One of my favourite Cambridge examination components was key word transformation . It truly was a test of a student’s knowledge of English at both First Certificate and Advanced levels.

However it is also a great exercise for accomplished writers. I still love doing them as it fine tunes my writing skills by having to constantly search for alternatives.

So just for fun, why don’t you see how you go with these examples.










For Questions 1-12, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three and six words, including the words given.


1 This is your third warning from me this week about being late for work.
NOT
This is the third time this week I……………………………be late for work.

2 I think Anita must have gone on a diet recently because she's quite slim now.
HAS
It looks as…………………………….dieting because she's quite slim now.

3 I always hated pasta when 1 was a child but now I cook it regularly.
USE
I…………………………pasta when I was a child but now 1 cook it regularly.

4 I went to have my own look at the apartment and 1 couldn't understand why my
friend wanted us to live in such a depressing place!
SEE
Having………………………………..myself, I couldn't understand why my friend
wanted us to live in such a depressing place!

5 We wanted to continue our mountain trek but the weather was too bad.
LIKE
We……………………………on with our mountain trek but the weather was too bad.

6 I want to inform you that I was not satisfied with the standard of service in your
hotel.
EXPRESS
I would……………………………………with the standard of service in your hotel.
7 I wanted to stay in last night but my flatmate insisted we go out.

SOONER
I……………………………………..in last night but my flatmate insisted we go out.
8 Didn't you want me to tell the staff about your resignation?
RATHER
Would………………………………………the staff know about your resignation?

9 I didn't stop worrying about the wild animals until we were safe inside camp.
ONLY
It was……………………………………………………….safety of camp that I
Stopped worrying about the wild animals.

10 Steve's one topic of conversation is the time he spent as a pilot.
EVER
The time he spent as a pilot …………………………………………………..about.

11 After arriving at the airport, we realised that our passports were still at home.
UNTIL
It…………………………………………………at the airport that we realised our
passports were still at home.

12 When Michael's boat began to sink, he sent a signal for help.
DID
When Michael's boat began to sink, what ……………………………………..a signal
for help.


Now please don’t ask for answers! You are all fine writers of English.


These examples came from the Practise English blog. More examples can be found by searching for CAE and FCE Key Word Transformations in any search engine.

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When teaching English writing, one of the most common mistakes I came across was the use of the comma. On asking my students why they had placed a comma in a certain position, they often justified it by saying that it was for a pause for breath. Well when we read we don't need to stop for breath so there must be some other reasons. Unlike some Latin languages, English is quite frugal when it comes to the use of the comma. I have used the following guide when I have been in doubt.

Quick Guide to Commas

1. Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

2. Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.

3. Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause.

4. Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning with that (relative clauses). That clauses after nouns are always essential. That clauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential.

5. Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series.

6. Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with non-coordinate adjectives.

7. Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift.

8. Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer back to the beginning or middle of the sentence. Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion.

9. Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names.

10. Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation.

11. Use commas wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion or misreading.


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It's fun to learn a new language. But sometimes trying to use direct word for word translation can result in some very funny expressions!





Private school: NO TRESPASSING WITHOUT PERMISSION.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hotel bedroom, Japan: GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Doctor's surgery, Rome: SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cocktail lounge, Norway: LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hotel, Acapulco: THE MANAGER HAS PERSONALLY PASSED ALL THE WATER SERVED HERE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hotel airconditioner instructions, Japan: COOLES AND HEATES: IF YOU WANT CONDITION OF WARM AIR IN
YOUR ROOM, PLEASE CONTROL YOURSELF.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Zoo, Hungary: PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUITABLE FOOD,
GIVE IT TO THE GUARD ON DUTY.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Resaurant, Nairobi: CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Car rental brochure, Tokyo: WHEN PASSENGER OF FOOT HEAVE IN SIGHT, TOOTLE THE HORN.
TRUMPET HIM MELODIOUSLY AT FIRST, BUT IF HE STILL OBSTACLES YOUR PASSAGE THEN TOOTLE HIM WITH VIGOUR.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
River highway: TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Men's lavatory, Japan: TO STOP LEAK TURN COCK TO THE RIGHT

What more can I say?

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The most common sound when we make in English is called the Schwa. It represents up to 15% of our utterances. However, so few people have heard of it. It’s the sound we make when we say ‘cup of tea’, and really say ‘cuppa tea’. It’s this little ‘uh’ sound we use in this example that is the schwa and in phonetics an upside down 'e' is used to represent the schwa. Now have fun finding this common but very small sound.

A curvaceous young phoneme called schwa,
Said "I never feel strong. It's bizarre!
I'm retiring and meek,
And I always sound weak,
But in frequency counts – I'm the star!"



Try to identify all the schwas in the following text. There are at least 40.

