Say the place name: choose the spoken form
Five sentences with a British place name in each; pick the respelling local speakers actually use.
Practice
Read the strength of a soft objection: complete the softening word
Five polite sentences from a senior colleague, each hiding a firm no behind one missing softening word.
Find the word that takes the beat when a sentence corrects an idea
Find the word that carries the strongest beat when a sentence rejects one idea and replaces it with another.
Restore the unguessable word in each everyday expression
Restore the one unpredictable word in each fixed everyday expression.
The half you cannot guess: expressions about the body, weather and money
Fill the gap that hides the fixed word in expressions about the body, the weather and money.
The word changes if you drop the last sound: complete each sentence
Two words that differ only in their final sound: say both and choose the one the sentence needs.
Choose the word that places the sentence in time or in space
Choose the preposition that places each sentence in time or in space, or decide that none is needed.
Put in the missing word, or leave the gap empty
Put the right article in front of each noun, or recognise the cases where nothing belongs there.
One sound apart: choosing the word the sentence needs
Each answer sits one consonant away from a rival word; pick the one that fits the sentence.
The missing second word: complete each two-part verb
Supply the small word that completes each two-part verb; the rest of the sentence tells you which.
Numbers in words: get the ending and the hyphen right
Write each figure out in letters, getting the ending and the hyphen right.
Rewrite the action as a noun
Restate the action in each sentence as a noun, the move that lifts an essay's register.
Refusing a request without causing offence
Complete the fixed phrases that let a work email say no without giving offence.
Grant the point first: complete each opening
Complete the fixed frames that grant the other side a point before taking it back.
Put back the missing word in the fixed expression
Put back the locked noun in each set expression for something easy or difficult.
Passing on a claim you do not vouch for
Supply the small grammatical word that lets a sentence pass on a claim without endorsing it.
Choosing the right present ending
Choose the present ending by deciding whether the subject is one other person or thing.
One thing or many: which opener fits
Decide whether the noun after the gap names one thing or several, then pick the matching opener.
Shifting the verb back when reporting
Move the verb one step back in time when passing on what someone said.
Building the regular past
Build the regular past form, watching the spelling changes that happen before the ending.
Two-part verbs: where does the pronoun go
Put the two-part verb and its pronoun object in the only order English allows.
Dramatic negative openings: rebuild the sentence
Rebuild each sentence after its dramatic negative opening, putting the auxiliary before the subject.
The two all-purpose verbs: pick the right one
Pick the right all-purpose verb for each collocation and put it in the correct form.
Real conditions, real results: fill the gaps
Complete real conditions and their results, using the right form in each half of the sentence.
Which of the three ending sounds do you hear
Say each past verb aloud and identify which of the three ending sounds you hear.
Connecting your ideas: choose the linker
Work out the logical relationship between two ideas and choose the connector that signals it.
Present perfect or past simple?
Decide whether each sentence needs the present perfect or the past simple, then check the answers.