Use of English: What you need to know

Part One: Multiple Choice Cloze

1. Idiomatic expressions
2. Phrasal verbs
3. Collocations
4. Binomials

–      Binomial pairs joined by and (neat and tidy)

–      Binomial pairs joined by or (take it or leave it)

–      Binomial pairs with alliteration (safe and sound)

–      Rhyming binomial pairs (wear and tear)

–      Binomial pairs joined by other words (back to front)

5. Similes

Part Two: Open Cloze

1. Pronouns/Relative pronouns/Reflexive pronouns 

–      who, whom, which, whoever, whomever, whichever, and that

–      Myself, herself, himself

2. Articles and Determiners/Quantifiers

–      Specific determiners:

•       the definite article: the

•       possessives: my, your, his, her, its; our, their, whose

•       demonstratives: this, that, these, those

•       interrogatives: which

–      General determiners

•       a, an, any, another, other, what

–      Quantifiers:

•       all, any, enough, less, a lot of, lots of, more, most, no, none of, some

3. Conjunctions and linking words or phrases

–      but, for, so, yet

4. Prepositional phrases and phrasal verbs 

–      at home, in time

5. Collocations

Part Three: Word Formations

1. Forming verbs and nouns
2. Forming adjective and adverbs
3. Less common prefixes
4. Forming compound words

Part Four: Key Word Transformations

1. Comparative structures
2. Expressions/common lexical patterns
3. Phrasal verbs
4. Conditionals and formal structures

The link below takes you to a detailed list of the key CPE grammar points listed above. Make sure you fully understand, and are able to make use of, each of them.

CPE Grammar Check