The first time I and my brother were allowed to go shopping alone was a complete disaster. I think I was about ten and he was seven. We usually got on very well together, but he was in a bad mood that day and I suppose I was a bit nervous about having the responsibility of looking after him in town. Anyway, he disappeared almost as soon as we got off the bus and I spent about three quarters of an hour looking for him. When I eventually found him, I was so relieved that I didn't remember to get angry.

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One of the most common word forms in English is ‘ing’. Sometimes referred to as the gerund, present participle or progressive form. It has such a multitude of uses that a single label just cannot be affixed to these amazing three letters. So broad is their use that Michael Swan prefers the simple label of the ‘ing form’ in his wonderful book Practical English Usage.

“I am wondering if that book is really that interesting. Having read the reviews, I may not be interested at all. But reading has always been my passion, so I will probably end up buying it anyway. Interestingly though, my friend is reading it and enjoying the story he told me. Amazing as it may seem, he lovingly cares for his books. Wrapping them in plastic and storing them under his bed. Boring huh?”

In this short example there are thirteen ‘ing’ words. Some are present participle and some are adjectives and adverbs. While some seem very difficult to grammatically label. Unless you define them as the gerund.

The gerund form comes form Latin, and in simple terms is a verbal noun. Or if you like, a verb that takes ‘ing’ and then inherits the properties of a noun.

“I like swimming.”

Now it is easy to see that swimming is a noun, in the same way as chocolate would be in this short sentence. In the first example, the words reading, buying, wrapping and boring are all examples of a verbal noun.

Another interesting point that I am interested in is how adjectives change with ‘ing’ and ‘ed’. So here we have the ‘ing’ form indicating that it is the object that is being described. “I think that is an interesting book.” When we change to the ‘ed’ form, it in now the subject that is being described. “I am interested in buying that book.”

Interesting isn’t it?

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The grammatical term of the present in English is a bit of trap. Yes it is a tense, but when combined with the four basic aspects of simple, progressive (or continuous), perfect and perfect progressive the concept of the present being the now type present goes out the window.

The confusion starts with the present simple. It is big. Really big. So big in fact that it swallows up the past and future and sticks them together.

For example. I am a man. Could I have been a woman last year? Or will I change into a woman in five years? No, it says I was a man, am a man, and will continue to be a man. Past, present and future.

To move aspects. I am reading a book. So, what right at this very moment? No. Perhaps I started reading the book three weeks ago, and still have ten chapters left to read. Perhaps I only read one chapter of an evening before going to bed. Again, past, present and future.

Or, I am having my tooth extracted. When. Today, tomorrow, next week. We don’t know, but it is definitely in the future.

To the perfect present. I have painted the kitchen. When exactly? Am I painting now? No, I finished some time ago. So here we have the present talking about the past. That’s logical isn’t it? The economy has collapsed. When? Now, or in the past?

I have been painting the kitchen. Add the progressive to the perfect and what do we have now? Past action again, but now there is a hint that I may not have completed it yet. Now there is a subtle difference to ponder.

So there we have it. The grammatical present in English. Quite a simple concept really. It is everything, every time and quite illogically huge.

To understand why the English present is different from many other languages, one needs to look at how English uses time in its tenses. Yes, as in most languages English has the three standard grammatical time periods of past, present and future. Where English differs, is that it needs another time period, and that is the time concept of now.

Now is infinitely small. It is gone before you know it has been. It is the very fine line of time that separates the past from the future. The present sits on top of this structure, and with a change of aspect, moves to the appropriate point in time.

Hence, the present in English is not just the present at all. It can be the past, the present or the future. Or, a combination. Simple really.

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English has one of the coolest, and at the same time most mysterious of verbs. Verbs to me are the motors that drive phrases and sentences. Normally, as in most languages, these verbs are one word. But in English we have the special and totally cool phrasal verb. Sometimes now called the multi-word verb.

They are normally two words, but sometimes can be longer. For example, to put up with, to look down on or to get on with. Common two word verbs are give up, get over, take up or get by. All very cool, and should need no thought or consideration when writing. Except!

Well, two things really that may need a second thought. In formal English, the use of phrasal verbs is not so cool. In fact they should be avoided at all costs if you wish to communicate in highly formal writing. A single word verb is much better. Job application letters, reports, letters of complaint and legal correspondence are examples of where they should be avoided. So to put up with would need to be replaced by to tolerate.

The second small matter is that of meaning. The phrasal verb to take out is a common example. But what meaning does it take? Consider these examples.

To take out the garbage. (to remove)
To take out my wife. (to invite)
To take out a loan. (to contract)
To take out a President. (to eliminate)

In these four examples we can see how context is the key. Try these.

To put a deposit down. (to secure)
To put a dog down. ( to kill)
To put your friend down. (to humiliate)

Then there are these.

