Lexis and grammar in context
Domain 3 - Lexis and grammar in context. The PAU use-of-English block tests vocabulary from the reading text and grammar through transformation tasks. Typical vocabulary items ask you to find a word or phrase in the text that means a given idea, or to form the correct derivative. Typical grammar items ask you to complete a second sentence so that it means the same as the first, often with a given word. The test is contextual: the answer must fit the sentence and keep the original meaning.
Vocabulary in context
- use the grammar of the sentence to identify the word class needed: noun, verb, adjective, adverb
- look for definitions, examples, contrasts and appositives in the text
- for word formation, learn common suffixes and spelling changes: happy → happiness, succeed → success, strong → strength, decide → decision
- check collocations: make a decision, do research, depend on, interested in, responsible for
Grammar transformations
- read the first sentence and identify tense, aspect, voice and modality
- apply the required structure: active ↔ passive, direct ↔ reported speech, conditional, wish/if only, causative have/get, comparative, relative clause
- keep the original time reference; do not shift tense without reason
- use the given word exactly, without changing its form
- check agreement, pronoun case and prepositions
Worked example
Original: 'They didn't tell us about the delay.' Given word: WERE. Answer: 'We weren't told about the delay.' Reasoning: the original is active past simple negative; the transformation needs passive past simple. The object 'us' becomes subject 'we', so the verb is 'were told'. 'Didn't tell' becomes 'weren't told'; the meaning is unchanged. Second example: 'He started working here in 2010.' Given word: SINCE. Answer: 'He has worked here since 2010.' Reasoning: a state that began in the past and continues now takes the present perfect; 'since' introduces the starting point, not a duration. 'He works here since 2010' is a classic error.
Traps
- changing the meaning to fit a structure
- forgetting 'by' in a passive or the agent when it matters
- using past simple with 'since'
- wrong derivative: 'success' for adjective, 'economic' for 'economical'
- not using the given word, or altering it