Master English Grammar with Comprehensive Practice Drills

Sentence Transformation and Verb Tenses

1. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence.

• 1. Kit and Jen are meeting.
• 2. The London train leaves at 6:45 pm.
• 3. The Malaga train arrives at 11:30.
• 4. I am visiting my grandmother.

2. Add between three and five words to the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first sentence. Use the words in bold.

• 1. By the end of next week, my brother and I will have painted my house.
• 2. I haven't gone to Seville since I was eight years old.
• 3. John didn't use to go cycling when he was a child.
• 4. My sister has just left the party.
• 5. I am going to study psychology at university.

Relative Pronouns and Sentence Rewriting

3. Join the sentences. Use relative pronouns.

• 1. This is a singer who was born in Germany.
• 2. This is a coat that Paula wants to buy.
• 3. Here’s a restaurant that we met at last week.
• 4. Frank is a man that I met last week.
• 5. Star Trek Into Darkness is a film which my brother watched.

4. Rewrite the sentences. Use the words in bold.

• 1. (that) This is the house that I was born in.
• 2. (never) He had never visited Barcelona.
• 3. (been) I have been studying English for 6 years.
• 4. (departs) The London flight departs at...
• 5. (just) The film has just finished.

Reported Speech and Questions

5. Rewrite the sentences in reported speech.

• 1. suggest: Ross suggested going for dinner tonight.
• 2. offer: Emma offered to help me with my homework.
• 3. remind: My sister reminded me I had a dentist appointment this afternoon.
• 4. order: The teacher ordered the class to stop.
• 5. warn: The weatherman warned that there was a storm coming.

6. Complete the reported questions for each answer.

• 1. ‘Yes, I can come to the cinema,’ Tom said to Rachel. Rachel asked Tom if he could come to the cinema.
• 2. ‘I’m going to Geneva,’ Matt told Rafaella. Rafaella asked Matt where he was going.
• 3. ‘Yes, I like Beyoncé’s music,’ Christina told Elsa. Elsa asked Christina if she liked Beyoncé’s music.
• 4. ‘Yes, of course I’ll marry you!’ Gemma told Martin. Martin asked Gemma if she would marry him.
• 5. ‘I come from Venezuela,’ Franco told Patrick. Patrick asked Franco where he came from.

Modal Verbs and Passive Voice

7. Rewrite the sentences. Use an affirmative or negative modal perfect.

• 1. (could) You could have told me you were going to wear a suit.
• 2. (might) They might have gone out for dinner.
• 3. (must) Tom must have been happy to see you.
• 4. (should) Kim shouldn't have painted her palm...
• 5. (can) You can't have seen Sian because...

8. Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first sentence.

• 1. (allowed) You’re not allowed to walk on the grass.
• 2. (mustn’t) Students mustn't run in the corridors.
• 3. (been) Gemma has been living...
• 4. (may) The students’ results may not have arrived yet.

9. Twitter History and Passive Voice

Twitter was created by Jack Dorsey in March 2006 and (1) the site was launched in July that year. Twitter (2) is used by over 500 million people now and (3) more than 340m tweets are written every day. (4) Twitter is used for conversations and sharing stories, but it also plays an important social and political role because (5) news stories are posted on the site, too. For example, news about the arrest of the 2013 Boston marathon bombing suspect (6) was tweeted by police. Also, Twitter (7) had been used by protesters from around the world to organize demonstrations. These events (8) have been called the ‘Twitter revolutions’.

Past Perfect and Adjective Forms

10. Complete with the same meaning.

• 1. The new product may be manufactured by Jordan's and Co.
• 2. Caroline offered John a lift to the station.
• 3. I’m going to have my house painted next year.
• 4. Stacey is going to go to...
• 5. The teacher had been speaking.
• 6. We’ve not been to Germany before.

11. Complete with the same meaning. Use the Past Simple or Past Perfect.

• 1. I didn't catch my train because I had woken late.
• 2. After he had visited Berlin, James decided to learn German.
• 3. The students went out to celebrate after they had finished their exams.
• 4. He had shut all the windows before he left the house.

12. Use the words in bold.

• 1. (had) After I had my breakfast, I went to college.
• 2. (just) The students have just arrived at school.
• 3. (already) Kim has already seen this film.
• 4. (working) While I was working...

13. Complete the dialogue. Use -ed or -ing.

1. such a frightening 2. imagine how worried 3. quite surprised 4. and exhausted 5. next exciting 6. quite annoyed to.

Vocabulary, Collocations, and Idioms

14. Same meaning.

1. looked tempting 2. irritated because of the noise 3. were depressed 4. exhausted.

15. Correct forms of verbs.

1. doing a course 2. getting married 3. get fit 4. do housework 5. go back 6. dropped him 7. getting better 8. got good.

16. Definitions.

1. editor 2. baker (bread) 3. biologist (studies) 4. tourist (holiday) 5. beginner (before) 6. stranger (don't know) 7. cyclist.

17. Suitable words.

1. stressed/relaxed 2. boring/interesting 3. unsuitable/violence 4. illiterate 5. disobedient 6. consider myself 7. lights up 8. author of.

18. Phrasal Verbs and Expressions.

bump into / two-faced / stay at home / drop you off / made a fortune.

19. Idioms.

I'm in the doghouse / try to keep your cool / I'm on a roll / he was out of the blue / and I have got something in common / feeling under the weather.

20. Sentence Completion.

asked Amanda / get married / had problems / turned their / him as.

21. Vocabulary Practice.

Tom independent / news disappointing / sensitive / is respectful to / disobedient.