To dine out.
To eat in.
To go away.
To get lost.

Just in these three sets of examples we have:

• A change of meaning depending on the object.
• A change of location for the object to between the verb.
• A verb that cannot take any object.

In fact there are seven kinds of phrasal verbs in English and it is one of the most complex grammatical points in our language. Somehow though, we find them highly communicative, and without them, advertisers would be lost for words. They are finding their way into other languages as well because of their simplicity in message. Another interesting point about them is that each year new phrasal verbs are added to our language. One of the most famous in recent times is the one attributed to Tony Blair. To sex up a dossier.

We are now so used to googling someone up aren’t we?
You can find more information here.

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The possessive adjective in English must be the most difficult to master. When is it a plain old adjective such as a car door? Or is that really a compound noun? When is it possessive as in a hair’s breadth? Is it a woman’s leg, or a woman leg? Or is at a chair’s leg, or a chair leg? There are many examples of this confusing English grammar point.

You would say the tree’s leaves, a butcher’s hook, a horse’s tail. Or you could say a bottle top, a door handle, a computer screen, day break, mountain top.

There is an obtuse grammatical explanation about ownership and being part of an object, but I won’t go there as the exception list is so long. I think in this case the exceptions really are the rule. The point about possessive adjectives is that they are impossible to learn by any process other than natural acquisition by repetitive collocation. By this I mean that by hearing and using a phase correctly enough times, it becomes automatic, and thus the error is corrected. For learners of English, this can be very frustrating.

I have often heard it said that English is a relatively easy language to learn. In many ways I agree with this. However I would have to say that it is as difficult as any language to master. While having no grammatical gender or accordance of singular and plural adjectives, it does however have a grammatical and lexical complexity stemming from its multiple roots in German, French, Latin and Old English but to name a few. An example of this is the word blonde, or blond. I stand to be corrected, but I believe this to be the only English adjective that changes with the gender of the noun. A relic of French grammar.

The challenges of English grammar are a daily dilemma for experienced writers of English. Spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, collocation and tense all offer a wonderfully diverse set of rules, uses, exception, variants and accepted new forms. When did you last see the word whom, and who remembers how to use it correctly? When did it become accepted to finish a sentence with a preposition? I am pleased though that splitting the infinitive is still not acceptable.

English has the largest vocabulary of any living language, and grows at a rate of approximately five thousand words every year. It is now well over one million words. It is one of the richest, most commonly used and evolving languages in the world. This however, makes the task of using it correctly a challenge for all of us who work with our incredible language.

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As writers, it is very easy to forget who it is that are reading our words. If you consider the number of words that are read nowadays on screen as opposed to on paper, you may want to consider readers of English to whom English is a second or third language, as part of your real or potential readership. As a teacher of English, I know full well that this opening paragraph is highly unsuitable reading for an operating level non-native English reader.

Reading is very important when acquiring, learning, improving, practising and perfecting a new language. For students, reading allows time to think, consider and work out what is being said. Listening skills take much longer to acquire than reading, so it is important for them to find reading texts that are both manageable to read, and importantly, interesting.

Blogs are now being used more and more in English language teaching because they offer such a wide choice of subject matter to attract student attention and are also usually of an appropriate length. Around two hundred to six hundred words. So when you are writing blogs and articles perhaps it is worth considering your grammar and lexis. Second language students normally have trouble understanding when they have difficulty in finding the basic elements of phrase. That is, subject, verb, object. Even if they do not understand the adjectives, adverbs, modifiers and some vocabulary, they can still follow an idea so long as the structure is friendly for them.

If I was to consider this article as being good material for a student, I would re-write my introductory paragraph above as follows.

Writers can forget the readers of their words. People are reading more words on screens now than in books or magazines. Second language English students are reading more and more material on the internet as a way of learning and practising their English. Writers should think about using material that is suitable for these readers.

The most noticeable change here is in starting sentences with a clear subject. Sentences starting with adverbial phrases, gerunds and prepositions cause difficulty for students who have less than an advanced level of English. Cleft sentences and conditionals without if, test even an advanced learner.

Another consideration is in the demographic of those acquiring English. Professionals, academics, bankers, doctors, lawyers, IT specialists and the list goes on. In fact, the same demographic you are writing for currently, except with less than mother tongue English skills. I would certainly not advise changing your style to that of a children’s bedtime story. However, I would consider keeping the first one or two paragraphs reasonably student friendly to at least grab their interest and add the possibility of new readers of your work. You can then happily show of your ability to use the subjunctive later in your piece.

My advice? Were it to be me, I wouldn’t use a phrase such as, lo ‘t was my postilion who was stuck by lightening, though. Be that as it may, you are still advised to write with form and style.

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