Use of English: Grammar and Vocabulary in Context
The Use of English domain tests grammar and vocabulary in context: word formation, gap-fill, tense and voice control, conditionals, reported speech, relative clauses, modals, prepositions, collocations, phrasal verbs, and sentence transformation (rephrasing). The exam expects you to produce the exact form required by the surrounding sentence, not merely to recognize a rule.
Word formation
Decide the part of speech needed from the gap's position: after an article or possessive, a noun; before a noun, an adjective; after a modal, a bare infinitive. Then apply affixes and check spelling changes: argue → argument, succeed → success, strong → strength. Watch for negative prefixes (un-, in-, im-, ir-, il-, dis-) and for words that change spelling or pronunciation (happy → happiness).
Tense, voice and conditionals
Look for time markers and the main verb. In passives, keep the auxiliary and use the past participle: They didn't tell us → We weren't told. In reported speech, backshift the tense and adjust pronouns and time expressions: 'I will call tomorrow,' she said → She said she would call the next day. In conditionals, match the pattern: zero (present/present), first (present/will), second (past/would), third (had done/would have done). Mixed conditionals need both time frames.
Rephrasing
Keep the meaning identical and start with the given word. Do not add new information. If the prompt begins 'I wish...', the original must express a regret about the present or past. If it begins 'Unless...', the original must be a negative condition.
Worked example
Complete: 'The ____ (argue) lasted two hours.' The gap follows 'The' and precedes a verb, so a noun is needed. Argue → argument (drop e, add -ment). Answer: argument. Rephrase: 'They didn't tell us about the delay.' → 'We ____ about the delay.' The original is active past simple; the gap needs a passive with the same tense: weren't told.
Traps
- Forgetting the auxiliary in passive or continuous forms.
- Using would in the if-clause of a second conditional.
- Spanish false friends: actual = current, not 'actual'; assist = attend, not 'assist'; library = biblioteca, not 'librería'.
- Changing the word class but not the spelling (success not succes).
- Rephrasing with a different meaning to sound more advanced.