecting suits you can collect nouns or adjectives.”

Mr Kinder developed the system two years ago and originally sold it to other teachers and its success encouraged him to market it to the general public as an educational game.

“It seems that children pick up grammar well when they’re using the cards and it might be the sort of thing parents or grandparents might want to encourage their youngster to do,” he said.